Monday, February 22, 2010

Spencerisms 2010 (episode 2)

Conversation tonight with Spencer:

Spencer: I want to have a dinner party.
Mommy and Daddy: Do you know what a dinner party is?
S: Yes, it's where you have dinner and a little party with it. It's kinda like a sleepover but people eat dinner with ya.

Then we got on the subject of him saying he has a girlfriend.

Mommy: Do you know what a girlfriend is?
S: Yes, it's someone you want to spend lots of time with, and you like her.
M &D: Did you tell this girl that she was your girlfriend?
S: Yeah. I told her she was my girlfriend....and I was a little nervous.
M&D: What did she say?
S: She said she didn't want to be my girlfriend.
M&D: So what did you do?
S: I left.

He is so funny and is getting to old for his own good. :)

Geck-oh-no!

So this post isn't quite pleasant, so if you have a weak stomach don't watch the video. :)

We frequently have geckos running through the house. I pay no attention to them because usually they are on the walls, and run away from you. They also eat other bugs that I would rather not have in the house. So I really don't mind them.

Anyway, so here the story starts. I go into our bathroom and I find this albino gecko on our shower door. A little too close to comfort for me, so I call for Tyler.
He comes and I go away because believe it or not geckos are REALLY fast. I tell him to get rid of it, so he plans on just having it run up onto the ceiling (which I don't mind). Well, it didn't quite goes as planned, the gecko ran under one of our scales. It kinda got stuck so Tyler went to lift it up and dropped it, and in turn took off the tail of the gecko. This doesn't hurt them too much, I don't think. And usually the tail grows back. But I had to get on video what the tail did after it was chopped off. It's a little gross, but kinda once in a lifetime thing to see. :) Enjoy!


Sunday, February 21, 2010

Woodcarvings-Zim style

We found a great souvenir shop in town and went to see what we could find. It was a great thing that we did because we found our nativity set we wanted from here. We collect them and now have one from Madagascar, Congo, Germany and now Zim! :) I love getting the great woodcarvings here, because they are so detailed. It's amazing what the artist can do!

This is Spencer's hippo he got at the store, and the smallest one out of the 5 or 6 that we sitting there. It's still big enough that Spencer has to carry it with both hands, and the biggest one was probably as big as him if he was down on all fours. He's named this one "hippo".

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Steaks and Potatoes

Grilled Steak with Balsamic Rosemary butter with "Old Bay" Grilled Steak Fries




Okay, this picture doesn't necessarily do the meal justice, but it is the best I have. Becca bought me the Bobby Flay "Grill It" cookbook and I am trying out different recipes every few weeks. The first part was the steak with the Rosemary butter, however in my opinion, the butter was too time intensive in relation to the added taste to the steak. The Old Bay Steak Fries turned out pretty good, a little spicy, but good.

Steak w/butter recipe
2 cups balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoons kosher salt
4 steaks (I used fillet mignon, but you can use your favorite)

1. Combine the vinegar and peppercorns in a small saucepan over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally until reduced to 1/4 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the peppercorns, whisk in the honey and rosemary, and let cool to room temperature.

2. Combine the balsamic mixture with the butter and salt in a food processor and process until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to set slightly. The balsamic-rosemary butter can be made 1 day in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving .

3. Top each steak with a few tablespoons of the butter and garish with rosemary sprigs.

4. Steak:
A. Twenty minutes before grilling, remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let sit, covered, at room temperature.

B. Heat your grill to high

C. Brush the steaks on both sides with oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place the steaks on the grill and let cook until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the steaks over and continue grilling for 5 to 6 minutes for medium rare, 7 to 8 minutes for medium, or 9 to 10 minutes for medium well.

D. Remove the steaks to a cutting board or platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

OLD BAY Grilled Steak Fries
1 tble ground bay leaves 1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 tsp celery salt 1/4 tsp crushed red chile flakes
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika 6 Idaho potatoes scrubbed
1 tsp ground black pepper kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper 1/2 cup canola oil (I use olive oil)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg chopped fresh chives
1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp ground allspice

1. Combine the bay leaves, celery salt, mustard, paprika, black and white peppers, nutmeg, cloves allspice, ginger, chile flakes, and cardamom in a small bowl

2. Put the potatoes in a pot of salted cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, but still firm, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool before cutting each potato lengthwise into 8 thick slices or spears.

3. Heat your grill to high.

4. Brush the potatoes with the oil and season with the spice rub. Grill until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the chives and parsley if desired.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Spencerisms 2010 (episode 1)

Okay I was going to have all of these cute Spencer pictures on here, but I can't upload them, so this one will just have stories.


  • watching Tarzan one day he said: "Sometimes real life doesn't have happy endings." Mommy: "Yep, not all the time does it." Spencer: "Yeah, but sometimes it does, right?" Mommy: "Yes, it does."
  • Favorite words: quite "this is quite good", "I feel quite happy", "this is quite tall"; totally "i totally finished that!", "that's totally not right", "i'm totally a big boy"
  • He loves to commentate life, and also has some awesome game show hosting abilities.
  • "I'm almost all done with my goals, and I'm not even six yet! I'm so smart!"
  • "Daddy why can't you be useless?" (while playing Mario Party 8 and Daddy won)
  • When he is eating or drinking he always has his pinkie finger up in the air...he's so proper!
I think every day he just gets more and more funny! Hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon of our sweet, beautiful boy (if he knew I said that he would say 'that's not what I am!'). So, um, I mean our awesome handsome big boy! :)