Wednesday, October 31, 2012

October Fun

 Esther at her rock-climbing class
 Esther 'shows what she knows' at an 'expo' for local homeschoolers
 Esther posing with her favorite teacher!
 'Cartoon' Henry and Esther at Golden Corral on 'Grandma' Night
 'My hands are DIRTY', says Silas
 Esther and 'Lady'
 Esther's Co-Op project
 Getting to the 'heart' of human anatomy
 Making 'worms'
 Everybody stirs
 Pudding and PBS kids while we wait for the next 'step' in the worm recipe


 ....and we WAIT....
 A 'nest' o' worms!
 The kids thought getting 33 worms each was quite a lot!


Monday, September 24, 2012

HAPPY AUTUMN!

I've gotten behind in posting since school started, but I thought this would be a good 'come-back'! Wish I'd taken a pic of the finished product, but I was too excited to chow down! Perfect for a family dinner, but I'd be pleased to serve this recipe to guests!

Slow Cooker Harvest Pork Chops

A hearty and delicious recipe to welcome Fall!

Makes 5 servings        

5 boneless pork chops or cutlets (mine were big, total weight about 2 lbs. and I cut each in half)

1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (did not use)

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 lb. Delicata Squash (Butternut is good too)

1 lb. or more yam/sweet potato, any variety

2 medium oranges peeled and sliced

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. ground ginger

OR ¾ tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice may be used in place of above 3 spices

Salt to taste (I didn’t add any at all as we eat Low Sodium)

Spray non –stick coating in bottom of slow cooker (or use Crock Pot cooking bag for easy clean up)

Sprinkle pork with red pepper and garlic and salt. Place pork in a 4 or 5 qt. slow cooker. Peel, halve and scrape seeds/pulp from squash (discard unless you want to save seeds for roasting); cut peeled squash into ½ in. thick slices. Peel and halve yams, cut into ½ in. thick slices; add to crock pot on top of meat. Top all with sliced oranges, sprinkle combination of spices over all.

Cover and cook on LOW until meat is tender. (I cooked mine on the 6 hour setting. I would recommend watching meat carefully so as not to over-cook vegetables.

No additional liquid is required and neither is pre-braising of meat unless desired. The recipe was not greasy and the juice from the oranges provides plenty of liquid.

Very nice served with homemade applesauce!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

First Day of School

Esther's VERY happy about her
first day of Second Grade!

Henry poses in front of his school - his Kindergarten class is called the Roadrunners!

Esther (and Charity) are beginning their second year of home-school. When we asked the kids for their 'report' on their first day of school, Grandpa and I quizzed Henry about his teacher, classmates and what he had learned. When I asked Esther who her teacher is she wrinkled up her sweet face and said comically, 'YOU know!' I teasingly asked her if she made any new friends or met any new kids. She said just finches, woodpeckers
and hummingbirds attracted by the
bird-feeder in their back-yard.
Her teacher, Mrs. Heerema, noted it was
a very good first day of classes!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Tribute to 39 Years!

August 11, 1973,
'I am my beloved's
and he is mine!'

Not too much the worse for wear after 39 years!

On our special anniversary outing: 
Rick tries to 'phone home' at the
Very Large Array near Magdalena, NM

Judi is dwarfed by the giant radio-telescope

For more on the Very Large Array, check out http://www.vla.nrao.edu/ 


For our anniversary lunch, we enjoyed EXCELLENT home cooking at the tiny-but-quaint Bear Mountain Restaurant in Magdalena, NM! 

And although we didn't get a picture, Rick enjoyed a  tasty beverage at Soccoro Springs brewery in Socorro, NM, on the way home. Across town, Judi had a great cup o' Joe at a cute little coffee house on the Soccoro Plaza...after 39 years, 
we no longer feel quite so compelled to
 do EVERYTHING together!