A bit of the bubbly

Happy New Year's Eve!

Hope you have some fun planned for tonight.  Personally, I will be celebrating Greenland's new year (which occurs at 6:00 pm here in San Diego.)  I can't stay up until midnight!

Thought I would give you an easy recipe for a bit of the bubbly.  (Non-alcoholic of course)

The key ingredient is pomegranate flavored sugar.  (This is found in the cocktail mixer section of the grocery store.)




Moisten the rim of a cute glass then roll it into the yummy pink sugar!




(By the way, this glass was a gift from one of my beautiful brides - want to see how it was presented to me last July?   Click HERE and scroll down a bit)



Okay, back to our drink.

Once your edge is sugared, it's time to fill it up!

First I drop in some pomegranate seeds then start pouring.  I'm using Sprite Zero - but anything clear and sparkly would be beautiful!



Note:  if you try to pour something while taking a photo at the same time, be prepared to make a mess....



Ta DAAAAAAAAAAAA........



Beautiful, yummy, festive and low calorie!



And you get to watch the pomegranate seeds pop up and down - it's not just a drink- it's entertainment as well!



A New Year's Eve Toast:

"Here's a toast to the future.   A toast to the past. And a toast to our friends, far and near. May the future be pleasant; The past a bright dream; May our friends remain faithful and dear.  Cheers to you, Cheers to me, Have a Happy New Year’s Eve"

Around the World Potluck: Germany!

Well, I have mentioned that some friends and I formed a little potluck club.

We meet once a month and the hostess chooses a country for our food theme.

This month, was my turn -- I chose Germany!




Diane brought a lovely appetizer platter with German cheeses, sausage, pickles and little baby pumpernickel crackers.

For the main dish, I prepared Sauerbraten.  This German pot roast marinades for three days before cooking in a wonderful vinegary/sugary brine.

The gravy is a bit tart as well and inclues 6 gingersnap cookies in the recipe.

Very different - but SOOOOOOO good!  We all loved it.  I will definitely make it again for my family.
HERE's a recipe pretty close to the one I used in case you want to give it a try.

I also made a side of red cabbage and apples....also REALLY good!



We had two versions of German Potato Salad---



Both delish!



Stollen (official German Christmas bread, you know..."Weihnachtsstollen")



And for dessert a big ole piece of warm gingerbread cake with hot lemon sauce to pour on.  (And I might have gotten a little carried away with the lemon sauce - it's just SOOOO yummy, I couldn't resist!)




Don't take a butcher's advice on how to cook meat.
If he knew, he'd be a chef."
Andy Rooney

For Rent: Cheap!

Just realized I forgot to show you my super fabulous Owl House that my hubby built for us.

We had the idea to build it after we saw Esther's owls. Remember? HERE



Designed to specs to be the perfect home for a Southern California Barn Owl.



12 feet in the air, close by food supply....
The PERFECT home.

So if you see an owl - would you send him/her over please? 
It's FOR RENT:  Cheap!





“A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird?”

Book Club: The Curie Conundrum

Book club time!

And guess what?

Go ahead, guess....



The authors came to our book club meeting!

How cool is that?????

The book is a mystery that spans two continents, a search for a superconductor, high tech spies and a little bit of romance -- just perfect and we all adored it!



Of course they autographed our books.....

Yay~!  And then it was time for lunch - and Wendy prepared the most wonderful lunch straight out of the book!



We started with Salad Nicoise ( I had always wondered what that was, so I learned something tasty that day...)

And such a beautiful presentation!



Of course croissants (part of the story takes place in Paris!)



And a delicious and decadent eclair cake.




Open wide, I saved you a bite....



Just when you thought you had no more room, she brought out dessert for the dessert!

Little Petit Fours.

WOW what a meal, what a day, what a book!



Excerpt:
The weary man rose at last from his seat at the work bench. The copper cauldron before him finally contained a cluster of shiny black crystals, the result of his tedious efforts to extract the barium impurities from uranium ore. He accidentally knocked a magnet off the shelf and it immediately started floating above the black crystals, suspended in mid-air. Hallucination, or not, he carefully documented the phenomenon in his laboratory journal. Anxious to discuss the event with his wife, Marie, he rushed into the darkened street. So begins a chain of events that build to a crescendo of espionage, intrigue and murder. This fast-paced mystery will carry you along in the desperate search for a missing superconductor compound and a solution to the world's energy crisis.

Pink's

Well, in between all that strollin around Knott's Berry Farm, we happened to be a bit hungry.

So we strolled in to their newest restaurant - a satellite location of the famous "Pinks"

Pink's is probably the most famous hot dog stand in the country.  Their website notes that "it is not unusual to see a Rolls Royce pull up to Pink's (the chili dog ordered will be for the occupant, not the chauffeur!). Movie stars, well-known dignitaries, struggling musicians, businessmen, housewives, school children... all have savored Pink's Famous Chili Dogs."




Course they had a pink Christmas tree....



And about 100 different kinds of hot dogs to try.  I tried a barbeque sauce onion ring version called a "Scotty Dog"  (Don't ask me why they named it that!)



Mike enjoyed a chili dog.



And the rest of the crew tried out their onion and kraut dogs.

They were a nice diversion - we definitely weren't hungry anymore!

If you'd like to look through their website, you will find it HERE



Paul Pink started his hot dog stand in 1939. It was only a large-wheeled pushcart in those days. The depression was on and money was scarce. Pink's chili dogs, complete with a large warm bun, oversized hot dog, mustard, onions and thick chili sold for 10 cents each. His hot dog wagon was located in "the country", rolling hills of weeds and open spaces. That was the corner of La Brea and Melrose seventy-one years ago!     

Times have changed, but not Pink's. Oh, in 1946 Paul Pink did trade his hot dog wagon in for a small building (constructed on the vary same spot where the wagon had stood). But the stand hasn't changed since those days. Today, Pink's chili dogs sell for $3.30 each (with inflation and the shrinking dollar, they are a better bargain now than in 1939!). Pink's still gives that very same quality now as then... mouth-watering chili, generously topping an all-beef hot dog with mustard and onions. Quality and service (an average Pink's chili dog can be ordered, prepared and delivered to the customer in less than 30 seconds!) have been the two reasons Pink's has not only survived, but become famous.

Christmas Eve

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  We enjoyed Christmas day at home, but spent Christmas Eve in Los Angeles with family.

And what-do-you-know, I have a few photos to share with you!

My wonderful sister in law planned a fun little trip to Knott's Berry Farm's Christmas Village -- just a few hours of family fun before we enjoyed our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.



Knott's Berry Farm is a full fledged amusement park, with a historic, old west feel.






At Christmas you can buy a mini-ticket to stroll around the shops, enjoy a show and just take in the scenery.

And the scenery was beautiful!



We also checked out the shops.

And how about this sight?




Or this one:



Yep.  Nothing quite says, Happy Birthday to our Lord and Savior quite like a gun on a Christmas tree...





But these little guys were adorable: 


They are helium balloons perfectly weighted so they walk along the ground.
(They also had penguins, chickens, frogs, a turtle and several other fun little animals--I must say I was pretty tempted to buy one!)

And of course, no family Christmas outing could be complete without a stop to see Mr. Claus himself!



The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.  ~Burton Hillis

Newborn Aidan: Newborn in home photographer, San Diego, Rancho Bernardo, 4-S Ranch

Shhhhh.....



I don't want to wake a little sleeping Santa....



Just want to wish you a wonderful Christmas!



And a blessed new year....







Shhhh.......




Merry Christmas to my blog friends!

A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men.
Martin Fraquhar Tupper