Christmas Eve

Wonderful time of year

Kicking off Christmas season with the
traditional o tannanbaum meatloaf.

 Mr. Bojangles had one too many hot
toddies for breakfast..

skinny one fat one

It's that most wonderful time of the year. When sleigh bells are ringing and snow balls are slinging, we scout out, sneak up on and slaughter an unsuspecting tree, haul out the boxes and boxes of ornaments, and decorate until eggnog-induced IBS growls drown out the More By Four "Merry Christmas Baby" CD.

We put the fake tree up in the dining room
this year. It is decorated with a couple
decades of "precious" Campbell Soups
Collectables, if there really is such a thing.
I don't get it. Never did. I think the tree would
be more attractive if it were decorated with
Kings Fancy Mixed Nuts wrappers and crisp
strips of bacon.

Yes, this tree really is as fat as it looks.
Probably fatter. It swallowed Santa. Sorry
kids, there will be no presents this year. ;-(

Happy Hat Day!

Treed

Always hunting, today Mr. Bojangles treed
an omnivorous bipedal chef 'n' scholar.

Pre-Thanks spin

Claire, Pat and Mr. Bojangles (L to R) catch
their wind after our annual Pre-Thanksgiving
Spinathon. This year, we rode on the Katy
Trail south of Rocheport. The ride was some-
what episodic, since it was Bojangle's maiden
 voyage with his new recumbent bicycle.

Turkey Farm Lake

We enjoyed a warm and windy fall saunter
at Turkey Farm Lake Nature Conservancy
this morning. The dogs paused to fly kites,
and Pat sang that inimitable tune "Cattail
Marsh" while a hawk cawed the chorus. 

Giving Thanks Dessert Auction

Last night, a giving thanks dessert auction was held to benefit the local farmers market. Pat bought the ingredients for our contributions, and Claire pastry cheffed away the day, leaving the kitchen a disaster while producing some fantabulous edibles.

Claire's gorgeous chocolate, coffee and butter
cream javanaise was the talk of the auction.

Claire married a javanaise with two lemon
curd tarts topped with berries.

'twas lots to bid on, which is why we came
home with a pumpkin pie, a strawberry and
rhubarb pie, and a chocolate and almond
tort. We had pie for breakfast, lunch and
dinner today. Life is rough.

Bidders bidding. Thanks, everyone. We
raised more than a piddling.

La Perla Cafe

I ate dinner last night at La Perla Cafe in Glendale, Arizona. I gotta tell you, I think it is the best durn authentic Mexican restaurant in the whole US of A. If you find yourself within a time zone or two of La Perla Cafe, it is worth your trouble to check it out.

Kid in print

Claire's Sustainahouse to offer environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

Living off a buffet, by Claire the food critic.

We're proud of our trilingual, tree-hugging, foodie, dirt scientist daughter.

Gimme a steak

Pretty Pat prepares it with passion and care
and serves it with love, but where's the beef?

RCB

After the Big Smith show, Pat and I high-footed it to Jesse
Auditorium to catch the Robert Cray Band and their
masterful display of modern blues fused with funk, soul,
reggae and a little doo wop. Fabulous fun!

Happy 25

Named Jed, it behooves me to celebrate my hillbilly inbreeding ever now and again, so Pat and I barefooted it a few ridges to the west to the Les Bourgeois Blufftop Bistro to help the Les Bourgerois Vineyards celebrate their 25th anniversary by chugging a few bottles of vino and stomping our feet to the strumming and singing of Big Smith. How's that for a run-on sentence?

The lively and fun afternoon culminated
with a splendid sunset and long shadows on
the Missouri River. (Pat, see! That was a
UFO. Not the hootch playing games.)

Stone HIll

Yesterday, Claire and I toured Stone Hill Winery, just up the hill from Hermann. Stone Hill is the oldest of the 82 wineries in Missouri, and before prohibition, it was the third largest winery in the world. This was our third trip to the winery, but this time was purely for educational purposes. Claire is taking a Food and Wine Writing course at Mizzou. I found drinking wine for the sake of journalistic research staggering ;-)'

Big barrel.

Claire taking copious notes.

Claire having barrels of fun.

Faux champagne, demonstrating just
waiting for five years.

Hermann looking much like a Rhine River wine bourgh.

Vineyards settling in for a long winter nap.

50 something again

Tuesday, I said hello to my next year with friends and family.

The sunset as seen from the Les Bourgeois Blufftop Bistro.

R to L: me, Pat, Claire, Luke and Mark.
Mark and I share the same birthday. Always have.

Sporting an awesome, authentic Lansdowne
rugby shirt form Claire.

Memorial Service

Saturday we celebrated the life of Pat's
boss and friend Sandi Abell.
Pictured above, Pat shared stories of
researching, publishing, traveling
and working with Sandi.

Leg of lamb

Claire is a wizard in the kitchen.
Check out this leg of lamb.
I ate all 7.5 pounds in one sitting.
Yumm.

New office furniture

Turtle Walk

Because of conflicts, my birthday was pre-scheduled for October 9. After wandering aimlessly through central MO for half the morning, Pat, Rosie, Mr. Bojangles and I chose to hike around Little Dixie Lake. The sky was blue. The wind calm. The temperature perfect. And the leaves were just beginning to rustle about our feet as we slumbered down the path. During the hike, we happened across quite a few box turtles hiking the same loop. At the risk of indicting the "tortoise and the hare" theory, at the end of the hike, there were no turtles celebrating victory in the parking lot.

Despite not seeing the turtle next to her,
Rosie found an interesting bug.

Pat makes a new friend.

Pet the puppy break.

Holy schmoly, another three-toed box turtle.

And a remarkably awe inspiring sighting --
a large flock of migratory box turtles
landed on the trail all around us.

PA hike

Mike and Ryan from Boise, Idaho. 

We ended the work week with a relaxing hike
on the mountain ridge above Pine Grove
Mills, PA. The oak trees were just beginning
to turn color.

Roots N Blues N BBQ

Shemekia Copeland sharing her big voice
and soulful love songs.

Pat is all smiles because Tab would soon
take the stage.

The McGee's balloon drifting over
the festival.

The shining prince of bayou blues, Tab Benoit,
wailing on his guitar .

Tab sharing the stage with his friend Anders Osborne.

Big crowd.

Mark your calendars today for the next
Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival in Columbia.

Quetico voyageurs