Gifts?

Earlier this week, I came home to find that an Amazon package I had order had arrived! There was also another package addressed to me -- it was the following.

Since I hadn't ordered it, I checked with my daughters to see if either of them had ordered it, they hadn't.  I asked a couple of friends, it wasn't from them.  There are a couple of others I will ask, but if any of you know anything ....

Souffle Girl (#5)

One of the items on my list this year (#5) was to make a souffle.  This was basically because of a Doctor Who episode "Asylum of the Daleks."  Here is a brief synopsis of the story, taken from here.

The Doctor, along with Amy and Rory who are headed for divorce, are kidnapped by the Daleks. They find themselves before the Dalek Parliament and the Doctor is quite surprised when he learns why: they want him to save them. A ship has crashed on the one place they will not go - the Asylum, where mad Daleks are sent to spend the rest of their days. Once there, they are assisted by the only survivor of the crash, Oswin, who has been there for a year awaiting rescue and making soufflés to pass the time. Which leads the Doctor to ask the most important question of all: where does she get the milk?

Later on in the story, close to the end, he also wants to know where she got the eggs .. she responds eggs, eggs, eggs, eggsterminate, of something like that.  Anyway. I got the ingredients to make a cheese souffle (recipe from here), so that Nevada and I could make it on Saturday after seeing Aladdin (did I talk about that at all?).  Anyway, I had the ingredients on hand, but totally spaced and didn't make it.  However, since I had the ingredients I  decided to make it on Monday night.

Ingredients:

• Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/3 cups milk, hot
• 4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
• 6 ounces sharp Cheddar
• 5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water (5 1/2 ounces by weight plus 1/2 ounce water)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 

The first thing you do is prepare the dish, with butter and the parmesan cheese (the ingredient list called for grated cheese - the video says ground or something (so that the cheese is very fine). I used the grated and it was good.

Then you make a white sauce with the rest of the butter and the flour and other dry ingredients.

Then you add the hot milk, slowly. and then the shredded cheddar cheese.  (Which I had not yet prepared so that didn't go as smoothly as I wanted.)

Then after it's smooth you whip up the egg whites and cream of tartar.  When that reaches a hard peak stage (?) you fold it into the sauce.

No picture of that.  Then you bake it for 35 minutes and voila ...

After taking the souffle from the oven, I let it sit on the counter.  I had no idea how to eat it since I had never had one before.  We waited at least a half hour to try it, by which time it had fallen, but it was still light and tasty.

A couple of recommendations for those making a souffle with this recipe.  Have all your ingredients ready ahead of time (I didn't shred the cheese until I needed it).  Read all instructions.  Watch the video at least once. 

Charlie! Charlie Brown!

Here is a video from the trainer about Charlie and his training ...

Dogs and Cats

We have had a parade of dogs through our house of late. 

My YD's dog Max comes to visit frequently.

My YS's dog Charlie has lived with us since August -- he's leaving after Thanksgiving.

My YS's dog Bo (or is it Beau) is visiting with us for a little while and maybe longer, depending on what we decide to do with him... either adopt him out or keep him.

Nevada's Holly came for this weekend.

The devil cat lives in our room which makes the doggie visitors easier for him ..

Spooky is a little more difficult because she really likes being in the living room. 

Napa - November 2017

Nevada came to visit this weekend.  Yesterday, we went to San Francisco to see Disney's Aladdin (a musical) and today we went to Napa.  As you may or may not have heard, last month there were some of the most destructive wildfires in California history in and around Napa.  Surprisingly, we didn't see any of the devastation.

Our first stop, as usual, was Mumm Napa for some sparkling wine.

 

We took Holly with us .. 

Our next stop was Grgich Hills.  We had been there before but I didn't remember it.  My DIL loves their Fume Blanc so we thought it would be a good winery to visit.  It was expensive and the wine wasn't very good.  Definitely will NOT be going back.

Our next stop was Merryvale.  The service was phenomenal, as was the wine.  It was probably even better after the super disappointing time at Grgich.

Then we went across the parking lot to the Tra Vigne Pizzeria.  Their mozzarella is to die for.  We didn't stay long because we had a 3:30 barrel tasting at Raymond ...

We had this amazing barrel tasting at Raymond and the only pictures I got were of the goats ... if anyone else took barrel room pics, I'll upload later.

BART Art

We took BART up to San Francisco today and there were a couple of interesting pieces of art at the station.  I took the following picture:

This may be upside down; I'm not quite sure.  This was one of the benches.  I can't figure out what it is supposed to be.  Any ideas?

It's A Girl!!

So pinks and purples and pastels are in the future.  My OS and SIL are having a baby girl, due on March 29.  They came to the house last night to tell us, with these ...

and oh so yummy!

So, now I need to get all my knitting, cutting and sewing skills going so that I can make some things for this little one.

Michigan -- beer and coffee

So, apparently I like dark beer -- though my favorite this summer wasn't the dark one.

First I had the Keweenaw Brewing Company (KBC) Redjacket Amber Ale -- pretty tasty.

Then there was the Brickside Brewery Park Bench Porter -- I think I prefer the KBC.

My favorite beer of the trip was "Walter Get Buzzed" -- a coffee blonde.  I thought I would like a stout or porter best, but this was great.  Unfortunately, only one you can get in Michigan.

 

That big blast of coffee is amazing!

I tried the Ballast Point, Victory at Sea, thinking I would like it even more -- but the Walter beer was better (which I only tried because of my Uncle Walter).

And then there was the KBC Widow Maker Black Ale -- pretty good, but not quite the coffee, blonde ale.

And a cup of coffee with a heart!  Love it.

Estivant Pines

Another place I've wanted to go in the Copper Country was Estivant Pines.  It was a rainy day, but we decided to take the hike anyway.  Another dirt road but it seemed like it was easier to find -- though there were fewer people there than at Horseshoe Harbor.  Actually, there was no one else at the Estivant Pines, whereas there were two other groups at Horseshoe Harbor.

The path was kind of muddy, except where there was a wooden path ... (or whatever you might call it).

I don't remember which trail we took -- whatever the shortest one was.  Plus one of the ways was a real hike, not just a casual hike which was what we were looking for.

The only wildlife we saw.

Though not necessary on this trail, it was marked with blue diamonds (might be necessary in winter, if it's open in winter?).  It reminded me of a hike on and earlier trip where we followed markings on the trees which led us on a crazy hike.

Mushroom...

the map ..

The parking lot ...

Horseshoe Harbor

One of the places I had wanted to visit while in Michigan with my sister last year was Horseshoe Harbor.  We had also tried to find it several years ago when I was there with my niece.  No luck -- but this year, we found it!!

US 41 begins (or ends depending on your point of view) in Copper Harbor, Michigan -- Horseshoe Harbor is 1.9 miles north of that.  

So we drove along the road, a dirt road and found the parking ..

We walked about a mile down a path to this beautiful harbor ...

I don't know if this counts as a new park, but I'm counting it anyway.  Will definitely go back again -- and maybe swim next time (if it's warm enough or if I have people with me who want to swim as well).