Snow Kitty and the Seven Dwarves

Welcome to the One man one cat show of snow kitty and the seven dwarves. Cloe will play the role of snow kitty, and Harvey will play the following:

Dopey

Happy


Sleepy

Doc

Sneezy

Grumpy

And Introducing: Sticky

Fondue

Sunday we had fondue for dinner durring our game night. It was HIT! You don't need fancy gadgets to eat fondue, just a crock pot, a regular pot over the stove, or a bowl in the microwave.
We used these recipes.

Cheese Fondue
1 lb cheese, whatever you have on hand, I used Sharp cheddar, Mozzarella, & Colby jack.
2 tbs Flour
1 1/2 c Apple cider or juice. (I know this one sounds weird, but it was yummy)

Heat until cheese is melted.

Chocolate Fondue
1 c. Chocolate
1 c. Heavy wipping cream (or yogurt if you happen to be out of cream)

Heat until chocolate is melted.

Pizza Fondue
4 ounces bulk sausage
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
30 ounces spaghetti sauce
1 cup sliced (or finely chopped) fresh mushrooms
2/3 cup pepperoni
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/4 cup chopped red peppers

In a large pot, brown sausage, onion and garlic. Drain grease. Add spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, peppers, pepperoni or Canadian-style bacon, and basil. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours to develop the flavors.

Serve these with bread sticks, a loaf sourdough, steamed broccoli, chicken, brownie balls, mushrooms, and fruit chunks.

We found that 3 fondues was way too much for 4 adults and 2 kids. But these amounts would probably be enough for 6-8 people.

Daring Bakers :Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

My macarons were tasty, but a failure as macarons. They were moist, chewy, lumpy, flat and had no feet.

I am going to do these again with a few changes

• Grind the almond flour finer (mine was a meal consistency, straight from the store)
• Double sift the almond/sugar mixture
• Beat the eggs slower so less bubbles form
• Fold the beginning of the 'macaronage' stage harder to get rid of extra bubbles
• Let the cookies dry longer before baking.

These things should solve the issues my cookies went through.

Smiles and Drool

Hey Mom watch this!

I can make it go fast.

Harvey LOVES his zebra.

Random Pics

Just wanted to show off some recent pictures of Harvey.

Harvey getting ready for bed.

Harvey playing with a puzzle from Aunt Rachel.
(mostly he chews on the pieces)

Harvey and Cloe longing for freedom.

Moroccan Beef Stew

Made this for dinner a few nights ago. It was based on the stew from Solstice Cafe in Bingen WA.

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 3/4 pounds beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes (I used hamburger)
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
  
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Put olive oil in pot and saute garlic, carrots, & onions till the onions are clear. Add beef, cook till browned . Add remainder of ingredients, and let simmer till done.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

For the record, I very much enjoyed eating this stew, although next time I'm going to try it with stew meat.

Harvey the Helper

Now that Harvey is older, he likes to help around the house. Currently his favorite helping activities are holding the dryer door open with his head and pre-washing the silverware.
Here are some other ways he has tried to help out recently.

"Hey dad, let me help you hold that stick!"

"Need help studying?"

"You need some buttons pushed dad?"

"Hey Mama, crotchet-ing is fun!"

Day 1

Just a quick note. Harvey is Officially Walking now.

.

.

and He's having THIS much fun.

(not a pic of him actually walking... duh)

Sleeper

I made this Sleeper so Harvey won't be cold at night.

He seems to like it just fine.

Hair Cut

Harvey seriously needed a hair cut.

He was COMPLETLY out for all of this.

Cloe wanted her hair cut too.

Icky Grass

Conversation with my boy.

"Hey Mom, What's this?"

"It's grass bubee"

"I don't think I like it Mom"

"If I smile will you pick me up please?"

"Sure babe"

"Hey now... I wanted to be out of the grass... It's ICKY!"

"We need pictures for the blog babe... You know for your Grandmas."

"Well OK then!"