Hoping for a snow day tomorrow!!!!!

We paid Miss Ellie Grace a visit on Saturday night. She's really grown since we last saw her - up to almost 15 lbs - Porky!!

She's 4 months old and has already had her bangs trimmed! Kellie said they were hanging in her eyes and had to be trimmed. Too funny. That kid has a ton of hair!

Here are some of the best pictures of her from that night.

Check out her long hair!!
She's only 4 months old,
what's it going to look like at 12 months!!??!!

This one is a little blurry because Miss WiggleButt can't hold still!

GET OUTTA LIFE NESTLE CRUNCH!!!

I love you far too much and you're doing me no good,

so, it's sayonara to you Mr. Crunch!

(I'm not ready to give up the Everlasting Gobstopper but I'm working on it.)

Too Late To Change Your Stars

I really enjoyed watching Heath Ledger on film. Rich and I love the Knights Tale and the way they interweaved music from the current age with scenes from long ago.

I wish his death hadn't happened. He will be missed.



Follow your feet, boy, they will lead you home.......

Last week, the boss and I took a business advisor to lunch downtown.

We ate at McCormick & Schmicks. We had never been to this restaurant before, but heard it's the best place in town for seafood, so we were both looking forward to lunch. The restaurant is located on the corner of Market & Illinois at the Hilton Hotel.

It's the place to "lunch" if you're dining with attorneys, big wigs or the like. Their speciality is seafood, so of course I had to debate, do I want the coconut shrimp, crabcakes or cashew crusted tilapia. I went with the tilapia. Oh my gosh!!!!!!!! This is the best fish-dish I've ever tasted. I love tilapia anyway but crusted in cashews with a hint of heat (from some habanero peppers) - YUMMO!!!!!!

First of all, the fish was the thickest piece of tilapia I've ever seen. Add the cashew crust and a sweet mango salsa on the side. *ssssiiiiiiiiigggghhhh* We were in lunch heaven.

Well I've been thinking about this fish and thought, surely I could figure out how to make it at home too. So I go to trusty GOOGLE, type in McCormick & Schmick's Cashew Crusted Tilapia and ... wouldn't you know it. I found the recipe!

If you're in town and you want a very special dinner - go to McCormicks & Schmicks - if you want to get a taste of McCormicks on a lighter budget, hit them up at lunch time. (For 2 at lunch, expect to spend a $50.00 bill ) Expensive lunch? Yes, but you won't regret it.

So, here's the recipe for all of you who may not make it to this delicious place:

McCormick & Schmick's Cashew-Crusted Tilapia

4 (5 to 6-ounce) tilapia fillets
Flour, to dust
2 eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons milk
1 ½ cups finely ground cashews
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Jamaican Rum Butter Sauce (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped yellow bell pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons scallions, thinly sliced

• Bread the fillets by first dusting them with the flour, then dipping them in the beaten egg mixture, and finally coating them thoroughly with the ground cashews.
• Do the breading an hour ahead of serving time, allowing the fish to rest in the refrigerator before cooking.
• While the fish is resting, make the Jamaican Rum Butter Sauce and keep on the stove, but not over direct heat. (The sauce will break down if it is too hot.)

Jamaican Rum Butter SauceYield: About 1 ½ cups, 4 servings
1/2 vanilla bean, split
1/4 cup white rum
1/4 cup dark rum
Pinch of saffron
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 minced habanero pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 pound cold butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

• Place the split vanilla bean into a saucepan.
• Add both types of rum, the saffron, lime juice, habanero pepper and sugar.
• Heat to gentle simmer until sugar has dissolved and alcohol has burned off, about 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter to form into a sauce - a cube of butter at a time, allowing each piece to melt before adding more. Set sauce aside for serving.
• Heat the oil in a large sauté pan or skillet and pan-fry the tilapia over medium-high heat until the fish is golden brown on both sides, 2 ½ to 3 minutes per side.
• Place the fish on serving plates and pour the sauce over them.
• Combine the chopped bell peppers to make a "confetti," and sprinkle them over each portion. Sprinkle on the scallions.

• Note: Habanero peppers are very hot, so use sparingly.

ROAD TRIP!!!!

I have to take my camera and head to China to the Harbin Ice Festival. It was established in 1985, & is held annually from January 5 and lasts for over one month. Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang Province. This is China's original and greatest ice artwork festival, attracting hundreds of thousands of local people and visitors from all over the world.

Haven't shown any new pictures of Miss Ellie Grace lately. Kellie sent me these. Ellie is now "standing" on your legs when you hold her up and put her feet on you. This saucer is probably giving her little fat hams a good workout and building up some serious muscle. She has the cutest rolly polly, little fat legs you've ever seen (just wish fat legs were cute at 43 ... but that's another post for another time).

Hey, is it just me or does the new bearded David Letterman look like a cleaner version of our favorite Unibomber Ted Kaczynski or what????