The Tree

Patrick has been bugging me to go to a cut your own tree farm for years. He is such a good sport about Hanukkah, that I gave in this year. It just so happens that there is a cut your tree lot about five minutes from our house, so we went on Saturday. Patrick tromped all over the five acres with me running behind him carrying the ax. He cut down the tree and carried it back to the car. Very exciting. He was a little disappointed that there weren't any Blue Spruce trees, but he thinks his choice is, and I quote, "Very Friendly!" On Sunday, he put up a few lights on our back fence and walkway and I decorated his tree. Here it is done and lit up.

Ornament

So here is our first family ornament from Apple Hill.

So you think you can dance

Patrick and I love to watch this TV show called So You Think You Can Dance. We critique the dancers (and occasionally dance along in our family room.) Anyway, over Thanksgiving, the traveling show from Season 3 came to Sacramento and my mom got us tickets. Here is the clan on the way to the show. It wasn't until we were in the car that Garrett and Cheryll realized, much to their dismay, that we were not going to see Dancing with the Stars, which is their favorite dance show. Needless to say, nobody really liked it but us. I think they appreciated the skills, but there was too much wacky modern dance and lyrical routine. For me, it was fabulous. In my next life I am coming back as a singer and dancer! Here is a picture of Neil, my favorite dancer. He reminds me of Patrick - blonde hair, blue eyes, skinny and cheesy.

Apple Hill

On Saturday, we took Patrick's mom to Apple Hill. It is a large orchard area outside of Placerville. There are several tree farms and vineyards around as well. Garrett and I went here every year as kids. We remember going on pony rides, fishing in a pond, corn mazes and the mini train. We looked at crafts and made a cheesy ornament. There was a fudge shop with caramel apples. I tried an apple doughnut with my fresh cider, but it only tasted like a regular pastry :< We bought all kinds of fruit (59c/lbs - so cheap!), olives, juice, chocolates and pie to take home.

Thanksgiving

We had a fairly mellow Turkey day this year. Patrick's mother came out from Wisconsin; she brought us all kinds of Wisconsin cheese. Our favorite kinds are Brick and cheese curds (because you can't get those in California). Poor Owen was sick as a dog and our little guy was an eating machine. I made green beans and brussell sprouts and everyone refused to eat the sprouts (even though they were delicious). Dad's turkey was tasty, but he tried to sneak dried fruit into the stuffing again and it ended up slimy. Everything else was great. Mom always bakes the best pies! (Mine are never good: hard fruit, bad crust, gooey on the bottom; I don't understand it.)

This was the first year that Mom and I didn't get up at 5:30 to hit the shops. Some were even open at 4am, but the early offers were pitiful. We were very disappointed that no stores had any free stuff or great specials this year. Well, that is not completely true as Mervyns gave a free $10 gift certificate to the first 200 shoppers. However, so many people all slept outside the door that we, mere early risers, didn't have a chance. Even JCPenney did not do the annual, morning, Mickey Mouse snow globe giveaway (this has been around for as long as I can remember.)We all went to the movies instead.

Grape Jelly

I brought home some Zinfandel grapes and S. Blanc from this year's harvest because I thought it would be fun to make my own grape jelly. We tried two years ago and failed (not enough gelatin I think, but the juice was tasty.) Vanessa tried to protest, as usual, because she claimed I was going to mess up her kitchen. We decided to use our new electric juicer (thank-you Greg, whoever you are.) Last time it took me over an hour to crush the grapes. This year took only five minutes, but was just as messy! Vanessa reluctantly helped and sent me to the grocery store twice. Once for jars and again for more sugar. We made three batches, two red and one white. We were not sure how the box recipe would turn out because wine grapes are at least ten times sweeter table grapes. The first batch is a little watery, but set enough to eat. The subsequent batches are still liquid, maybe I'll try more gelatin. Any suggestions? I have decided that Vanessa is going to retire and start she will selling my R&G Wine Jelly. I'm sure there is market for this and we will become millionaires:) I will be forcing everyone to try it over thanksgiving. Otherwise our weekend was uneventful; we cleaned out the garage and closets in the house. For some reason, nothing really looks any tidier, but we fell better about our mess.