Dinner Party

One of the significant benefits of having a child doing degree work in the culinary arts is being treated to interesting new dining experiences. Jessica and her boyfriend, Mike, are staying with us for a few days, and they agreed to prepare a meal for us and a few good friends. Both are students at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. They started yesterday with menu planning and continued today with shopping trips. At about 2PM, the preparations began for the actual dinner party, which was planned for about 6:30PM. They were really "on top of their game", because everything came together right on schedule and continued right through until about 10:30PM. It is probable that every pot, pan, appliance, burner, oven, and measuring utensil was in play at some point. There was much chopping, mincing, dicing, mixing, and so forth going on for hours.


Everything was wonderful, starting with sangria, hors d'oeuvres, and conversation in the back yard (on a beautiful summer evening). Then we moved to the table for the rest of the meal. Hors d'oeuvres consisted of proscuitto-wrapped melon and strawberries with balsamic glaze and maple-glazed scallops wrapped in bacon. The appetizer/first course was a goat cheese souffle served over baby greens with a pear balsamic vinagrette. For the entree, we had pan-seared tuna steak with lentil succotash and baby bok choy. Dessert was a lemon burdino (kind of a custard/cake combination). There were several excellent wines to choose from as well of both red and white varieties. Good friends and excellent food--what could be better? I suppose that would be the chance to feel such pride in knowing that your own children made all of this possible. We just sat back and enjoyed the experience.


At the end of the day, after being on their feet for hours and chopping, whipping, and what have you, both of our chefs were rather worn out. Kathie brought out the big gun (a serious vibrating massage machine) to give each of them a bit of relief. As I write this, each of them has now crashed and burned or is on the verge of same. As for us, contented sleep also beckons.

Decker/Drake/Frink Family Reunion

The annual Decker/Drake/Frink reunion was held today at the Community Park in Clarence. Unfortunately, no Drakes were present this year, but the Decker and Frink blood lines were both well represented. We had a wonderful time getting reacquainted, and as always, the food we all brought to share was wonderful. There were all kinds of great-tasting casseroles, German potato salad, home-grown tomatoes, breads, and other yummy things. The desserts were especially tasty this year, including fresh peach pie and a raisin pie to die for. Phyllis gave us orders to go back at least two extra times to refill our plates. I must admit that I complied.

We all agreed that we want to work hard through this next year to set the schedule for next year's reunion and to advise everyone early enough to get even more family to come in 2007. So those of you who are reading this, please watch your mail for details about next year.

Above is a picture of everyone who attended--Uncle Ed and Aunt Irene, Bob and Phyllis Hunwardsen, their daughter Lynn and her family, Kathie and I, and all the children of Bob and Anita Decker and their families. Other miscellaneous photos are attached here as well.

Canadian Pacific Train

Here is my new toy--an O guage Lionel train modeled on the Canadian Pacific SD90MAC engine and a set of CP cars. I found the hobby electric train store to end all hobby electric train stores here in Florida. Got some extra track and switches too. Am beginning to think about layouts, scenery, and other playing. Stand back, Henry! You and Grandpa are going to have some fun now!!!

Ohio and the South

As you may know, we have been traveling by car recently. Our first stop was Troy, Ohio, where we visited Paula, Ron, and Zipper. Zipper is turning out to be a pretty sweet dog. She has her first official haircut now in the style of the breed (Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier). However, she is still very much a puppy and wants to play nearly all the time. We have Josey with us, and she had a bit of a difficult time tolerating all the puppy playfulness. We have not seen so much teeth-baring and snapping impatience ever before. Maybe they will become friends sometime in the future. Zipper is a great friend for Paula and Ron, as you can tell from these photos. We had a great time playing cards, playing Perudo, seeing a couple of movies (including Pirates of the Caribbean, which actually includes a scene of pirates playing Perudo), eating Paula's great cooking, and visiting.


While there, Paula was using her cutting board--the one shaped like a pig that Robbie made for her (with a little help). Aunt Paula commented how much she likes the board and how she always thinks of Robbie when she uses it.

Our two-day trip to Florida from Ohio included a stop overnight near Atlanta. In Acworth, Georgia, just north of Atlanta, we stopped to see Kathie's relatives David and Vi. Their daughter Lori, son-in-law Tim, and children Brennan and Amanda also joined us. David and Vi prepared a wonderful barbecued chicken dinner, and we enjoyed visiting and seeing their home nestled in the Georgia pines.


On the day between Atlanta and Clearwater, Florida, we passed numerous signs for Georgia peaches, which are in season. We were finally unable to resist and pulled off to visit the Lane Packing Company, which offered fresh peaches in about every form imaginable. We sampled the peach cobbler with ice cream and a peach fritter, and of course we had to purchase a quantity of fresh peaches to take to Florida. We have been enjoying them thoroughly, while here in Florida, although I have to admit that I prefer fresh Colorado peaches, which I have frequently been able to buy when in Snowmass in August for professional meetings. Fresh peaches are probably my favorite fruit. Yum!!!!

It has been quite hot and very humid, but then what's new? Maybe more humidity here!! We have been helping Kathie's Mom with some home maintenance projects, usually early before it gets way too warm, and two evenings ago we attended a Florida State League baseball game (class A minor league) between the Tampa Bay Yankees and the Clearwater Threshers. Today, Mom treated us to a most amazing exhibit called Bodies--the Exhibition. (Note, the hot link I put here. Do yourself a favor. Go examine the Bodies web site!) This was simply amazing--an exhibit of at least 16 actual human bodies and many separate body parts, prepared with a special anatomical process, and presented in a very fascinating way to let you marvel and learn. I was blown away and highly recommend a visit to one of the exhibits that is around the country if you are ever in the vicinity. I don't know if they are traveling or not, but you can probably get more information here.