The Magic of Christmas

China Cat and Willow enjoy watching the winter birds 

while waiting for Christmas to arrive!

Dona Nobis Pacem

TockTober 4 Derby!

It's Derby's Birthday!

Time to show your Tocks!

PhotoHunt: Framed

"FRAMED" is the theme this week.

~~~~~
 On Valentine's Day this year we drove out to see our grandson and give him some Valentine's Day presents. It had been snowing so on the way back home we drove through Castlewood Park to see the river. As luck would have it, we found a mama deer with her two babies. They were FRAMED by the tree branches.

I tried to get a close-up of them, 
FRAMED by the trees. The babies were so cute!

The Meramec River is also FRAMED by the trees on both sides.

 
At Christmastime, China Cat was FRAMED
in the front living room window.

Willow was FRAMED in the living room window
near the 4th of July/Independence Day Holiday.

Almost every day that my grandson is at my house we walk over to the park to see the ducks. He is only 16 months old but he can do a very good duck call! When it gets really hot out the ducks all go under the bridge. It was 92 degrees with high humidity and you can see the ducks FRAMED between the bridge and the reflection of the bridge in the water!

 As always, you can find more of Tnchick's Photohunters here!

And here photohunt

~~~~~

Farewell Dear Friends

When I first started my blog, I found Fat Eric - The Gorgeous Ginger and Luxor - A White Cat. Fat Eric was a big and floofy ginger and white cat who started the Gorgeous Gingers. I have a gorgeous ginger named China Cat Sunflower so we became members right away. Luxor was the most elegant and most beautifully photographed white cat that I have ever seen. Sadly, they are both off to the Rainbow Bridge but they will be in our hearts forever.

God looked around his Garden and found an empty place.
He then looked down upon his earth and saw your loving face.

He put his arms around you and lifted you to rest.
His Garden must be beautiful, he always takes the best.

He knew that you were suffering, he knew you were in pain.
And knew that you would never get well on earth again.

He saw your path was difficult, he closed your tired eyes,
He whispered to you "Peace be Thine" and gave you wings to fly.

When we saw you sleeping so calm and free of pain,
We would not wish you back to earth to suffer once again.

You’ve left us precious memories, your love will be our guide,
You live on through your children, you’re always by our side.

It broke our hearts to lose you, but you did not go alone.
For part of us went with you on the day God called you home.

- Author Unknown

Vikings at Rams Preseason Game 1

Tonight is the first preseason game with the Vikings coming to St. Louis to take on the Rams! My Rams flag is flying out in front of our house and I hope that they play well!

~~~~~

Unfortunately, I won't get to see the game as the station is not airing it live but they will be showing the game at 10:30 PM. It was quite disappointing to find this out at 7:00 tonight when the game began... at least we have a DVR to record it later tonight!

~~~~~

GO RAMS!!!!!

WCB #267 - Remembering Sher

Before I start my post of Weekend Cat Blogging
I want to wish my dad a Very Happy Birthday!
~~~~~
Weekend Cat Blogging #267 has a Special Food Edition this weekend 

at Paulchen's Food Blog? in honor of Sher of What Did You Eat?

I looked through quite a few of Sher's recipes, trying to decide which one to try today. After a while I found the perfect recipe to try. My husband bought some hamburger from our local farmer's market yesterday and planned on grilling burgers for dinner. May 14, 2007 Sher had a post about Bacon Cheeseburgers with Thousand Island Dressing. She said that it is definitely worth it to make your own Thousand Island Dressing and since I never had, I made it to go on our burgers. I made it this morning so it would be ready for the burgers at dinnertime. It really does taste great and only took about 10 minutes to make. I can't wait to try it on my burger!

Thousand Island Dressing

adapted from Sher's recipe here

~~~~~

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used Hellmann's Light)

1/4 cup sweet pickle relish

4 drops Tabasco Sauce (I used Chipotle Tabasco Sauce)

4 drops Worcestershire Sauce

3 Tablespoons Ketchup

1 Tablespoon parsley, chopped

1 Tablespoon Cognac or Brandy

~~~~~

Mix all the ingredients together and spread the dressing on the hamburger buns.

Willow thinks that she might like to try some...

And here are China Cat and Willow enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon out in the screened-in porch. 

Here is where you can go to see the Weekend Cat Events...

~~~~~

Weekend Cat Blogging #267 is being hosted by

Othello at Paulchen's Food Blog?

~~~~~

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Edition #118 is being hosted

at Mind of Mog

~~~~~

The Carnival of the Cats #331 is being hosted

at When Cats Attack

PhotoHunt: Six

"SIX" is the theme this week.

~~~~~

I went outside to see what I would take a picture of for the theme of "SIX" and my husband was mowing the lawn. I told him that I was trying to find SIX of something to take a picture of for today's PhotoHunt. He immediately said to take a picture of a six-pack of beer. I couldn't believe that I didn't even think of a six-pack!

~~~~~

Well, I looked in the garage refrigerator aka the Beer Box to see if there was a six-pack of my husband's favorite beer. His favorite beer is Two Hearted Ale from Bell's Brewery in Comstock, Michigan. There were only two in the Beer Box so I decided that I would pick SIX different beers for my photo.

~~~~~

The SIX beers are, from left to right:

1. 1967 Mission St. Pale Ale from Steinhaus Brewing Co. in Paso Robles, California

2. Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout from Great Divide Brewing Co. in Denver, Colorado

3. Fat Weasel Ale from Steinhaus Brewing Co. in New Ulum, Minnesota

4. Two Hearted Ale from Bell's Brewery in Comstock, Michigan

5. Ranger India Pale Ale from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado

6. O'Fallon Smoke Smoked Porter from O'Fallon Brewery in O'Fallon, Missouri

~~~~~

Now, I think that it is time for a beer... 

My husband agrees!

 As always, you can find more of Tnchick's Photohunters here!

And here photohunt

~~~~~

Wordless Wednesday

WCB #262 - Happy 5th Birthday, WCB!

Happy 5th Birthday to Weekend Cat Blogging!

~~~~~

Our first time joining in with Weekend Cat Blogging was July 23, 2006! The post is here if you would like to read it - China Cat was enjoying the sun in the porch while Willow was in her tent trying to avoid the heat!

~~~~~

The next three pictures are actually from June 13, 2005, 

five years ago today!

China Cat was 8 years old and Willow was just 1 year old.

Five years later China Cat still loves cleaning Willow's head!

~~~~~

~~~~~

The Weekend Cat Blogging Birthday Bash is being hosted by

Breadchick and LB at The Sour Dough

PhotoHunt: Bubbles

"BUBBLES" is the theme this week.

~~~~~
I always think of champagne when I think about BUBBLES.
But this is a glass of beer that is full of BUBBLES...

 Here is One Big BUBBLE...

 Willow isn't sure she likes that big BUBBLE
right up next to her...

 Look at the BUBBLES all over the rug...

 Willow knows how to sneak up on a BUBBLE...

 And here is where the bubbles came from...
Kookamunga Catnip Bubbles!

As always, you can find more of Tnchick's Photohunters here!

And here photohunt

~~~~~

Wordless Wednesday

PhotoHunt: Sparkle

"SPARKLE" is the theme this week.

~~~~~ 

While looking through my pictures for something with SPARKLE, I found some pictures of when we went Cosmic Bowling with some friends and their kids. Along with the black lights, there were lights that SPARKLED across the front of the alleys. Colored lights were also SPARKLING all across the floor. The kids did great bowling and the adults not so much!

There was a house down the street from us that had very SPARKLY Christmas lights up last December. In fact, I took this picture on January 13th, 2010 and we joked that they were putting off taking them down as there were so many of them all over their yard!

This Cat Sculpture was at the Mother's Day Art Fair 
that we went to a few years ago.
You can see it is full of SPARKLES!

 I took this picture at Laguna Beach in California. 

The ocean looked so pretty with the sun SPARKLING on the waves

As always, you can find more of Tnchick's Photohunters here!

And here photohunt

~~~~~

Kitties Al Fresco Picnic

While remembering the Veterans this Memorial Day, 

I'm sure a lot of people are enjoying eating their barbecue outside. 

~~~~~

I made this layout of the Winery Kitties
enjoying their dinner al fresco!

Our Tulips

Journaling says:

Every Spring when all

of the tulips and daffodils

bloomed everywhere,

we always said that we

should have planted bulbs

in the Fall.

Well, after saying what

we should have done for

the past 25 years, Rick

actually planted bulbs

in the front yard last Fall!

Easter Sunday we had all

of these lovely tulips!

This Fall he is planting

daffodil bulbs too! 

And the tag says:

Tulip
is the common name
for between
50 and 150 species
 of the genus Tulipa
in the lily family, Liliaceae.

Happy Easter

Willow takes a sip...

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2010

Mew-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra, Mew-ra-loo-ra-li
~~~~~
May your days be touched by
a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song
in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles of
the people you love! I hope that everyone has a wonderfully
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

LB's Mom is hosting Weekend Cat Blogging over at The Sour Dough!
~~~~~
And Nikita is hosting the Valentine's Edition
of Carnival of the Cats
~~~~~
Be sure to go and visit all the participating cats
and a Happy Valentine's Day to all!

PhotoHunt Theme: Spotted

"Spotted" is the theme this week.
~~~~~
One morning my cats were meowing at the sliding glass door which leads out to the screened-in porch. This isn't unusual - even when it's cold they generally go out and "patrol the perimeter" before coming back to the door to come in. December 30th was cold and it had snowed the night before. Both cats went out and didn't come right back to be let in the house. I called them and Willow came in but China Cat was behind the hot tub where I couldn't see her. Finally, I went out to get her to come in but that's when I saw what had fascinated her. A large hawk was about 15 feet out on the lawn eating something for breakfast! I ran to get my camera and went back out in the porch. I rarely can get pictures taken through a screen however I was able to get some pretty good pictures of Mr. Hawk! I took the pictures at 8:00 AM and I figured that Mr. Hawk wouldn't stay around for too long. I was really surprised to see him still sitting there at noon! I guessed that he ate so much for breakfast and he felt safe sitting in the fenced yard, that he fell asleep sitting there - kind of like when we eat to much turkey on Thanksgiving! We weren't sure what he ate but when my husband went out to look he found some feathers on the ground.
~~~~~
Anyway, I picked Mr. Hawk for the SPOTTED Theme because you can see that he has white SPOTS all over his chest! I googled Hawk images but I can't figure out what kind of hawk he is - or if he really is a he or a she!

As always, you can find more of Tnchick's Photohunters here!
And here photohunt
~~~~~

Stout Beef Stroganoff

My mother-in-law called Friday morning to see if we had any stout beer. My husband brings home all different kinds of beer, mostly IPA's but occasionally some stout beer. She had found a recipe for beef stroganoff in the newspaper that called for 3/4 cup of stout beer. It's not inexpensive and she didn't want a 6-pack of stout beer that she wouldn't use or drink. Well, my husband said that he would buy a 6-pack so that he would have 5 beers and she would have one for the recipe. However, she also had a book that she wanted to show to him so she stopped and bought the 6-pack and brought it and the book over to our house.
~~~~~
Yesterday afternoon we called to see how the recipe turned out and my mother-in-law said it was very good. My husband decided that since we had the stout beer he would make the stroganoff for dinner. The store didn't have any sirloin steak so he substituted some good quality stew beef and it turned out very good. The sauce is wonderful on the egg noodles but next time we will make it with sirloin steak strips as the stew beef was a bit on the tough side. He also roasted brussels sprouts with garlic for a side dish. We have them a lot as they are delicious when they are roasted - crisp on the outside and soft in the inside, plus we love garlic!

Stout Beef Stroganoff

Adapted from recipe in the Let’s Eat Section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2010-01-13

The flavor of stout adds depth to beef stroganoff

Salt

½ pound egg noodles

About 3 tablespoons canola oil, divided

1 pound sirloin steak, cut into strips 2 inches long and ¼ inch thick

Ground black pepper

1 large onion, chopped

1 pound white button or baby bella mushrooms, sliced

¾ cup (½ bottle) stout beer (Guinness)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

½ cup sour cream, at room temperature

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook noodles until they are al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, set a large skillet over medium-high heat and film the bottom with canola oil. Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper to taste. Sear the meat in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan. Transfer browned meat to a plate.

3. Lower the heat to medium and add another teaspoon of oil to the pan, if necessary. Cook onions with a pinch of salt until they become translucent and start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they have release all of their juices and turned golden brown, about 5 minutes. Return the heat to medium-high to evaporate the juices.

4. Pour in the beer, scraping the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits. Return the meat to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and let the stroganoff simmer until the sauce is slightly reduced and the meat is cooked through.

5. Stir in mustard and sour cream. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve over egg noodles.

Per serving: 630 calories; 27g fat; 10g saturated fat; 155mg cholesterol; 42g protein; 52g carbohydrate; 6g sugar; 2g fiber; 260mg sodium; 80mg calcium.