Burger King Grand Reopening

After Miles's soccer game on Saturday, we decided to stop to get something to eat and arbitrarily chose Burger King. When we got there, we had a real-life Pig Will moment because unbeknownst to us it was their grand reopening, complete with characters, bounce house, and free gifts.

We got a drawstring bag and some other Burger King swag, but even better, I got a card for a free hamburger every week until the end of the year.

They were even having a raffle, but we didn't want to stay that long, so we gave our raffle tickets to another family on our way out.

Maine Trip - 05 - Lobster and lighthouse

After a long day of hiking (over 12 miles), we drove back to the Airbnb. Amber took a nap, then we went to Beal's Lobster Pier for dinner, where we ate right on the pier.

We shared a plate of lobster, mussels, clam chowder, fried pickles, cornbread, corn on the cob, and coleslaw. It was delicious.

Since we were nearby, we ended the night by going to see the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse. We got there right as it was closing, but still had to wait for parking. There's not much to see so people were cycling in and out and we were able to see it.

We started the day with sunrise on Cadillac Mountain, and ended it with sunset at the lighthouse.

Thanksgiving

It was our turn to host Thanksgiving this year. The Leflers drove in from San Antonio and we had a fun time hanging out and eating a delicious meal.

Earlier this year we purchased our own Pillo Polo set, so after our meal we headed over to the church building and battled for a few games.

Once we had worked off some of the turkey, we came back home for pie.

After the Leflers left, we decorated for Christmas. I got some new lights this year that can do patterns!

Taste of the Town and Pickle Festival

We had a food-themed weekend. First, Amber and I went to Taste of the Town at the Humble Civic Center. It was fun sampling foods from all the different restaurants and we were stuffed by the time we left.

On Saturday we went to the Kingwood Pickle Festival. It wasn't too different from years past. Olivia drove herself because she had to be back earlier, but the rest of us found plenty of pickled items to enjoy.

Vacation - 04 - Family time

Cynthia and Aaron officially adopted their foster boys, so while her family was together, they decided to be sealed together in the newly opened Taylorsville Temple. There wasn't enough room for the whole clan, but we made the short list. We left the kids at Brook's house with their cousins while we were gone.

On the way back we stopped at Zupas in Draper for a lunch date.

We met up with the kids at Brook's house and hung out there for a while. The Lefler girls wanted to see if Utah had some modest clothing options so all the girls went shopping. They didn't get back in time, so I picked up Amber and met up with Marisa and her boyfriend Andre. He's Brazilian and she's really gotten into all things Brazil, so we ate at a Brazilian restaurant they like. We got several yummy dishes to share between us and I was stuffed by the end!

Brook and Jake were nice enough to watch and feed our kids while we were gone. We picked them up and planned on going back to Marisa's house for a movie night in her basement theater. The girl cousins were having a great time together and they all wanted to come. Marisa was gracious enough to host the teen girl squad as they watched their movie of choice, That Darn Cat.

Blueberry picking

On Saturday we drove to a blueberry farm in Conroe to pick blueberries. We got there well after opening so there were already people leaving as we were parking, but we didn't need to worry because there were LOTS of blueberries.

We walked in a ways, found a good spot, and started filling our buckets.

It was easy to lose each other while climbing through the bushes, and I had to chase people down for pictures.

A lot of blueberries ended up in our mouths, but we still ended up with way more than we needed.

We realized when we went to pay that it was cash only, but luckily someone there offered to trade us cash for a Zelle transfer and we were able to take our haul home. We've been gorging on them, we've given some away, and we're planning various blueberry treats in the next few days!

Pi day pie

In true nerd fashion, Damon wanted to make a pie for Pi Day. It was delicious!

Miles's Thanksgiving Feast

This is Miles's last year at ESE, so we've started our tour of "last" things we'll do here. Today was the last Thanksgiving Feast, and since I was working from home I was able to come this time. Amber decided to go all out and made it a real feast, with placemats, fancy plates, candles, and champagne flutes.

We had turkey, potatoes, salad, and pomegranates, and I think Miles enjoyed all the attention his fancy meal got.

Silveria's Farm and Salsa

Sharon Silveria told us we should come to their farm, because they had more produce than they could use. Amber took the kids took her up on her offer and they had a great time picking fruits and vegetables.

They even got a little driving practice in while they were there.

They came back home with lots of tomatoes, so Amber had the kids help make and bottle a lot of salsa.

I don't imagine it will last long since Carmen looooves salsa!

Star Wars Day

May the Fourth be with you! For Star Wars Day, Amber made Porg chops, Jabba the hummus, Boba Feta cheese salad, and blue milk.

Making tamales with Hyde

For a pre-Thanksgiving meal, Hyde invited us over to make Guatemalan tamales.

It was a pretty fun process. First we had to process the banana leaves that the tamales are wrapped in.

Then fill them will all the yummy ingredients Hyde (and Amber) prepared.

But the best part, of course, was eating them.

Impossible Burger

I'd heard good things about the new meatless Impossible Burger, so I found a place around here that sells it and I took Amber on a date to try one.

It was delicious. I had to double check that it wasn't meat because it tastes so much like a regular hamburger.

I'm looking forward to this becoming more widespread. I think it's going to be a big hit. I know I'll get it wherever it's available.

Kolache Festival

One of the interesting things we learned after moving here was that Texas was the destination for lots of central European immigrants, including Czechs, and their influence can still be seen in place names and traditions. This year we drove to the little town of Caldwell, TX to attend the Kolache Festival.

Kolache, or more properly, koláče, are a Czech pastry akin to a jelly doughnut (see google or website above for pictures). I don't know that they're quintessentially Czech, but they're a good enough excuse to have a Czech festival and baking competition.

Seeing as how September is still summer in this part of the country, we headed off in shorts and short sleeves, only to realize on the way that a cold front had rolled in overnight dropping the temperatures significantly and causing it to rain all day long. Thankfully I had thought to throw a few umbrellas in the van, but Amber had to scramble to find some warmer clothes for the kids in a local store as soon as we got there. Here they are listening to a performer and trying to stay dry in their matching Peace Love shirts.

The most interesting part to me was the official opening of the festival, where they crowned the newest Miss Kolache Festival, talked about their Czech heritage, and even spoke a little bit of Czech!

Many of the old people seemed to know a little Czech (albeit with bad accents), or at least enough to sing along to The Original Kolache Festival Band.

There were dozens of booths set up along the main streets of town, none of which I photographed because of the constant rain. Most of the booths were standard fair fare, which was disappointing as I was hoping to see more Czech-themed items. Even with the weather, I thought it was surprisingly well attended. I suppose people aren't going to miss a small town's biggest event of the year.

The rain forced us inside more than we might have done otherwise, where we saw some interesting things. We spent quite a bit of time poking around in the Czech Heritage museum, which had artifacts from around the time of the original Czech settlers of the region. Here I am in front wearing my Czech soccer jersey.

Another interesting spot was an old home that was converted into a museum. They had some original housewares and clothes, the above-pictured guitar player, and a lady demonstrating how to make lace. I had never seen it done by hand before and it was fascinating to watch.

We stood in line in the rain to buy a box of koláče and some sausage on a stick with sauerkraut, then ate in the van. The koláče were very good, I thought, although the kids had mixed reactions. I especially enjoyed the poppy seed flavor, which is very Czech. Thankfully the drive home in the torrential rain was uneventful.

I'm glad we went, although we may have to come back some other time when we don't have to deal with four little kids, a stroller, a cold rain, and four umbrellas that the kids insisted on carrying regardless of umbrella-holding capability (but it was cute to see Damon, completely engulfed in an umbrella, with just his little red running shoes sticking out, following me around all day).

Ramen

On my mission I was known for my lunch, converting several companions who themselves spread it along. I don't remember specifically how it started, but there's no doubt that it sprang from a proud family lunch tradition of soup and sandwiches. For months at a time, my lunch consisted of one package of Ramen soup and two sandwiches.

This is entirely unremarkable, I know, except for perhaps the potentially disgusting monotony*, but it was during this time that I honed my Ramen-preparing skills and discovered the most efficient way to cook Ramen (in the context of this meal). It is this important discovery that I share with you today.

How to Cook Ramen and Sandwiches

1. Put some water on to boil. This can be in a standard pot, pan, teapot, electric kettle, samovar, etc.
2. Put the Ramen noodles in a bowl. You may break or not break noodles according to taste. (Set aside the flavor packet for later use.)
   
3. Get out a plate and the ingredients needed to make your sandwiches.
4. If water has not yet started to boil, begin making sandwiches on plate.
5. When water reaches a boil, pour desired amount directly into bowl and cover bowl with plate.
6. Finish preparing sandwiches.
7. Pour a glass of whole milk.
8. Pray.
9. Begin eating sandwiches, if desired.
   
10. Remove plate, add flavor packet, and eat the soup when the noodles have reached the desired consistency.

The advantages to this method are vast, legion, and plethoral, while its disadvantages are few, as you can see by this list:

Advantages

• Does not dirty a pot. Dirty dishes include bowl, plate, spoon, and maybe knife.
• Cools as it cooks. By the time you remove the plate, the temperature is appropriate for immediate consumption.
• Scales up well. No need to divide soup into separate bowls when cooking for more than one person -- just boil more water. Also, each person's water to flavor packet ratio can be customized to taste.**
  
• No need to pour noodles (which get stuck in pan, splash in hot water, etc)
• Warm plate sometimes toasts bread.
• Cooks at your seat. No need to get up again once water is added.
  

Disadvantages

• More difficult to measure water. This can be mitigated by adding minimal water to begin, and retaining the heated water for later addition as needed to balance flavor pack (or by dangerously measuring boiling water). It should be stated, however, that the traditional method also requires water measurement.
  
• Depending on bowl shape, water level, and noodle breakage, some noodles may not cook completely.
• Steam causes bottom of plate to get wet.
  

Really, the first two advantages are reason enough to adopt this method. No handwashing a pot, and no burning your tongue on soup that's too hot because it just came off the stove. The soup and sandwiches are ready to eat at the same time, with a minimum of mess, perfectly suited to each eater's tastes. Dobrou chuť!


*I never did tire of this meal, I assume because I worked up such an appetite walking all day.
**This was especially useful in a missionary companionship.

Fat is dead, long live fat

I heard on the radio this morning that a study showed that having a fatty (oily) dressing on your salad increases your absorption of beneficial fat-soluble carotenoids like beta-carotene and lycopene. Yet another reason to eschew reduced fat and fat free.

Also, in the wikipedia article on carotenoids it says that eating avocados also "significantly enhances" carotenoid absorption. This day just keeps getting better.