Happy Birthday, Grandma Arizona

Fry Some More

We used to watch "Good Eats" all the time, but haven't watched it lately. I don't even know if they make new episodes any more. I remember the fried chicken episode though, especially how he soaked the chicken overnight in buttermilk. So last week, we saw $1.00/lb chicken thighs at Winco. We decided that we would give it a go. We bought buttermilk to soak it in, but we forgot to buy more shortening to fry it in.

Krista soaked the chicken last night, so we were committed for chicken tonight. Krista found a small container of Crisco, and I almost ran down to Save Mart to get some more. But based on the recipe, we figured we had enough. So we got it up to temperature, then commenced to fry the bird.

And you know what? It was AWESOME!

We had a hard time regulating the temperature, so it ended up a little darker than we hoped. In the end it was moist, crispy and all around delicious. If you've never tried to fry chicken, we highly recommend you give this a try.

And if you want to see exactly how Alton does it, you'll have to wait until the end of July to see for yourself.

Mike McC

It's Alive!

I was riding my motorcycle to work this morning, minding my own business when I saw it. There it was, waiting for the light at Murray & Jacob. The light turned green and I rolled past it. I had to turn and look just to make sure (as if you could confuse this car with anything else on the road). It was brown, and had the original gold on blue CA license plate (D__ 4__).

It was a Ford Pinto. Someone was driving a Ford Pinto. On the road. In 2008.

Wow

I still remember the time we borrowed the orange Pinto from Kent and Connie when our minivan was in the shop. I had to take Tim to choir in Piedmont and I was afraid someone I knew would actually see me driving that thing. I remember knowing at the time, that it was famous for blowing up if rear ended, so that made the driving much more thrilling.

It's hard to believe there's still a Pinto alive out there. Seeing is believing.

Mike McC

Who wants to race?

Mike here with a challenge.

We got a Nintendo Wii a month or so ago, the week Mario Kart was released to be exact. Since then, we have only added a single friend to our Kart list, uncle Moose in Arizona. I would love to race against some of our other real life friends that we know have Wii's (Danny, I'm looking in your direction). Chad and Marcie just emailed me their Mario Kart license numbers, and as soon as we can, we'll get to racing them online.

If there is anybody else out there that has a Wii and wants to race, go ahead and add us as friends in Mario Kart and then email us your license number(s).

I'll get you started with our numbers:
Mike: 1203-9915-4928
Krista: 0559-7459-7637

So add us, email us and let's get to racing.

Book Worm

A couple of nights ago, I went in to check on Colin before I went to bed. This is exactly how I found him in his bed. There is no "placement of objects." Colin loves to read...no really...really read. He can read just about anything. His favorite lately has beed Dr. Seuss books. The book pictured here is called "Your Favorite Seuss," which is a collection of various Dr. Seuss stories. His favorites are "Yertle the Turtle" and "The Sleep Book." By the time he gets to Kindergarten he'll be at a second or third grade reading level!

Start 'em young!

Katie is starting to make her way around. We left the GameCube controller on the floor the other night and she grabbed it. Guess she really wants to play!

She makes baby food, too?

Yes...I have done it! I made homemade baby food. It really wasn't that difficult. I started with pears and sweet potatoes today. I found these at the Farmer's Market on Saturday so you know it's fresh! You don't even have to cook the pears if they are ripe enough. The sweet potatoes are just baked so they get soft. I pureed the food, put it into ice-cube trays and froze it. Now all I have to do is pull out the individual portion, defrost it and serve delicious, nutritious homemade goodness to Katie!

I found all kinds of neat and yummy recipes on the Internet. I can't wait till she is a little older so I can try some of the "dinner" recipes (like the "Tiny Tot Turkey" and "chicken noodle"). Stone fruit is next to come into season so I can't wait to make up some peaches, apricots, plums. I also want to try avocados. I never thought about feeding her avocados, but I am willing to try it.

This has nothing to do with baby food...well she is sitting in her high chair...but I just had to post this adorable photo of Katie. Where does she get that look from??!!!

She sits alone!!

I caught this picture of Katie sitting up all by herself a couple of days ago. I can't believe that she is already 6 months old! She just wants to be on the move. She can pull herself up from the floor. She is still a bit unsteady and I keep the Boppy behind her just in case she goes backwards.

She is also big enough now for the "Jumperoo." This was Colin's when he was a baby and I dug it out from the garage, gave it a good wash down and now it is Katie's. She loves to be in it...but just for about 15 minutes at a time. Her feet just touch the floor when she sits in it.