Eatin' and Drinkin'

What do we do when we come to visit my family in Illinois? We eat. We eat and eat. It's winter and we are Midwesterners and we like food. This past week has been laden with good eats such as my homemade garlic hummus, tofu blintzes, grilled chili lime salmon, fresh hand made salsa with from scratch refried beans, veggie curry, felafel's etc., etc.

On the night we had felafel Billy made his famous Green Lantern drinks. They are made with Tanqueray, parsley and lime juice and they are really freakin' good. They are also amazing to gaze upon and live up to their name....




Billy and my Dad have been hittin' the bottle on a nightly basis since my Dad is off work for a week. They have been drinking Manhattans (yuck), martinis and mojitos. It's pretty ridiculous... especially if you know Billy and his inability to drink. Last night my Mom busted out with a bottle of riesling that looked like a baseball bat to drink with the grilled salmon they made. I had some with my faux chicken fixin's (I don't eat fish) and it was darned tasty. My Mom will skin me alive when she see's that I am posting this pic but deal with it sister... It's funny. Please note the knowing look on Rose Orbison's face... it's all about the wine baby.



Through this whole week Rudy has been trying to hypnotize us with his Houdini meets Spock mind meld stare to get table scraps. He has been wildly unsuccessful.




Tonight we had my Gram over and ordered take away Indian food. Even though it was pretty seriously spicy she tore it up. You have to admit it is a feat for a southern babe in her 80's to be peeling out on some spicy Indian fare. She is fierce.



I made a bittersweet chocolate pear cake for dessert. I know that sounds like it has nothing to do with Indian food but I wanted to make it so I did. I got the recipe (as usual) off Smitten Kitchen. It was quite good, not too sweet. It's made with a brown butter cake batter. Nothin' wrong with that.



Billy and I are going to Chicago on Tuesday. I will be sure to take loads of pics in the city. Rudy is staying home with his Grandma Rose so there should be some stories to be told at the end of that day.

Over the River and Through the Blizzard

A few of you may be wondering why we decided to drive through this.....



Why did we drive over 2,000 miles in January... in bad weather? Driving through ditches and risking it all eating Super Bean Burritos from Taco John's in Ogallala, NE? Well, let me give you an idea about what spurred us on. Take a gander at this...



See those two chics? That is my Mom and my Gram. Please note the double leopard print action. If you have ever wondered where I get "it" from.... I think this picture may begin to answer that question.

It had been almost a year and a half since we had been here to see my family. We decided to surprise my Gram. We did not tell her we were coming. Last night my Mom and I drove over to her apartment so I could jump out all "TAH DAHHHH!" As we were rounding the corner of the hall where her apartment is we ran headlong into her coming the other way down the hall toward us. So she ended up surprising us just as much as we were trying to get her. It was a goofy moment of hit and run happiness. When my Gram is excited and/or happy she tends to beat on you with balled up fists. So I got a pretty good ass whipping out in the hallway before we headed back to her room. I think this photo captures our emotional states on seeing each other again pretty well...



Let me just tell you that Alberta Biehl is one heck of a hot ticket. I am looking forward to stirring up some trouble with her over the next few weeks while we are here.

We are staying at my Mom's and she has been spoiling us with good eats since we arrived. After 6 days of gas station snacks and crappy fast food on the road it has been MUCH welcomed. We woke the first morning to parfait and fresh blueberry muffins. Tonight we had pizza with a made from scratch crust and piled high with veggies.




Rudy was beyond glad to be out of the truck and off the highway. We have been having a bit of a struggle with him being a puss about the cold here. He does not want to go out walking. We get to the end of the driveway and he stops and starts holding his paws up as though they are injured and giving the sad puppy face. I bought him some "dog booties" to protect his feet from the ice and cold but he won't have any of it. He lets me put them on his feet and then he hops around like a panicky rabbit with no equilibrium. He will either have to toughen up quick or master the use of the humans' toilet. I will let you know which choice he makes.

Tradition

I dedicate this pot full of black eyed peas to Alberta Biehl. She's my Gram. Every year when I was little (and for her whole life long) she would make us eat black eyed peas on New Years. It's a southern tradition. Eating the peas is supposed to bring prosperity in the coming year. When I was little I hated those damned peas. I thought they were Mega, Mega GROSS. It was near torture to have to eat them. But I did. Because my Gram had me believin' pretty hard core that if I did not eat them I would be a busted up mess for the whole year. From the time I was about 16 until I was about 25 I skipped the peas. And guess what? I was a busted up mess pretty much that whole time. Coincidence? We will never know for sure. I am eating the peas now just to cover my ass. Better safe than sorry.

Here's a photo of my Gram and her best friend Florence from back in the day. These two women could cook. My Gram is the one on the right. How cute are they? My Auntie Florence passed away years ago... she was a riot. She was one of those women that was a true force of nature. My gram is 83 and still kickin' butt. I am going to call her up after I finish this post and tell her we ate the peas today. She will sleep better tonight knowing that we did.




The funny thing is I really like black eyed peas now.... all those years I agonized over having to eat them and now I think they are pretty darned tasty. Weird eh? When I went to the grocery the other day to buy some for today there was a mountainous display of them in the produce department. We are in the south after all. These people are all eatin' the peas today.

I cook them in a mixture of veggie broth and Martinelli's Apple Juice. I use Martinelli's when cooking just about any dried bean. It adds a great deal of sweetness and is nicely offset by a dash of cayenne pepper.

We are taking it easy today. A lot of people peeled out this morning to head back home after the holiday so the RV park is quieting down again. We are in the middle of some horrid arctic cold blast pushing down from the north so it will be a good night to snuggle in and watch a movie or two.

I will be continuing my story "How We Became a Tribe of Three" over the course of this whole month. I figure it is a good way to get through January since we will not be on the move and I won't have as many travel stories this month.

Oh and also... Rudy once again made it to the pages of "Stuff On My Mutt." I think this is his third time! What a celebrity.

Happy New Year!