While walking the dog around the lake this morning, I heard the newly-formed ice ‘pinging’ as the sun rose above the trees. Turn up the volume to hear it.
Category: Family
New Year’s 2014
We have established some new family traditions around Christmas and New Years:
- a family night out to Quincy Market to see the Christmas tree and have some dinner;
- the early-evening fireworks on Boston Common for New Year’s Eve.
These are real, official traditions – we’ve done them for at least two years in a row.
The night at Quincy Market isn’t fancy: a casual stroll around the touristy section of Boston, with some overpriced dinner and maybe some trinkets from the various and sundry vendors. A ride on the carousel, before it closes for the year, is mandatory.
Along with the Christmas tree there is a light show called ‘Blink,’ which plays every hour or so. Music by the Boston Pops is piped in over the loudspeakers.
We chose to stay home for Christmas Day, rather than travelling to Connecticut to join our folks. That is a tradition I can get behind – so much less stress than driving around all day.
We didn’t plan much for the day. We held open the possibility of going to the cinema, but the girls wanted to stay home and watch a movie we got for Christmas (Guardians of the Galaxy). Having a low-stress holiday is refreshing, so unlike the holidays of my childhood.
My folks weren’t thrilled with not seeing us – my father is very resistant to change, and he’s accustomed to hosting the entire family – but we had Christmas Part II on the following Sunday, which was actually pretty fun.
This year Baba (the kids’ name for their grandmother) joined us for the fireworks. We took the train in, ate dinner in the city, and walked to the Common with hot chocolate in hand.
The weather was cold but the sky was clear. The show ran a little long, about 15 minutes, but the kids were thrilled and we all forgot about the cold for a bit.
D-Angelo’s #9
I discovered the D’Angelo’s sandwich chain in my late teens and fell in love with their ‘Number 9’ grilled sandwich. It’s very easy to make for yourself and it’s delicious!
This recipe makes enough to feed two or three people (or more, if they’re kids).
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add vegetable oil to a hot pan on medium heat, add onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook to soften.
- sprinkle salt and pepper to taste
- Add chicken. Cook, flipping occasionally to prevent burning.
- When chicken is cooked, pile meats and veggies and top with cheese. Heat until cheese starts to collapse into meat and veggies.
- divide and scoop everything into sliced bread or tortillas
Christmas Tree 2014
The tree is up, and it’s gorgeous!
This may actually be one of the best-shaped trees we’ve ever had. The guys at the tree farm said this is a concolor fir. It smells nice!
We generally go to cut-your-own tree farms; this year we went to Rollie’s Farm in Lowell.
Mexican Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (about one 12 oz box)
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup frozen corn
- ½ cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese or cheddar cheese
Toppings:
- 8 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
- 8 tablespoons salsa
- ¼ cup sliced black olives
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cook pasta shells according to package directions; drain.
- Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
- Stir in salsa, tomato sauce, corn, and beans.
- Spoon beef mixture into pasta shells and place in a 13×9 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray.
- Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Top with sour cream, salsa,, olives, and onions.
North End travels
Beta is more intrepid than her older sister, so the two of us go on adventures when Megh is busy and Alpha just wants to stay home. On Sunday afternoon we headed into Boston’s North End to explore.
I actually found legal, on-street parking (oh joy!) and only had to reverse down a one-way street to get it.
We ate gelato at the Gelateria, around the block from where we parked. I had chocolate (very chocolate, very smooth) and Beta had mint chocolate chip.
The trip was cut short because she decided that she wanted to home home — it was late, she was tired (it was her idea to come, I wasn’t dragging her anywhere). I have to admit her timing was pretty good, though. So we grabbed a few cannoli for after dinner before we headed out the door, two chocolate chip and one nutella. I’m not a fan but Megh said they were delicious.
Rollerskating
With Meghan working at the Lego store for the afternoon, Alpha, Beta, and I decided to go roller skating. I haven’t been since before I got married, Beta has only been once, and Alpha has never been.
We went to Roller World in Saugus, since Beta had been there once with friends and liked it. It’s also not too far and had good reviews on Google. They offer a choice of roller skates or -blades (for a few dollars more). We elected to rent roller blades instead of skates, to make backwards tipping a little less likely.
Beta took off after a moment of getting used to the skates again, while Alpha spent a few minutes just trying to stand. I had my own troubles but got going soon enough.
After a little while, the most amazing thing happened: the sisters started helping each other out. Alpha was still a little unsteady on her skates, so Beta stepped up and tried to help her out. They did a few laps around the floor together as Alpha slowly worked away from the wall. I’ve seen the “sisters-against-the-world-thing” in other people, but I’ve had my doubts that these two would ever bond like that. I’m glad to see that I was wrong.
After a couple of big spills (but no injuries) we decided to head out. We were all surprised to find that we had been there for a couple of hours – even I could have sworn it had only been an hour. Time flies when you’re having fun! The girls spent the ride home talking about going back and buying roller blades for themselves.
Swimming in Beverly
On one of the last warm days in September this year, Beta asked me ever-so-sweetly to take her swimming. Silver Lake smells terrible at the end of summer (and that day was no exception), and, though Beta insisted that she didn’t mind the smell, I refused to take her there. The ocean was the only option! Meghan had to work on a book and Alpha didn’t feel like swimming, so Beta and I piled into the convertible and headed out.
One the closest spots we can go to see the ocean is Lynch Park in Beverly, MA. I picked it by browsing on Google Maps. We’d never been there, and didn’t know what to expect.
The water was cold and a little dirty (natural dirt, not pollution) so I elected to stay out, but Beta (and some paddle-boarders) braved the water. The park itself is gorgeous, with a spectacular view of Salem. There’s an amphitheatre, a short walkway along the ocean, and a broad expanse of grass for people to plan on.
We spent a couple of hours there until the air started to turn chilly, and then took the long way home to avoid the traffic snarls on I-95.
Watching the Sox
To thank me for doing a great job on a gruelling project at work, I was offered tickets to see the Red Sox play at Fenway. I don’t normally watch sports but hey, game on! We live so close I should watch at least one game. The game was played back on September 23.
I took my mother-in-law Joan, because she’s a fan-in-the-literal-fanatic-sense of the Sox. It was also a way to thank her for all the times she’s helped us out. She thought it was a hoot.
I had an ‘oh-thats-so-quaint’ moment when I realized that the score board along the back of the field is updated by hand. There’s a jumbotron too, but in between innings some dude goes out and hangs little panels on the scoreboard to provide scores for other games being played nationally. The current score is updated by hand, too, but they stay inside to do that.
The Sox lost, in the end, but Joan and I had a great time! I’m planning to take the girls next year for an afternoon game.
Jonesey’s Enchiladas
Quinn used to work at Margarita’s in Mystic. (Its a great place for pretty standard Mexican food. The stories that came out of that place are legendary.) He loves cooking Mexican food. I’m … okay at it. Tonight, we came up with something epic.
Ingredients:
- hamburger (about a pound and a half was pretty good)
- two handfuls of cheese
- two dollops of salsa
- 12 tortillas
- green enchilada sauce
- sour cream and more cheese for garnishes
- chilies for more garnishes
Directions:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
- Brown the ground beef. When it is cooked completely, remove it from the heat and drain the grease.
- Mix in the cheese and salsa.
- Spoon the mixture into the tortillas, rolling them and placing them in a 9×13″ pan. Keep going until the pan is full or you run out of filling.
- Pour the enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil when there is about 5 minutes left on the timer.
- Scoop out the enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese (and chilies if desired), and dump some sour cream on them for good measure.
- Eat!