Last night the coolest thing happened: Daryl and I were watching Planet Earth and he heard a strange noise that sounded like a muted siren. We paused the show and the noise wasn't coming from the TV. He looked out the window and said 'fire truck'. Then he opened the back door and said 'it has Christmas lights on it'. Then he said 'It's Santa'. We ran out the front door and soon enough the fire truck and an ambulance rounded the corner. There were a few firemen walking and the truck was all decorated with lights playing Christmas music. One of the guys was dressed as Santa passing out candy canes and another fireman took a picture. Apparently they do this every year and they hit every neighborhood in their district. They sound the siren as they slowly drive the streets so the people know to come out.
It was SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) I love living here!
I didn't have time to grab the camera - but a neighbor did. He'll email me the picture if turns out.
Now the funny part of the story: After we talked to the guys for a few minutes, we decided to go say hi to a neighbor still outside. The fire truck slowly started moving and I trip on the driveway – down I go… (I could almost hear ‘tiiimmmmmmberrrrrrrrrrr). The fireman driving the truck asks if I’m ok. I very sheepishly say yes and away they go.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini
Most of you know that every Sunday is homemade soup day. I decided to try a new recipe this week and it was delicious! Here you go:
INGREDIENTS
1 pound sweet italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1.5 cups sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS
In a 5 quart dutch oven (or large pot), brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings.
Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.
Notes
* I didn't have zucchini, so I just put a 1/2 cup of pureed zucchini (which I had in the freezer).
* I like soups pretty chunky so I added a lot more carrots
* I used 1 can Petite Diced tomatoes instead of 4 fresh
* I used ground italian sausage instead of removing the casings from links
* There wasn't enough drippings from the sausage so I added a little olive oil
* I used all dried spices instead of the fresh ones
* I used three cheese fresh tortellini
Serve with salad and warm french bread for a complete and delicious meal!
INGREDIENTS
1 pound sweet italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1.5 cups sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS
In a 5 quart dutch oven (or large pot), brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings.
Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.
Notes
* I didn't have zucchini, so I just put a 1/2 cup of pureed zucchini (which I had in the freezer).
* I like soups pretty chunky so I added a lot more carrots
* I used 1 can Petite Diced tomatoes instead of 4 fresh
* I used ground italian sausage instead of removing the casings from links
* There wasn't enough drippings from the sausage so I added a little olive oil
* I used all dried spices instead of the fresh ones
* I used three cheese fresh tortellini
Serve with salad and warm french bread for a complete and delicious meal!
SNOW!
Our first snow of the season was this past weekend. It doesn't happen much in the winter so when it does we all get a little crazy, in a good way! The photo below was taken early - later that night the street was covered and we had a total of about 3-4". It was all melted by Sunday evening. We had a ton of fun taking the dogs outside and throwing them snowballs. They would catch the ball and then eat it! Storm loved running up and down the patio trying to catch the flakes.
Don, Cindy and Josh
Our friends from Arizona came to visit over Thanksgiving weekend! Don, Cindy and Josh arrived Thursday morning and despite all of the holiday delay warnings their plane landed about 15 minutes early. Once we got back to the house the Thanksgiving meal preparations got underway. Daryl and Donnie quickly found their spot on the sofa for football.
Friday we went into downtown Seattle, parking at Seattle Center where they had a cool (very large) village display. The photos here are just a small portion of the village.
Then we took the monorail to Westlake Center. Westlake Center was abuzz with activity kicking off the holiday shopping season. They closed off the nearby streets and had all kinds of performances going on. The 55' holiday tree was all decorated with the official lighting happening later that evening.
We walked to Pike's Place for a taste of local treats from the chowder shop to authentic Mexican fare and mini cheesecakes, then on to the waterfront. The picture shown here is a part of Seattle skyline and Bell Harbor Marina.
From there we continued our walk in downtown Seattle before ending up back in Westlake Center. We noticed they had set up for horse drawn carriage rides - since the line was short, we decided to take a spin!
On our way back to the car we stopped to watch this street performer for a bit - it's amazing how good drums can be with wine bottles and 5-gallon buckets... it sounded good!
Saturday we went to Maltby Cafe for a famous cinnamon roll and delicious brunch before heading off to some of the local wineries for tastings. We decided to skip the tours and head straight to the tasting rooms. We hit 3 wineries before heading back home. Here is a photo at Chateau St. Michelle Winery
Sunday we took a drive up to Anacortes, Washington Park, Deception Pass, Deception Pass State Park and a quick drive through Oak Harbor. We found a great restaurant/brewery in downtown Anacortes for lunch. The drive through the Loop Road in Washington Park was awesome and afforded a few wonderful stopping places for pictures... including this really cool tree in the photos below.
Sadly Monday it was time for them to return home... We hope you had a wonderful vacation and we sincerely appreciate you coming here to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Rock on Game Night - and we can't wait for the next time.
Friday we went into downtown Seattle, parking at Seattle Center where they had a cool (very large) village display. The photos here are just a small portion of the village.
Then we took the monorail to Westlake Center. Westlake Center was abuzz with activity kicking off the holiday shopping season. They closed off the nearby streets and had all kinds of performances going on. The 55' holiday tree was all decorated with the official lighting happening later that evening.
We walked to Pike's Place for a taste of local treats from the chowder shop to authentic Mexican fare and mini cheesecakes, then on to the waterfront. The picture shown here is a part of Seattle skyline and Bell Harbor Marina.
From there we continued our walk in downtown Seattle before ending up back in Westlake Center. We noticed they had set up for horse drawn carriage rides - since the line was short, we decided to take a spin!
On our way back to the car we stopped to watch this street performer for a bit - it's amazing how good drums can be with wine bottles and 5-gallon buckets... it sounded good!
Saturday we went to Maltby Cafe for a famous cinnamon roll and delicious brunch before heading off to some of the local wineries for tastings. We decided to skip the tours and head straight to the tasting rooms. We hit 3 wineries before heading back home. Here is a photo at Chateau St. Michelle Winery
Sunday we took a drive up to Anacortes, Washington Park, Deception Pass, Deception Pass State Park and a quick drive through Oak Harbor. We found a great restaurant/brewery in downtown Anacortes for lunch. The drive through the Loop Road in Washington Park was awesome and afforded a few wonderful stopping places for pictures... including this really cool tree in the photos below.
Sadly Monday it was time for them to return home... We hope you had a wonderful vacation and we sincerely appreciate you coming here to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Rock on Game Night - and we can't wait for the next time.
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