Fall To-Do List

Texas Reds Festival Oct. 7-8
Tx Ren Fest
Houston Zoo
East Tx
Galveston Weekend

Mom's Soup Recipes

Tortilla soup

Shredded chicken, (baked with tony cachere's, shredded and all juices reserved and put into pot)
Cans of corn
Cans of Rotel
Cans of Ranch style beans
Corn tortillas
Taco Seasoning

Put all into pot and boil until done. Add corn tortilla strips in last ten minutes.

Beef Soup

Ground beef (boiled)
Ranch dressing dry mix
Ranch style beans
Cans of corn
Taco seasoning
Rotel tomatoes

Put all in pot, simmer.

Chicken and dumplings


Beef vegetable soup

Ground Beef
potatoes, cut up
carrots
corn
one jar of picante sauce
barley

Houston:
zoo, arborteum, nasa, market square/disc green, st arnolds, bayou park, play, galveston, rodeo

San Antonio/Austin:
alamo/riverwalk, missions, zoo/park, la villita, landa park, schlitterbahn, gruene hall, float the river, state capitol, barton springs, congress ave

Dallas:
aquarium, dealey plaza/ 6th floor museum, botanical gardens, pioneer plaza, thanksgiving square, majestic theater, fantasy landing, farmers market, city hall, stockyards

Weekend trips:

austin, galveston, dallas, san antonio

Longer trips:

chicago, nyc, philly, boston, europe, carribean, mexico,

Angel Hair Pasta

This recipe is deliciously light and simple. It works really well paired with a heavier main dish like steak or baked chicken.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Olive oil

2 cloves Garlic, chopped (or to taste)

3 pounds Tomato, diced

1/2 cup Fresh basil

3 tablespoons Red wine vinegar

1 dash Salt

1 pound Angel hair pasta

Fresh ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy small skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and stir for 3 minutes, do not brown. Transfer to large non-aluminum bowl. Mix in tomatoes and liquid, remaining tablespoon of olive oil, basil and vinegar. Add dash of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Let stand 6 hour or refrigerate overnight. Just before serving, cook angel hair pasta in large amount of boiling water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain well; transfer to large bowl. Add sauce and toss. Pass Parmesan cheese. Serves 6.

Hobbying

So, I was reading the Domestic Goddess's blog post (here) and that got me thinking about what classes I would like to take. I too am finishing a Master's and think I'd like to explore a few subjects with my newfound free time.

Here's the list I have so far:
Shooting, photography, interior decorating, baking/cake decorating, sewing, sign language

I also want to get into local theater again and definetly read for enjoyment. I LOVE reading. Everything about it. I just have trouble finding books that I am really into, but when I do it is one of the greatest simple pleasures around.

The only problem: Where do I find places that offer these classes?

Google definetly helps the research process, but certain topics are going to be tough. I really want to learn to sew. I would love to make my own clothing. Whenever I go shopping, I always have a really good idea of what I want but can never find exactly what I am looking for. I would love to be able to make dresses especially. My mother can make ANYTHING, really any thing without a pattern or drawing it out. She just can sit down and start cutting and sewing and it comes out great. I want to get to that level. If we ever needed a costume, she would just whip it together in no time. She can make great window coverings, pants, crafts, whatever.

She is never the best teacher because she gets distracted, so I would like to learn the basics elsewhere before trying to obtain her as a tutor again.

Yamboree...yes, that is what it is actually called



So after much debate, the husband and I will be attending Yamboree in East Texas this weekend. If you haven't guessed, yes, it is a festival celebrating yams. There is a barn dance (I didn't know those existed anymore but apparently they do), a carnival, craft contests, fiddler contests, a Yam Queen, etc. I think it will be awesome.

I haven't been to a Fall festival in years, but I love them and am so excited to go. Unfortunately, in Texas we don't actually really get seasons (it still gets over 90 degrees and it's almost November), so there is no nice Fall weather to go along with the festival. I see pictures of places where leaves change and people wear scarves to pick out pumpkins....that doesn't happen here. I want to live in a place like that one day, a place with seasons. I really love cool, crisp air, but don't get to enjoy it as much as I would like. On the flip side, there is no way I could deal with all of the snow that most of the country has to face. Chains on my tires? No. Shovelling snow? Not likely. Wearing mittens in the car? Okay, maybe I could do that one.

Well, I will take a lot of photos and report back. I hope that this is the first of many tuber-centric festivals in my future.