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.