Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone

Ray and I had a wonderful Christmas at his brother Cullen's home. They were also nice enough to invite Mac and Consuelo. Of course, M&C are now extended family, so of course they were invited! DeAnne did a spectacular job feeding all of us ham, spinach madeline, mashed potatoes, wild rice, asparagus, and a couple of desserts that were truly fabulous. Thank you DeAnne!!

We had a lovely day of visiting and consuming a lot of wine! We thank all of you very much for making our Christmas special.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our friends and family. We love and miss all of you.

Mac and Consuelo's New House

Their home sets on 1 acre in New Braunfels, TX. Very nice, not too big, but certainly big enough.

I am standing at the end of the paved drive that goes to the garage in the house. This rock drive goes to a free standing garage in the back of the property...fabulous!

Mac and Ray of course.

Consuelo in her great kitchen.


They are just loving their new home. They are having great fun shopping for new furniture, etc. We are loving having them so close to us. They are an hour drive away, but it feels like they are in our backyard. We are a lot happier since they are here. We really miss all our friends.

Happy Birthday, Ray!!!

HAVE A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Mel Willis of "American Eagle"

I'm very sadden to post that Mel Willis of "American Eagle" died on Nov. 29. I don't have any details except that Nanci plans to take his ashes to Vallarta in the Spring. They recently had a very ugly breakup, but Nanci really cared for him a lot. I know she will miss him even though they were not together anymore.

Brunch with Mac and Consuelo

We had yet another wonderful time with Mac and Consuelo today. We met in Boerne , TX(pronounced Bernie) for brunch today. The meal wasn't memorable, but the company sure was! We toasted Tony Camacho...today is his birthday. We can't seem to forget his birthday because it's Pearl Harbor day!

Boerne is a small town just west of here in the heart of "Hill Country". It is very, very "Texas" and very quaint with a number of small shops within about a two block area. It's a favorite place to walk and shop on a Sunday...so that's exactly what we did. Consuelo was looking for a piece of furniture for their entry and some unique Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, she found neither. We'll just have to do it all over again in another quaint little town. We've got plenty to choose from in this area.

Sorry, no pics today...I forgot the camera home!

Thanks for the nice thoughts....

To Kirby and Suzie and Jim and Heather....thanks for the lovely thoughts on our anniversary posts. We've been a little buried lately and haven't had much time to blog so I thought I would just touch base and say thank you. By the way, Ray and I think Jim and Heather are stunning also!!

Here Are A Couple More Pics To Make You Laugh

Look at the head of hair on Ray and those skinny legs on me!!

Check out the hairdos!!! What a trip back.

OMG!! Look what 39 years can do to you!!

Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 39th wedding anniversary. I love this man as much or more today as I did 39 years ago. What a special person he is. Now, everyone say, "Happy Anniversary"!!!

Thanksgiving at the Coltrane's 2008

Attendees: Mac, Consuelo, Cullen (Ray's Brother), and Casey (Cullen's lovely Daughter)

This is what the guys do while the girls are in the kitchen! That is, when they aren't watching football.

Here's Consuelo making her Waldorf Salad.

This is Consuelo's plate. I want you to know that little gal ate all of this and more.

The menu was:

Gourmet Tamales for Appetizers (Consuelo brought these from Wimberly, TX)

• Pork
• Cordon Bleu
• Spice Vegetarian
• Raisin and Apple

Dinner

• Turkey Breast
• Ham
• Cornbread Dressing
• Oyster Dressing
• Artichoke and Green Bean Casserole Italian Style
• Sweet Potatoes
• Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
• Peas
• Waldorf Salad
• Fresh Cranberry Compote
• Homemade French Bread
• Pumpkin Pie w/Fresh Whipped Cream
• Pecan Pie w/Vanilla Ice Cream

I fixed a great deal of the meal ahead of time so yesterday was a no stress day. It was just wonderful and what holiday meals should be. We loved having Mac and Consuelo here with us. And of course, we loved having Cullen and Casey. Cullen's wife, DeAnne spent a week with her folks in Seattle. We missed having her here. She flew back last night so we sent her a nice care package home with Cullen and Casey.

Dinner and a Wiring Job

Here's the photo op I promised! We had an absolutely wonderful visit with Mac and Consuelo yesterday. We were privileged to be the first guests in their new home. I tried to get pics of the outside of the house, but I waited too late and it was getting dark...sorry.

Mac celebrated his 78th birthday on Saturday...he looks and feels great and is in better shape than us!

Mac cooked us bangers and mash for brunch.

This was the first time Ray and I have had bangers and mash. Mac was worried that it would be too bland for us Cajuns. It was delightful! We really enjoyed the meal and the company.

Now, Ray had to pay for dinner!! Mac needed help getting his new TV, speakers, DVD, etc., etc. all hooked up. Naturally he enlisted help from his favorite techie.

This is a shot of their back yard. I just love all the oak trees. They actually have over 50 on the entire property. I wish our back yard look like this. We have a larger property, but all it has is mesquite trees. They do not grow very high and do not give a lot of shade.

We are so thrilled to have them near us. They are only about an hour's drive away. Next time we visit, I will get some pics of the house.

Last of the 2008 Harvest

Well, I have harvested the last of my veggie garden today. Thought I would take a picture for you guys since I got a little fussed at about not taking pictures. I'll try to do better, I promise.

Last of the Visitors Leaving Tomorrow

Well we had a grand BBQ here at the house on Saturday. In attendance were the Melhuish's, the Corsi's, Ray's brother Cullen and his wife DeAnne, and my sister, Linda. We had a great meal and a fabulous gathering. It was so nice having friends around us again.

Ray did a fabulous job on grilling the meat. Consuelo brought great appetizers. We had baked potatoes, spring salad with balsamic vinaigrette, mixed veggies, and bread pudding for dessert. Everyone enjoyed the food and we enjoyed having everyone here.

We have discovered that we are much more social animals than we ever thought. After living in Vallarta for so long with nothing but socialization, coming here to San Antonio has been a huge adjustment for us. An adjustment that we don't want to make anymore, hence the motorhome! We will create an ever changing new social scene again...can't wait.

We have been actively searching for the right motorhome. It's a perfect time to buy one right now...quite a buyers market. On the other hand, we are being very conservative about spending the money right now. The stock market woes have made us much more discerning about the motorhome amenities. It really is going to have to be the right one for us to get off the $. Today, the market is looking up, hopefully all will stabilize soon. We are just hoping for normalcy.

Friends Visiting

We have had an unusually busy week with visiting friends. Mac and Consuelo arrived on Saturday night. They spent Sunday with us at the Builder's Expo food booth. We served New Orleans style subs for lunch. For breakfast we had breakfast burritos (they call them tacos here in SA) and blueberry scones. We had to explain what a blueberry scone is to a surprisingly large number of folks! This population is not what one would consider culinary savvy. We served bread pudding all day long. Everyone knew what that was and it seemed to be a big hit. Mac and Consuelo were of tremendous help. We appreciated them being here. Sunday was the third day of that thing and we were pretty tired and worn out. Mac helped us break down the booth, haul scads of stuff out to the vehicles, and then unload all that stuff at our shop. It took two loads. Thanks Mac!!

Luigi and Marjorie came in on Tuesday night. They still have not sold their house. They are wanting to build on their property here in SA pretty bad. On Wednesday, Mac and Consuelo closed escrow on their new home in New Braunsfels. We and the Corsi's went to see the house and help Mac and Consuelo celebrate. Their new home is just beautiful on an acre just outside of town. We all went to the Grist Mill for a great dinner. It sure was nice having friends around us. We miss all of our friends very much. Too bad we all live so far apart.

Tonight we had dinner with the Corsi's at a Mongolian BBQ place called Hu Hot. We made up our own plates with cold food items from a buffet and they cooked our selections on a big round griddle...quite good and it was fun. We had great conversation...we enjoyed it a lot. We were there for 4 hours!!

We are going to Houston on Sunday to do some motorhome shopping. We'll let you know if we find something interesting.

Blueberry Scones with Pictures

Finally, I got around to taking these pictures to illustrate this recipe step by step. Try them and enjoy!

Blueberry Scones
Makes 8

DRY MIX:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
2 tsps baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
2 tsps lemon zest
8 Tbls unsalted butter, frozen and grated
WET MIX:
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
FRUIT:
1 cup blueberries
TOPPING:
2 Tbls butter, melted
1 Tbl sugar

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

NOTE: Pictures are of a double batch. Yours should be half as much.

1. Grate frozen butter on box grater (large holes) or in food processor using the grating disk. Put in freezer until you are ready for it.

2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and mix well with whisk.

3. Combine wet mix ingredients in a small bowl and mix well with whisk.

4. Work butter into dry mix with fingers or a pastry cutter.

5. Make a well in center of dry mix and pour in the wet mix.

6. Using a rubber spatula incorporate dry mix and wet mix with a folding action. Bring it together every so gently. Mix as little as possible. At this point, the mix should be very disorganized and shaggy…great.

7. Turn mix out onto a heavily floured board.

8. Push all together into a rectangle. Do not knead.

9. With a floured rolling pin, flatten keeping the rectangular shape as much as possible till about ½” thick. With a dough scraper or large spatula, fold one long side into the center.

10. Then lift the other long side and fold into center.

11. Fold the dough's short sides into center. You should have a thick compact square or small rectangle. Put into freezer for 5 minutes.

12. Remove from freezer and roll dough into rectangle about ½” thick. Press blueberries slightly into dough on long of rectangle. No need to cover the entire surface. Now roll dough jellyroll fashion starting with the blueberry side.

13. Flatten slightly and shape until you have a rectangle about 4” wide by 12” long and 1 ½” to 2” thick. Brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. With floured dough scraper or large knife, cut dough in half in the middle of the 12” side making two 6" pieces. Then cut each 6" piece in half making four 3" pieces. Cut each 3" piece in half on an angle creating a triangle.

14. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 425ºF for 22-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

NOTE: These are very good heated up the next day. Bake for 5 minutes at 400ºF. They also freeze very well. Let frozen ones defrost and then bake 5 minutes at 400ºF.

Our Babies!!

Flowers in our garden. These are to cheer you up Suzie...just a little.

As promised, here are some photos of our two babies all grown up.

Now take that Jim and Heather for all the telepathic smashies!!

I think Sami just might be smiling at.....let me see...... Kirby!

Smoochies!

They sure are going to miss this big back yard, but we are replacing it with all outdoors and many new adventures. They just might like it better!

Thirty Things One Parent Learned From His Children

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 square foot house 4 inches deep.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3. A 3-year old child’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42-pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape.
5. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan and tie it to a paint can, it does spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 room.
6. You should not throw base balls ups when the ceiling fan is on.
7. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit.
8. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
9. The glass in windows (including double pane windows) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
10. Action man can be rotated nicely on a ceiling fan and kids understand the speed/rotation thing enough to place unsuspecting victims in the right chair at the right time to get smacked by Action man.
11. When you hear the toilet flush along with the words “uh oh”, it’s already too late.
12. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke (and lots of it). Note1: Children should not try this unless accompanied by a responsible adult. Note 2: Dads - A responsible adult wouldn’t even try this. Note 3: Dads – When you try this, don’t do it while your wife is around. She will think you are an idiot. Note 4: My wife thinks I’m an idiot.
13. A six-year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36 year-old man says they can only do it in the movies.
14. Play-Doh and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
15. No matter how much jell-O you put in a swimming pool, you still can’t walk on water.
16. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
17. VCRs do not eject sandwiches, even though TV commercials show they do.
18. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
19. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
20. You Probably don’t want to know what that smell is.
21. Always look in the oven before you turn it on.
22. Plastic toys do not like ovens.
23. The fire department in y town has a 5-minute response time.
24. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy, however.
25. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy. Note: It was an accident. Don’t be mean to animals!
26. A 3-year old boy who is told not to go outside and play in the dirt will bring the dirt inside, mix it with water and build roads on the new living room carpet.
27. You should not stand too close to a fire alarm in a large grocery store if your child is in the basket.
28. The person who invented washable markers is a genius. The one who left the laundry marker out where the kids could get it is not.
29. Never reveal your true feelings about someone in front of your kids if there is any chance that the kid and that person might meet someday.
30. 60% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and the brake fluid.

Recipe: Nutty Basmati Rice

This one is for you Suzie...

Nutty Basmati Rice
Serves 8

2 Tbsps Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Lg Stick Cinnamon
2 Whole Cloves
3/4 C Onion, minced
1/2 Tsp Ground Cardamom
2 C Basmati Rice, uncooked
1 C Water
2 C Chicken Broth
1/4 C Dates, chopped
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Orange Zest
1/4 C Pistachio Nuts, unsalted, toasted

1. Heat oil and butter in 3 qt. Dutch oven over high heat.
2. Add cinnamon and cloves and cook, stirring, until the cinnamon stick puffs up, 1-2 min.
3. Reduce heat and add onion and cardamon and saute until the onion is clear, about 3 min.
4. Stir in the rice and mix to coat all the grains.
5. Cook until it begins to be aromatic, 1-2 min.
6. Add water, chicken broth, dates, salt, and orange zest and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to low and cover tightly.
8. Simmer until all of the liquid has been absorbed, 13-15 min.
9. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 min to allow the rice to stabilize.
10. Uncover and remove cinnamon stick and cloves. Cloves will rise to the top during cooking.
11. Fluff with fork and garnish with pistachios before serving.

Okay Heather, Here They Are...Our First Cars

Mine was a 1963 Plymouth Valiant (white)

In keeping with family tradition, my parents helped a little with the purchase. Most of the cost was mine. Of course, the insurance was all mine. This car got such good gas mileage that I would totally forget to look at the gas gauge and would run out of gas often. My Dad would get so irritated with me because he would have to rescue me. I bought it in 1967.

Here is Ray's first car....a 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix

His Dad bought if for the family and then "sold" it to Ray for a forgettable price in 1965. Ray still loves that car.

At Last...All Quiet On The Eastern Front

Now this is what I like to see...


Mac and Consuelo got hit in Beaumont from H. Ike. Their house was not damaged, but the yard, driveway, and streets are strewn with down trees and branches. They are busy cleaning up this week. They will be without power for another two weeks, so they are going to come and hang out with us until all is well. Yipee! They sold the house in Beaumont and bought one in New Braunsfels (just north of San Antonio). They close on the new one around Oct. 1. It will be so nice having them close by for our time left in San Antonio. They sure are happy to get away from the coast. This is the second hurricane that has given them problems. They say YA! We know the feeling.

Recipes: Blueberry Scones; Biscuits | Beginning Preparations for Builder's Expo on Sept. 26-28

We have a food booth at the San Antonio Builder's Expo at the Alamo Dome next week. Today we started tracking down supplies. Our menus are:

Breakfast Burritos and Blueberry Scones

Lunch Po'boys:
1. Roast Beef
2. Ham and Cheese
3. Cajun Turkey
4. Ferdie (Combo of all three meats)
NuAwlins Bread Pudding

For a truly authentic po'boy one needs to have authentic New Orleans French bread. I had previously arranged for our genuine French bread to come in from New Orleans. Well, today I was informed that it was not going to be here in time. I went into panic mode for a little while. I was saved by one of my suppliers. He found French bread, just not from the infamous Leidenheimer's Bakery in New Orleans. It's a close second and I'm grateful.

I am posting the Scone recipe that I will be using for the breakfast. I will take photos when I make these later this week and interject them into the appropriate section for each step. It's pretty easy after you see it done.

Blueberry Scones
Makes 8

DRY MIX:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
2 tsps baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
2 tsps lemon zest
8 Tbls unsalted butter, frozen and grated
WET MIX
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
FRUIT 1 ½ cups blueberries
TOPPING
2 Tbls butter, melted
1 Tbl sugar

Preheat oven to 425ºF.
1. Combine dry ingredients and mix well with whisk.
2. Combine wet mix ingredients and mix well.
3. Work butter into dry mix with fingers or a pastry cutter.
4. Working with a rubber spatula with a folding action, combine dry mix and wet mix. Bring it together every so gently. Mix as little as possible. At this point, the mix should be very disorganized and shaggy…great.
5. Turn mix out onto a heavily floured board and push all together into a rectangle. Do not knead. With a floured rolling pin, flatten keeping the rectangular shape as much as possible till about ½” thick.
6. With a dough scraper or large spatula, lift dough along the long sides and fold into center. Then lift dough short sides and fold into center. You should have a thick compact square or small rectangle. Put into freezer for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from freezer and roll dough into rectangle about ½” thick.
8. Press blueberries into dough on long of rectangle. Now roll dough jellyroll fashion starting with the blueberry side.
9. Flatten slightly and shape until you have a rectangle about 4” wide by 12” long and 1 ½” to 2” thick.
10. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
11. With dough scraper or large knife, cut dough in half in the middle of the 12” side making two 6" pieces. Then cut each 6" piece in half again making four 3" pieces. Cut each 3" piece in half on an angle creating a triangle.
12. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 425ºF for 22-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

NOTE: These are very good heated up the next day. Bake for 10 minutes at 400ºF. They also freeze very well. Let frozen ones defrost and then bake 10 minutes at 400ºF.

I basically use this same recipe for biscuits with these modifications:

Biscuits
Makes 8-10

DRY MIX:
1 cup soft flour (such as flour for tortillas)
1 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
½ cup Butter-flavored Crisco
WET MIX
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
TOPPING
2 Tbls butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425ºF.
1. Combine dry ingredients and mix well with whisk.
2. Combine wet mix ingredients and mix well.
3. Work Crisco into dry mix with fingers or pastry cutter.
4. Working with a rubber spatula with a folding action, combine dry mix and wet mix. Bring it together every so gently. Mix as little as possible. At this point, the mix should be very disorganized and shaggy…great.
5. Turn mix out onto a heavily floured board and push all together. With a floured rolling pin, roll until about 1” thick.
6. Cut into squares or rounds with a very sharp cookie cutter. Note: Dip your cutter into flour after each cut or the dough will stick to the cutter.
7. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 425ºF for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
8. Brush with melted butter

NOTE: These are very good heated up the next day. Bake for 10 minutes at 400ºF. They also freeze very well. Let frozen ones defrost and then bake 10 minutes at 400ºF.

Have fun!

Recipe: Dirty Rice | Ike The Non-Event for San Antonio

Ike has passed on and I hope we don’t have anymore of those guys this year! I spoke with Mac and Consuelo and they are fine…a bit hot from no A/C and a bit tired from cleaning up debris, but all in all okay. They had lots of trees fall in the yard and across the driveway, but remarkably none fell on the house! Yeah!

Ike was a non-event for us…no wind, no rain…drats! We were hoping for just a little rain…it is so dry here right now. But I’ve learned to be wary of wishing for rain. Sometimes Mother Nature over does it a bit and then we have to grow webbed feet again!

Luigi and Marjorie Corsi just called to check on Mac and Consuelo and to let us know they will be visiting in about 3 weeks. Tony and Annie Camacho called last night to say, guess what…they will be visiting in about 3 weeks! We would prefer them visit at different times. We don’t get a lot of company, so we would like to stretch it out and savor it. I hope it works out the way we would like, but if it doesn’t…se la vie!
Heather, we tell our little Skips all the time how special you two are and for that matter, anyone else that will listen! And of course they get a lot of smashies from Dad mostly. Skipper is chewing on a fuzzy toy in the previous post. Here he has a rawhide. What a cool dude he is…

Ray and I went to the movies today and saw “Righteous Kill” with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. It was pretty good and we certainly enjoyed it. We came home and watch a DVD about working on the road while traveling those highways and byways…very interesting. It certainly gave us some good ideas. You guys know me, I have to something productive or somehow I feel like I’m dying on the vine. A little part time job would fill the bill nicely. The speaker said that most of the resorts love to have hire “workampers”. Official definition: Workampers are adventuresome individuals, couples and families who have chosen a wonderful lifestyle that combines ANY kind of part-time or full-time work with RV camping. If you work as an employee, operate a business, or donate your time as a volunteer, AND you sleep in an RV (or on-site housing), you are a Workamper!

This is a new word for us...we like it. After a little research, we find that there are a number of resources on the net to help find a job. We think this is going to be fun.

Here is another item that was on the Labor Day Feast table...

Dirty Rice

Serves a bunch

16 Ozs Pork Sausage, Hot, Bulk
3 Bunches Green Onions, chopped
1/2 Tbsp Chicken Bouillon
1 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
2 C Rice, White, cooked

1. Chop green onions separating tops and bottoms.
2. On high heat, sauté sausage, breaking apart, and bottoms of green onions till cooked.
3. Add chicken bouillon and lower heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and mix in Creole seasoning. Add green onion tops and toss in hot meat mixture until just heated through, about 30 seconds.
5. Add cooked rice and mix very well.

You guys probably have this recipe, but I thought it was worth repeating. Enjoy!

Recipe: Oven Roasted Veggies | Sitting Tight for IKE!

This satellite photo was from 9 p.m. tonight.




Well, we did all our preparations today to withstand a couple of days without power. We fully expect to have flooding in the surrounding areas. We are not worried about the house flooding, but getting to and from the house will be interesting next week. Last time we had a flash flood nearby, a guy got washed off the road in his car. He climbed a tree and started calling his wife and 911 from his cell. They had a heck of a time getting him out of the tree and he had a heck of a time convincing the authorities that it wasn't his fault. Here they fine you for running through rushing water. That area drained over the road for a solid 2 months afterward. It was low and we could run through it, but it astounded us that it took so long to finally dry up. Who knows, if Ike keeps on truckin' northeast we might not get too much from this system. We really need some rain...just not too much!

Heather, I'm going to post my very first pics to this blog just for you. Of course they will be of our fantabulous Sami Girl and Skipper Boy with Raymie thrown in for good measure!


Is that a look of pure love or what! This is Sami Girl at 5 months old.


This is the pic of Sami the breeder sent before we bought the pups and Ray just couldn't resist this cute little thing.



What a look! This is Skipper.

I will try to take some new pics of them as they are 2 1/2 yrs old now. They are adorable. Both of their personalities are very different from each other and also different from our boy Fritzer. We still miss Fritzy terribly. Our love for all three is different. I bet he could use a Snausage right about now from his auntie and uncle!



From a previous post, you know that Consuelo and Mac evacuated here to San Antonio from Beaumont, TX for H. Gustav over the Labor Day weekend. We had a wonderful meal on Labor Day. Consuelo was in charge of the veggies. We all enjoyed this dish so much that I made it again tonight. She tells me she was inspired by Anneke Jennings to create this recipe. Below is what I happened to have on hand. Mix it up as you like.

Oven Roasted Veggies
Serves 6-8

1 Eggplant, cubed
2 yellow squash, cubed
1 green bell pepper, cubed
1 yellow bell pepper, cubed
1 med. onion, petaled
8 oz mushrooms (any kind), quartered
8 oz grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Garlic Powder or fresh garlic to taste

Prepare all the veggies and place into a large bowl. You can cut these in large cubes or small ones. Just adjust the cooking time. Add oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic powder or fresh. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste. Toss everything well. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil and spread your veggies onto sheet. Bake at 400 ºF for 20-30 min.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is that the veggies can be changed, the seasonings can be changed, and the vinegar can be changed or even omitted. So clean out your veggie drawer and experiment with the seasonings. It will come out wonderful every time.

Note: If you don't have fresh herbs on hand, use dried. Reduce the amount by 1/2.

Empty Nest Syndrome!

On August 25, Kirby Townsend, an old friend from Ventura and later Mexico, stopped by for a visit. He drove to California from his home in South Carolina to spend a little time with his wonderful son, Lee. Kirby accompanied Lee aboard a freighter on which Lee is 2nd mate. They left Long Beach, went to Oakland and then on to Hawaii. Kirby was able to visit with Tom and Diane Hall at their new home in Hawaii. We knew Tom in Ventura. Then, of course they made the return trip. It is so fablulous that Kirby was able to make such a wonderful trip like that with Lee. On the return drive, Kirby stopped here in San Antonio to spend a few days. We got all caught up on our lives...what a treat! He left on August 29. He picked up Suzie in Atlanta (visiting her sister) and then they went on to visit Steve and Molly Odehnal who live about 30 miles north of Atlanta. Then they returned home only to have Hurricane Hanna knocking on their door. It turned out to be a non issue, thank goodness.

On August 30. we had a houseful of evacuees and returnees for Hurricane Gustav. Our friends, Mac and Consuelo Melhuish of Beaumont, TX (soon to be New Braunfels, TX) were here just in case Gustav got testy. Also, my sister and her husband Gary returned home from New Orleans for the same reason. We had a great Labor Day weekend. Cullen (Ray's brother), DeAnne (his wife), and their lovely daughter Casey had dinner with us. We all had a great time.

Mac really captivated Cullen with his Navy stories, especially the one about driving his plane off the front of his aircraft carrier! And he lived to tell about it. It actually happened to him twice! Both were mechanical failures (not pilot). They've really improved those catapults since then! Thank goodness Gustav wasn't as bad as we expected, so Mac and Consuelo went home and Linda and Gary went back to New Orleans.

Now we have Hurricane Ike barreling through the Florida Straits as a Cat 3 as I write this and it appears he is headed straight for Louisiana!! I definitely expect all my evacuees to return shortly. They need to fill this nest back up anyway!