Seasons – Page 11 – Into the West

My Son Turns Thirty

I should have scheduled this post to publish just after two o’clock this afternoon, which would have been thirty years to the hour marking the birth of Derek Randall Moss. But, I couldn’t wait that long to welcome my son to his third decade.

As you can surmise, this blog post will be a trip down memory lane for me. And unfortunately I don’t have many photos of Derek from his first decade. It was the age of film cameras and I owned a very cheap almost disposable 35 mm camera that I took a few snapshots with. I later scanned a few of them to create digital copies, but many of them still languish in shoe boxes in the storage room. Oddly, I have more video footage of both kids on old mini-VHS than I do still photos. At least until we reach the mid-90s when digital photography really started taking off.

I won’t go into the gory details but some interesting trivia from the night before. Continue reading “My Son Turns Thirty”

Vanishing Addendum of DVR Highlights

Continuing in the vein of my previous post, I haven’t completely neglected my DVR this January, although it is my last resort for entertainment (see my reference to inferior HD quality provided by satellite subscription).

This week brought back the formidable Agent Carter who is apparently carrying the investigative torch of the mysterious and ancient society obsessed with the portal stone most recently perplexing the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This is another series Terry rolls his eyes at. I accused him of not caring for it because it has such a strong female lead. He protested that was not the case. I just love period dramas – the costumes, cars, sets, locations, etc. Besides, we final met Jarvis’ wife (rumor was last season that she was a figment of Jarvis’ imagination).

I’ve dragged Terry along watching the new Syfy original series The Expanse, based on the SF book series of the same name by James S.A. Corey. Except for one small quibble, I really enjoyed the first book of that series, Leviathan Wakes, and I do plan to eventually continuing reading the books. I’m enjoying watching the series because good SF television series are few and far between.

But enough science fiction. How about some epic fantasy? Enjoyed Terry Brook’s Shannara books, including the original 1977 Sword of Shannara? Then tune in to MTV (yes I really did just type those three letters) to feast your eyes upon The Shannara Chronicles, which debuted this month. I’m three episodes in and pretty much hooked.

That’s it for now. Can’t remember if anything else is forthcoming that I’m interested in. If you have a suggestion for a show I should try, please leave a comment.

Oh, and Phase I of my weekend work project completed successfully. Now we wait … so time to watch another episode of Manhattan.

The Case of the Vanishing January

Today is the 22nd of January and of 2016. I woke up this morning to a bitter cold Friday, to the prospect of working through most of the weekend. Not the best way to start your day. A huge project I’ve been involved with for many many moons is finally rolling out. So while I’m stressed beyond belief, I’m excited to finally be able to put this project in the completed bin come Monday morning. Then it’s on to the next “Big Thing,” er, project.

Stressful work-life aside, January wasn’t a complete loss for leisure. I’ve read a space opera that I liked, listened to an audiobook for a book club that was interesting, read my first graphic novel for another book club and read an ebook novella (click here to see what I’ve read so far this year). Continue reading “The Case of the Vanishing January”

Recipe Review: Alton Brown’s Lentil Soup (4 stars)

Traditionally, people tend to eat black eyed peas for good luck on New Year’s Day. I bucked that trend (and to be honest I don’t actually remember ever having eaten black eyed peas) and decided to make, for the very first time, lentil soup.

I’ve had great luck with recipes from Alton Brown’s kitchen so when I found this Lentil Soup one, I decided to give it a try.

All of the ingredients I used were organic, which the exception of the spices. And speaking of spices, I had to skip the ground Grains of Paradise as I could not find that spice at my local grocers. I will have to special order that spice for the next time I make this recipe. And there will be a next time.

This was super (or should I say ‘souper’) easy to make. And it didn’t take me as long as his recipe stated to prep. Probably just 15-20 minutes instead of thirty minutes. I sweated the vegetables a little longer than his recipe stated because I used my new crockpot and not a dutch oven.

Terry and I both had two bowls of the lentil soup for supper. Very good. We have enough left over to freeze and/or eat again later this week.

Happy New Year!

Full Moon Merry Christmas

Tomorrow, just after six o’clock in the morning and just as the sun is rising, we’ll experience the first full moon to occur on Christmas Day since 1977. I wasn’t even in high school yet in 1977 (although my husband was already in college by then). If you miss opening this Christmas present, you won’t get another chance until 2034 (by which time I should be retired).

Other astronomical items of note this holiday week include:

On the 4th day of Christmas (Monday that is), Mercury reaches its peak distance from the sun 30 minutes after sunset in the southwest.
On the 5th day of Christmas (Tuesday), Saturn continues its return from behind the Sun. Look to the southeast in the pre-dawn morning time.
On the 6th day of Christmas (Wednesday), look up and south to spy the Seven Sisters (aka as the Pleiades)
On the 8th day of Christmas (Happy New Year!), use binoculars to find Comet Catalina rising close to Arcturus (a very bright star) around midnight and continue to rise high in the southeast until dawn twilight.
On the 9th day of Christmas (Saturday, January 2, 2016) the Earth reaches its closest point to the Sun (at the start of Winter no less)
On the last day of Christmas (Twelfth Night) at 10 p.m. EST, Pluto hides behind the Sun.

For more interesting astronomical events and items, please visit Astronomy magazine’s The Sky This Week: December 25, 2015 – January 10, 2016 web page.

May the brightest star guide you in your search for Peace, Love and Joy.

Merry Christmas!

A Deer in the Headlights

It’s not bad enough that my Texas trip was cancelled at the last minute. Or that I haven’t seen the sun since before Thanksgiving and that Kansas City is experiencing it’s fifth consecutive day of rain and drizzle (more rain today as it’s slightly above freezing). Or that I gave up my day off to voluntarily drive the vanpool to work because I believed both my back drivers had requested this Monday after Thanksgiving off. Surprise! Both of them rode in the van this morning.

Nope, it couldn’t possibly get any worse, right? Until I remembered as I got off the parking garage elevator and walked to the building elevators and saw this:

Continue reading “A Deer in the Headlights”

A Cold Dark Oven

I’m thankful for many things this Thanksgiving. Oddly, I’m somewhat thankful even for my cold, dark oven.

I’m thankful that I won’t be on my feet for hours today prepping and baking for a family gathering. For the first time in I don’t know how many years, I will not be basting and roasting a turkey. I won’t be making more stuffing (I already succumbed last week and made a huge batch of stuffing because I couldn’t help myself). I might not escape baking entirely today, though, as I may break down and make Sticky Buns because it’s a TRADITION!

Continue reading “A Cold Dark Oven”

Family Recipes: Grandma Marie’s German Potato Soup

We made a double batch of this wonderful potato soup on Sunday. I had both grandchildren of Marie Hodge present as taste testers to confirm the authenticity of the recipe.

Back in 2001, I contacted my then living grandmother, Doris Andrea, for recipes and stories to be included in a local church anniversary cookbook. This was one of the recipes she provided me. The story she told me to accompany this soup hailed back to the hard days of the Great Depression and making simple hearty meals that stretched ingredients.

Addendum (updated 8:15 am 11/09/2015): Some specifics on the double batch version of this recipe we created in my kitchen yesterday morning include using two 3-pound bags of organic russet potatoes, about half of an organic yellow onion and a few stalks of organic celery. The rest of the ingredients, with the exception of the bacon, were non-organic. Instead of a quart of milk, we used a quart of half-and-half (store brand).

The bacon was an uncured natural version from Farmland. To bake bacon in the oven, cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil (makes cleanup easy) and place the strips of bacon so they just barely touch. I can usually get an entire 12 ounce package of bacon on my largest baking sheet. Place the sheet in a cold oven and set the temperature for 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the timer for 20 minutes and check the doneness of the bacon when it dings, adding more time if you want it more done and/or crispier.

Lansing Community Library Snack & Chat Tonight

http://www.lansing.ks.us/CivicAlerts/#1331_SingleEntryView

The Lansing Community Library is hosting its first “Snack and Chat” on Tues., Nov.3 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Library, 730 1st Terr. This new quarterly event gives community members an opportunity to meet with the Library Board and Director. Patrons can share thoughts, suggestions and ideas.

For more information, contact Lansing Community Library Director Terri Wojtalewicz at 913-727-2929 or by email at twojo@lansing.ks.us.

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I made chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin bread.

Hope to see you there.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Year 51 Day 1

Yep. It’ my birthday.

I have a busy weekend planned and took Monday off to recover.

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Today (Friday) I’m off over lunch to my First Friday book club at the Westport Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. This past month Between the Lines read The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. I’m listening to it (still) and probably won’t finish it until later next week. But it has been a funny read thus far. I’m looking forward to hearing what the other members of the book group thought of this interesting centenarian’s adventure.

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Saturday night is my final night of the year as a member of the ASKC Team Two volunteers who help visitors during our Powell Observatory public night. Come on down for some fantastic star gazing after sunset Saturday night.

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Sunday afternoon my hubby’s taking me to see the movie The Martian. I read that book over a year ago a and thought it very good read. I’m looking forward to the movie.