The HOUSE

Grandma and Grandpa have picked out such a fab house!  We are going to have a blast.  Last weekend they went up for a research trip with Alexa and found lots of fun things to do.  First off, the house.

Check in is 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 4th!

 

 

 

 

 

Follow the link for all the photos and details
http://reservation.deepcreek.com/deepcreek/theme/railey/accodetail?resourceid=12314&tab=description

T-Shirts have been ordered!

Huge thanks to ALEXA for designing our t-shirts and to Grandma and Grandpa for ordering them.  They are pretty awesome!

Dinner and FHE Schedule

From Linnea:

Here is the Dinner and FHE Night Schedule. 

 

Dinners & FHE Nights

Saturday – Mom and Dad

Sunday – Jason and Linnea – Stir fry or shish kabob with fudge cycles

Monday – Danielle & Kevin

Tuesday – Quinn & Devry - Lasagna, bread, salad and an Italian cream soda bar

Wednesday – Mile & Heather - Enchiladas/Mexican theme

Thursday – Cara & Ben

Friday – Mom & Dad – Dinner – Talent Show Night

 

Talent Show night is going to be on Friday.  Since we did the entire families for talent last year, does anyone mind if we make it a kid talent show night?  The kids can do individual talents and group talents.  I am hoping that as the week goes on, some cousins might find some things to do together.  Aunika and Jacqueline are already planning on including the girl cousins in on a dance.

 

Mom & Cara, what do you think about bringing some dress up outfits the kids can mess around with?  Hats, glasses, boa’s etc…just stuff we have on hand.  I have several things we can bring.  It might be fun if we challenge the kids to do a few gospel message commercials or skits and the costumes could make it fun.

Family Pictures

From: Devry

 

Picture time! Mom asked me to put together a color scheme for family pictures.

Here is what I came up with (see attached files)

As you can see it is mostly neutrals like gray, cream, browns, blues with coral and sort of a sea green. Feel free to go with a bright or pale shade with the colors as long as they stay in the general hue. And just make sure you spread them around your family so that when we get all together it will all blend. Textures and layers help to make the picture more interesting and an easy way to add color and interest inexpensively is with accessories (think vests, statement necklace, headbands, fun shoes, etc...) Let me know if this is OK or if you despise it and we can come up with something else :) 

 

More Recipes

Lance Family Terrific Taco Salad

All you need to prepare is to brown ground beef, then add taco seasoning

Pile on your plate any and all of your favorite taco toppings:

Tortilla chips
seasoned beef
black beans
refried beans
grated cheddar cheese
shredded lettuce
diced tomatos
chopped black olives
corn
salsa
sour cream




Aunt Linnea's Amazing White Chicken Chili

Saute 1/2 onion chopped in a small amount of butter & set aside.

In a pan add:

1/2 c. butter melted

1/4 c. flour - whisk

3/4 c. chicken broth

2 c. half & half

Simmer until thick and whisk constantly

Then add:

1/2 t. chili powder

1 t. cumin

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

2 small cans chopped green chillies

3 cans Gt. White Northern beans (Bush's)

1 c. or more diced cooked chicken

Sauteed onion

1 1/2 c. or more grated Monterey Jack cheese

Serve with Scoops/Fritos

Uncle Ben's Famous Scrambled Eggs

Beat eggs in a bowl with some salt and pepper, grated cheddar cheese, diced onions, green bell peppers and onion.  Do not add milk.  Pour into the pan and cook, stirring constantly, on medium high heat until cooked through but still slightly moist.  Ben never overcooks the eggs.  Do not allow to brown.

Aunt Cara's Slightly Less Famous Pancakes

At the beach I used Aunt Jemima's pancake mix, but at home I use Krusteaz.  My only secret is to add cinnamon applesauce to the pancake batter to make it thinner, and it also makes the pancakes fluffier and yummier.  Other favorite add-ins: blueberries, chopped apples, mashed bananas, chopped strawberries.  

Aunt Heather's Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies

TOP SECRET.  This blog to is too public...please contact Heather personally on a more secure channel for this amazing recipe.

recipes

Kalua Pork

To cook a lot at the same time use a  roasting pan (with 2 big shoulder roasts) and cook it in the oven and turns out fine. I double the ingredients and cook it at about 270 for about 10-12 hours. If you are using the oven method instead of the crockpot, make sure you cover the pan with aluminum foil and then put on lid.

Kalua Pig

5-6 lb pork butt or pork shoulder roast (shoulder and butt are the same cut, btw)
Crushed garlic
Hawaiian sea salt (coarse) --you can buy hawaiian sea salt on Amazon.com
¼ cup water
1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp. liquid smoke (we like Wright’s)

Score the meat with a sharp knife. Rub the pork roast generously with crushed garlic, and then generously with sea salt. Add ¼ cup of water to the crock pot, then add the roast. Pour the liquid smoke on top of the roast, and sprinkle pork with more salt (about a teaspoon or so.) Cook on low for 10-15 hours in the crock pot. The pork should shred very easily when cooked. Serve with rice or on rolls. Makes 12 servings.

Coleslaw

Jamie’s Favorite Coleslaw
Original recipe from ‘Cooking with Jamie’ by Jamie Oliver
½ a white cabbage finely sliced (I just bought bagged cabbage)
1 small red onion, finely sliced
3 carrots, thinly sliced (again, i just buy matchstick carrots)
2 red apples, cored and thinly sliced
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
A couple of dollops mayonnaise
1 heaped teaspoon English mustard (can buy online or in nicer grocery stores)

1 to 2 lemons--juiced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine all the ingredients in a salad bowl. Add mayo and lemon juice a little at a time.
2. Have a taste and add seasoning as needed.


Fruit Salad:

Peaches, strawberries, raspberries blueberries and a couple of limes. Zest lime and squeeze lime juice over fruit. Sprinkle with a little bit of sugar to sweeten just a bit. Make a few hours ahead so the flavors can combine.

Cucumber salad:

Cucumbers, tomatoes and thinly diced white onion. Add a few tsp of olive oil and a few of red wine or balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Auld Lang Syne...so to speak

For anyone who happens to check here at the now outdated Reunion 2012 blog site----

Everyone is safely home this Monday, July 9th.  Grandma and Grandpa, and the California Redheads were the last to get home (9:00 PM last night).  I have been having fun perusing the OBX photos on the various blogs and FB.  We had a great time as a family and as individuals.  Everyone put so much work and planning into the week long event and Grandpa and I are so grateful.  We will always remember our beautiful family, grand kids and adults, and will always be grateful for what we have shared.  We are all different and are all the same and thus it made for a very memorable family time.

A huge "thank you" goes out to Jason for sacrificing 90% of his vacation time to preserve this capsule in time about our family.  Times like these are very rare and very difficult to bring about and are very precious for the grandparents, and hopefully for the rest of you.  I am also very grateful that the Lord was brought into each of our daily "doings" and that our petitions for safety was answered.

If any of you have suggestions for making any future gatherings smoother and more enjoyable, let us know.  We always need and appreciate all the help we can get.

Sidenote:  I got 19 grandchildren autographs on my reunion T-shirt.  Only Chloe, Penny, and Xander are missing.  Now I am going to tenderly wash it and see how it survives.
Also, Cara is collecting a few of the recipes we enjoyed during our dinners and will be posting them on this blog soon.

Love all 32 of you beautiful people.
Grandma Nutt