Family Date Night

In my infinite wisdom, I decided the heading to Destiny USA in Syracuse (the fifth-largest mall in the U.S.) two weeks before Christmas would be the ideal way to spend a Saturday evening. Mind you, we had no shopping to do - I just though dinner and a little exploration was in order.

Whoops.

It was crazy. I mean really crazy.

After about 15 minutes, we found a parking spot, and the rest is history.

We ended up having a really great time. We opted for the early bird special at the Gordon Biersch Brewery (to avoid absurd wait times later), let Jackson explore a few toy stores, checked out the go-cart track, and window shopped a few stores we couldn't afford to step into.

It turned out to be family bonding at its greatest. Here's to dumb ideas that turn out ok.

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

 

 



Melissa: Meet Rome

Melissa is a brave woman. She braved the whole December airport/weather situation to come visit us, which is no small feat when you're flying from Denver to New York.

I've known Melissa for 14 years, and we've lived in different cities (and/or countries) for the last five years. Melissa has managed to see Jackson no less than every six months since he was born, which is a huge blessing.

We weren't able to make it home to Colorado for Christmas this year, and as such, we'll be missing out on a pretty epic reunion with our best friends. Melissa brought a piece of the party to New York, and I am so grateful to have had the chance to see her during the holiday season.

We had a virtual work-from-home party (she works from home too!), baked, hit the town, drank wine, and reminisced.

We love you, lady.

The Great Tree Hunt

As you may or may not know, we love us a real tree.

Since this is our first Christmas in New York, we had to find a new tree farm. As you can imagine, there is no shortage of those around here.

We choose to go to our favorite local market, which was rumored to have a "U-Cut" tree farm.  This little piece of Heaven, North Star Orchards, is not only close to our home, but it's the epitome of a country market. In the summer, it's strawberry and blueberry picking. In the fall it's apple picking, pumpkins, and fresh pies. It's local coffees, syrups, produce, dairy, meat, and a fresh bakery. And apparently, in December, it's Christmas Trees.

North Star had an array of pre-cut trees, but we're always looking for a good challenge, and on a freezing, rainy day, we could think of nothing better than venturing out to cut our own tree. After inquiring about the mysterious "U-Cut" tree farm, the owner pointed us to a dirt trail behind the market.

"Drive back up in there. You'll find a variety of trees. $30 no matter what size or type. You need a saw?"

As a matter of fact, yes. We do need a saw.

So, we followed the small, hand-written U-Cut signs until we found a perfectly suitable patch of trees. We parked and then hiked until we found the perfect tree (and by that I mean until we got cranky and cold).

For obvious reasons (we're crazy) we were the only ones out there. It was serene and quiet, and despite the freezing rain, I'd dare to say we had fun.

 

 

Spent Grain Doggy Biscuits

Home brewing is something of a family affair here at the Stubbs' house. And by that, I mean Jackson and I usually head out... you know, Target... Old Navy... you get the idea. But the dogs. The dogs are Tyler's brew buddies. Kahla is a pro, and besides mowing the lawn, there's no way she'd rather spend an afternoon. Now we have a little Rebel in training, and so far he seems to be up to the task.

After all that hard work, its only fair they benefit from the brewing process. We're all about giving them a sip of hard-earned homebrew, but let's be real. They want some instant gratification, and if it involves peanut butter, even better.

Brewing results in a whole lot of 'spent grains' or wet, sloppy left over grains. The horses behind our house usually benefit (we hate to waste perfectly delicious grains). Now, we've perfected a dog biscuit recipe worthy of our four-legged helpers.

Spent Grain Dog Biscuits

4 cups spent grains
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients thoroughly and press down into a thick layer on a greased cookie sheet. Use a cookie cutter to score the biscuits into your preferred shape (but don't cut them out yet!).

Put them into the oven for 30 minutes to solidify the mixture. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and break the biscuits free. Put them back in the oven at 225 degrees for at least 3 hours or until all moisture is remove. Ain't nobody want a moldy dog treat.

Voila! put those bad boys in an airtight container and distribute at your digression. We kept all the leftovers after we cut the shapes out - who cares if those pieces aren't perfectly german shepherd-shaped? They taste equally amazing (or so Kahla seems to believe).

 

Mmm! Grains.

 

You know, I suppose I'll just have a sip...

 

Mix it up!

 

Press away.

 

Done-zo.

 

Do not ask why we have german shepherd cookie cutters. No, we did not buy it them for this particular occasion, but I suspect Tyler had something to do with this years ago. How convenient though, to have that sitting in the back of our utensil drawer...