Published on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 by LisaDiane
Joey and I went to the big chocolate event at Billy’s school, The Texas Culinary Academy, last Saturday. There was an amazing amount and variety of chocolate items. Billy had entered the cupcake competition with his wonderful Texas Grapefruit and Dark Chocolate cupcakes.
Joey and I toiled away a few weeks ago helping him pick the perfect flavor combination. By toil I mean eating a bunch of really yummy cupcakes – it was hard work, but what are friends for?
The Choclate Event was fun, if crowded, and we got to see Billy looking official and wearing his chef outfit. Billy’s friend, Robin, had also entered the competition with some very tasty chocolate and cherry cupcakes. I love cupcakes!
Published on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 by LisaDiane
Yesterday Joey and I hosted our tenth annual New Year’s Day party. A great group of people showed up! We ate hoppin’ john, bean soup, and sausage balls (aka meat cookies). Dad, Asher, Laura and Joey decorated the garage and side walk with chalk. The Etheredge siblings were all present, and our nephew Daniel was charming, as usual. Chiara played with Elanor. Lee and Billy brought their friend Melissa, who talked physics with Dad, and then discussed opera with Laura and Alissa! We finished the evening with a round of Apples to Apples. In short, it was a wonderful day, a perfect start to 2009.
Published on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 by LisaDiane
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me… family, a bell mishap, and a shopping trip.
Troy, Kay, Andrew, and Daniel all came over to our house for breakfast on Saturday, 27 December. Andrew and Dad cooked eggs and sausage. Joey made sticky buns and hot sauce (not to be eaten together, those are just the things he prepared). Everyone sat down and we really enjoyed the meal. Next we opened our presents.
I got a perfume, and framed picture of Joey and me from Joey. Troy gave us a copy of his wedding video, and a gift card to Alamo Drafthouse. Kay, Andrew and Daniel gave us beautiful handmade gifts: bath salts in several different scents, and a book of recipes.
Daniel enjoyed opening his presents. He mostly liked the paper and the bags, but the cup that his Uncle Troy and Aunt Christinne gave him was a big hit as well. Elanor seemed to have a good time during the celebration – there were all these people sitting in a circle, and they were all petting her – what could be better?
Lee came and picked me up for bell choir practice. We drove toward church for about five minutes when I realized we needed the keys, so we turned around and went back to the house. It took quite a bit of searching, and a call to Joey to find the keys – they were in his coat pocket. We finally made it to church, but were a bit disappointed because no one except the two of us showed up! After I called one of the other members she came by and we did manage to pick some music, and plan for the next rehearsal.
Later in the day Mom, Lee, Billy, and I went shopping. Mom and Dad got Joey and me a new trash can, sounds boring, but it is pretty fancy. It is bigger than our old one, and you don’t have to use your hand to open the lid. The can we had previously could be opened by stepping on a peddle, but that feature broke awhile back, and it has been bugging my dad every time he is here. Ask my dad about it – he is dying to tell you about the physics of this particular trash can, and why it will last longer than the one we had before. Mom found an awesome salad bowl and salad tongs and got those for me as well.
Published on Friday, December 26th, 2008 by LisaDiane
Many of you know that I absolutely insist on Christmas being celebrated during the actual twelve days, and Christmas Eve. Joey and I usually set up our tree on Christmas Eve or the eve of Christmas Eve. This year we set it up on Tuesday, 23 December, 2008. Lee and Billy joined us. Lee helped me hang the lights. Joey made hot chocolate. We got the tree up and decorated in record time.
On Christmas Eve Joey and I slept late, and then got up and did some chores around the house. Joey put up the lights on the exterior of the house. Then we drove down to San Antonio for the party at Uncle Marcelo’s house. My parents flew into San Antonio on Christmas Eve, and we met them at Uncle Marcelo’s. We visited with my exteneded family, and ate dozens of tamales.
Mom and Dad came up to Austin on Christmas day. We took a hike at Walnut Creek Park. Later we had a great supper, including potato soup and ham.
Published on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 by LisaDiane
Thanksgiving weekend was full of wonderful food. Not only did we get invited to Aaron and Sujata’s on Thursday, we were also invited to Lee and Billy’s for a Thanksgiving feast on Friday. Lee and Billy celebrate with Lee’s family on Friday – their drive down from the DFW area is much less crazy on Thursday than it would be on Wednesday.
Joey and I were really grateful to be asked to join their family gathering. We had a lovely time visiting with the Cagle clan: Roy, Becky, Anne, Chris, Rachel, and Emily. We were also joined by Lee and Billy’s neighbors, Carson and Robert Alexander.
The food was fantastic. There was a kosher turkey – Billy discovered that kosher turkeys are brined as part of the kosher cleaning process, thus saving him the step of brining his turkey after he brought it home. There was also a variation on Lee’s family’s stuffing, which was awesome. I must mention that the secret ingredient in the stuffing was nutmeg – Billy was very proud of that fact. Now the secret is OUT!
Elanor joined us at Lee and Billy’s. She played with Jamie (Rachel’s dog) and Cali in the back yard. A little bird told me that they even got some turkey!
We ate way too much at dinner, but everyone found room for dessert anyway. There was pecan pie, ginger cake, and cherry pie. The cherry pie had the most amazing crust ever – secret ingredient: vodka! Carson, who plays in a band, was good enough to play his guitar for us after dinner; he played and sang very well.
I must say that, after some very scientific study, I have come to the conclusion that two thanksgiving feasts are better than one!
Published on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 by LisaDiane
Many of you know that I was president of the Episcopal Church Women at All Saints’ Episcopal Church back a few years ago. The last year of my tenure, our church hosted the Annual Meeting of the Diocese of Texas Episcopal Church Women. The meeting was well received, and everyone had a great time. It was a really tough job, and I was glad to take a break and relax once it was done.
Apparently people sat up and took notice of the job I did as Annual Meeting Chairperson, because this past spring I got a call from the president of the Diocesan ECW, Anne Hart, asking me to be a Communication Chair for the Diocesan ECW Board of Directors. My job is to manage communication to the Diocese of Texas newspaper, the Episcopalian, and work on the ECW website. I had to think long and hard, but in the end I decided that my skills are very well suited to the job. The officers of the Dioscesan ECW are elected and installed at the Diocese of Texas Episcopal Church Women Annual Meeting and Retreat.
I asked some of my friends from church to join me at the retreat so that I would have moral support, and the pleasure of their company. Misty, Lee, and Lindsay agreed to attend with me. They enthusiastically voted for me on Friday night during the business meeting, and then they stood with me during the installation on Saturday morning.
We went to three great workshops together. We attended a fun workshop called, “How can I keep from singing?” with Brother Gallagher of Holy Cross Monastery. We sang until we were horse, especially Lindsay! We also met a most flirtatious monk, Brother Bernard. He wore a habit that looked like jedi clothing. We were pretty sad we did not get a picture! He joked and laughed with us the entire time we were together.
We also attended Elizabeth Gibson’s workshop on labyrinths. Elizabeth gave a wonderful presentation, and I think all of us were moved by our labyrinth walk. I could not stop thinking about how lucky we are to have such a fantastic, creative person sharing her ministry with All Saints’!
The retreat was held at Camp Allen. The facility is superb, the food was good, the setting was magnificent. The weather was cool, but beautiful. Misty, Lindsay, Lee, and I took a couple of great walks through a small part of the grounds. We could not have asked for a better weekend!
Published on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 by LisaDiane
The other day I suddenly remembered a cute pattern (recipe, as K calls them) for Feline Dim Sum. No, not dim sum filled with felines! Knitted cat toys in the shape of a wonton or eggroll.
I searched the web and found the pattern. Then I ran to my stash and found some scrap yarn. I knitted one up while dinner was cooking – it took about 20 minutes. I did not have any batting or other materials to stuff the toys with, so I called on my friend to see what she had. She came up with some fabric scraps that worked out very well. The actual knitting, stuffing and sewing up of the toy took place during a TnT Design Team Meeting at Bee and Lilly’s house. I had stopped by the pet store to get some cat nip on the way to dinner. Bee and Lilly’s cat, Atticus, was happy to take the toy for a test drive.
Published on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 by LisaDiane
Lee has been working like crazy lately. Billy asked her to take a day off for mental health purposes. He asked Joey and me to join them for a day trip.
We decided to drive out to Shiner, Texas to visit the Spoetzl Brewery. We had fun trying the beers that were on tap at the brewery. The tour was interesting, and we had a nice tour guide, but there was also a crazy tour guide who always sounded like she was angry. Billy and I had a good time laughing about how much she yelled.
We also stopped into Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner, which is one of the Painted Churches of Texas. The church was beautiful. We really enjoyed our visit.
On the way home we stopped in Lockhart, Texas for some barbeque at Smitty’s Market. We all ate too much, of course!
We also did our civic duty by stopping to vote once we made it back to Austin. Lee and I will both be out of town on election day, so we wanted to make sure we voted before early voting was over!
Published on Saturday, September 20th, 2008 by LisaDiane
The All Saints’ Episcopal Church Twenties and Thirties decided to take a trip to the Blanton Museum of Art as a group. Most of us had never been there before, despite its location right in the middle of Austin.
We saw lots of great art. Misty found an engraving with a chubby Jesus. Lindsay was terrified that she might meet the same fate as St. Agatha, but happily she is still intact. Trenton found a car that he could connect with. Joey found a penny. Jeff, Trenton, Joey and I got lost in a bunch of yellow noodles. Fun was had by everyone. After exploring the museum, we wandered over to The Dog and Duck for some dinner and beer. It was really a fantastic evening!
Published on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 by LisaDiane
Karen suggested that we go to the Alamo Drafthouse to see Tron. As it turned out the showing that Joey and I were in town for was on my birthday. What could be better than Tron as part of a birthday celebration.
Billy, Jacob, Joey, and I went to Sushi Sake for dinner. We ate tons of appetizers, along with plenty of sushi. Then we went down to 6th Street. We got to the theatre a bit early, so we went into Pecan Street Bar for some refreshment.
We met up with Karen, got out tickets, and made our way to the theatre.
We watched footage of old video games. We ordered lots of fried food and beer. Then we watched Tron on the big screen! It was great birthday!
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Joey and I went to the big chocolate event at Billy’s school, The Texas Culinary Academy, last Saturday. There was an amazing amount and variety of chocolate items. Billy had entered the cupcake competition with his wonderful Texas Grapefruit and Dark Chocolate cupcakes.
