What a Rip-off

The big winter event is coming! The big winter event is coming!


We've been hearing about this for the last few days. Finally, we're getting a real snow!


Then...we're getting maybe 1-3 inches. Maybe.


At the end of the "big snow", this is what we were left with...

Really, Mother Nature? Really?


I feel robbed. I just want one good snow. Is that so wrong?

A Dessert Fit for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!


I decided, since we had the day off from school (teacher in-service, not because of Valentine's Day) that I would take some time and cook a nice meal for the holiday. The Food Network has some great recipes, and had a lovely Valentine's Day section. Our entire meal came from the Food Network website.


We had Shrimp Scampi with Linguini and Roasted Asparagus, both from Tyler Florence's show "How to Boil Water."

For dessert, we had Chocolate Pots de Creme. Wow. That's all I have to say about that.


Recipe can be found here. It was very decadent. Very.


Here are the ingredients. The recipe called for chopped semi-sweet chocolate, but I skipped a step and went to fine semi-sweet chocolate chips. They worked great.

The amount of chocolate needed is 9 ounces, so I put my math skills to work and came up with 1 cup and 1/2 cup of chips.

Put the chocolate in a blender.

Then wisk together milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed pan.


I broke 2 of the yolks, but trust me, there are 6 yolks in here. Cholesterol alert! 

Wisking...

After stirring constantly for 5-6 minutes (it was more like 11 minutes for me), quickly pour over the chocolate in the blender and put the lid on. Be sure to use a thick towel to hold the top, as it get VERY HOT! Blend until completely combined.

Pour into ramekins...I finally got to use these heart-shaped ramekins that I bought several years ago.

Ah...chocolate.

I only had 4 of the heart-shaped ones, so I needed to get out a couple of regular ramekins.

The puddings need to chill for at least 2 hours, then top with whipped cream and serve. We made our own included in the recipe.

Wow. I think I already said that. It was very rich, and very good. And very easy.


I'm glad I took the extra effort for dinner...I received a nice present.

It's a great day for roses and chocolate!

Celebrating the Birthday All Month Long

I attended the first of three Blue and Gold Banquets of the month today, celebrating the birthday of Scouting, and celebrating all of the awards of the hard-working Cub Scouts. 

The theme from this particular Pack this year was "Out of This World". Lots of fun space-themed centerpieces:

A rocketship

 I'm not sure what this is, but it's creative!

The solar system

A whole box of fireworks, personalized with each boy's name!


One of the highlights of a Blue and Gold is the Arrow of Light ceremony of the 5th graders--2nd year Webelos Scouts. This is the final rank in Cub Scouting--the Final Frontier, if you will. In addition to the actual badge, each boy receives a plaque in the shape of an arrow, to commemorate all of their hard work.

And of course, no celebration is complete with a cake to mark the occasion!

Congratulations, boys! Job well done!

Has Winter Finally Arrived?

This winter has been crazy. Temperatures in the 70s in January! Little to no snow! Pea-soup fog! Tropical-storm-force winds!


This morning we had a taste of winter...

It was so cold the creek in our backyard finally froze!

It's hard to see, but it IS frozen!

Finally...winter. But for how long?

Happy 102nd, Boy Scouting!

Another birthday has arrived...Boy Scouts are officially 102 years old today! I'm honored to have been a part of this organization for 14 of those 102 years.


Here is one of my favorite Scouting pictures...our family after JJ received his Eagle Scout award, March 2010.

How am I celebrating the birthday of Scouting? Why, by attending a Scout meeting, of course! I'm off to the monthly Roundtable meeting and commissioners' meeting.


Happy Birthday, Boy Scouts, and many more!

Last of the Derbies!

I attended my last Pinewood Derby of the season today. A Unit Commissioner's work is never done!


This one had a small crowd, but the excitement was still there. Several well-painted and fast cars were in attendance:

I enjoyed seeing Patrick Starfish driving the car on the left!

These are the older Scouts' cars: 2nd year Webelos.

I liked the flower power car...these were the siblings' cars. The one next to it is from one of my middle school friend's that I sub for. I never saw these cars race, but they looked good waiting their turn.

Can't wait to see what's in store next year!

Yet Another Pinewood Derby Saturday

I attended my second Pinewood Derby of the season today. Unfortunately, I arrived when they had a lot of lag time. There was 45 minutes to the next race, and even though most of the racers were present, they were still waiting on one to arrive. Figures.


I still had a great time looking at the cars; this one was my favorite. God Bless America!

These made me ready for lunch! A hot dog and Ice cream sandwich. WHat more could you ask for?

Gotta love racing season!