A Carnivorous Crew

If you're not much of a meat eater, feel free to skip on past this blog entry.

Every Spring, when the sun starts shining a little longer and leaves us feeling a little warmer, Tanner starts experimenting with new types of burgers on the grill. This year, he is determined to perfect the "Juicy Lucy" -- a unique burger that supposedly originated in Minneapolis and has been seen on the Travel Channel. It involves a slab of cheese between two thin (or thick, if you prefer) patties. The cheese melts during the grilling process, making for a very exciting treat in the center.

I didn't realize that so much thought needed to go into how to make this particular burger. Tanner thought it over for weeks (maybe months) before finally making his first attempt. And I know he lost some sleep over it, too. The most stressful part of making the darn thing? Getting the patties flat enough. Thank goodness for Fleet Farm and their $3 hamburger patty shapers. They also sold patty shapers for $30, but we weren't ready to splurge - what does a fancy patty shaper really do that a basic plastic one can't handle?

With the assistance of the patty shapers, Tanner was able to get the patties in just the right form. After securing slices of cheese between the patties, they were ready for the grill. A short time later (and much to the delight of a hungry mama and toddler), Tanner returned and presented us with a most delicious dinner.

Uh oh - a leaker!

There was no doubt some leaking going on here, too, but it didn't involve cheese oozing from his "sammich".

Sweet, sweet success.

Let us know when you're in town and we'll grill a Juicy Tanner for you, too!

Alpaca show

This weekend, Owatonna was the host of the 2010 Minnesota Alpaca Expo. We decided to check it out since the only thing we know about alpacas is that they look really goofy. Here's proof --

(it turns out Tanner enjoys photographing alpacas)

There are all sorts of alpaca farms throughout this great state. Alpacas are part of the camelid family, which includes camels and llamas. They have three stomachs and chew their cud. Their primary defense mechanisms include spitting and kicking (which makes me think Charlie is a member of the camelid family, too).

What sets alpacas apart from camels is their very fine hair (a.k.a. fiber), their smaller size, and tail and ear shapes. Originating in South America, they were first imported to the U.S. in the 1990s for breeding and fiber production. Alpaca fiber can be spun like wool and used for clothing; alpaca fiber doesn't shrink because it is far less scaled than sheep's wool, and is also much softer.

Females give birth to one baby ("cria") after a gestation period between 335-365 days. Ugh. Go mama alpacas!

We had a good time visiting the alpacas this morning.

Even though they are stinky, they are lots of fun to watch!

Hoppy Easter!

It was 65 degrees and sunny in Minnesota today. Hooray! What a perfect day to host an Easter party...so that's exactly what we did. The bunny made a pit stop at our house last night and left a pretty decent basket of goodies for Miles. After searching high and low, we finally found the darn thing. Tanner served as videographer, so we'll get footage from The Great Basket Search posted to the blog soon.

In the mean time, here's the scoop on the party.

Great Grandma Helen came all the way from Worthington (with a detour through St. Peter, adding to the mileage). She won the Good Egg award for traveling the farthest (or furthest?). But since Grandpa Dave was her source for transportation, he came in a close second and therefore earned the Darn Good Egg award.

Will and Anne were here too. You can see Will's leg in the background on the photo above. Here's Anne helping Miles sort through his new puppy collection. She also made sure Miles consumed a steady supply of Smarties before lunch time, at one point getting so many in his mouth that he started choking. Then at lunch, she asked Miles to stop putting his fork in his ear. He took it quite personally and cried. Hard. So Anne won the Stinky Egg award today. (What a good sport!) And back to Uncle Will - he was the Helper Egg award recipient, as he helped Miles survive the day with Anne and also helped Tanner haul some furniture back down to the basement. He probably should have been given the Super Helper Egg award...next time.

Grandma Doreen made two delicious strawberry pies for dessert. Unfortunately she didn't make it into this picture, but her pie did...and Miles enjoyed every bite. Congratulations to Grandma Doreen on winning the Sweetest Egg award at today's party!

Grandma Jill and Grandpappy spent the day in SV and had some egg-cellent company of their own. They enjoyed a fun day with Great Grandpa Charlie, Uncle Charlie, Auntie Angie, and babies Ethan and Owen. Fortunately they (GJill and Gpappy) stopped by to see us on their way home, and we were able to crown them with the Egg-stra Timers award - you know, for taking extra time out of their day to see us.

Thanks to everyone who helped make our day so much fun. And to E&E&h, we missed not having your eggs in our nest today (that was sort of awkward...sorry...). We love you and miss you!