Hurricane Hunger Games

This summer, I read the Hunger Games series of books by Suzanne Collins. I enjoyed them, especially with the Olympics happening at the same time. I recently saw the movie with Lauchlin and Olivia, and really enjoyed it. Then Isaac (the storm) came to town and threw some challenges my way. 

Day 1: power goes out at 330am. I managed to sleep until around 5 am, until it was too hot to bother. I decided coffee was a must. How to manage? Well, my summers spent in FL taught me that the propane cooker is for more than just boiling crawfish and frying fish. So I got my headlamp, the French press, Ned's brewpot and tap water. WIN!

 My preferred resting spot was the Keeping Room off the kitchen, so I could watch the storm out the windows. The dog and cats were forced into the same area for attention. Like the tributes coming to the Cornucopia!

 Despite downed power lines and trees all over Drummond St, I managed to escape for a game of Deal! and a Dr Pepper with Lauchlin, Olivia, and Grady. Julie had sent me these awesome napkins and I wanted to share them. It's funny because it's true.

 Day 2 with no power  and I am kind of over it. It is getting hot, my alarm didn't go off, and the cats are all planning their escape. I turned them out to pasture to fend for themselves while I showered in the dark. Do they make waterproof headlamps?!? Off to work with me, and no complaining about the AC being too cold.

What did the Bee say to the Flower?

Hello, honey! 

Spent a little time this week helping my friend Nathan collect honey from his beehives. He did the dangerous work of pulling the frames from the hives over the weekend. He says the bees are angry and aggressive this time of year because not a lot is blooming, so I can wait and see that part of the operation when they calm down. For this, we cut the comb out of the frame, mashed it up, and then used sieves and buckets to let gravity separate the honey. I can say fresh honey is out of this world. 

Back to Football Titans 5k

Quick trip home this weekend to run a race with my best friend. It was an early start, but we made it.

Great times and we were rewarded with cold beer and a ticket to the Texans game on 2 Dec.

 Met up with Jerri and Doug after the race. 

Whiskey Myers at the Firehouse

Great show! Thanks to Teresa for suspecting I would like these guys and mailing me a CD earlier this summer. Thanks to Mark and Leslie for suggesting we go while I was in town!

Let Texas Fill my Soul

Special cake with sprinkles with the beautiful Yoo girls!

And a snake we encountered while out for a morning run & chat.

Ooh-LA-LA Supper Club

We hit France this time, and it was a great choice. How can one go wrong with all this butter and cream? You can't. First attempt at chocolate souffle was delicious, but I think there is room for imporovement. It didnt "puff" as much as I had hoped for, and we all liked that it wasnt SUPER sweet. The raspeberry sauce helped with that.

Denise and Jay had their hands full with two kids, one of which, shown below, was in rare form. All this in addition to preparation of their French dishes, scalloped potatoes (probably one of the best potatoes I have ever eaten) and chicken cordon bleu, which was really good.

Not shown was the viccychoisse, the potato and onion soup, served cold with popovers that didnt pop so well. Lots of room for improvement, but I think we could all live with another visit to France.

Ruint! As Arch calls her

Bernadette had her first donut hole last Saturday when I was out of milk but too lazy to go in a store. She loves weekends when we get to ride around in the pokey little pickup truck!

Bad idea?

A pint glass on a pint glass? Looks greater with beer in it!