Category: Family

Imitation is the finest form of flattery.

We love to make homemade pizza at the house.  Monte has longed to have a wood-fired pizza oven of our own.  We opted out of one when we remodeled the kitchen a few years back.  For Christmas this year I got him a Kettle Pizza kit for making pizza outdoors, on the grill.  It had great reviews and seemed to be worth checking out.

We also love the pizza from our local Brick Oven pizza restaurant.  We like to call it the second best pizza in town – next to ours. 🙂

There is one pizza they make that is fantastic and we have always wanted to try making it ourselves: the Tuscan Truffle.

So…tonight we fired up the kettle and gave it a go.  And…. We NAILED IT!
Here is a shot if our first try in the kettle:

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Tuscan Truffle pizza

The “sauce” is a mushroom pesto – made out of sautéed mushrooms, parmesan cheese and truffle oil puréed in a food processor. The toppings are prosciutto and mozzarella cheese (just a little, not much of either).  It only took about 5 minutes in the kettle pizza oven.  After removing,  add arugula and grated asiago cheese on top to wilt / melt from the heat of the pizza.  Drizzle a little more truffle oil on top and VOILA!  Delicious.

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Framed.

I finally got around to framing a print that I bought on my last visit to Pike Place Market in Seattle. The artist is Leone Ardo.
Monte made the frame out of western red cedar. It turned out nice, I think.

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You know it’s cold when…

…the neighborhood gargoyle is wearing his woolies.  🙂

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Back to work.

We’ve survived the flu!   We were supping on Tamiflu for two in the week since Christmas.   Not what I had imagined for the end of my vacation, but…. it is what it is.  And we are all better now!   Just in time to get back to work.  :/

Temps have been dipping low again in the 20s overnight.   We are keeping warm with hot cocoa, and a dose of mini marshmallows, of course.  It makes the work day go by faster.

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Here we go again!

I wish you a most happy, loving, and exciting 2014! I’m counting my blessings while reeling through memories from the year we just wrapped up. Here’s to the next lap ’round the sun. Cheers!

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What I got for Christmas…

I have one more week of vacation left. And I get to spend it …. with the flu. Bleh.

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The fever has been up to almost 104. But now am on tamiflu. Merry Christmas!

And the winner is…

Joe! First christmas card of the season received. I wonder if I’ll get my cards out this year? 50:50 odds at this point, I fear.

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Decked.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….. Tree up, stockings hung, halls decked, cold outside, rum in the nog, Christmas tunes on pandora….

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A delicious way to heat the house.

Julie came over to watch the game with us this afternoon. Sadly, my Seahawks lost today (sniffle). No time to wallow in it, though. After the game we got busy making pizza. Nice, too, since its still frosty outside.
This is a new one we tried. Monte took some chicken left over from grilling it the other night. We used a mild BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce. Onions and mozzarella on top and…. Yum!

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I’m on vacation, …

I’m off work until the monday after thanksgiving ! Can you feel the joy?!
Monte baked a lovely birthday cake today. Do the maracas, cactus and sombrero look a bit familiar? We have recycled them for a few occasions, lately.

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Fire time.

Day 2 of cold front in town. We finally lit the fireplace this morning to warm things up. Julie came over last night for dinner and some family time and stayed the night. Mom was admitted to the hospital again yesterday so we’re keeping in close touch. She’s quite the trooper. We’re keeping the home fire burning.

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Four month high.

We rafted up last night with Lori, Dave & Jake on Camelot, and Rory & Greg on Sapphire.  It was a fun night in the cove, as usual.   It’s a treasure, to me… time spent with friends, just sitting outside, on a boat, on a pleasant evening, playing music, dancing a little, and chatting and making one another laugh.

After the rain of the last month the lake is actually up about 7 feet.   The bulk of the deluges that hit Austin missed the basin that feeds the lake, so we are up only 7 feet instead of 20 or 30 feet.    At 625.5′, Lake Travis is back up to what it was 4 months ago.   My blog post on July 6th included a shot of the cove at the same level as it is today.  On that day, 625.5′ was a 50 year low, and dropping.   Today it’s a 4 month high.   I’ll take it, though.  Keep praying for rain.

This is a shot I took of Nirvana at anchor, as I was paddling around the cove this morning.

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Cheers to the weekend.

Saturday is here.  I’m so looking forward to a weekend break.
I ran errands today, made calls home.  Didn’t work!  Woohoo Saturday!

Oh, yeah, and well done Longhorns.   Hook ’em!

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Paddlin’ round.

It got a little chilly on the boat overnight. I fired up the oven this morning to bake scones and that warmed things up.
I got in the water today with Colleen. Brrrrr! The water temp was 73. That may very well be a record for me – latest dip in the lake: October 26!

Colleen took the kayak for a spin. Then we sailed for a bit. A nice day!

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