Monday, March 25, 2013

Video Of Luke and Emily's Wedding

I handed the family snap and shoot digital camera to the one and only Peter Snider the morning of Luke and Emily's wedding. He was given the job of taking candid photographs during the ceremony.  So what does Peter do - he surpasses expectations and films a video.
This is certainly not the best angle but it may be the only video of the ceremony.


Friday, March 22, 2013

Wedding Photo - Luke and Emily

Luke and Emily are married. The ceremony and reception were perfect, the bride beautiful, the groom joyful and all is right with the world.

As you might guess, we are recovering from the events and so the blog updates are few and far between.

I did take a couple seconds to upload two photographs.

Enjoy!

The Very Happy Couple

Friends and Sisters

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Wedding Week - Luke

The Groom - Doesn't Luke look excited about the wedding!
He Looks Ready to Get Married
Wedding Week is here.  Over the past month we have talked wedding plans at dinner every night. The talk is of fun, excitement, anticipation and joy.  We are looking forward big time to this wedding.

Emily and Luke are perfect for each other.  More pictures to follow.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Picture of the Day - Gina and Zeke

 This was captured on Zeke's most recent visit. Being a Nonna is the best.
Gina and Zeke - February 2013. Eugene, OR

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Everybody Loves Waffles

On a typical Saturday morning pancakes are the meal of choice (which I wrote about here and here). But sometimes a change up is called for and that means waffles.  Now waffles meet even more of the Dad Cooks criteria than pancakes which is always a good thing.  Plus anytime you can use a gadget it is a bonus.  

So I love to get up early, take the waffle iron out of the closet (yes, I store it in the coat closet), mix up the batter, and let Gina sleep in or take a long morning shower before anyone else uses the hot water.

My recipe is based on this cookbook.
 The Loved and Well Used King Arthur Cookbook
 It is so easy to make from scratch I'm not tempted to use a box mix. Also, I enjoy the satisfaction of crafting a meal from the simplest ingredient list possible.

Recipe:

          4 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
          1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
          1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
          1 Teaspoon Salt
          3 Tablespoons Sugar (Add more or less per your taste)
          Milk + 1 large spoon of Yogurt so that entire amount equals 1 Quart
          4 eggs
         Half to Whole stick of butter melted (depending on how much you like butter)

  • Mix the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt and Sugar in large bowl.  Make sure to mix well.
  • In another container scoop one large spoonful of yogurt and pour enough milk so that together they measure 1 Quart (you can skip the yogurt if you don't have any)
  • Add 4 eggs and stir well
  • Add melted butter and stir again
  • Slowly pour liquid into the Dry Ingredients while stirring.
  • Do not over mix. Mix well enough to leave no dry ingredients and then stop.  Lumps are good!
  • Let sit for 15 minutes
  • Now you are ready
*If you or your family are very sensitive to whole wheat's sometimes assertive flavor, try substituting 2 tablespoons orange juice for 2 tablespoons of the milk in this recipe. The orange juice tames whole wheat's potentially tanic taste, without adding any citrus flavor of its own.
The critical part of cooking waffles is making sure the iron is hot. So I turn the iron before I even begin gathering ingredients.  That way it is plenty hot and ready when I'm ready.

My waffle iron is a cheap one and has worked well for many years.  I don't recommend spending a bunch of money on a tool that you don't use often.  

Pour one cup of batter onto the hot iron. 
Batter on the iron, ready to cook.
The waffle doesn't fill the entire iron but I like it this way since there is less mess and the clean up is quicker.
Waffle ready to eat!
While Peter and Hanni are waiting for the waffles they lounging around in anticipation.  The noise I make in the kitchen getting ready is just load enough to get them out of bed.  For some reason it doesn't seem loud enough to get anyone over the age of 13 out of bed.




Tuesday, March 5, 2013

A Lego Bomb - A boy and his uncle

Sometimes when I pull the photos from my camera I get a surprise or two or three.  Here is what  I found today:
Boys Room - Lego Bomb
It seems a lego bomb went off in the boys room and someone decided to document the event.

The next picture tells a little more of the tale.   Abe appears to be grabbing Gideon after finding him in the room with the legos scattered everywhere.  
Uncle Abe wrestling Gideon

The last picture shows a triumphant Gideon, having the time of his life.
Looks like Gideon getting the best of Abe
I'm really not sure what happened and who took the pictures.  Sometimes the pictures are taken do document some wrong doing that one of the younger kids want to prove to Mom or Dad.

Note: Yes the boys room has pink walls.  The girls moved out a few years ago and though I found time to paint the girl's new room, I never painted the boys room.  Maybe when look gets married in a couple weeks and moves out it will be time.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Gina My Favorite Vegan

Gina has gone vegan and it has been a pretty easy transition for the rest of the family.  The biggest challenge is finding a restaurant for us on our dates. If it is hard to find a place in Eugene, Oregon I can only imagine how hard it is in other towns. Here is a picture of our plates at the Cornbread Cafe, a vegan diner in Eugene.
Gina at Cornbread Cafe - Eugene
The biggest shock for me about vegan eating - the hardcore vegans don't eat anything with honey because bees are sentient.  Gina isn't that hardcore.