My Favorite Knife...

Is a Five Star Santuko knife from Zwilling J.A. Henckels. We have a whole block of Henckel Knives but this is the one that I always use and it my favorite.

But, it, hates me. Last March, while I was cutting green peppers for a really good omlette that I was going to make, it sliced through my ring finger. After frantic calls to my neighbor and friend, I headed to the ER and spent 3+ hours there and got steri-stripped on up. The finger is finally looking semi-normal, although the nail grows rather funky.

Wait! What is Princess Jasmine doing there? Oh yeah, last night I was cutting green peppers with my favorite knife... you know how the story goes. Just no trip to the ER this time. I am a dummy.

Christmas is Coming!

I have completed our Christmas letter and will be sending them out today but I have a request for you all.

If you have moved and you think that we don't have your address, please email it to me.  If you are in the process of moving and have a different address that you would like it sent to, please email to me.  If you have never given me your address and are in desperate want of a letter, please email me your address.

Thank you in advance!

Mmmmminestrone!

We have been in the depths of pre-move organization yuck, so I haven't been too good about posting. And then I thought, 'you guys must be starving! I'll post the soup.' Now this recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law and we, of course, made some revisions. And this soup can feed your family for an entire week, or you can bring it as a get well gift, or new baby meal, the possibilities are endless. When e was born, we lived off this soup. We would make a batch and eat it for every meal. We made it so often that the ingredients were permanently listed on my shopping spreadsheet (yep, I have one of those, organized by aisle of course). Anyway, let's make Minestrone.

Ingredients

½ lb Italian sweet sausage (Jimmy Dean in the tube)
½ lb Italian hot sausage (Jimmy Dean in the tube)
3 T. Olive Oil
3 large onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 bunch carrots, diced
2 t. basil
2-3 zucchini, diced
1 can (28 oz) Italian-style tomatoes, including liquid
2 cans (10 oz each) beef stock (we usually use about 5)
1 small head cabbage, finely shredded
1 can (16 oz) white kidney beans, including liquid
1 can (16 oz) red kidney beans, including liquid
½ cup rice
Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Fresh parsley, chopped

In a large stockpot, brown and scramble sausage in olive oil. Add onions, garlic, carrots, and basil; cook 5 minutes. Add zucchini, tomatoes (with liquid), stock, cabbage, salt and pepper. Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour. Add beans (with liquid) and rice. Cook 20 minutes. For a thinner broth, add more stock. Serve, topped with Parmesan cheese and parsley (red pepper flakes optional). Fresh bread is always a great accompaniment The soup may be made ahead and reheated. It may also be frozen, but the texture changes a bit. Serves 8 to 10.

I'm Turning Japanese

I really think so.

Have you ever seen young Japanese girls? The really do have a unique sense of style.

KK has started wanting to pick her own clothes and we are letting her. She comes up with some interesting combinations. I love it!

How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Shower

1.  Send husband off to present his thesis at the Pentagon (see post below).

2.  Get two-year old out of bed.

3.  Turn on TV and hope that said two-year old would watch something (even though she never has).

4.  Hop in the shower.

5.  Entertain two-year old by poking head out of shower every now and then to make sure that the Neosporin is not being used as toothpaste.

6.  Just as you are about to finish, have two-year old remove PJ's and diaper on their own, yell 'I naked Mama', and climb into shower with you.

7.  Oh yeah, make sure that the diaper has been soiled so that when two-year old climbs in with you they are sure to smear feces on the edge of the tub and bring a friend with them.

Ahh... it's going to be a long couple of days.

Green is Good!

E got his 'green card' today which means that he has officially completed his Master's Thesis. Woohoo!! Somebody give that man a Bud. Wait, he already has one.

He flies out tomorrow to present it at the Pentagon. We will keep our fingers crossed here and hope that all goes well.

Congratulations and Good Luck!

Girls Day Out

Our long time Navy friends, R, JC and baby C came to visit us for Thanksgiving and we have been having a wonderful time.

R and E headed up to Palo Alto for the Notre Dame/Stanford game this morning, so we had a girls day out. Today was a gorgeous day here on the bay and we decided to go down to Fisherman's Wharf to bark at the seals... and they barked back.

Here are a bunch of seals warming themselves in the sun. This technique still amazes me.

Here's our model-to-be.

And her 'monarch'... 'I know it's a monarch Mommy because of the orange and black and white'.

We headed over to the Coast Guard Pier to find more seals... and did we ever. I have never seen them this close up... we could have pet them (probably not advised, so we didn't). I think they were actually posing for the camera.

I could have shot pictures all day.

Here are JC and cute baby C... and lots more seals.

'Come by and see me real soon.'