Election 2008

Need I say more?

Second to last birthday present 2008

FIRST. . .A GREAT BIG THANK YOU!

Now the details! Lisa was a bit of a gift giving slacker. And as time went by, she kept adding to the birthday box!

Here is a list of what she gave me!

A sauce cookbook
Chocolate Kaluah sauce
Sesame Ginger Sauce
Peach Salsa
Hot sauce marinade
Heids Mustard
Scrabble game
Dipping sauce bowls
6 silver spoons
Silicone Basting Brush

July/August gift - 1,000 Islands postcards

Then because time slipped by her she added some back to school supplies consisting of:
Colored pens
School scissors
Animal shaped rubber bands

Then October arrived and she added:
Pumpkin candle holder (not pictured as it did not make the trip in one piece and like Humpty Dumpty, could not be put together again)
orange tealights

Then I guess the guilt just kept panging away and there is a Thanksgiving gift yet to be revealed!

One more gift from Alison, she says it is coming when she comes home from Christmas, and I can close this year out!

BAM!

A huge blaze of autumnal color!

VICTORY!

I got Lisa hooked on Scrabble. Actually, up until a few years back she hardly played, well not very well, hee hee. So we played, A LOT! And the student over ran the teacher, SUBSTANTIALLY!

We were playing Scrabulous online until it was taken down. THEN Scrabble, the official game, created a Facebook version for our indulgence! And again, all I did was rack up some losses!

She challenged me to a game named Ketchup (Lisa) v. Mustard (me). We have this thinkg about the epicurean delight of hot dogs. It seems she and others over the age of 5 still find ketchup an appropriate condiment for tube steak! And being from Chicago, I find the practice deplorable!

Well, this morning, I defended the honor of Chicago's famed hot dog legacy and Mustard beat Ketchup.

I doubt this truly settles anything!

Throwing Clay: Some results #13 - Mugs-A-Palooza

Here are some sets of mugs. I knew this handle pulling thing would run amock!

Top: 3.5" diameter, 4" tall; matte blue and glossy brown glazes
Center: 3.75" diameter, 4" tall; honey mustard and glossy black glazes
Bottom: 3.75" diameter, 4" tall; bobby green and temoku glazes (given as a gift to neighbors)

Don't Vote

Throwing Clay: Some results #12 - More covered jars

Here are three more of the covered jars completed. THESE are making great gifts and even gift boxes!

Top: 2.5" tall 3" diameter; brick red and matte white glazes

Center: 2.25" tall 3.5" diameter; matte blue glossy brown glazes

Bottom: 2" tall 3.25" diameter; raspberry and matte white glazes

Next up. . .mugs. REAL mugs!

The Great Hot Dog Debate

I will apologize for the image quality. It is a scan from a newspaper.

The debate roars on about ketchup on a hot dog. And being from Chicago, KNOWN for this epicurean delight, ketchup is a huge NO!

They say the seasonings in ketchup are too close to those in the actual hot dog so it is neither needed or redundant. So here is a layer by layer dissection of a REAL hot dog. Consider this a Chicago food primer!