What's for dinner?

As many of my readers know, hubby and I have a passion for throwing dinner parties. We love having friends over to enjoy good food, conversation, and tasty beverages. A typical dinner party a la casa Busbee usually entails a four-course tasting menu with wine/beer paired with each dish. We like to keep the menu a surprise for the guests until the moment of their arrival.
Well, life and dinner parties had been moving along very comfortably when a friend of mine suggested we mix things up.
"How about the guests bring the ingredients and surprise chef when they get to your house," she suggested. It was a brilliant idea.
I casually mentioned the idea of a "surprise ingredient" dinner to hubby one evening as we settled in after Caleb's gourmet hot dog dinner and cozy bedtime ritual. I thought hubby would shy away from the concept. I would if I were the chef...which I never would be, by the way. I hardly let hubby taste my culinary disasters.
But hubby took me by surprise. He said, "Bring it on."
And our dinner guests did, last night. We assigned each guest a list of items, all of which were fairly vague. Bring 2 veggies and a meat. Bring 2 starches, one seafood, and a fruit. We gave them estimate portion sizes - enough to feed 8 people - and reminded them to be creative. They complied and generously brought to the table bags of groceries at 5 pm.

Here are the ingredients that hubby had to use: rice, broccoli, apples, carrots, leeks, cranberries, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, cheddar cheese, truffle oil, bay scallops, fresh crusty bread, and london broil.

Hubby brainstormed every so briefly and then flew into action. We sat around a cheese plate and waited with bated breath. Just kidding, we conversed and had a merry time.

The first course was ready by 6 pm. Sweet potato and cranberry cake, sauteed bay scallops, apple slaw.

It was fantastic. We all looked somewhat guilty at how quickly we cleared our plates.

Second course: Truffled rice, braised brussel sprouts, green and yellow pepper salad, radish garnish.

Third course: Medium rare grilled London broil, leek mashed potatoes, broccoli, red wine reduction.

Dessert (prepared in advance by yours truly): Turtle swirl cheesecake.

I am once again astounded by hubby's versatility and ability to adapt to a stressful situation in the kitchen. And the fact that he went into this willingly is a testament to his craft. Thank you hubby dearest for filling my belly with another gourmet meal.

My Ecuadorian cutie

This shirt was a gift from my friend Pam. It was purchased on her trip to Ecuador this past summer. We saved it for a special occasion, which happened to be today at noon. I was bored and Caleb was cute. That combination of circumstances sometimes can result in a photo shoot with a very stylish, very special shirt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a wonderful keepsake! Thank you Pam.

Six feet under...or not

The movie "Double Jeopardy" featuring Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones includes a scene that is filmed at the Lafayette cemetery in New Orleans. Already a fantastic movie, I became even more entranced when this scene introduced me to this unique cemetery. It was like nothing I had ever seen, with alleyways of mausoleums and shadowy nooks and crannies. Cemeteries are magical, mysterious, and moving to me. I like to visit cemeteries in every city, state, and country. They are peaceful and have so many stories to tell. 

When hubby mentioned the possibility of a trip to New Orleans, I agreed based solely on the fact that I would get to visit the New Orleans-style cemetery.

Hubby and I were able to visit the St. Louis #1 cemetery on Day 2 of our New Orleans adventure. We went solo, sans tour guide, even though a tour guide had been recommended. We were told that this cemetery is in a bad part of town and that muggers often hide in the shadows and target tourists.

This is the oldest extant cemetery in New Orleans, founded in 1789. Within its walls lies burials of immigrants, major figures from the Civil War, and individuals with living descendants. It is common practice to purchase plots in New Orleans cemeteries early on in one's life. 

The "Voodoo Queen" herself, Marie Laveau, is buried at this cemetery. When visiting this tomb it is common practice to leave offerings and mark the gris gris XXX's on the tomb.

 

The above-ground burial is believed to be due directly to the city's inherent water problems. When the city floods, they last thing they want is a flooded cemetery with floating bodies. That would be the case if bodies were buried underground.

 

Entire families are buried in "Family Tombs," which can be a sign of status and affluence.

Each family is responsible for upkeep of their tomb. Many of the ones we saw were practically in ruins.

Sometimes organizations or fraternal societies buried their members together in what are known as "Society Tombs."

Wall or oven vaults, less commonly seen in the cemetery, were used when interment tombs weren't available. It is very common to see expressive decorations on wall vaults as well.

We also visited Cypress Grove cemetery, at the end of the trolley line off of Canal Street.

Some of the offerings are what we in Durham would consider excessive but are quite normal in this style of cemetery.

I wish we had gotten to visit even more cemeteries, but we had many more things to do on this trip - like drink and eat.

Formula for giving

In recent years I have begun witnessing an interesting trend. It seems that as the years pass by and I grow closer to 30, I receive more and more requests to give. These requests come in all forms and fashions - direct mail, e-communications, face-to-face solicitations, phone calls. The list goes on and on.
Each company and cause is worthy, too.
That's what makes it increasingly difficult with each request. I can't decide which cause is more deserving of my meager donation.
It's not that I don't give. I do. Hubby and I have a small handful of causes to which we give. The amounts we give differ greatly per cause. But we know we can do more.
So the question is, how does one choose?
Is it better to give a lot to one or two causes, or is it better to give a little to as many causes as I can? After all, every penny counts, right?

Life and Science

Even though the weather channel promised us a slightly warmer day today, that didn't seem to happen. We planned an indoor family day at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. Caleb is finally old enough to enjoy a lot of the exhibits there. Today was a busy day, but that didn't stop us from having a great time.

 

Caleb enjoyed the infant/toddler area with its slides and gadgets.

He enjoyed the outdoor music zone with plentiful chimes, cowbells, and drums.

And he enjoyed the farm area, although we credit his new fear of ducks to the Museum.

Their duck seemed to have anger issues while we were visiting. 

The goats and cows pleasantly ignored us.

Finally we visited the Butterfly House. The tropical temperatures were a nice break from the cold outside. Caleb had such a great time pointing out all the things he knows, like butterflies, water, birds, and trees.

The insect room was gross. Lots of spiders and other creepy crawlies. Ick.

Sorry to end on that disgusting photo. That's just how it works sometimes. Sweet dreams.

Pictures in Motion

It suddenly occurred to me that my small audience of readers might actually enjoy seeing Caleb dance instead of looking at photos and imagining movement. The video posted here shows his amazing dancing talents.

Buzzing around

Caleb received some wonderful gifts from his grandparents this Christmas, two of which were the cute bumble jammies and musical guitar shown in these photos. I think Caleb should be the poster child for bumblebees everywhere. And for good dancers as well.
You can see barely see his new guitar, but when the buttons are pressed and strings are strummed, it plays such musical delights as "Message in a Bottle," "All-Star," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Love Shack," and "Wild Thing." A fire ignites deep within this child as he dances his little heart out.

 

 

 

A fire ignites in my heart as I watch. His dance moves are originals, that's for sure.

The Buildings of New Orleans

The courtyard of our hotel in the French Quarter, above.

The New Orleans Botanical Gardens at City Park, above.

Brass band performing outside of Cafe Du Monde.