Still Here, Old Boy

I love P.G. Wodehouse, which is where the title comes from. And since it has been awhile since I've updated, was happy to steal a title. This might get messy, but here's some of what we've been up to recently. I'll fill in the other months later.

This most recent weekend, we took a trip to see Great Grandma Mac to celebrate her 90th birthday. We actually missed her party by two days, but with us there, cousins and aunts and uncles dropping by, and Grandma Trudy's cooking, every day was a party. The kids were so sad to come home. It is pretty bad on our part, but I realized that was the first time Pippin had met Grandma Mac in person and the  the kids were shocked to find they had cousins they'd never met. They all got along great and are begging to go back again soon.  We will definitely will  not wait so long the next time.

The pictures decided to arrange themselves, so in no particular order:


We got to have a power outage, which it always fun. What's better than eating Grandma Trudy's Chocolate cake with Chocolate Ganache? Eating it by candle light.

 I'm representing Shane in this four generation picture.

  This was supposed to be at the end, along with the recipe. We made this for a big dinner we had with friends and I have been craving and making it ever since. I didn't know kale could be so tasty, But I suppose when you add bacon and cheese with candied nuts, what wouldn't be tasty? Recipe is below.

Kateri was so excited to get Grandma Mac a present. Three actually. She gathered and wrapped them all by herself. She insisted there had to be a balloon. Which by this time, was small enough to be put in a box and wrapped.

Kale and Apple salad with bacon and pecans-  and lots of other tasty stuff.

For the pecans- toast 2 cups nuts in a saute pan with 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and some butter. About 8 min on med heat, maybe less.

For the salad,
 cook 8 slices bacon finely chopped until nice and crispy. Remove the bacon, saving the  oil in the pan.
Mix about
 1/4 cup of the oil with
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoon capers brine ( from a jar of capers)
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
some black pepper.

I put it all in  jar with a lid and shake really well.

For the salad:

1 8 oz bunch  kale, stems removed, leaves   finely shredded
1 large head radicchio, shredded- I leave this out sometimes and it's still good
3 Tablespoons snipped chives
1Tablespoon chopped tarragon - this part smells really amazing
2 granny smith apples cut into matchsticks

2 oz shaved pecorino

Toss everything but the cheese with the dressing. Or leave out the bacon and nuts as well to add at the end.  Arrange cheese on top. I like to make a big batch of this without the dressing added. Kale keeps better than shredded lettuce. I love having it for lunch the next day. And the day after that. Then I have to go to the store for more provisions and I start the process all over.

Coming soon: a trip to Texas wine country- yes there is such a thing, I was shocked too
                       a trip to the snow where Kateri made snow angels, in her bathing suit
                       a few birthdays- kids and adults
                       a trip to Japan- Shane, not the family
                       and a few new house furnishing/rearranging