Christmas Past and Present

Past Christmas December 25, 1991

Christmas Pajamas made by Grandma

Sarah, Chris, Hannah, Mary

David, Kate, Andy, Charles

Present Christmas Fun January 4, 2019

Emily enjoying taking care of her new baby.  

Charles got to help!

Olivia, Adelynn, Kinley, and Ava in their new bling from Aunt Mary, 

Uncle Kurtis, and Aurora.

Ollie enjoying the train for his family from Charles and Nate.

A battery operated Santa Fe Train.  

Notice the happy smiles on Uncle Charles and Ollie!!!

Time is Flying - three Christmases in...

Here are some Christmases of old and new...

2016 - First Christmas

Silly Christmas 2017

Christmas 2017 - she took interest this year

Christmas 2018 - We were in it this year!

Family Christmas 2018 - enjoyed friends for Christmas Eve 

and spent the day together leisurely opening presents, eating, napping and laughing.

Multi Squash Soup

Team Givan (Liberal Division) is here, and we don't have a lot of happy news to share. Our director is still a child who runs away from me after a heated confrontation we had over some policy and morale issues, who has managed to co-opt one of my own projects. The job hunt proceeds, but slowly.

Theresa works alongside me, full time, albeit with very little to do either. She's officially the collections manager, but the curator has felt threatened by us both since day 1 and very possessive of what she has traditionally done. We make our own projects, and can get away with it because the director sits in his office all day, doing unknown work.

She still cooks, of course, and I gave her a lightbox as an early Christmas present so she can share some of her art with everyone else! And, speaking of, here's our very belated recipe:


Multi-Squash Soup Topped with Puffed Pastry
For Soup:

1 Butternut Squash
1 Acorn Squash
1 Japanese Squash
1 Yellow Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Apples (apple of your choice)
3-5 Cups Vegetable Broth
Salt
½ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
½ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
¼ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
⅛ Teaspoon Ground Cloves
⅛ Teaspoon Red Pepper
½-1 Cup Heavy Cream

For Puff-Pastry:
1 Sheet of Frozen Puff Pastry
1 Egg
¼ Cup of Milk
To Make Soup:

1. Start by peeling and cubing all of the squash, dice the onion, peel and cube the apples. (Nothing has to be too finely done because it will all be pureed by the end.)
2. Place the squash, onions, apples, and garlic into a large pot. 
3. Cover all of the ingredients in pot with vegetable broth. 
4. Be sure not to add too much broth as this is supposed to be a thick soup. 
5. Add just enough that everything will be able to soften up in the broth as it simmers. 
6. Add seasoning. If you don’t want it to be spicy don’t add the red pepper. If using just the salt in this dish it will end up being a nice sweet dish. Still very delicious!
7. Bring mixture to a boil. 
8. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. 
9. After it’s simmered test the squash to make sure that it has softened up and cuts easily. 
10. There are several ways to do the next step:
11. To puree the soup, remove from heat and use a submersible blender (aka boat motor) to puree until smooth. OR place in a blender in batches to puree. OR leave everything whole if that’s how you prefer it!
12. Place the soup back into the pot and add your heavy cream. 
13. Depending on how creamy you want the soup add the whole cup of cream. 
14. Serve with puff pastry!*

To Make Puff Pastry Top:

1. Set the oven to 400 degrees (or as instructed on the back of the box). 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
3. Allow the pastry to thaw. 
4. Cut the pastry into squares, or triangles (as small or big as you please, I make mine small enough to fit into a soup bowl).
5. Mix the milk and egg together. 
6. Brush the egg wash mixture on top of the puff pastry. 
7. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.

* You can either put the puff pastry on top of the soup or you can dip it into the soup.

The Japanese squash is a really nice addition to this dish as the end result is a very smooth and rather buttery flavored soup, without there being a drop of butter in it. Enjoy! This recipe does make a LOT of soup. So store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

A Mea Culpa Posting

Hello Family!

Nate and I have failed to post this year.  It's been a series of string of unfortunate events but mostly we just didn't seem to find a time when we could sit down and post something.  But we're now on vacation in Branson and Nate had to do some work so I've got time to get this post in.  Sorry to steal the Rutherford's thunder.  But we wanted to make sure we got in a least one post this year.

Photo from our NYC trip in December 2017

It's been a very busy year.  Nate's been settling in to his new role at DCI.  He's been promoted to Card Services as a Card Services Specialist.  Essentially, he serves as the go between for customers of DCI and VISA and Mastercard.  It is tedious work and often leaves him feeling exhausted at the end of the day.  Since he works with numbers most of the day, he is happy to come home and work on various home projects, play with the dogs, work on the yard or as happens in November, work on Christmas Decorating.  Believe me when I say we've out Griswolded our parents.
 

We've taken a couple of trips this year.  Our first was to Branson, MO.  This will always be a special trip as Nate asked me to marry him in a dome car on the Branson Scenic Railway.  This is a picture of us shortly after the engagement.  We're getting ready to ride the railway again today as we are on our last vacation of the year.  We're seeing the lights at Silver Dollar City and riding the Branson Scenic Railway's Polar Express Christmas Train this weekend on a romantic getaway.

  

We also went on a trip to California, Washington State and Alaska in September.  It was the longest vacation I've taken in five years and probably the longest vacation Nate has ever taken.  We visited Disneyland, spent a couple of nights in Seattle and stayed with my friend Estelle in Ketickan, Alaska.  

Nate and I Zip-Lining in Alaska

 

Eeyore Looks Cuter with Nate and I.

Nate getting his License on a Toon-Town Firetruck

Nate Kissing Minnie outside the Disneyland Hotel

Nate Running away from the Headless Horseman at Disney's California Adventure Park

We also took the Johnston Family Vacation to Cape Cod this year.  We got a wonderful house and explore the Cape.  It was a delightful time.  Nate and I went whale watching in Provincetown and had the most amazing experiences with Humpback Whales you could possibly imagine.  

So...this isn't whalewatching.  It's a picture of Aurora, Nate and I on the stairs of the house shortly before we left to come back home from the Johnston Family Vacation

While its not exactly vacation, we also enjoyed time at the Kansas State Fair, including the traditional train ride with the Grandparents and mother...you know...the usual.

Here it is folks...in all its glory!

It's been a busy year for me at Stage 9.  I've helped produce or direct all of our productions this year.  Those include Dog Sees God, Fiddler on the Roof, Stage 9: On Broadway [Underground], Avenue Q (which I had to fill in as an actor), The Laramie Project, Talking Tombstones and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  Thank you to all of you for continuing to come to the productions at Stage 9. 

Me as Princeton in Avenue Q

Me giving the Curtain Speech at Fiddler on the Roof with the President of the Symphony

And, don't forget our kids....Aspen and Hampton.  They continue to enjoy the run of 1022.  The Christmas decorations are a curiosity.  But needless to say, we're living the dream.  Here's to a great 2019.

Aspen..trying to join us in the hot tub.

Hampton...reminding us he is still a puppy.