Saturday, January 29, 2011

Bifteck Hache a la Lyonnaise

Ground beef with Onions and Herbs


After watching Julie & Julia I was curious about Julia Child, so I got several books out of the library, including Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Yes, yes. So this servant-less American cook with three children and a busy schedule decided that I must make at least one recipe out of this great cookbook, so bifteck hache it is. Otherwise known as glorified hamburgers which called for almost a full stick of butter, took three times as long to assemble and prepare, and made a whole counter full of dishes dirty. HOWEVER, they were quite tasty and the recipe was easy to understand and follow (Julia says the French eat hamburgers too!). We will make them again, albeit with a little less butter (like just 2 tbsp) and on the grill, the true American way:)
On to other news. Fanfare please, we got a new vacuum today. I am now the pleased owner of the upright I have wanted for a long time. I had two very willing helpers this evening; the kids love it! They are especially intrigued by the clear dust collector this bag-less vacuum has. Who knew dust swirling in the "windtunnel" would be so fascinating.
Last tidbit: We have begun the process of renovating our kitchen. Photos of the adventure will follow. I am in the phase of designing (with Megan Becker's help) and picking and pricing. I look at kitchen books until my head swims and I feel overwhelmed. Then I tell myself to hide them and come back to them in a couple of days. It works! Till I get back to them, the ideas have percolated and I can make two or three more decisions about what I like. We will definitely do some before and after photos, especially the insides of a couple of the cabinets. Oh yes, they are lovely:) Our cabinets were installed in the '50's and have not been touched since! What a treat to have such a project to work on:)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Legos

The kids were playing with Legos this evening. Legos are such a wonderful toy. Anya wanted to be up at the table and part of the action too.

Anya fell down a couple of steps on Saturday and got those nasty cuts. We were afraid they would need stitches, but fortunately they didn't. She is happily oblivious of them and completely undaunted by the stairs.


This is a king's bed!


Sunday, January 2, 2011

Christmas 2010

The holidays are over and we had a great time. We were healthy and enjoyed a busy, but fun week. After Christmas we traveled to PA to celebrate Christmas with my family and then after a brief visit we returned to NY to be a part of Earon and Bryan's wedding. Now that all the celebrating is over is feels kind of odd to return to regular life. There are a lot of pictures in this post. There are no wedding pictures because I didn't take my camera. There was too much to keep track of and Bethany was the photographer, so I know I can get some really good pictures once she has everything processed:)

Ethan practicing Christmas Eve


Ethan as Joseph (these photos courtesy of Bethany)


He he, Hans took a chance to re-arrange the props:)

Christmas morning


Anya and her new girl toys:)

The Millers came later in the day on Christmas and we all enjoyed the rest of the day.
Pictures thanks to Bethany:)










Christmas morning part II at Grandma Martin's house.

december

Ethan and Anya

Anya while Jeremiah plays piano

Anya playing dress-up

Hans helping with Christmas cookies

Anya was ready to help too!