Dec 31, 2008

Christmas with Tiffany and Jason :-)

So the kids came yesterday to celebrate the New Year with us. Of course we had to do Christmas first. So, after sitting around for a while deciding what to do we came up with "just go ahead and start opening presents"!
Downloading this morning I saw we took 61 pictures and movies...are we nuts??? -Oh, NO, I don't want your answer on that one...or go ahead and give me your thoughts...if you dare!
Anyways, here are some of the highlights of yesterday!
Yes, I finished the stockings and they were hung by the fire :-) 
Jason was mean to his dad...poured water in his mouth while he was sleeping...my, I would never do something like that! 
Everyone gets presents...I just realized, there is no Kirsten picture...guess I had the camera all the time... 
Army Soldier Snowman for Jason 
Big box for Tiffany, and no, it's not that cold in our house, she just loves the scarf from Oma! 
Jason must have gotten something he likes...he sure shows happiness! 
Oh, and what does Dan get?  A Z remote control car. Poor guy has been deprived all of his life...never got a RC car...didn't we get some for Jason?
Tiffany got luggage for all her upcoming travels! Bon Voyage and save returns!
  
And here is a present for both...a cookbook with Recipes of food we have been eating on their visits up here. There are more Recipes to come. 
Here will be the first one. It is the Bush's cooking show!
  
Hint: If you don't want to stand in the kitchen by yourself invite the kids to learn how to make their favorite foods...it only works with new food though, as once they learn it they don't want to make it again :-) 
So, we are having Rouladen and I thought I would just look it up on the web and see if my mom's recipe is the same as the rest of Germany...here is the info I found:

Rouladen

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Uncooked Rouladen
Rouladen (or Rinderroulade) is a German meat roulade consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef and then cooked. The dish has sometimes minced meat or only bacon and onion filling. Rouladen is traditionally served for dinner. Red wine is served with this dish.
The meat is beef, venison, wild boar or pork. Many food scholars agree that the original version was probably venison and pork. The beef rouladen common today has become popular over the last century. Beef shank is used. The thinly sliced meat is prepared with mustard and ground pepper and smoked bacon is placed on top. The bacon is semi-cooked first and the lard is saved for the searing process. The filling varies from region to region. In some areas ground pork and beef with pickles is used, in others only onions. The filling is added and then the meat is rolled up to a traditional elongated shape. A thread (traditional) or toothpick (modern) is used to hold the roll together. The rouladen are slowly roasted with carrots, celery and leeks until the meat is tender and nicely caramelized. The most traditional cooking method would include searing. The slow roasting takes between one and two hours depending on the regional preferences. Rouladen is turned once to sear even the opposite side. Red wine and a vegetable stock are added to slow the cooking process. The pan is then covered and placed on a raised iron mount in front of an open fireplace for the slow roasting period. The height of the iron mount and the distance from the fire will determine the temperature of the slow roasting process. The Rouladen are then removed and the pan is de-glaced with some red wine or vegetable stock. When the liquid is added, it loosens the flavor from the pan to make a sauce for the meat. This is reduced to a gravy. An easier method is to use a conventional oven at 175 degrees Celsius (350 °F). Rouladen are served with either German potato dumplings or boiled potatoes. Roasted winter vegetables are an other common side dish. In Hungary the dish is known as Szüz tekercsek (so called Virgin rouladen), filled with minced meat. The dish is often considered a food for common people, but this is incorrect. Rouladen is traditionally a celebratory food for the wealthy and upper-middle class. Original rouladen was eaten at the end of hunting season (mid-winter). Various different recipes can be found on the Internet.
And we cannot eat only meat, so I am making Red Cabbage to go along...as you can see, no helpers here...they don't like veggies it looks like!
And before we were able to take the pictures below, you might want to view this video of how we made them :-)
  
Well, all together eating...they do like to partake in this feast! 

Dec 25, 2008

Our Christmas Eve Picture(s)!

The Dogs on Christmas Eve...

...are tired and want to sleep and not be bothered by Kirsten...Oh well...it's bedtime anyways!

Dec 24, 2008

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

What the dogs do when we let them in...

...watch me cross stitch and beg to be pet :-)

The Quotes of the day...for lack of a better posting...

First love is a kind of vaccination which saves a man from catching the complaint a second time.
  - Honore de Balzac
When I came back to Dublin I was courtmartialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.
  - Brendan Behan
What others think of us would be of little moment did it not, when known, so deeply tinge what we think of ourselves.
  - Paul Valery

And something for the Holidays!

Dec 19, 2008

The (Wild) Beasts!

 
It is bedtime for the rapacious animals!
(oh, only one of them is rapacious...the other is lazy!)
Anyways, this is bedtime for the four-legged beasts and they both went where they supposed to be.
How long do they stay there? Well, I don't know have no camera there, but maybe I ought to install one and see what they do?!?

Dec 17, 2008

Jason, Tiffany and Jaeger...

...seems Rhowdie is the smarter one of the dogs...he just won't get involved in the 'where is...' game, or at least he didn't so much last night :-)



So you see Jaeger is checking everywhere for the 'hidden ???'. He seems to be saying "Where is the smell, I can hear, but I can't smell a thing." That poor puppy...here is more of the same!



I hope you enjoy these video's!

Wordless Wednesday

News Flash!!!

Can you imagine this one!!!



Oh, what fun we would have...

Dec 14, 2008

It's cold out there!

Today's high was 80 degrees F! Now we have 32 and wind!

Here is the comparison I just looked up

  • *
  • Quincy, Massachusetts Flood Warning
  • 44.1 °F / 6.7 °C Clear, Humidity: 81%, Winds: SW at 3.0 mph / 4.8 km/h / m/s
  • *
  • Abilene, Texas Record Report
  • 32.4 °F / 0.2 °C Clear, Humidity: 33%, Winds: ENE at 9.2 mph / 14.8 km/h / m/s
  • *
  • Edinburg, Texas
  • 68.2 °F / 20.1 °C Clear, Humidity: 79%, Winds: SE at 3.0 mph / 4.8 km/h / m/s
  • *
  • Frankfurt, Germany
  • 36 °F / 2 °C Clear, Humidity: 87%, Winds: NNE at 13 mph / 20 km/h / 5.7 m/s

Your favorites have been updated!

And it is supposed to get colder with the next front...yep, winter is here!

Dec 11, 2008

For some fun after Christmas and to make your life easier packing that tree away!


And if you would like ot see more of these little videos to make your life what it could be follow this link!

Dec 9, 2008

Dogs + Lake + Ducks = ???


This was the nice Saturday after Thanksgiving, a week and a half ago. Then we had a cold week, but not too bad...no percipitation at all. This Sunday and Monday (yesterday) the temperature reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit, but the windchill was defastating :-)

Well, here is the forecast from the San Angelo Weather Station for today:

Today: A slight chance of rain before noon, then a slight chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 49 by 11am, then falling to around 39 during the remainder of the day. Breezy, with a north northwest wind between 15 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24. Blustery, with a north northwest wind between 15 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Life in Abilene is never dull! Just watch the Weather Channel!

And the Weather Underground says the same:
Today
Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain in the morning... then a slight chance of rain or snow in the afternoon. Breezy. Much cooler. Highs in the upper 40s. North winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

Dec 8, 2008

Interesting Texas Facts

This is an interesting Q&A from our local Newspaper this morning. Thought I'd share it with you...in case you are facinated with these kind of things :-)

Are there tornadoes in January?

Q. I heard someone say that there was a tornado in Abilene in January. There aren't tornadoes in January are there?
-- Abilene
A. I wouldn't think so, but there was.
On Jan. 16, 2004, a tornado was reported near the city. It was the first tornado of the new year nationwide, according to The Weather Doctor's Diary.
That was a pretty interesting weather day. You see, just a couple of hundred miles from here, Dallas got a foot of snow and Fort Worth had more than seven inches,
That old saying about wait a couple of minutes and the weather will change is pretty true.
According to the National Weather Service, Texas does have extreme weather:
  •  Highest temperature: 120 degrees in Monahans on June 28, 1994, and in Seymour on Aug. 12, 1936.
  •  Lowest temperature: minus 23 degrees in Seminole on Feb. 8, 1933 and in Tulia on Feb. 12, 1899.
  •  Most consecutive days with a high of 100 or above: 53 in Presidio, June 17 through Aug. 8, 1983.
  •  Greatest rainfall in 24 hours: 29.05 inches in Albany Aug. 3-4, 1978.
  •  Greatest snowfall in 24 hours: 24 inches in Plainview Feb. 3-4, 1956.
  •  Greatest number of days with thunderstorms: 67 in Port Arthur.
Some days things are pretty calm.
E.W. Scripps Co.
© Abilene Reporter-News