Thanksgiving in Madison

Jo took the entire week off to enjoy getting a little more time for rest and relaxation over holiday week.  We got up and going on Monday heading out to a local mall to do our shopping before the mad rush after Thanksgiving.  This trip was focused on completing our shopping for everyone on our Christmas lists (except, of course, each other - I expect Jo to be buying me things throughout the entire month of December).  It was also a great excuse to enjoy a hamburger from Five Guys since they just happen to be located at the mall we picked (pure coincidence...).  We were very successful in getting a little something for all on our list and now just have to buckle down to wrap everything up and get it in the mail.

Tuesday after our morning exercise routine, Jo headed to the kitchen to make cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies to take with us to Madison.  Jo loves to bake and doesn't get enough time for it between her work schedule and our reduced need for sugar calories (well to be honest our desire for those calories has stayed unchanged, just our waistlines ability to hide them is more limited).  She turned out her best looking and tasting cinnamon rolls ever (of course that could just be the sugar talking).  Later that afternoon we packed up and headed to Madison for our annual Thanksgiving visit.  After catching up with Kathy a bit we went to Lombardino's for dinner.  We had eaten here as graduate students although it is supposedly under new management since then.  Still a great Italian meal in a nice setting.

Wednesday started my days of doing nothing but reading and playing computer games.  They did manage to get me out of the house to see the new movie on Lincoln.  It does an excellent job of capturing what it might have been like back in the 1860's, but it is a pretty slowly paced movie.  Also, I personally thought that the dialog sounded like they were reading letters he wrote back then as it didn't sound like how people would normally converse with each other (but maybe that is how they spoke, what do I know).  A good movie for those interested in historical drama, not so much for those interested in an action movie.

To make some room for our turkey dinner, we hiked through one of the parks around Madison on Thursday.  With all those calories burned, we then enjoyed the typical Thanksgiving dinner excellently prepared, as usual, by Kathy with a little help from Jo.  We were joined by John, Drew, Chris and Angela (over from Milwaukee) and no one left the table hungry.  After dinner, we all played "Let it Ride" a board game that Chris and Angela brought with them, instead of collapsing on the couch for a good snooze.  No one was too interested in tackling the Black Friday sales so we all sat around playing on our respective electronic devices (IPad, Nexus, laptops) which probably is a great commentary on today's times.  Friday's entertainment was learning and playing Sheepshead.  It is apparently a popular game in Wisconsin and must have been created by someone (or someones) who had been enjoying Wisconsin's other popular game - drinking vats of beer.  It has an arcane set of rules and scoring that you should check out on Wikipedia if interested - as I couldn't do them justice here.  We came home on Saturday and spent the rest of the weekend puttering around the house.

Holiday Parade and Parsnips

The garden is now officially closed for 2012.  I decided that enough cold nights had passed and harvested the parsnips.  The crop was pretty small as the seeds didn't start very well in the spring and parsnips need a lot of ground to grow through.  But we had enough for a dinner of tasty roasted parsnips with a little basil and garlic sprinkled on.  Now all that is left is dreams of what we might do in our beds in the summer of 2013 - never to soon to start cruising the seed catalogs.  We are probably going to be a bit more selective next year and try to just plant what did well this year.  But I'm sure I'll forget all that once those seed catalogs are in front of me.

We had an evening downtown on Thursday as we had tickets to the Riverside Theater to see the NPR news quiz show, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me (if you are interested I inserted a link to the show).  This was our first time to the Riverside which is a interesting old theater in a Art Deco/Rococo style.  The actual show was hilarious and both of us had tears in our eyes we were laughing so hard.  If the show ever comes near to you it is well worth a visit to watch it being done life.  I also recommend connecting to the podcasts.

Friday night we went out to dinner with Jo's first cousin, once removed and her husband (how weird is it that I even know what a first cousin, once removed is), Melissa and Matt.  We tried out a wonderful little Italian restaurant in RiverWest, Centro.  The ambiance was interesting as it only has about 15 tables or so, and the food was exquisite.  My pesto linguine with chicken was very tasty and the dishes were all a nice size so you didn't feel like you were wasting food.  Saturday morning after our morning workout we hopped on our bikes to downtown to take in the Milwaukee Holiday Parade.  In the best parade traditions there were multiple marching bands, costumed characters, helium filled balloons, floats, local celebrities (which in Milwaukee is apparently mostly radio DJs) and ended with Santa on his sleigh.  Naturally, this being Milwaukee, what would a holiday parade be without the Brewer's Racing Sausages - fortunately they were just walking and working the crowd, no actual racing going on.

Saturday afternoon we watched our Badgers lose a close game to Ohio State and then that night we snuggled in for pizza (some of Papa Del's pizza we brought back from U of I) and watching a little TV.  It was a great day made especially nice since we enjoyed unusually warm weather for early November with the highs reaching into the high 50s.  Especially since last year about this time, the first real snow happened.


Sunday we had our morning workout and then took it easy around the house.  Reading papers, catching up with family, and catching a few zzz's.  Wanted to be all refreshed for the big Thanksgiving week and the start of the Christmas cookie season.

Admirals and the Bucks

 Wow, a whole weekend at home.  We enjoyed spending a weekend at home for once and certainly loved the warm weather that came along with it.  But we had lots of activities to fill up the time.  Friday night we went to the Milwaukee Admirals hockey game (they are a farm team for the NHL) along with other members of Jo's HR team.  It is always fun to meet some of Jo's team while enjoying pizza, chicken fingers and the hockey game.  It was an exciting game with lots of scoring and a win for the Admirals.  It was nice there was only one small fight since I personally feel it detracts from the game and the exceptional skating and athleticism of professional hockey. 

Saturday was warm although somewhat cloudy (they usually come together this time of year, if it is clear it is usually cold) and after our morning run and lift we were joined by Kathy and John.  They came over from Madison since Drew was finally ready to introduce his new girlfriend, Amy, to his Mom even though they have been dating for several months.  While waiting for Kathy and John to arrive we watched the Badgers win over Indiana, although our other Alma Mater lost again, poor Illinois.  After meeting Amy and everyone getting caught up they headed out to dinner to get further acquainted while Jo and I headed back to the Bradley Center to take in a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game, with some of Jo's direct reports.  Unfortunately, it was the exact same menu as Friday night so this weekend wasn't exactly a culinary tour - but you can't really go wrong with pizza and chicken fingers!  The game was exciting coming down to the last few seconds to determine who the winner would be - alas it was the Boston Celtics, so 1 win, 1 loss for our sports this weekend.

Sunday, since Kathy was visiting, we walked to City Market for our traditional cinnamon roll.  The weather was perfect (it eventually made it into the mid-60's) and fortunately the walk there and back burns exactly the number of calories in the cinnamon roll (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).  Afterwards, everyone headed off to their respective homes and Jo and I caught up on some reading (and napping for Jo) before it was time to prepare veggie burgers for dinner.  We balanced them with some sweet potato fries since you want to balance your healthy dishes with some less healthy to keep your cholesterol from getting too low.  Then it was time to prepare for another week of work.

I did want to share a picture of our Christmas cactus that always blooms in November (we have two of them and they always bloom together).  We figure it is just being like all the businesses today that start advertising and displaying their Christmas wares right after Halloween.  So we can't really blame them for being early.  On a side note, the 65 degree weather we had on Sunday disappeared rapidly as the high yesterday was 33.  Also had our first flurries of the season - not a real snow since there was no accumulation at all.  First snowfall of last year was on Nov. 17 - this year?

Birthday Trip to Chicago

We packed our bags and headed to Chicago for the weekend.  My parents were in Chicago for a visit with my sister and since this was the year for a major birthday for both parents (it was the big 8-0 this year) we had planned a birthday dinner in Chicago.  So after a Saturday morning run and a few errands, we hopped on Amtrak for the quick train ride down and a fairly short visit.  But before that we spent Friday night nestled at home to catch up on a few of our recorded shows and to enjoy some of the Papa Del's pizza that we had brought back from the University of Illinois (still the best pizza on the planet).

After dropping our luggage at the hotel, we headed over to my sister's apartment by Navy Pier and enjoyed a light lunch (didn't want to fill up and spoil dinner!).  We then spent the afternoon catching up on all the family gossip, solving all the world's problems (that means, the world, the US, Illinois', New Mexico's, the city of Chicago's, and Wisconsin's - so it was a busy afternoon), and debating the pros/cons/ins/outs of the recent campaigning both for president but the local elections as well.  Then it was time to get all gussied up for our birthday dinner. 

Dinner was at Tru, which is close to where my sister lives, and to summarize in a few words was excellent.  The service was impeccable and the food was both wonderfully presented and delicious.  We started with a champagne toast to the birthday folks, which was Andre Clouet Brut Grand Reserve that I managed to pick from a wine list spanning 20-30 pages, that was light tasting with tiny bubbles and was hit with everyone.  We then all selected the three course meal, the highlight of the appetizer course had to be Mom's consomme that was prepared at the table in what could best be described as a soxhlet extractor (well best described that way if you happen to be a chemist).  It was fun to sit back and watch it slowly extract the flavors from the upper compartment.  The main course held its own against the showmanship of the appetizer with great presentation on the plate and very tasty food.  I had the short ribs that were incredibly tender and would recommend them to anyone heading to Tru. 

Between dinner and dessert, they served fruit sheets that came looking like clothing on a clothes line.  The grass is wheatgrass and the sheets are dried fruit (think fruit roll-ups) with spices.  Who thinks of something like that to serve at a restaurant (I also wonder how they keep the wheatgrass mowed and green).  We then finished up with dessert, special birthday plates for Mom and Dad and then after dinner chocolates (can't have too many desserts in my book).  To top it all off, they offered us a tour of the kitchen which eagerly all agreed to - amazing how much activity goes on in a professional kitchen.  It was a great evening and a nice way to celebrate hitting 80 for our parents.

Sunday after brunch at a local diner nearby, we gathered up Mom and Dad and all headed back to Milwaukee.  My parents visited us for a couple of days, mostly to enjoy the gray skies and cool damp weather of Milwaukee in the winter especially since my Mom loves being cold and damp.  During their visit we toured the Harley Davidson museum which does an excellent job of telling the story of the company.  We also squeezed in a visit to the Kenwood House exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum.  Once again the curators did a great job with the explanations and the exhibit - it is well worth a visit.   Then it was back to Chicago for my parents on the train Tuesday.  Nothing too exciting to report for the work week portion of last week.

Jo and I are ready to stay home for a bit.  As you can tell from looking back over the last few weeks, we have been on the road for 6 out of the last 7 weekends.  We really need some time home to relax and catch our breath.  So we are planning a relatively low key upcoming weekend.