Another Birthday Dinner

I know I'm a little late getting this posted but we did have New Food Night this past week.  September is a good month for birthdays, And we believe that when it's your birthday you get to choose what you have for dinner.  This past Tuesday was Miss Annette's birthday and she was able to choose what we would have.  This proved to be a difficult decision for her.

Originally she was thinking pasta because, like me, she loves pasta.  Then Gary reminded her how much she likes meatloaf. Now you may be thinking what's the big deal?  The thing is - Miss Annette lives alone and it's hard to make meatloaf for one person. Meatloaf is one of those things that by the time you add everything to it you have a good sized meatloaf - more than one person can eat.  So she choose meatloaf but gave Gary instructions - "not to mess with it".  In other words - she doesn't get meatloaf very often she doesn't want to try a new one.

How good does this look?  Meatloaf!   Take some hamburger, add in chopped onions, couple of eggs, bread, ketchup, salt and pepper.  Mix this all together and pat into a loaf pan.  Cover the top with ketchup and bake for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.  You can also put the mixture in muffin cups or individual loaf pans.  Then everyone can have their own little mini meatloaf.

Now we did not have a very complex meal this time but we did have to try something new.  Gary decided to have both Miss Annette's favorites - meatloaf and pasta!

He made macaroni and cheese!  But he mixed it up and this was a new recipe.  He boiled the macaroni to extreme firm.  He made a roux of butter and flour and then added milk, dry mustard, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, - cook until thickened.  He took a small of the mixture and tempered a beaten egg in.  He stirred this into the mixture and then added lots of cheddar cheese.  He then stirred the macaroni into the sauce mixture and then poured into a baking dish. Cover with Panko bread crumbs and more cheese.  Bake until done.

For dessert we had Pots De Creme - same recipe we used the other time we had this.  Simple meal but exactly what the birthday lady wanted.

Now just wait until next week!  We have a truly unique meal planned and it has a special theme designed just for Tulsa.  Until then - go ahead and drool.

Birthday Pasta

Tonight was new food night.  Tonight was also my birthday night!  So I got to choose the menu for tonight.  Of course I went with my favorite - PASTA!!!  

Now, it could not be just any pasta - it had to be something new. So Gary found three new recipes for pasta and let me choose.  I went with Pancetta and Leek Pasta  --

Gary gathered up all the ingredients and made this scrumptious pasta. We had never used leeks before  - they tasted a little bit like a mild green onion. As you can see the sauce is full of delicious good for you items like butter, heavy cream, white wine, Parmesan cheese.  He cooked up the pancetta then added leeks and butter and let this cook down for about 8 minutes.  He then added wine and reduced this down then added cream and shaved in a block of Parmesan cheese.  Tossed in the pasta and it was ready for us to chow down on.

Miss Annette made a salad to go along with the pasta. This was just a plain salad with some
Greek olives, onions, pepper rings and topped with Pesto croutons and a simple vinaigrette dressing.

Mr. Rick brought some garlic bread to top off the meal.

Now this is a birthday meal that I cannot wait to eat.

And wasn't it nice of Rick to dress up in a bow tie for the meal?

My favorite dessert - German Chocolate cake.

And Gary thought he would be smart and switch the numbers  LOL -- that's ok -- I probably wont' be around for the 75th so we can celebrate both of them tonight.  Since I'm celebrating two birthday years this must mean I get two pieces of cake, right?

I put some fall decorations on the table (probably should pull the rest of them out of the attic),  Now be honest, how many of you wish that you were here to share new food night with us?   Stay tuned because next week is another birthday week meal.  

Cruising Alaska

We are back from vacation!  If you are my friend on Facebook - I will get pictures posted.  There are just so many and I am trying to get them organized - kinda sorta.  But I promise - they are coming and they are amazing!

We had a wonderful vacation!  We did an Alaska cruise with Gary's parents, his sister and her husband and some friends of ours here in town.  We met Gary's parents in Kansas City and flew with them to Chicago and on to Seattle.  Now while, traveling my phone was on silent and part of the time on airplane mode.  In Chicago as we are going from one gate to the next I turned my phone on and then glanced at messages.  The message I see is from my oldest daughter saying "your silence is kind of disturbing".  I promptly wonder what I have missed so start scrolling through her messages.  No wonder she found my silence disturbing; she had texted me that she had gotten engaged!   I promptly responded with my congratulations and also informed her that information like that shouldn't be shared while I am traveling.  (In case you are wondering - we are happy for her and her finance'.  He is a wonderful person and we already consider him family.)

So we finally make it to our cruise ship and everyone is on board (well most of us - Gary's sister and brother-in-law hadn't made it on board yet. They were behind us in line as they had to turn in the rental vehicle.) Gary's mom had arranged for a scooter for the duration of the cruise; this proved to be amusing for all of us.  Picture the mandatory life boat drill.  Picture the doorway having a large threshold to be maneuvered across.  Instructions for the scooter said not to hesitate or you will end up stuck - just gun it. Vicki gunned it. We are outside at our muster station. We hear screams, hollers and laughter and turn around to see Vicki popping a wheelie coming through the door frame!  At least she didn't get stuck!  And that was just the beginning of the fun for our trip.

If you have ever cruised you know that there is pretty much unlimited food and an open buffet all day long.  We tended to eat our evening meal in the dining room but would meet for breakfast every morning on the back deck of the ship.  Picture us sitting on deck enjoying our breakfast. Gary's dad, Red, puts what he thinks is ham in his mouth.  He starts choking, coughing, sputtering, gagging. He finally manages to swallow the bite only to say 'I have put some bad things in my mouth but nothing as bad as that!' It wasn't ham - it was raw salmon!

And oh how that food on the buffet can be misleading.  Afternoon snack because - well it's afternoon - we haven't eaten for a couple of hours and there are still a couple of hours until we meet for dinner. Let's have a snack.  Red takes a big piece of what he thinks is custard pie.  What a surprise for his mouth when he bit into it to find out he was eating quiche.  He said it wasn't to bad just not what he was expecting.

And one more food laughter from the cruise. Every evening our waiter would give us our menus then tell us what the specialty was for the evening. Keep in mind the waiters are all from other countries and speak with accents.  One evening he says 'and the chef's specialty this evening is duck confit'. What Red heard was 'duck feet'.  He wanted to know why anyone would want to eat duck feet. Also, what did they do with the rest of the duck?  No one ordered the 'duck feet' but our waiter was kind enough to bring us an entree' for our table to share and try.

Back to Vicki's scooter. She had quite the time with it. Backing out of elevators could be a challenge. We learned to warn her that people were standing outside the elevator so she wouldn't run into them.  She lost the bumper on her scooter more than once. Fortunately, it just velcroed back on. And there was one time when we were going through the Sports Bar. She zooms through the door and chooses to go left.  Now the path between the tables there was not very wide. She had lost her bumper going through the door. I stooped to pick up the bumper and as I raise up I see that her scooter has caught the edge of the first table and she is starting to drag the table along behind her. The people at the table are trying to hold the table back.  After being advised to stop we righted the table and people moved out of the way so we could proceed on through.

Also, the spa is a place of luxury onboard a cruise ship. Pamper yourself.  And yes, you usually do 'get naked' for a full body massage.  Let's say that four of the eight of us took advantage of the spa at some point on the cruise. We all enjoyed it.

Yes, it was a vacation full of fun, family, friends and laughter. We saw amazing sights of whales, glaciers, and waterfalls. It was truly an experience I'm glad we were all able to enjoy together.  So keep watching for my pictures.  I promise to have them up by this weekend.