Eating Our Way Around Dallas/Ft. Worth and Beyond: November 2007

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Dancing With The Stars

With all the hype about Dancing With The Stars, Pops and I have considered taking dancing lessons. We thought it would be fun to do, plus it would be nice to have the skills when we go to weddings and parties. I am such a critic of other dancers, I don't know if I will actually be able to do it.

We recently took a little lesson. If you want to see the results, click here. Pops and Lolly getting down.

IF YOU CAN'T CONNECT TO THIS SITE - KEEP TRYING, WE ARE VERY POPULAR AND IT IS BUSY QUITE OFTEN.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Great Thanksgiving Week

We have just finished a fantastic Thanksgiving week. I think this was the best ever. It started last Sunday when Pops and I flew to Las Vegas to celebrate our anniversary. 29 WONDERFUL YEARS. YES, 29!!! I can't believe it. It seems just like yesterday when we met in drivers ed.

This was our 8th trip to Vegas since 2002 and probably our best. (I was thinking about this and decided that it is only right that your last vacation be your best - that just means they get better and better). We usually go straight to the hotel, but this time, I gave in to Pops desire for years to go see Hoover Dam. He really wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, but I drew the line at Hoover Dam. We rented a car and went to the dam, had breakfast at Bob's Diner (really good) and then drove around Vegas and went to Red Rock Canyon.

This is our first time to rent a car and drive around and I was very impressed. There are some really nice areas outside of the strip. We returned the car a few hours later and then took a cab to the Bellagio. Next time we rent a car, we will remember to go to the gas station and fill it up. We forgot until we pulled into the garage and they charged us $6.99 a gallon to fill it up. He originally was charging us for 11 gallons, but I talked him down to 8. The gas cost more than the rental.

The Bellagio is by far my favorite hotel in the world! I still love it. We laid out by the pool, had massages, facials and pedicures, ate lots of great food and saw Menopause, The Scinta's and KA. The best meal we had was at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. It was so good. We came home about 10:00 Wednesday night, just in time to get up and start cooking for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is always a great time with our family. Janelle and Jacob came home for the weekend and Kayla was home from college. We are a very close extended family and when we all get together there are 30+ people. There is always a domino tournament going on and this year the Gainer's hosted a Monopoly tournament that went on all weekend. We are so blessed to have such a great family.

Pops and I finished out the weekend by eating at The Porch Saturday night. We had eaten so much "fancy" food all week that we decided to scale down some for our anniversary. The Porch was delicious. It will be added to our rotation. It is upscale home cooking. We started with the sliders which were chopped smoked brisket on a slightly sweet homemade roll with BBQ sauce, coleslaw and a pickle. I could have eaten that as my meal. I had a Green Goddess Caesar salad with Parmesan Crisps. Pops had the Shrimp and Grits and I had Short Rib Beef Stroganoff. It was all good. The noodles in the Stroganoff tasted homemade. We ended with hot Apple Cobbler. It was a really good meal. I can't wait to go back.

I have done a little shopping, mostly online and made some tags for my gifts. There is lots more to do, but I feel good that I have finally gotten started.

Happy Anniversary Pops. I can't wait to spend the next 29 with you!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Count Down To Christmas Calendar

I took a class last week to make this calendar. I thought Landrie would have fun counting down the days to Christmas. This ended up being way more involved than I ever imagined. The class was 3 hours and I am estimating it took closer to 12 hours to get it finished.

You start on the 25th day before Christmas and each day you replace a numbered ball with an ornament.

New Collage

Here is my latest collage. I put this in my remodeled hall bathroom. I probably have one more to do. Jordan got a new job (with an office - whoo hoo) and she wants one for her wall. We will probably have to be a little more conservative than her hot pink and black with feathers.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Cookie Recipes