Merry Christmas

From Christmas 2008 Outtakes

The McDonald's want to wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas and a great new year.

Taking a Cosmic Vacation

Sean was an Elvis impersonator who was mixed up on who he was impersonating in the 5th grade play "Cosmic Vacation." As Sean would say the line of John Wayne, Johnny Mathis, Yoda, Forest Gump & Humphrey Bogart, his handler, Pedro, would have to correct him. It was a funny play!

Elvis has left the star cruiser!

Photos on Picasa

A reminder that photos of the family are on my Picasa page, including this awesome flying trip in a small plane.

New Year's Black-Eyed Pea Soup

New Year's Black-Eyed Pea Soup

3 rounded cups dried black-eyed peas
Ham born with meat or ham hocks
3 cups celery
3 cups minced onion
3 cups minced carrot
2 lb. smoked sausage
2 tbsp. chili powder

Please peas in 3 quarts water with ham bone and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until peas are soft, about two hours. (No need to soak peas.) Discard bone, leaving bits of ham in soup. Add celery, onion and carrots and cook for another hour. Add diced smoked sausage and simmer 30 minutes. Add chili powder. If needed, and more water, salt or black pepper. Serve with corn bread. Makes about a gallon.

-- Dottie and Joe Wilkinson, as published in the Austin American-Statesman

Want to order Scout Popcorn?

If you missed our personal plea to buy excellent Scout Popcorn, then here is your chance to order online.

Go to this site:


http://www.orderpopcorn.com/Store/Catalog/Default.aspx

and use this code for Sean:

TEV70HM

Sean and Pack 61 thank you.

Table Scraps at Mills Talent Show

The Table Scraps played the Mills Talent show in may, 2008

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Sean was Jimmy Jet in the fourth grade choir musical "Where the Sidewalk Ends." It was a fantastic play based on the poetry of Shel Silverstein.

Rush concert at the Erwin Center

Brian and Sean were invited to a Rush concert for Blake Richardson's birthday. Dad, of course, had to take them there and make sure they were safe. Wish I had such a great dad at 10 years old!

The concert was awesome and funny and loud.

Setlist (I think):

* Limelight
* Digital Man
* Ghost of a Chance
* Mission
* Freewill
* The Main Monkey Business
* The Larger Bowl
* Red Barchetta
* The Trees
* Between the Wheels
* Dreamline

Intermission

* Far Cry
* Work them Angels
* Armour and Sword
* Spindrift
* The Way the Wind Blows
* Subdivisions
* Natural Science
* Witch Hunt
* Malignant Narcissism

Drum Solo ... about 8 minutes

* Hope
* Spirit of the Radio
* Overture/Temples of Syrinx
* Tom Sawyer

Encore

* One Little Victory
* Passage to Bangkok
* YYZ

The Thief: Forgivenes

This post is about a rock song, but it is really about Easter.

Today, at Easter Service, our paster talked about the words Christ gave us from the cross. When he got to the story about the thief who hung on the cross next to him, and how he was forgiven even then, at the end of a long life of sin, I was reminded of a great song.

Third Day "Thief" comes from the thief's perspective as he hung on the cross. It is a powerful, haunting, wonderful, rocking song.
Give it a listen.

Luke 23:39-43 (New International Version)

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[a]"

43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Chicken and White Bean Chili

I don't have the reference for this recipe, unfortunately. It was some kind of dutch oven cookbook and uses that in the recipe, but I usually use a crockpot or stove pot.

Serves 8 to 10
2 tbs. olive oil
4 onions, chopped (I usually use less)
6 garlic cloves, chopped
4 (4 oz) cans chopped mild green chiles, drained
1 (12 oz) bottle regular (not dark) beer
2 cups chicken stock
3 tbl chili powder
2 tbl ground cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper
6 boneless, skinless chiken thighs, but into 1-inch cubes (I used canned chix at campout for ease.)
1 (15.4 oz) cans white northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15.5 oz) can chickpease, rinsed and drained
1 (15.5 oz) can cream-style corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice

Optional toppings
Grated cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses
Sour cream
Chopped green onions
Chopped tomatoes
Sliced jalapenos
Tortilla chips

LIghtly coat a 5 1/2-quart Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, onions, garlic and cook until soft. Add the green chiles, beer, chicken stock, chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to tase. Stir in the chicken. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes, or until the mixture is nicely thickened and the chicken is cooked (I always cook the chicken first anyway.)

Stir in the northern beans, chickpeas and creamed corn. (I usually dump it all together in the beginning, to be honest.) Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking. Stir in cilandro and lime juice and mix very well. Serve in large bowls, garnished with the optional toppings.

Spring Break Tour, Reprise

In need to write a long post about our Spring Break trip, but I don't have time now, and I want to point out all to the photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/christian.mcdonald

U.S. vs Mexico

Brian and I went to Reliant Stadium in Houston to watch the U.S. national team play Mexico in a "friendly" match. Of course, there are no "friendly" matches between U.S. and Mexico, and Houston is not a "home" stadium for the U.S. team. The crowd was probalby 90% pro-Mexico. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time and saw some great soccer. The teams tied 2-2, but Mexico moved the ball much better than the U.S. team.

Hiking in the New Year

We spent New Year's Day hiking the Lost Maples State Natural Area with the Reyes and Manceaux families. It was an awesome way to ring in the New Year!