As we move into December

Gosh, it's been like forever since I've written - sorry. Not actually really going to write all that much now, just wanted to post this picture as a reminder as we move into the holiday season! Be good!

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Dinner

The first annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner dinner was held on November 10. Jason and I were honored to host this at our house. Everyone participated in the meal by preparing and bringing dishes to accompany the Turkey.

I made the turkey, mashed potatoes (I had to run to Williams Sanoma earlier that day to buy a potato ricer - I was so excited), brown and serve rolls and yams with marshmallows on top.

Jen made green bean/bacon bundles, a sausage, cherry tomato and hash brown casserole and a salad which I believe contained pomegranates and had a delicious dressing.

Dana made homemade stuffing.

Shirli provided us with cornbread and pies (I know that one pie said Strawberry on it even though it looked exactly like apple - I'm sticking to that!!)

Now, my apologies to Meghan and Leise, because I can't specify who brought what, but I know that when they arrived so did the pinot nior, a nice white and a peach beer? or something like that - all very delicious and enjoyed by all.

Bruce dazzled us with his appetizer - caprice salad and Matt provided the digestif - Rumplemintz (wonderful shot :-)) Jason had his kegerrator up and running serving cold brews for all to enjoy.

After all the wonderfully delicious food was eaten, we relaxed by playing Cranium and Celebrities. All in all I believe that everyone had an enjoyable time and we look forward to doing this next year so that we may give thanks to all our good friends for their being their for us and sharing with us theirs and our good times and, yes, even bad times.

Here are some of the pictures from the evening which I downloaded from Jen's facebook site. I have to get some pictures from Bruce who was also taking pictures and will post that when I accomplish that.

http://picasaweb.google.com/drearosson/PreThanksgivingDinnerDinner

Finally - My Photos from Bruce's B-day

If you use the following URL, I'm hoping you will be able to access the pictures I took way back when of Bruce's Birthday Scavenger Hunt beginning at the Washington Monument and ending at Atomic Billiards - not that many but some.

http://picasaweb.google.com/drearosson/BruceSBDay

Halloween - Fins - 10-27-07

Halloween Pictures - Fins 10-27-07

Trivia Wednesday - Fins - Answers

Ok, I'm finally getting on to post the answers to the Halloween trivia questions. I know, I know, late in getting the questions posted, late in getting the answers posted - bad, bad, bad.

Ok, here they are:

1. What is the top candy sold for Halloween? A. Snickers B. M&M's C. Tootsie Rolls D. Candy Corn
A. Snickers

2. List the following from Most to Least in number of sequels A. Halloween B. Nightmare on Elm Street C. Alien D. Friday the 13th
D. Friday 13; A. Halloween; B. Nightmare on Elm Street; C. Alien (I have to admit this one I'm trying to remember from memory - Jason was supposed to confirm, but haven't heard from him yet :-))

3. Name the four immediate family members of the Adams family. Bonus: Name the other main characters
Morticia, Gomez, Wenesday and Pugsley - Bonus: Cousin It, Grandmama, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Thing

4. Threeser - What do these three things have in common? My Blue Heaven Little Shop of Horrors Parenthood
Rick Moranes and Steve Martin

5. If you look into a mirror at midnight what will you see? A. Bloody Mary B. Future Spouse C. Your Death D. Dead Ancestor
B. Future Spouse

6. What was the first wrapped penny candy in the U.S.?
Tootsie Roll

7. What was the very first Jack o'lantern made out of? A. Watermelon B. Pumpkin C. Coconut D. Turnip
D. Turnip

8. In the movie Halloween by John Carpenter - although it is set in IL what license plate could be seen on all the vehicles?
California

9. True or False. Halloween is the second most commercially successful holiday after Christmas?
True

10. What was the most popular costume of 2004? A. Witch B. Spiderman C. Vampire D. George W. Bush
B. Spiderman

11. Threeser. What do these three things have in common? Michael J. Fox Michael Jackson Jack Nicholson
They all played werewolves

12. Name the Munsters.
Lili, Herman, Eddie and Marilyn

13. How much did the world's biggest pumpkin weigh in 2003? A. 245 lbs b. 785 lbs c. 1385 lbs d. 1875 lbs
C. 1385

14. In the nursery rhyme in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street, what follows 5, 6?
1-2 Freddies coming for you
3-4 Better lock your door
5-6 Grab your crucifix

15. Anagram: Rearrange the letters below to find the name of an actress. review agony sure
Sigourney Weaver

Well, I hope that you did well and that you had fun playing along.

Book Club - My House - Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Wow, I am so far behind on some of the things I want to post/said I'd post. Where does time go? What it is is that I don't really like to get on to the computer in the evening when I'm home because I spend so much time on it at work during the day. It's so much easier to post at lunch or during my breaks. Anyways...

The book club evening went well. I believe that everyone had a good time, love the house and enjoyed the food. Whew!

The overall consensus was that the book "The Faraday Girls" was enjoyed by all - a good pick - yay! We convened at 7:00 had a few appetizers - veggies and dip (Knorr's veggie spinach dip) and tortilla chips and dip (chili cheese dip). Around 8:00 we sat down and had some dinner. I made Sloppy Joes, potatoes au gratin and green beans. Dessert was Rainbow Sherbert.

I have to say that the dip I served with the tortilla chips was a big hit.

Chili-Cheese dip to accompany Tortilla Chips
1 can of Hormel chili - no beans
8 oz of cream cheese
Heat in saucepan over low to medium heat until cheese melts and is mixed in(sure it can be done in a microwave, just didn't do that)
Serve warm with chips

The recipe for the potatoes au gratin is below. I will have to bring in the Sloppy Joe recipe and post that as well. Both were well complimented - I'm so pleased.

Potatoes Au gratin - Swans Palette Cookbook - www.swanscoachhouse.com

2c heavy cream
1 5oz Boursin cheese with herbs
5 medium baking potatoes - peeled & thinly sliced
Salt & pepper
Fresh parsley to garnish

In saucepan over medium heat combine cheese and heavy cream until cheese melts. Stirring constantly

In greased 13x9 baking pan place:
Layer of half of the peeled, sliced potatoes overlapping
Salt & pepper to taste.
Layer of cheese liquid
Layer of remaining potatoes
Top with remaining cheese liquid

Cook 400 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Remove.

Sprinkle with parsley to garnish

Ok, got to run. Lunch hour is over. Back to drafting bios - fun, fun, fun

Trivia Wednesday at Fins, Oct. 31 - Halloween Night

I know, I know this is really late - a week late, but better late than never... Let's just hope I remember the answers when I post them :-) The best thing is that we came in 1st by a landslide - we know our Halloween Trivia!!!

Tonight is another evening of trivia at Fins - hopefully it will be going down. Pssst... I'm even thinking about not drinking for this one - hmmmm might help with the brain waves - we'll see how it goes :-)

Team: Kevin (RINAR), Jason, Andrea, Danny N.

1. What is the top candy sold for Halloween?
A. Snickers
B. M&M's
C. Tootsie Rolls
D. Candy Corn

2. List the following from Most to Least in number of sequels
A. Halloween
B. Nightmare on Elm Street
C. Alien
D. Friday the 13th

3. Name the four immediate family members of the Adams family.

Bonus: Name the other main characters

4. Threeser - What do these three things have in common?
My Blue Heaven
Little Shop of Horrors
Parenthood

5. If you look into a mirror at midnight what will you see?
A. Bloody Mary
B. Future Spouse
C. Your Death
D. Dead Ancestor

6. What was the first wrapped penny candy in the U.S.?

7. What was the very first Jack o'lantern made out of?
A. Watermelon
B. Pumpkin
C. Coconut
D. Turnip

8. In the movie Halloween by John Carpenter - although it is set in IL what license plate could be seen on all the vehicles?

9. True or False. Halloween is the second most commercially successful holiday after Christmas?
10. What was the most popular costume of 2004?
A. Witch
B. Spiderman
C. Vampire
D. George W. Bush

11. Threeser. What do these three things have in common?
Michael J. Fox
Michael Jackson
Jack Nicholson

12. Name the Munsters.

13. How much did the world's biggest pumpkin weigh in 2003?
A. 245 lbs
b. 785 lbs
c. 1385 lbs
d. 1875 lbs

14. In the nursery rhyme in the movie Nightmare on Elm Street, what follows 5, 6?

15. Anagram: Rearrange the letters below to find the name of an actress.
review agony sure

Good Luck. Let me know how you do. Feel free to post your answers in the comment section and I'll check it before posting the answers and let you know how you did.

Hugging and Detention??

I had to drop a quick post. I just read a story on MSNBC.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21661718/) where this girl got two days detention for giving her friends hugs as she said goodbye to them for the weekend. The hug is described as just being an quick over one shoulder squeeze - so not an all out hug fest. This is completely ridiculous. They say it is because there is a school ban against public displays of affection and this falls into that category. I can understand the concept of wanting such a ban, but really people let's reword this ban or make it more specific so that it says what types of public displays of affection are ok and which are not - Massive makeout sessions - not; giving little goodbye hugs - ok.

The parents of the girl told her to go ahead and serve the detentions as the only other alternative at this point is two days suspension, but are going to go to the next school board meeting and propose that the school board reword or specify.

Can we say carried away much?

Steelers beat down Ravens

Was that a game or was that a game! The commanding lead taken by the Steelers was awesome. We were like - 35-0 and it's only the 2nd quarter - wow - what will happen the rest of the game. It was quite a bummer that before the first half ended the Ravens did score 7. The second half while not a big scoring event did have the Steelers holding the Ravens. The Steelers defense set the tone beautifully by going on the attack early and often - woo hoo.

I wish that Roethlisberger hadn't been taken down in the 3rd. I would have loved to see how far the team could have gone with him as the QB for the whole game - would it have been a total smack down like the Patriots gave the previous weekend? Not that Batch did a bad job, he kept the ball moving until it stalled, but the team was close enough for a 22-yard field goal. Harrison was on top of his game - he had eight solo tackles, one assist, three and a half sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Ben and James did a superlative job, but, in the words of Mike Tomlin, "but I don’t want to devalue the team effort. I like the way this football team played tonight and we got the win."

The Steelers continue to lead the AFC North with their 6-2 record!!! Watch out Patriots we are planning your take down on December 9!!!