A Chopped Champion

We got back to the Cities for our last dinner with the kids, but schedules were hectic, and the girls got fed an put to bed before Shayne got home with a dinner plan. He always has an interesting "dinner plan". Tonight he decided to give Mitch the a rendition of the Chopped competition. He had purchased the mystery ingredients and Mitch had 30 minutes to cook a dinner for four. Shayne, Sarah, and I critiqued, ridiculed, commented, and drank wine while he cooked with fresh wahoo, dates, napa cabbage, and basmati rice.

 

Hands up at three seconds left and he had plated his four meals.

Our dinner consisted of a napa cabbage salad with spicy peanut sauce (topped with apple jelly for color--one of Sarah's complaints) served with a bed of basmati rice cooked with chopped dates, soy sauce, and worchestershire sauce, and topped with grilled wahoo with an Asian glaze.

It was a lot of fun and it tasted really good!

Next time Sarah and I do the shopping and Shayne is in on the competition.

A Dark Rum Dinner "Up North"

Jim's favorite venison dinner is Rum Spiced Venison Chops and since we had to purchase a new bottle of  dark rum, Carol and I decided to "add" rum to the rest of the meal. We tried different drinks to start with and the Mumsicle, a takeoff on a Manhattan, with dark rum, bourbon, a splash of bitters, garnished with a cherry, hit the spot.

We ended the meal with a French Apple Custard Pie, delightfully rum sautéed apples with a vanilla custard topped with a sliced almond crunch. YUM!

Deer Hunting 2012

We left the coach parked in Houston and drove the car "Up North." The girls were excited to have us back and made a special Welcome Home banner for us.

 We got here in time to celebrate Halloween. Addy and Macy helped Big Grampa decorate the pumpkins.

It was a beautiful night for Minnesota and we all went Trick or Treating.

Once we get "Up North" we celebrate the three birthdays--Mitch, Mark, and Carol--all born on November 6.

Mitch's "Deer hunting"!

Barb's "Dear hunting"!

Around Houston

Blue Bell ice cream is a favorite of ours and we toured the creamery while we were in Texas. It was a good tour, but the best part was the BIG scoop of ice cream (any one of 32 flavors on hand) we got at the end of the tour.

If you have a chance try their Gingerbread House or their Pumpkin Pie for a holiday treat!

We had been traveling with Jan and Marshal since the middle of August and have had a great time. We ended our stay together at friends Connie and Joe's place outside of Houston on Galveston Bay. We were then joined by three more coaches and we had a mini-campground! What a good time we all had.