Late in the day and before opening gifts we had prime rib, Caesar salad and wild mushroom and asparagus risotto.

Once again Christmas is a blessing to our family and friends. The morning started with homemade donuts, latkes, applesauce, sausage and eggs.

Happy Birthday Mollie Brown!

Last morning together until Christmas!

A family friend brought over their English Bull dog pup.

The turkey was brined overnight and the table set.

We started preparing for Thanksgiving on Wednesday with a upside down apple French toast. Real pumpkin was baked for the pie.

Nancy and Theresa had a great St. Lous visit with family.

One of the wonderful things about flying a light aircraft is seeing really cool things. This week I flew to Tucson and viewed a large wind farm. See the above GPS display showing the farm.

Also the photo of a unmanned ballon is one of many radar platfarms protecting our southern border against drug runners. The ballon is tethered on a heavy cable up to 15,000 feet.

Nancy purchased this perfect furniture for our entertainment center. My buddy Bruce help me measure and make the cut for the cable and entertainment box.

Fun week! I took some time off this week and we went to the coast for the day, visted the Witte Muesum and later we cooked a great meal of little neck clams and mussels with peppered prosciutto bread and melted brie cheese.

I tried something for the first time by grilling an entire fish - and it turned out pretty good. Picking out a 3 lb. Red fish from our local HEB, I risnsed the fish with cold water and then seasoned it with extra-virgin olive oil, pepper and coarse salt. I pre-heated the grill for direct fire using charcoal and Pecan wood. Once the fire (mid-high) was ready I place direct but high above the fire and cooked each side until the skin was dark and flaky.

After cooking I fillet the grilled fish using a spoon and fork. The meat was very moist since the skin and bones protected meat from the fire yet had plenty of flavor.

The side dish was a Artichoke Salad with tomatoes, anchovies, and lots of garlic and olive oil!

This weekend meal was Brazilian Beer Chicken with black beans seasoned with garlic, sage, and comino served on rice and topped with grilled onions. Desert was (again) homemade blueberry pie.

Brazilian Beer Chicken:

2 cups of dark beer

1/2 cup of vegie oil

1/2 cup of Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 medium onion cut thin

12 cloves of sliced garlic

2 bay leaves

1 chicken or combined pieces (3-4 lbs)

Combine the above in a bowl and then place in a large ziplock bag with the chicken and marinate overnight.

Prepare a hot direct fire grill (I used both charcoal and pecan wood). When ready to cook, remove the chicken and keep the marinate. Salt the chicken and place on the grill. If your grill level is adjustable, move it as high as possible as the marinate drippings will cause immediate flames. The chicken will cook pretty fast but use the marinate again by brushing it on the chicken right away. It adds a lot of flavor.

Put the grill to work by smoking two racks of babyback ribs and beer can chicken. Desert is a home made blueberry pie.

The "Grill" got a new home when Nancy put together a sand/pebble pad.

Our meal was grill steaks with artichokes and rice.

My Baby is Back Home!

I've owned this 350 lbs side and direct wood burning pit for over 10 years and use it at least once a week (any weather conditions). For my birthday Nancy had it overhauled by a friend. I can't wait to cook today!

Our Friday date night dinner was prepared by our daughter Julia:

Cellophane Noodle Salad with Roast Pork with a really cool seasoned rice vinegar dressing that included ginger and fresh minced jalapeno chile.