Easter gingerbread

L.A. & D.P. came over this evening to construct a gingerbread Easter cottage. Luckily for all, it was a kit, with the house already assembled. L.A. loves to eat gingerbread, but I have yet to feel confident about making it. This way, we skipped all that.

But the kids did mix up the frosting and then put the little decorations on it. I found the kit at Wal-Mart, in case anyone else is interested in taking this shortcut.

It was easy, but part of what Payne always calls "making memories" with our grands.

Late March

Goodness! Time does fly when you're having fun. Either that or I've been so busy working that I just crash when I get home and haven't taken the time to post anything to this personal blog. But I'm finally taking a few minutes to show you something terrific:

We had a wonderful visit from TM last week. Jenn and I took her to the Explorations in Antiquity Center where she learned about life in Biblical times. It was fascinating going through the outdoor museum and sitting down to the Passover meal was fabulous. The archeologist who owns the place explained all the elements of the meal and what they represented. You can see more of their information at http://www.biblicalresources.net/museum.htm

Along those (religous) lines, we had a terrific surprise the other day. We received the new "Lutheran Study Bible," hot off the press! It has great notes highlighting Bible concepts, Lutheran perspectives (of course), and faith reflection questions. Our pastor even pointed out that it has a Bible reading plan - a gentle hint, perhaps? :-) We love it!

Back to the working aspect of life, I do update the work blog daily and invite you to visit it: http://lgtcchamber.blogspot.com/. When you see the green water in the fountain, note the darling leprechans in front of it - two of our four grands. :-)

March Snow (3/1/09)

When it snows in west central Georgia it is a BIG Deal! The Southern gentleman was thrilled, because it's so rare. The Yankee lady was thrilled because it's such a brief, beautiful experience - unlike the tons of snow that pile up in her native north.

February births & broccoli

Ken & Debbie came for dinner last night to celebrate their February birthdays with the family. Everybody loved the shrimp with pasta, but the big hit was our niece Lysh's "broccoli, parmeson, & lemon." Payne was lamenting today that there were no leftovers, so he could nibble.

Here's the recipe:

3 heads broccoli (about 3 pounds)

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 lemon, juiced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Trim 1-inch off broccoli stalks and the cut the broccoli lengthwise into spears. Arrange on a nonstick cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (a cookie sheet with sides). Drizzle oil and season with salt & pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Roast (also known as bake) in the oven for 10 minutes.

Pull the pan out and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the vegetable and bake again until the cheese melts and forms a crisp shell (about 10 minutes).

Lift the broccoli onto a platter with a spatula and drizzle with fresh lemon juice.