Potter Finale

Today was the finale of our Harry Potter weekend. We started our morning by taking the boys to their swimming lessons. (I do love that even though we had a movie marathon weekend, both boys were physically active a bit, so at least it wasn't total sloth-state.)

After returning from lessons, I set off to make the brunch dish. I found a recipe that fashioned itself the Burrow Breakfast Casserole.

For those not familiar with HP, The Burrow is the home of Harry's best friend Ron. It was reminiscent of the egg bakes my mom made when I was younger. I also had to balance the laundry today since Sunday is always my laundering day. But once I got that started, we settled in to watch Half-Blood Prince. This just happens to be the book K and I are reading right now, so it was interesting to make comparisons to the book (let's be honest we'd been doing that all weekend, but it was especially easy with this one.)

Part-way through the movie, my sister and her family stopped by, so we put the movie on hold and the boys got to enjoy some cousin-playing time. It's always fun to see how they interact and who doesn't want to enjoy some adult conversation on a lovely Sunday afternoon. It also gave me a bit of time to clean up some of the kitchen mess and keep laundry on track.

Once our special guests made their departure, we went back to the movies. We snacked a little bit during Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. So, no special Harry fare for that one. We had plans to make a lovely Shepherd's Pie for dinner as we watched the final movie ... but instead we decided to go movie traditional instead of Harry Potter traditional and our dinner was:

It's whole grain rights? We went truly movie-style with butter and salt and watched the last movie theater-style in the dark, too.

While the weekend wasn't necessarily the model for healthy-living, what with K's very first sip of soda and ending with popcorn for dinner ... it was a great weekend of escapism, fun and just hanging out together as a family. I mean, that's what it was from start to finish, just pure family time. We were at home, we talked about the movies together, we shared laughs and snuggled under blankets. It was the kind of weekend that I wish I could bottle up. While O is too young to probably remember this, I hope it's one of those memories that K will get to keep and think back fondly of when he's older.

And I know D liked it, while he thanked me more than once for the weekend, when he asked K how he liked the weekend I overheard him say wistfully, there aren't a lot of other movies that we can do marathon's like this. I then heard K suggest, well, we can just have a movie marathon weekend of movies we like.

Since this type of weekend is something I can only condone when it's cold outside and we want to stay snuggled in, I guess I will now have a new reason to look forward to winter in the future.

A Harry Potter Weekend

Last weekend, for some crazy reason as D and I were talking we thought it would be fun to create a Harry Potter weekend for the boys. To pull such a weekend off needed some preparation. First, we needed to acquire all of the movies. We have the first five movies, and for the last two years I've asked for the 8 movie-set, but alas, never received it. So, after some comparison shopping online, I found a great deal for the BluRay 8-movie set. (I was sort of amazed at the price discrepancies I found online for the exact same item.)

Movies secured, next up was the careful plotting of the menu and time table to watch the movies. Fortunately, a lot of people like to document their Harry Potter parties and so there were food ideas aplenty!

We decided to start Friday night (8 movies clocking in at almost 3 hours each ... yeah, we needed to spread them out over three days.) We decided to keep the menu somewhat simple and keep our weekly pizza night plan. However we accompanied it with hot butter beer and chocolate frogs (hearts). So, as we snuggled in to watch Sorcerer's Stone we had our first Harry Potter bites:

Let's start with the butter beer ... there are hundreds of recipes out there. So it took a lot of comparison to determine which one to attempt to make. We decided to go with Feast or Fiction's brew. What I particularly liked about their options were that they used minimal ingredients and they had a hot and cold option. We let K choose which one to try first. He wanted to go hot. Let me say it is yummy, very kid-friendly (no soda) and warmed our tummies. The boys didn't like it as much as D and I did (in fact, as soon as D saw that O didn't like it, he took his mug.) It was definitely a great, sleepy time elixir. We followed up our pizza with what was supposed to be chocolate frogs, but since the store didn't have frog molds, we went with heart molds:

D made this and they are filled with a peanut butter and jelly filling. They were good, but one was enough due to the richness of the treat.

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Saturday morning, K and I started our day off with a run. I always enjoy it when K wants to run with me, but it also means I don't quite get in the full workout I aim to achieve. However, spending quality time with my son is far more important. When we returned, we got ready to unleash the Chamber of Secrets and enjoy a Hogwart's- worthy breakfast courtesy of D:

Yes, upon all the research D and I did for this weekend, we learned they eat a lot of "regular" food at Hogwart's and so we could just enjoy a comforting breakfast of pancakes sausage and coffee.  In the Prisoner of Azkaban, there's a specific mention of hot chocolate during the scene where Harry is getting on the Knight Bus. So we decided to try some spiced hot cocoa and "biscuits" as our treat during the third movie. (The boys had vanilla wafers and I had some nut-thins.)

It's probably important to mention, that while the boys were watching the movies ... they definitely weren't always sitting still. They were casting their own spells, dancing around, and playing, too. It was a very interactive affair. As we began Goblet of Fire, I retreated to the kitchen to make dinner. It was right about here where I wished I had my own house elves to help. D ended up being my house elf and helped make the filling for our Cornish pasties (important to note, that we used this recipe for the dough, but improvised the filling):

These were quite hearty, but also very good. The boys also enjoyed them, so they may be something we look at putting into our rotation. It was also a way to get the boys to eat cabbage with out even knowing! We quenched our thirst with cold butter beer this time:

It was tasty, but I think D and I preferred the hot version a little bit more. However, I can definitely see why people like the sweetness of the drink. (We also drank a lot of Life Elixir over the weekend, which was just our fancy name for water ... but it still made it feel special.)

For dessert, we went with an English favorite called treacle tart. With many versions to be found of this treat, I decided to use Madame Rosmerta's recipe. It seemed like one of the more basic ones and since it was on a popular Harry Potter site, I told myself it was one of the more authentic versions:

Surprisingly good (consider treacle sounds frightening) it was a nice way to end the evening as we tucked in to watch Order of the Phoenix. Of course, if you are familiar with the series, it is so hard to stop at this movie, because everything is getting so exciting, but somehow we timed it so the movie ended at about 8:30 which was perfect to put K to bed (O went to bed a little earlier, but we figured it was okay.) This way, he would get enough rest for swimming and still have 3 movies to look forward to on Sunday.

Tomorrow: how we wrapped up the weekend.

Cabernet Sauvignon - Velvet in a Glass

The 2013 Wine Club has officially begun. For our sixth year, we decided to revisit the book that started it all.

Apparently, shortly after purchasing this book it went out of print. (Which means the universe totally wanted me to have this book.) However, you can still buy it through places like Barnes & Noble marketplace (one seller is selling it for $112 - yes, you read that right - sort of makes me wonder how much the book could be worth in a few decades.)

Anyhow, the book does a really fantastic job of laying out a month-by-month course on a different type of wine. She also provides a great complimentary menu (and a no-cook option if that's more your style.) We decided to take January off (which happens to be bubblies, and I don't think many of us were too sad not to revisit that chapter.)

February has us starting out bold with Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a wine that I normally can only drink if I know it's been able to breathe a bit or is paired with a nice cut of steak. I forgot to take photos of the food, so I'll need to be sure to do that going forward, but it was a pleasant spread and some food I would never think to eat on my own, including grapes wrapped in blue cheese and walnuts, peaches with blue cheese wrapped in prosciutto, fabulous cheeses and fig jam, beef tenderloin, chocolate and basil ice cream. 

Now on to the wines:

This first wine, Yali, was a Chilean Cab. It was very bright and fruity. Definitely felt like drinking a glass of velvet. Very light on the tannins . You could call it a sippin' Cab it was smooth enough. 

Our second Cab was a California Cab. The clubby who brought this admitted she selected it based on its label. The label worked. This was also a light Cab, even though it hailed from the light of big bold, cult Cabs. Clearly based on the label, you can tell the winery doesn't take itself too seriously, and in this instance, that worked out well for us.

The third Cab also happened to come from the lands of California. This was much more reminiscent of what I used to think of when I thought about Cab's. It had a bigger, bolder, oakier taste. It would work with a larger burger or steak, but on its own, it was just a little too big for me. 

The final Cab happened to be the one I brought. This is a kosher Israeli wine. I had it at the wine tasting at my local wine shop, so I knew I liked it. Surprisingly, it had the highest alcohol content of all the Cabs (which is why we had it last) but it was really smooth and fresh. A lot of cherry to it. I selected it because I don't think I've ever had an Israeli wine, and thought it would be a cool one to bring to the mix. Fortunately, it tasted it good. 

The nice thing about wine club is the low-key no-pressure aspect to just learning about and enjoying wines with great girlfriends. It's one day of the month I always look forward to!

Another Day, Another Race

Today was a crazy Saturday ... jam-packed full of good things. It was the kind of day where I have to sit back in awe because I am just amazed that I am blessed to get to enjoy days like this. (Goodness knows I get the balance, but I think that is what makes you appreciate the really good days like today.)

D and I started our day off with our second race of the year. It was the Twin Cities Valentine's Day 5K.  A nice jaunt around Lake Harriet. We dropped the boys off at my sisters and then made our way to the course. It was the first time I've ever been to Lake Harriet, so D and I were amazed at how quickly we found parking and got there. (Truth be told, we got there a good hour earlier than we needed to ... and it was just cold enough with a biting wind that standing still was not fun.) The course was nice, the crowd was jovial and D and I both ran about five minutes faster than the run we did on New Year's Day. (In fact, they had a timer at the one-mile mark and I ran my first mile in under 12 minutes, I was quite pleased because on New Year's I wasn't even able to run the first mile straight through. Here's to progress!

We followed up the race by going to the Midtown Global Market. D has been wanting to eat at a place called The Left-Handed Cook. My sister happens to be conveniently close, so we thought it would be a good reward after the race. My treat:

The Ma Bell Bop Bowl - pork belly, kimchi, a soft poached egg, pickled radish, scallions, collards on rice with a lovely sauce. It was delightful. Exactly what I needed after the run. I couldn't eat the whole bowl, so I have some sitting in my refrigerator for later. We also then went to the Salty Tart and everyone got to pick out a treat for later. (I selected a gluten-free almond cupcake ... perhaps the best gluten-free cupcake I have ever had.)

After the great lunch we started our way toward home. K has been saving money in order to purchase a new video game, so D promised him we'd stop at Target on our way home. O fell asleep in the car, so it became a Target run for just K and I. It was fun to watch him carefully select the game he wanted to spend his money on. He's growing up to be such an amazing young man. I am so fortunate to have him (and his daddy and brother) in my life.

We finally made it home and I had an hour before my next adventure. My sister was coming to our house and then she and I were going to a wine tasting. My local wine shop holds quite a few throughout the year. I love it because they put all their wine on sale and I always get to find a treasure or two.

The evening I spent relaxing with my boys. We watched a movie. O danced and sang a lot. K played his new video game and D and I rested our weary bones. It was a blessed day indeed. I hope that I get to experience many more. Of course, we may all be holed up tomorrow as their is an impending snowstorm that is supposed to be making it's way here. Not sure if it's the residuals of Nemo or another storm system. Either way ... if I get to relax and chill with my boys, then I'm up for it.

The Future of Girl Scout Cookies?

I am a former Girl Scout. Yes, many, many years ago, I would trudge door-to-door slinging my Girl Scout Cookie wares asking people if they'd like to place an order. Since Girl Scout Cookie time occurs in the middle of winter, I had more than my fair share of traipsing in snow banks to convince my family and neighbors to get a box or two or twenty. I wasn't a super competitive seller, I wasn't motivated by getting the biggest or best prize. Truth be told, I was probably more motivated by the boxes my mom would by for our family so that I could stuff handfuls of Tagalongs or Samoas (my personal favorites) down my throat. (There never seemed to be quite enough in those darn boxes.)

Of course, now that I don't eat gluten, it's pretty easy for me to dismiss those tempting boxes. But this time of year, it's hard not to miss the calls of the little girls selling their goodies. Of course, they changed the process - it used to be that you'd place your order and then have to wait for the cookies to arrive. Now, the girls have them with them and you get instant gratification. You also don't typically see girls going door-to-door anymore. They concentrate on having their parents sell to their friends or setting up shop at local businesses. (A huge thank you to my friends who notify us when their daughters are selling and leave it at that - as I have seen others with much pushier tactics. I have good friends.)

Tonight as I was getting off the bus, a woman was with two girls trying to sell their cookies at the transit stop.  The first thing the bus driver did when she stopped the bus was yell out the door and tell the woman she couldn't sell the cookies there. The woman ignored her and in fact encouraged the two girls to be more aggressive with their pitch. (One girl stood so close to the door that you practically fell on her trying to get off the bus.) Many people made snide comments on the bus about the travesty of teaching your child to solicit at such a young age. Others made comments on the unhealthy aspects of the wares (granted those are the people who probably proceeded to buy multiple boxes.) 

It made me wonder where the future of the Girl Scout cookie is headed ... as we look at the health of the nation, the safety of our kids ... will the Girl Scout cookie have to be retired? Maybe they'll switch to selling fresh produce at farmers markets that they cultivated from their own personal gardens. It saddens me a little that something that used to be so innocent and taught you some essential lessons of business is now something that is really about making the most dollars. Maybe it's just seeing the competition in a metro area versus the small town I grew up in. Whatever their fate, if you can be sure to enjoy your favorite Girl Scout cookie tomorrow on National Girl Scout Cookie Day!

Perfecting Chili

It's Super Bowl Sunday ... and what goes perfect with football, overpriced advertising and an even more overproduced half-time show? Why chili, of course! D and I have been on the quest to make the perfect chili. We've come close, and we've had quite the array of flavors due to our experiments. So, today when I knew that chili was going to be our primary food source, it was hard to determine which recipe to try. Do I go online and see what's out there? Do I take one out of the archives and maybe try a variation?

Nope. I make it up as I go. first I browned our lovely grass-fed lean beef. Then, I added a small white onion and about a tablespoon's worth of minced garlic. I let the onion and the garlic saute in the little bit of beef fat that there was. Next I added about one and a half tablespoons worth of chili powder, a tablespoon of cumin and half a tablespoon of turmeric (these are really just estimations, because I didn't measure precisely) and I sprinkled in some salt. I let it saute for a bit more to get some nice aromatics.

Then I added one large and one small can of diced tomatoes and three cans of beans (including the water they were canned in). I let it cook on low for a bit. After about an hour, I added about another tablespoon of chili powder and a big sprinkling of smoked paprika and a little more salt. Then I lot it cook on low for about two hours.

Perfection. Seriously. The best darn chili ever. Of course it would be. Because I didn't take precise measurements and I winged it. The true testament to the success was when D told me it was the best chili we'd ever had. And that was without me even asking him how it was. I was just sitting there eating it (with a nice crust of cheddar on top) and hoping that my darn cold is gone before I run a 5K this weekend.

So, success in the form of a nice little bowl of warm comfort. Now ... back to the over-hyped football game!

Why I Want My Son To Be An Engineer

I enjoy my career. I find it challenging, though-provoking, fun and interesting. For the most part, I love the people I work with. Like-minded, smart, witty people. But there is always the exception. In my line of work, there's a lot of ambiguity. You see, I work in Communications and to do business, people need to communicate.

Unfortunately, some people think that Communications and communicating are synonymous. Need a note-taker and you have someone from Communications in the meeting ... naturally, it should be them. For the most part, people get it. They understand that Communications isn't about note-taking, writing memos, etc. It's about driving change, engaging employees, making a difference, telling stories in a compelling way, ensuring employees understand how they play a role in driving company strategy and making people feel connected. And in today's environment, most importantly, it's about engaging and enabling others to communicate and provide context. But frankly ... a lot is left up for interpretation and I spend way too much time clarifying roles and responsibilities.

So, I'm glad that K has an affinity toward science and engineering. Nice straight-forward problem-solving, mathematical equations and experimentation. I want him to have a career where he doesn't have to deal with the politics and ridiculousness I deal with on a daily basis. It's too soon to tell what is in O's future. If I went based on what I see today, he's going to be an entertainer ... or a stand-up comic. Fortunately, he's only three so things could change!