Google's April Fool's Joke

Ethan - Bear Cub Scout Years 2002-2003

I think it is fun to see Ethan growing up in this series of photos. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Ethan - Wolf Cub Scout

Here's my boy when he was a Wolf Cub Scout in 2001-2002.

Ethan - Bobcat Cub Scout

Yesterday I continued to work on Ethan's Eagle Scout slide show. Here he is as a Bobcat.







Short Ribs in Italian Sauce
modified from a recipe found at: The Italian Dish Blog

This dish is even better made the day before. Making it the day before (or even just early in the morning) allows you to let the dish cool in the refrigerator and let the fat rise to the top, to be easily skimmed off. The original recipe had you cook these in the oven. I did mine in the slow cooker


3 to 3-1/2 pounds of short ribs
salt and pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 large carrot (about 3/4 cup diced)
1 medium rib of celery (about 1/2 cup diced)
1/2 medium onion (about 1/2 cup diced)
3 cloves of garlic, grated or minced
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste (I used a very small can for a doubled recipe)
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley plus more for garnish

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Sprinkle the short ribs with some salt and pepper. In a large heavy oven proof pot, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil and brown the short ribs over medium high heat until a nice crust forms. Remove short ribs from the pot and drain any fat from the pot, but don't wipe the pot out. Lower the heat and add the second tablespoon of olive oil to the pot along with the carrot, celery and onion and a nice big pinch of salt and saute gently for about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for one minute more. Raise the heat a little and add the tomato paste and cook it for about 3 minutes. Add the red wine and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the beef broth, bay leaves and thyme and stir thoroughly.
Place all of this in a slow cooker and cook on high for 5 hours. You can also cook them on low for at least 8 hours. Add the 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, stir, cover and return to the oven for another 30 minutes, until the meat is very tender.

Remove the meat from the pot, using a knife and folk separate the meat from the fat and the bone. Shred the meat and st it aside. Strain the sauce in a colander so as to separate out the solid material from the sauce. Add the meat to the sauce and refrigerate, if time allows. This will allow you to remove the fat from the sauce with ease. Heat to serve. I offered it with grits instead of polenta.

Remove short ribs from pot and place in a large bowl and cover. Strain the sauce and pour the sauce into a small bowl. Place the bowls in the refrigerator. After the sauce is thoroughly chilled, skim off the layer of fat from the top. Put the ribs and the sauce into a large saucepan and warm gently on the stove.) Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve over polenta.

Longboarding

It is unseasonably warm right now, and the kids are loving it. They relish in the opportunity to get outside, strut around in their short and glide along on wings made of trucks and wheels, rather than feathers.
All is well, until the circling hawks, giddy and drunk with the warm sun, come crashing into each other and tumble down.

Thankfully, that spirit of joy is not broken. They do not draw war poses and attack each other for the folly of their ways, but rather, relish and trade stories of the adventure, complete with wounds to punctuate their commentaries.

{Photos by Ari, photo manipulation and cropping by Ellie.}

Ethan's Years as a Tiger Scout

This past weekend I began to pull together the photos and memorablia that I will need to create a celebration for Ethan achieving his Eagle Scout. It was fun to see the photos again. It had been a long time since I had pulled out those albums.

For Japan With Love - A Day of Blogger Silence

It is nearly a week since the triple tragedy is Japan occured. I cannot even really comprehend what it must be like for the people and animals there. In an effort to help raise awareness of concrete ways to help those families, those animals, I am taking part in the "For Japan -With Love" campaign.
Over 100 bloggers will have a day of "silence" on March 18th in order to reflect on the enormity of that event. The second goal is to pair with "Shelterbox," an organization that sends green boxes of survival gear (a tent, food, stove, etc.) to families in need. You can follow the link above to find out how you can help. Thank you for your consideration.

This was created by the fine folks over at Utterly Engaged and Ever-Ours.