Thanksgiving Dinner!

Our Day with the Irish

BRRRRRR!!!! Yesterday, we took the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a Notre Dame football game...at an affordable price. Our neighbor managed to squeeze four tickets out of a co-worker who is an alum of Notre Dame. So, yesterday the four of us bundled up and headed over to South Bend, Indiana. We left at 8 am with lots of layers, handwarmers, hats, coats, and hoods and made our way to Indiana where 6 inches of snow greeted us. We parked about 1 mile from the stadium, so we had a good chance to wander through the campus before and after the game. During the game, we all nearly froze to death, but had a great time watching and being a part of all the Notre Dame football traditions. We were exhausted when we arrived back home around 11:00 and crashed into a bed of warm flannel sheets. Perhaps I can convince K to leave his dissertation alone for a few minutes to add some more details, but I need to get back to my papers, so enjoy the slideshow for now---click the little caption icon to get some narration.

Pumpkin Trifle

Lots of people have been asking for the recipe for this fabulously easy and delicious dessert. Here it is...

3 cups heavy cream
15 oz pumpkin puree
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
pinch salt
7.5 oz. marshmallow cream
3 cups chopped gingersnaps, plus some crushed gingersnaps for sprinkling

Using an electric mexier, beat the cream until stiff. Reserve 2 cups whipped cream for serving; refrigerate until ready to serve

In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Fold in half the marshmallow cream, then half the whipped cream. Repeat with the remaining marshmallow cream and whipped cream until combined.

Spoon one-third of the pumpkin mousse into a clear glass serving bowl, spreading evenly, and sprinkle half the cookies on top. Repeat with half the remaining mousse and the remaining cookies, then top with the final layer of mousse. Cover with plasic wrapt and refigerate at least 1 hour and up to 4 horus. Just before serving, top with reserved whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps.

You could also layer it in smaller glasses for individual servings.

The Amazing Hairy Bru-dini

I have been getting in trouble with P the past couple of weeks because I have allegedly forgotten to lock Bruchi in his kennel, thus leading to Bru greeting us as soon as we walk in the door. Apparently, I am "too preoccupied with other things" (e.g. dissertating, job stuff, etc.) and simply overlook the fact that the kennel needs to be latched. I was vindicated, however, when my suspicion that Bruchi had learned to open the latch on his kennel door proved to be true. Apparently, P had come home with Bru locked in his kennel only to find that, moments later, he joined her in the closet as she hung up her coat. Bru (a.k.a. the amazing bru-dini) has gotten out four times this week, which increases the escape total to about ten. Shockingly, he hasn't gotten into any trouble or made any messes once he has been out; he simply contents himself with sleeping on the couch.

Of course, those who know the history of Bruchi's precocious nature will not be surprised by this news. You will remember that we had to change all of the door handles upstairs because Bru learned to open them. Bru has also learned to prop himself up on the edge of the kitchen counter and swipe down anything that is not kept at an obscene distance (he has pulled down two Papa Murphy's pizzas).

Beagle vs. Octopus

In case you ever wondered, Beagle wins...(note victory howl!)

Out of spontaneity...

Last night we decided to break up our weekend of work and headed out to Wehrenburg to see Angelina Jolie's new movie, The Changeling. It had been awhile since K had gotten the chance to sing along with the lovely "Wehrenberg Theaters" song, and it sounded like a good idea for a cold night.The movie was good...not exactly a happy movie, but good. Its a true story about corruption in the Los Angeles police in the 20s-30s, and it will really get your feminist juices going--even those of you who don't think you have any feminist juices. Anyway...I recommend it, but K and I are both a bit puzzled about the title.

Okay...it's back to work I go!

Bad Week for Mavericks

This has been a bad week for Mavericks:

First, McCain and Palin lost the presidential election. Then, Mark Cuban gets effectively blackballed by MLB, who will "never" approve his purchase of the Chicago Cubs. Can someone say conspiracy? Someone should quickly run to their local movie store and make sure that the Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner flick has not been removed from the shelves.

(Unexpected) Closing thoughts on the 2008 Presidential Election

It should be wildly apparent that I, and we, did not agree with the way that McCain and Palin ran their campaign. Mostly, I took issue with how McCain and Palin drew on the rhetoric of terrorism in order to cast doubt on Obama's character. I also took issue with the dumbing down of issues that are, as we are finding, quite complex. Finally, as I mentioned in the last post, I generally take issue with policies that are tailored to benefit the economic elite.

I had mixed emotions last night when McCain gave his resignation speech, however, because the man that gave that speech was not the man who ran against Obama this past year. McCain was humble, thoughtful, gracious, and hopeful, and his ethos as a speaker gave credence to the argument that the Republican party transformed him in a negative way during this election. It was with a tinge of remorse, then, that I watched this speech because, although I wanted Obama to win, more than anything I wanted to see a competitive race where both candidates presented a coherent and compelling argument for why they should assume the presidential seat. In other words, I wanted to be motivated to cast a vote not because I was afraid of what the other candidate would do in office, but because one argument was slightly better than the other.

The McCain who gave that final speech last night could have accomplished that task, and could have rallied the country in a more productive manner. Unfortunately, his rhetorical tactics polarized too many people and resulted in a landslide victory that was, in the final tally, embarrassing to the Republican party. I wonder if, when historians look back on this moment, Obama's speeches will be read as more hopeful and intelligent because McCain's were not. Either way I think we should celebrate, as many have said, that we have an African-American man in the president office who seems to promote the intellectual, political, and social values that will reduce violence and thereby increase hope.

I feel substantially more excited about our country than I have in the last eight years of my adult life.

Ten Reasons Why I Voted for the McCain/Palin Ticket at the Last Minute

Like the sticker? Go get one! And as you mull over your voting decision, here are ten reasons why I voted for the McCain/Palin ticket at the last minute.

10. With gas prices the way they are, we can no longer afford to ignore the option of off-shore drilling. DRILL BABY DRILL!

9. Because I gross approximately 5,000 dollars a year, I need a president who will NOT raise taxes. Yes, I know that Obama says that he only plans to tax the wealthy, but I can't take any chances. My supersecret plan is to evade taxes, save my hard earned teaching money, and buy the next university I am at. Just think, "K the Professor" could help the Republicans win the next election! I could be famous!

8. Because Sarah Palin is much more qualified to be a Vice President than a talk show host. Besides, I like Oprah way too much to initiate that kind of competition for daytime viewers. The unfortunate byproduct is that we may not get a Sarah Palin book of "favorite things." Of course, we do know some of the things that would be in that book: industrial strength bear traps, snow-mobiles, nifty glasses, hip-hop dance lesson tapes (for the next SNL, you go girl!), a 20% off coupon at JC Penny, a super secret earbud so people can tell you how to say the right things without anyone catching on, a shotgun, political cliffs notes, Rosetta Stone (Russian edition) so that you too can brush up on your international relations if you find yourself away from the cosmopolitan state of Alaska for too long, an unused library card (they're free dontcha know!). . .

7. Because I have a car, and can therefore afford to drive over to my neighboring states to compete for high quality health care.
Plus, after we drill the #&@*5 out of Alaska, gas will be like, what, a nickel?

6. Because research shows that famous people's baby names catch on and we don't have enough Triggers, Trappers, GrenadeLaunchers, SoupLadels, and BearKillers in the world. If you read some of the earlier posts, a successful campaign would also mean that I have a better chance at getting B to name his unborn child Boomer!

5. Because I feel that Barack Obama played the political game unfairly. McCain and he agreed to use public funding only, and when Obama got wicked popular and received more donations, he used that money to talk about his plans for the future. Dang it! We need to stick to the plan here, and for heaven's sake no more talk about actual issues. McCain shouldn't have to sell one of his ten houses in order to buy primetime television airtime. Moreover, Cindy shouldn't have to sacrifice her next face stretch surgery in order for her husband to succeed. This is bogus, we need to stick to the possibility of Obama being and fraternizing with terrorists. THAT IS THE REAL ISSUE!!!

4. Because the dang voting booth is made for little people and I couldn't bend over far enough to reach the Obama/Biden circle. Seriously, they can have a sitdown chair for the elderly, but they can't raise a booth high enough for me to reach the ballot? I may have long arms, but I am rigid as hell.

3. Because we don't need hope in this country, nor do we need bi-partisan thinking, and we sure as shooter don't need anymore talking. We need people who recognize threats, challenge those threats to a shootout near the OK corral at high noon, whip out their bazookas faster than you can say "Wasilla," blow #&*^@! up (and anything that surrounds it), and steal the oil those terrorists have been hiding in their pockets. No more talking people, we have weapons, we are angry, and we need to use them.

2. Because, in my dream last night, Joe the plumber's @$$-crack told me to...I had to listen, he fixed my imaginary leaky faucet, which seemed to drip as though it were actually real.

1. Because I woke up this morning, went to the voting station and felt like a maverick!

Peek-a-Bru

I took this picture yesterday. Thought you might enjoy knowing how cute my dog is.