Rattle Those Pots

Spent the afternoon outside at a tree farm, looking for the perfect trees. Since it was 20 degrees and too cold for any sensible person to be outside very long, we worked fast to get things done.

Took some good pictures to prove our ruggedness. >>

Diligent workers from Maine and New Jersey recently descended on Portland to churn out some of the best gingerbread men ever created.

Here’s what happened. >>

Well, not really. Maybe somebody is just typing this and acting like they’re us. But at least there’s a small bit of activity on this thing.

Uh, maybe we’ll have a rather active fall. Yeah, that’s it!

Sunday, April 1st: Thom just opened up Charlie’s dog door in the mudroom for the season … right after disposing on the now-brown Christmas tree that’s been decorating our side yard for the past three months.

Who says they don’t know college football in the Garden State? The Louisville - Rutgers game was one of the most electric stadium atmospheres I’ve ever been in, and the Scarlet Knights settled down after a tough first quarter and roared back for a win that vaults them into the top ten.

Think Vanderbilt football futility, multiply that feeling by ten, and you get an idea of where Rutgers football has been and how huge this win was. Outstanding!

Dave is still weepy.

Look at the photos >>

Chris came up for a vist recently, and we had a great time. While he was here, we introduced him to a few of Maine’s tastiest (and freshest) creatures. Chris definitely came out on top.

Look at the photos >>

I’m not sure how many of the Top 10 were used on little goblins, but suffice it to say that Jen was spotted wandering the sidewalk wearing a sheet and Scream mask, tormenting drivers.

• 10) Startle four-year-olds by asking, “You don’t really believe that you’re a Power Ranger, do you?”
• 9) Greet youngsters by throwing open the door and screaming, “WE’VE FOUND THE MISSING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!!”
• 8) Speak and distribute candy in super-slow motion the entire night.
• 7) See how often you can freak out young trick-or-treaters by scratching your head and asking, “Hey! Where did your parents disappear to?!”
• 6) Provide extra Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for eagerly outstretched candy bags, then change your mind and replace them all with prunes.
• 5) Greet tiny trick-or-treaters by waving soaking wet, soapy mops on their heads; explain to frustrated curbside parents that you’re a Scratchless CarWash this year.
• 4) Dress up like Ghandi and then accuse confused trick-or-treaters of religious intolerance.
• 3) Inform carefree trick-or-treaters that goblins are sinful, and don’t they know that?
• 2) When kids ring the bell, throw open the door, run past them on the porch, then throw their candy bars as far away from the house as possible.
• 1) Agree to provide chocolate, but not until they agree to come back and help rake leaves.

Seattle. Land of coffee, salmon and geeky billionaire techies. Also a great place to stuff our faces, which we did on every occasion. All in all, a really cool city. Go there now.

Or just look at these pics and maybe you’ll feel like you’ve been there. Yeah, that’s it.

Look at the photos >>

Recently ordered a tasty bowl of Bi Bim Bop at Portland’s Fuju restaurant on Exchange Street, and had a flashback to our friend Shinhye at Cordon Bleu in Ottawa. (Hi Shinhye!) She’s now back in Korea for a couple of years before returning to Canada to settle in Vancouver, and introduced us to this wonderful dish one night in Ottawa. If I’ve got this right, Bi Bim Bop, a staple Korean dish, consists of rice, a spicy red sauce (I think called “kochujang”), ground meat, a fried egg, and flavorful vegetables. (You basically mix all of the ingredients together in your bowl after adding the sauce.) I remember when Shinhye brought this to our apartment one night and explained how it was made, and how she was very amused by what tiny amounts of kochujang quickly made our faces red and sweaty, while she was able to mix in tablespoons-full of the sauce into her dish, and eat it as though it was something as bland as a bowl of cornflakes. Shinhye, we need your recipe again!