socal christmas 2011

AJ and I just returned from good 'ol SoCal, where the days were warm, the ocean waves were curling, and the sun lingered in the sky a bit longer than we're used to in Seattle.  It was a great trip and it great fun to see the ever-expanding Meyer/Wiegand family scene - there were babies and little kids everywhere!  Made it feel like Christmas....

Christmas at 4318

4 generations

My buddy Ollie

the Self Realization Gardens in Encinitas

Grandmother and mom looking west

AJ at the sea

AJ, HM, and ME at the gardens

seastar at Carlsbad low tide

hermit crab - you can see its eyeballs if you look closely!

sunset over the Pacific

mass production

Now we've got some blueberry and strawberry wine in the house!  The strawberry needs lots of time to get better in the bottle - actually, I'm not convinced it will ever get there.  But the blueberry...that's a different story.  Smells great, looks great and...tastes great!  A bit sweet - so maybe it will mellow in the bottle - but is a super good dessert wine right now.  I am shocked!

the christmas centenarian

 

The Centenarian got all in the spirit this weekend and is the first on the block to spread illuminated holiday cheer.  Heck, it may end up being the only house around here with lights this season - this pagan city seems to decorate for Halloween more than for Christmas. We picked up a tree too - another four footer like last year - and decorated with some lights and ornaments.  The Centenarian's looking sharp - love it, and love Christmas!

 Trees at the fruit and vegetable stand down the street - reminds me of the Christmas tree 

lot in A Christmas Story, sans snow

Tree is up; AJ looks on in snowy wonderment

thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving 2011 was another great one, with Adrienne at the helm of the Foodship and me as second mate (read: I baked the bread).  Uncle Mark came down - this year escaping the snow and ice - and stayed the night, which as always was a good time.  And the Packers went to 11-0 for the first time in franchise history - it was a day to be thankful indeed.

Here's the menu, which was another of AJ's stellar creations:

 

The humble beginnings of a Thanksgiving feast

Brunch: Shoofly Pie and mimosas

Mid-afternoon appetizers: oranges, olives, pumpkin seeds, 

crackers and a blueberry cheese wheel with a 2007 Airlie Chardonnay

 Dinner: philo-wrapped braised tofu and bread pudding (beer bread, leeks, carrots, chantarelles, and cheese), brussel sprout salad, crunchy parsnip mashed potatoes, ciabatta, and gin-cranberry sauce 

with a 2001 Morro Bay Cabernet Sauvignon

Dessert: a rustic crostata (I learned a crostata is an ancient pie, before our ancestors had pie-pans) filled with pears, hazelnuts, chocolate, and sugar.  There was also a pumkin pie, but I failed to get a picture of either of these treats when they were finished baking....

A terrible picture, but you get the...well...picture!

the REAL first bottling

 

This is my first bottling with real fruit - nothing canned, nothing pasteurized, nothing fake. It looks like Robitussen (and tastes a bit like it too, but I am telling myself it just needs time...) - but it already tastes way better than the stuff I made before.  We'll see - it needs a year in the bottle now! 

landscaping with edibles

Adrienne's dream of turning the 20th Avenue Garden into an urban farm continues to become reality.  As part of the Centenarian's quest to be beautified, we did a bit of landscaping in the front yard using plants that will subsidize our food intake.  We added huckleberries, currants, thimbleberry, Oregon myrtle/bay laurel, and elderberry - all natives and all bearing delicious fruits and leaves.  Adrienne also tore out the strip of lawn near the street and planted a bunch of different bulbs for some spring color.  We also threw in some lupines and a native rose for good measure.

The giant juniper comes out next to be replaced by a ceanothus, a west-coast plant that loves this climate for some reason, but is super abundant on the hillsides of California.  Stay tuned!

apparently I am a 70 year-old man

Birdhouses.  My new hobby.  I am going to make a complete tiny-town for the birds in our backyard.