Old Lahaina Luau

The setting was right on the beach, complete with a very old banyon tree, and waves crashing in the background. It was breathtaking as the sun set beyond the waters edge and turned the sky the color of the orchids around our neck. The Polenesian culture is amazing and I have really enjoyed getting to know their culture and thier heritidge. The dances were mezmorizing and so full of expression. The men and women who performed them had such passion and conviction. I wish we could bring all of you to this magical island where the banyon trees are larger than buildings, the mountains are untouched by humand hands, and where the whales come to calve their young. Each day offers a new wonder, each turn of your head offers a new color, a new bit of scenery that will take your breath away, and each breath feels more alive than the one before with a sweet taste unlike anything I have ever experienced.

Aloha from Hawaii!

I’m sitting on the veranda of the Ritz Carlton on the island of Maui in the city of Kapalua , overlooking the ocean the amazing tropical flora and fauna of Hawaii. God’s creations never cease to amaze me! Who knew water could be so blue, palm trees could be so green or the air could smell so sweet as that of parfume? God knew! I wonder as I look out across his Hawaiian creation if this is what the garden of Eden was like. I truly think so!

Cole, the Nanny Dog

I was sitting for my friends baby this week and I was a little over my head. I haven't sat for a 15 month old in quite a while and had forgotten how much energy they possess.

Well, Cole stepped up to the plate and was my right hand. Little baby 'Will' would run off to get into something and Cole would follow on his heals. When Will took a liking to something he shouldn't Cole would let out a cautionary whimper and I'd come running. Once Will had found the dog-water and proceeded to paint the cupboards with it all while STANDING in the water. YUM! Once he scooted into the laundry room and was trying to climb up the cupboards, again Cole sounded the alarm.

My friend Ali says I need to adopt another one like she did, but I told her the only thing I'll be adopting is perhaps another pet. No more babies for the Noffze household. I love their cute little faces, their energetic little bodies, and their pure hearts, but alas, I'm no young pup anymore.

So for all of you who are still birthing at my age, more power to you. Cole and I will sit for them anytime and I'll smile joyfully as I hand them back at the end of the night and put my tired body to sleep.

You go girls!

Friends Forever Visit

My BFF from High School, Traci, came all the way to Fargo, ND to visit me last week. She endured a 10 1/2 hour delay in Chicago, lost power on all her gadgets, arrived in sub-zero temps AND they lost her luggage (which just so happened to have her coat).

Yeah, she loves me THAT MUCH! :)

For two days we trompsed around Fargo. She borrowed one of my wraps and just hung in there hoping that her luggage would come 'someday'. Low and behold a few days later they f

ound it on the tarmac in Chicago and flew it here. I've never seen someone so happy to have the necessities!

We spent the week playing cards, laughing at old stories, shopping, getting pampered at the spa and watching movies. One night the movie was Julia and Julia. At 10:30pm at night we stopped the movie ran to the local Barns and Noble to get the Julia Child cookbook, then rushed home to finish our movie and plan a meal. The next day we made her famous Beef Stew. The prep time was long, the steps were long, the process dirtied every dish in the kitchen and we LOVED it! This beef stew is absolutly amazing. It's definely worth all the hype, prep, process and clean up! To top it all off Traci taught me how to make bread.

What a week I tell you, what a week! I miss her already!

Beef Bourguignon Recipe (Beef Stew)

Beef Bourguignon Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz bacon
• 2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 lbs trimmed beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes, patted dry with paper towels
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups sliced onions
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 bottle of red wine (such as a zinfandel or Chianti)
• 2 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
• 1 medium herb bouquet (tie 8 parsley sprigs, 1 large bay leaf, 1 tsp dried thyme, 2 whole cloves or allspice berries, and 3 large cloves of smashed garlic together wrapped and tied in cheesecloth)

• Beurre manié: 3 Tbsp flour blended to a paste with 2 Tbsp butter

• 24 pearl onions
• Chicken stock
• Butter
• 1 1/2 pounds of button or cremini mushrooms, quartered

METHOD

1 Blanch the bacon to remove its smoky taste. Drop bacon slices into 2 quarts of cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer 6 to 8 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water, and dry on paper towels.

2 In a large frying pan, sauté the blanched bacon to brown slightly in a little oil; set them aside and add later to simmer with the beef, using the rendered fat in browning. Brown the chunks of beef on all sides in the bacon fat and olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and put them into a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or covered casserole pan. Cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces and add to the pan.

3 Remove all but a little fat from the frying pan, add the sliced vegetables and brown them, and add to the meat. Deglaze the pan with wine, pouring it into the casserole along with enough stock to almost cover the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and add the herb bouquet. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer slowly on the lowest heat possible, either on the stove or in a preheated 325°F oven, until the meat is tender, about 1 to 2 hours.

4 While the stew is cooking, prepare the onions. Blanch the onions in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Slice the end tips off of the onions, peel the onions and score the root end with 1/4 inch cuts. Sauté onions in a single layer in a tablespoon or two of butter until lightly browned. Add chicken stock or water half way up the sides of the onions. Add a teaspoon of sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer slowly for 25 minutes or until tender. The onions should absorb most of the water. If there is water remaining after cooking, drain the excess. Set aside.

5 Prepare the mushrooms a few minutes before serving the stew. Sauté quartered mushrooms in a few tablespoons of butter and olive oil until browned and cooked through.

6 When the stew meat has cooked sufficiently, remove all solids from the sauce (except the beef) by draining through a colander set over a saucepan. Return the beef to the casserole. Press juices out of the residue into the cooking liquid, then remove any visible fat and boil down the liquid to 3 cups. Off heat, whisk in the beurre manié, then simmer for 2 minutes as the sauce thickens lightly. Correct seasoning and pour over the meat, folding in the onions and mushrooms. To serve, bring to a simmer, basting meat and vegetables with the sauce for several minutes until hot throughout.

Serve with rice, bread, or potatoes (unless you are doing the low-carb version!).

Serves 6 to 8.

Tacco Salad - Make Ahead

TACO SALAD

1 medium head lettuce, bite size pieces 1 large onion finely chopped

1 lb. hamburger, browned & drained 4 medium tomatoes, diced

8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated 5 ½ oz. crushed taco chips

1 small can kidney beans, drained (optional) 1 pkg. taco seasoning

Black Olives, sliced & drained (optional)

Brown hamburger, add taco seasoning; set aside and cool. Add rest of ingredients, except chips. Refrigerate before serving.

Dressing: Mix together 8 oz. bottle Thousand Island dressing, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon taco sauce. Add this dressing and chips to the above mixture just before serving.

**I use a whole bag of taco chips and I do not use the kidney beans.

**Use whatever your family likes on tacos J

You betcha, it was cold enough to set a record

from the FORUM local paper:

For those who thought this morning was extremely cold, here’s confirmation from the National Weather Service: the 33 below zero reading at Hector International Airport set a new record.

And it was a very old record at that. The previous record low temperature for Jan. 2 in Fargo, 32 below, was set back in 1885, before North Dakota was a state.

“Those 1880s-era records are tough to beat, so that’s impressive,” Daryl Ritchison, a WDAY meteorologist, said today.