Not Again !?!

Meat loaf again?!?

Well, what did you expect? I had to cook. I can grill steaks and burgers, fry fish, smoke ribs and brisket, make pancakes and French toast, and fill the ice tray. We're out of fish, the smoker and grill are iced in, and the milk smells funny. This lovely meatloaf is a concoction of one package of ground chuck, one heel of oat bread, one large whole wheat bun, three of Suki's eggs, a really big Vidalia onion, two shredded carrots, dark brown sugar, Perrins Worcester Sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, paprika, ketchup, mustard, and wheat germ. I baked it at 350 until it smelled good enough to eat. 

What's that say about a person when the only notable thing he has to blog about all week is that he cooked a meal?

Glenn's Cafe

Last night, we dined with Mark, Luke and Sandi at Glenn's Cafe in the historic Frederick Hotel. Luke was busy testing the comfort level of the lobby furniture. This bench rated a full yawn and three Zzzzzs.

For the 1478th consecutive dining experience, Mark ordered a pork chop. The fried okra looked good.

I ordered scallops. These buggers were as big as your fist and as fresh as a spring rain. Oooh la la, they were fantabulous.

Sandi ordered Shrimp Creole. It looked scrumpdillyumptious.

Luke was the most adventurous menu navigator. He ordered fried veal liver and onions. I encouraged him, because I wanted to see the look on his face when he took the first bite. Much to my disappointment, he liked it.

The evening was a prismatic illumination of fine dining with good friends.

Hiking at Little Dixie Lake

Little Dixie Lake Conservation Area is my favorite local canoeing, fishing and hiking spot. Last January, I canoed on the lake twice. Yesterday, we walked on it. The temperature slipped above freezing, so we bundled up and went for a couple mile hike.

Mr. Bojangles enjoyed chasing squirrels, running through the brush and thickets, and of course ice skating and slurping slush.

The hike was a little too long for Rosie.

Rosie shows off a new dance step.

Life is good.

Korean visitors

This weekend we enjoyed the company of two special visitors from Korea, Kenny and T.J. They are spending a month in town studying English. Their trip is sponsored by the Mizzou East Asian Studies Program. Kenny, T.J. and 20 other junior high students qualified for the trip by finishing first in their respective county-wide written English exams.

Kenny (Sang-Ji Kang) is from Boseong and his parents are teachers. He is a lively conversationalist, extraordinarily curious and a remarkable pianist.

T.J. ( Jihun Goh) is from the island of Sinan and his family harvests salt from fields. T.J. has a great sense of humor and he is a big animal lover, quickly making friends with Mr. Bojangles and Rosie. 

On Saturday, Kenny and T.J.'s friends Paul, Jason and Jack joined us for lunch at the world famous Shakespeare's Pizza, then we went to the ARC for basketball and swimming. In the evening, the boys went to the Greimann's house to play video games. Thanks Peter, Ken and Beth!

After church on Sunday, we went out for gourmet hamburgers at Bleu before shopping at the mall.

We had a fun, amazing weekend with our new friends Kenny and T.J. 

Holiday travels

Our holidays travels sent us dashing through the snow to in-laws and outlaws in Nebraska and Iowa, respectively ;-)

We also seized the opportunity to do a little post-Christmas shopping at a favorite plaza in Omaha. I bought the plant pictured here.

And no winter holiday break would be complete without a brunch with the Timperleys. Kim teaches chemistry at a community college. Kathy is a middle school language arts educator. Together, they operate a busy truck farm for all you veggie lovers out there. Laura is a senior in college and is studying writing from the same cowboy poet who was my undergraduate advisor. Ain't that sump'n? Her friend, Big John, installs commercial signs. Super 8 is keeping him busy this winter. Because of the stock market plunge, they're changing their name to Good Enough 5.

Happy New Year

We celebrated the new year by taking a hike on the Katy Trail, which is a 225 mile trail that runs from Clinton to St. Charles, shadowing the Big Muddy for much of the route. The Katy Trail is the nation's longest rails-to-trails project, tracked on a chunk of the former MKT Rail Road (Missouri Kansas Texas). The weather was magnificent. The hike was fabulous, albeit rather long for an afternoon through hike.

Happy New Year!