The Great Gobbler Visits Hondo, Texas

On Saturday, we were invited to a feast of a family we aren't even related to - such an honor. Our good friends, Michael and Regina, are lucky enough to have all of his family in the Austin area, and they often invite us to family gatherings, like Ashlynn's birthday party. We were thrilled to get to go to Hondo, a little town 30 minutes west of San Antonio, where they have a great ranch house on their family land.

There's a sign as you enter Hondo that says, "Welcome to Hondo. This is God's Country. Please don't drive through it like Hell!"

There were 3 fried turkeys, and they were good. Moist and not too greasy. (Later I caught Colin wandering around, holding a crispy wing, gnawing on the back attatched). All the invitees brought the side dishes. I saw several old aunt types mixing up Jello and CoolWhip "salads." (How can something with no vegetable matter be called a salad? Rest assured, Anthony was appalled.) There were other great offerings, cripsy rolls, green beans, squash casserole, dressing, and oh yeah, more turkey. Then there was the dessert TABLE.

When I unleashed the Pumpkin Cheesecake from the springform pan, Michael grabbed the pan and relieved it of several fingerfulls of cheesecake, which he shared with his wife and mom before properly cleaning it and returning it to me. There were also date bars, made with their Grandma's recipe. She's gone, but the date bars live on, even served on her famous china date bar platter. There was a homemade coconut cream pie with a short homemade crust that gave me pause, and a plate full o'cookies that every child snatched from.

After the big meal, it was time for the Great Gobbler hunt. Michael's very creative and generous mother knows the "Great Gobbler", who leaves a trail of goodies for all children (defined as those who have not graduated from college). The Gobbler leaves sacks of goodies tied to trees along the trails on their ranch, and the kids take turns driving the caravan of golf carts around the trails, pausing along the way for each to untie their goodie bag. Inside the tie-dye cloth bag was a bandana, monkey hat, and a wallet containing a real dollar, monkey necklace, and monkey tattoo. After the 18 bags were collected, we followed the trail of feathers the Great Gobbler left, to a pile of hay that contained candy and Lotto tickets. Hey, we won $10 with our scratch-offs!

After that, we were given a list of items for the nature scavenger hunt, things to find like lichen, a maroon leaf, and a burnt orange leaf. It was boys vs. girls, and everyone had to show what they found at the end, although everyone got a prize - custom burned CDs.

We talked and played until it was dark, then it was time to head back. Anthony and I didn't realize our invitation included an overnight stay, but we had left Montana behind, so we needed to get home. Both kids fell asleep on the way home, tired and happy, clutching their Great Gobbler bags.



Hondo ranch house, from across the pond.

Ashlynn and Anna played "doctor," operating on each other to get things out.

Ashlynn cuts Anna.


Here, Anna returns the favor. Hey, what can I say, both of them have veterinarians for Mommies!


The Great Gobber Caravan.


Colin and his snagged turkey.

The next day I asked the kids what they liked best about Hondo. Anna said, "Playing with Ashlynn." Colin said, "The swing. The ladder. The slide." I said I liked all the nice people and all the good food. Anna said, "Mommy, I have another one. I liked all the cookies."

Guacamole Recipe

Who would ever think you'd hear a complaint about bland food from England? (see Auntie Norma's comments on the last entry). Truthfully, I think the food in England is quite good; but much of it is boiled (as opposed to, say, roasted in olive oil) and I think that's where the bland association comes in. However, no one can call Seriously Strong Cheddar mild!

Anyway, the Guacamole. A standard in Tex-Mex cooking. I used to mix in all kinds of things -- chopped tomatoes, jalepenos, onions, fresh garlic, etc -- making this dip quite laborious. Since acquiring 2 small children, I have streamlined things. And now, when I bring the simplified version to parties, it gets raves and requests for the recipe. Here it is:

Jenn's Guacamole

4-5 ripe avocados, yields to the touch but not mushy
Juice of 1/2 lime
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Generous shaking of Spicy Cajun Salt Mix (i.e. Tony Chachere's)
1/4 c. chopped cilantro

Mash avocados. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Serve with tostadas (corn chips).

If you don't have lemons AND limes, just use one or the other (but I really like both). Also, if you can find cilantro (coriander leaves), you can leave those out too, but it won't be as great.

5 ingredients, people. You can do this!

Thanksgiving Tips for those with Preschoolers

When you present a beautiful china plate, with strategically placed morsels of smoked turkey, honey-baked ham, mashed potatoes with Daddy's special LAKE of gravy, stuffing made from sprouted wheat bread from Whole Foods and mushrooms and homegrown and cleaned and chopped herbs not to mention the organic free range chicken broth, and the aforementioned roasted veggies (which were absolutely beautiful but of course I forgot to take an after photo) and the little cherubs who have been sitting at the set table for an hour begging for food on their fancy plates, 'cause they're so hungry from eating a light breakfast and then going to the park while everything was heating in the oven, when after all that they turn up their little noses at the FEAST we've been talking about for days...

Put some cheerios on their china plate. It doesn't look good but will temporarily stop the howling so you can enjoy your turkey and the wine.

After the cheerios are gone, you can succumb to the Dora, too. Or more Seeduction rolls. Anna ate 2 1/2 rolls for her feast!

On the Feast's Eve

Here are our winter veggies, that will be sacrificed tomorrow, roasted in olive oil, and consumed with turkey: butternut squash, beets, turnips, onions, garlic, and the last little eggplants from our garden.

Gosh, I hope we have enough food (there is no room in the fridge).


Colin is mesmerized by his first glimpse of Star Wars.

Feast! Feast! Feast!

Last week I worked a lot, but now the week of feasting has begun! We all have feasts tomorrow. Anna's school has a Thanksgiving feast every year, and this year she drew "Mashed Potatoes" to bring. We called Oma for her recipe and, as per the Montessori instructions, Anna helped me make them today. She peeled half a small potato in the time that I peeled 7. Then she helped me mash them with the "Guacamole maker." (You can tell we make a lot more guacamole than mashed potatoes).

At my work we're also having a pot luck tomorrow. One of my co-workers is smoking a turkey. I'm bringing extra mashed potatoes, salad, and a pumpkin pie. Anna and I pre-made our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie yesterday, so it was easy enough to make 2 instead of just 1.

Colin's school is having a feast tomorrow, too. They decided since everyone is going to be sick of turkey this week, they are having a taco buffet. Anthony signed up to bring "taco meat," but don't tell anyone: he's actually bringing SOY CRUMBLES. We eat meat at our house, but when it comes to tacos we prefer the Morningstar Farms Burger Crumbles over real ground beef anyday. Its so easy to cook, too - no draining the nasty fat, and no breaking up of the big meat chunks. It'll be interesting to see if anyone notices.

On Thursday - actual Turkey Day - my in-laws and our nephew Andrew will come down from Dallas for a feast. The Greenburg Turkey arrived today in all its smokey goodness. I love these birds - you know they will come out moist and delicious without any effort. I'll make broth from the carcass that will flavor our soups and rices for the rest of the winter. Although there will be only 4 adults, 1 teenager, and 2 preschoolers at this feast, we'll have WAY too much food - the turkey, a ham, dressing, gravy, roasted veggies, asparagus, seeduction rolls, cranberry relish, pecan and pumpkin pies.

Friday, I have to work, but Saturday we have been invited to Michael and Regina's extended family feast out in Hondo, Texas. They will be frying turkeys in that time-honored Southern tradition, and the rest of us guests are bringing side dishes and desserts. I plan to bring a butternut squash-wild rice pilaf, and Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cheesecake. Anthony doesn't like pumpkin pie, but even he is looking forward to that cheesecake! After the feasting, the Thanksgiving Gobbler drops "nests" of goodies in the fields for the children, and Texas Lotto tickets for the adults.

I'll try rouse myself from my tryptophan-induced stupor occasionally this week to blog. Rest assured, I'll be going for a long jog on Sunday.

Book Meme from Jessica

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the sentence in your blog with these instructions.
5. Don't search around for the "coolest" book you can find. Do what's actually closest.

Here's my entry, from Veterinary Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurology byAlexander de Lahunta:

The axons (of neurons of the sacral parasympathetic general visceral efferent system) course with the ventral roots to the spinal nerves, where they leave as ventral branches that unite ventral to the sacral vertebrae to form the pelvic nerve on each side.

What can I say, I'm still at work. Doesn't make much sense to me, either!

Precious Cargo

Anthony got to take me to lunch today, which was really nice! Its always a pleasantly strange when we can have an extended uninterrupted conversation.

On the way back to my clinic, I noticed in the backseat was Anna's Pooh Bear and Colin's Green Blanket, left behind from drop off at their schools this morning. "Yeah, I drive around with this in my backseat, and hope no one notices it," Anth said, "It doesn't look very cool."

"You'd better not let anything happen to this car!" I said, "Or we'll never get any sleep!"

What do you say to a dog who acts this way?

7:10 am - Montana eagerly runs and jumps in the car to go to work with me.

8 am to 6 pm - Montana sniffs dogs that walk by the doctors' office, gets a Thanksgiving bandana from the groomer, begs my coworkers for food, and -- mostly -- sleeps under my desk.

6:02 pm - Montana stops to pee on our way out, losing sight of me. I call her and she runs to me, a perfect recall, just like she learned in all those obedience classes 10 years ago. A beautiful, smart, obedient dog.

8:50 pm - Montana has a grand mal seizure on my kitchen floor. I'm all alone, so I can't give her IV valium. All I can do is hold her.

8:52 pm - Seizure is over. Montana blinks at me and wags her tail.

9:02 pm - Montana empties the litter box for me. Back to normal.

Conversational transcripts

Colin: Cinderera a GIRL.
Me: Are you a girl?
Colin: Nooo!
Me: Are you a boy?
Colin: No.
Me: What?!
Colin: I a LITTLE.
(pause)
Me: Oh, are you a little boy?
Colin: YES.


Colin: Moh Juice, Daddy.
Daddy: You have to say please.
Colin: Mas Jugo, POR-PA-BORT.
Daddy: OK, little buddy.
Anna: Daddy, can I please have more juice, too?
Daddy: Sure, just a second.
Me, handing Daddy the vino and opener while manning 3 pans on the stove: Daddy, can I have some of my juice, please?

Like a Diamond

Go to Jessica's blog to watch a video rendition of my kids singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Its hard to hear in this version, but my favorite part of Colin singing this song is when he says, "Up ah BUBBA worl so high..."