Hello Friends!

Hey how are you?  We're doing well here at the West A house.  Spring feels like it's here and we've been busy!  Yard cleanup is in full swing and we've taken advantage of some recent good weather to do some hiking/walking/bike riding.  

We recently visited Omaha and enjoyed a trip to the Durham Museum.  I'm a bit of a train fan so I was very glad to have finally visited.  The structure is amazing.  I tried to imagine it was 1942 and the place was busy with many people coming and going or waiting for their train.  Taxis and busses dropping off and picking up folks who may have come from New York or were going to Denver. 

Alex of course liked the model trains and the ability to go inside some of the rail cars down at track level.  Lincoln used to have a trolley system, as did Omaha.  Too bad Lincoln couldn't have kept it.

Staying on the train theme, last Sunday we hiked south on the abandoned Union Pacific line to the point where the Rock Island line crossed over.  If you go southwest on the Rock Island line there's a bridge that crosses Salt Creek, we plan on hiking to that the next time.

Have a good weekend everyone! 

Boozed up hot tub of love......

Well now that I have your attention, let me just say that I've read a lot of food related posts the last couple of years but that sentence about takes the cake!  Steve makes food I wish I could eat. Guess I'm going to have to try making that in the near future. 

Did you enjoy the weekend?  What a great couple of days!  My wonderful in-laws took "The Boy" Friday night so the Missus and I had some time to go out and let someone else serve us. And we both slept in Saturday and today, that is always a treat!

We ventured out to 56th & Hwy 2 Saturday night and had Indian food at Taj Mahal.  The place was very busy but the wait was worth it.  After the meal I was invited into the kitchen to see what Chef Raghani was preparing, he had a huge pot of base sauce going and he was pureeing it with the biggest stick blender I've ever seen!  We talked a bit about paneer cheese and after showing me his, told me to air dry my next batch in the fridge for two days to firm it up.  I was thrilled to be invited into a working Indian kitchen!

I prepared a pecan smoked honey-rosemary pork loin this evening and sauteed some zucchini and green peppers along with the pork.  This week looks to be fantastic weather wise so the grill will be hot at this house! 

I hope you're all doing well and I'll see you soon!

Happy New Year!!

Well it's 2011! I might know what you're thinking, "Where has this guy been?" Well the year ended and it's time to get the new year started on a new fresh foot. I don't have any legitimate excuses for ignoring WestADad since October. I was just lazy. Sorry! 

I'm roasting a chicken for Sunday dinner at the moment and with a recently aquired laptop at a countertop seperating my kitchen from the dining room, I felt the urge to post something.

I hope each and every one of you that comes here had a wonderful holiday season no matter what you celebrate. With Lincoln Public Schools closed since December 22nd we've been busy entertaining "The Boy". Movies, bowling, Children's Museum, Lost In Fun, and two "Christmases" with both sets of Grandparents on the 24th and 25th. I'm ready for him to go back to school and I'll go back to work.

Speaking of work, my co-workers decided to have a pot-luck back on December 23rd. So being me, I had to do something big and smoked a herb crusted ham out in front of the business that morning so it'd be right off the fire at lunch time. It weighed 8.9 pounds and was a big hit. I brought the leftovers/bones home and made a tasty ham and bean soup on New Years Day. Which was also pretty darned good according to the Missus.

I'm excited to start the new year saving up for the new deck/tiki hut I plan to build. I've laid down some plans on paper and continue to draw inspiration from TikiCentral. Some of the bars/huts/rooms posted at "TC" are simply mind blowing. One day not far from now you'll be invited over for some tasty treats and tiki drinks!

I've discovered a few new dishes the last couple of months (new to us anyways) and I'll be showing them to you soon. I hope you like them.  Chicken Yakisoba is a real favorite and easy to make too.

Since it's winter and I need a hobby to keep busy, I plan on showing you step by step my attempt to build some lamps for the tiki hut. Hopefully you don't laugh to hard at my handiness or lack thereof!

The chicken and taters are done.  I could eat dozens of these little roasted red bliss tasty treats.

Hope you have a good week and again I wish each of you a happy and prosperous 2011.

Happy Fall!!

I can't believe how the days fly by sometimes.  Summer is gone and now it's fall, my favorite time of the year.  We've been busy here at the West A House.  School and work, going here and there, meeting new people.

It's been a busy past month since I was here last, the Missus and I went to Dave Matthews at Qwest Center a few weeks ago.  It rocked as usual.  They played a new song, "Black Jack", it was awesome.  I hope the studio version turns out as good as the live version was. 

A week after Dave, we went back to Omaha and met some folks at Mt. Fuji for the first and hopefully annual "Mid-West Mai Tai Meet-Up".  We had dinner in a Tatami (tea) room with three other tiki-minded couples then migrated downstairs to the Mai Tai lounge for drinks and conversation.  Another couple joined us in the lounge and for a first time event, 10 people made for a nice party.  I look forward to doing it again!

Have a good week and if you get tomorrow off, have a nice Columbus Day.

And now for some pictures!!

Pupu ribs and ginger pineapple fried rice.
















Hand carved tiki "Nui Niho" by "Lake Tiki"-Dave Hansen of Milwaukee.
















Hot bowl of smoked pork three bean chili.

Gigantic fish float lamp by Trader Bill from Newport Beach California.

Ecstatic people getting Mt Fuji shirts. Thanks to Silverline for the picture.

Happy Labor Day

Here's hoping you had a nice day today.  Sorry if you had to work.  We made the most of our weekend by traipsing all over Eastern Nebraska.  We meandered up North 14th Street to Martin's Hillside Orchard and picked raspberries, apples and some of the best peaches I've ever had.  That prompted a nice batch of peach cobbler when we got home.  Probably make some sauce or syrup with some of the raspberries for pancakes.  And I know some of the apples have apple crisp in their future! The orchard is a nice excuse for a drive through the countryside to see the coming of fall.  Some trees are changing, the corn is drying.  The weather was perfect.  Decided that beef would be featured this weekend so I grilled up a platter of kebabs and the crowd went wild.  Okay not really, but the kebabs were devoured.

We loaded up the wagon the next day and wandered around Mahoney and Schramm State Parks.  The aquarium at Schramm is a popular spot for us and The Boy is always fascinated with the fish.  Especially "Big Blue" the huge catfish.  We explored the canyon ponds of the Gretna Fish Hatchery up into the bluffs on the north side of the Platte River.  One canyon pond was full of carp and another pond further up had great looking trout. Very cool!  

After lots of hiking we motored east, crossed the Platte into Louisville and searched for ice cream.  Finding none we ventured north through South Bend, past Mahoney Park again and found frozen treats in Ashland.  
All the fresh air and excercise made me hungry like a bear so I grilled steak for dinner.  Sauteed shrooms and broccoli too.

We rolled out to Seward today and hung out with the better half's family for lunch and conversation.  It was a great three day weekend and I hope yours was too.  Have a great week!

Sunday Dinner

Hi there!  Spent a lazy afternoon in the pool today, it was pretty chilly but we got used to it.  Tomorrow and Tuesday look to be possible swim days and that's probably about it for the season.  I like the fall season the best and I'm looking forward to it again this year.  I don't mind the fall yard cleanup, it get's you outside in the fresh air.  I've got some minor exterior house projects to finish up then too.  I hope you've had a good summer, you've got a couple weeks left.  Let's hope for a nice long Autumn! 

I ran across a recipe for some enchiladas a few weeks ago so that's what we had for dinner tonight.  It's not the usual enchilada but it was mighty tasty.  Here we go.  Using pecan wood, I smoked two pork loin, four tomatoes, an orange bell pepper (red is preferred) and a hot red pepper.  Smoke all of this for 40 minutes, the pork cooks until medium doneness.  Cut the pork into bite size pieces and set aside. Remove the skins and seeds from all the veggies.  Puree them in the blender along with some onion and garlic.  Simmer this sauce for about 15 minutes and give it a shot of salt and some chopped cilantro as you take it off the heat and set it aside. 

Sautee more onion in a large skillet until it's soft and nearly translucent.  Add some garlic and the pork and sautee this for a few minutes.  Then add some cooked drained black beans, chicken broth and chili powder.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer it until the liquid is mostly gone.  Prepare the corn tortillas the way you like to eat them. Fried, microwaved or like I do, tossed onto a hot gridle.  Place some filling and some Jack cheese on each tortilla, roll em' up and place in a baking dish.  Cover the whole lot with some of your sauce and top with more cheese.  Bake until the cheese is to your liking.  15-20 minutes.  EAT!!

Have a good week everyone!

Goodbye Sweet Zoey

We had to put Zoey down this morning.  The last couple of weeks have been pretty rough.  The vet said she had congenital heart disease and it was amazing that she lived as long as she did.  We adopted her from the humane society and we think she was 11 or 12 years old.  We promised her that she wouldn't ever suffer again like she had before we adopted her.  I remember her being so emaciated her front legs almost touched when we brought her home.  She must have been beaten because if you touched her anywhere near her tail she would cower from you.  She grew out of that and was quite the specimen!  We knew she had a heart murmur but she was very strong and such a sweet dog to the very end.  She loved being in the front yard where all the neighbor kids would give her attention. 

Williamsburg Vet Clinic was very kind and let us use their special quiet room, we laid on a soft blanket together, Zoey was given the injection and was gone in less than a minute.  My heart said "no" but my head said it was the kindest thing to do.  We stayed with her body for a little while and we'll get her cremated remains in a few days. 

She was a wonderful affectionate gentle dog and I will miss her.  Boxer's are such clowns and Zoey was no exception.  One time she chewed up a stuffed toy and that was it.  Never trouble, loved everyone she ever met. 

Goodbye monkey girl, I love you.