The New Family

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

IT is yet again Thanksgiving. This is the Twin's second, and though they still don't know what it is, they will have memories of it for next year.
This year the New Family traveled to Illinois and spent Thanksgiving with Mom's sister and her husband in Carmi.

Before the trip, everyone got a hair cut.

Buggy got a Bob refresher

Dad discovered she prefers whole apples, not peeled.

After the last photograph, the Family loaded up into the car and drove the (no not 3 hours and 55 minutes thank-you-very-much-for-nothing Google), 4 1/2 hours to Carmi. Dad was tired and took no photos. The next day...

Aunt Lisa bought them both robes.
The New Family, with body clocks that were still on eastern standard time, woke up very early compared to their host family's custom. One of their host's children, who shall remain nameless, did not rise until 10:30 a.m. central time. The New Family apologizes for the noise they caused disturbing your sleep Hailey. Oops, sorry. Again. Well to be fair to her, and to be nice to her since Dad likes her anyway, she is a teenager and it is common for teens to tend to stay up later and sleep in later. Dad recalls working second shift as a young man and loving it. His energy curve was perfectly suited the 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift.


Dad did childcare in the Man Cave

Buggy stayed up past her nap time

EJ is fascinated by football

Kregg is proud of his feast.


TNF's host, Kregg and Lisa

Lisa and Mom

Extended family

The Cooks with Buggy and Grandma Irma

Buggy jams

Tryptophan nap

She didn't "wanna" nap, but did.


And Dad feasted on this,
It is customary in many families to give thanks to the hands that prepared this feast during the Thanksgiving dinner blessing. Perhaps we should also be thankful for the millions of other hands that helped get the dinner to the table: the grocer who sold us the turkey, the truck driver who delivered it to the store, and the farmer who raised it all contributed to our Thanksgiving dinner because our economic system rewards them. That’s the real lesson of Thanksgiving. The economic incentives provided by private competitive markets where people are left free to make their own choices make bountiful feasts possible.
From The Pilgrims' Real Thanksgiving Lesson






Monday, November 24, 2014

*ALERT* Turkey Alert *ALERT*

THOSE of you planning on eating your (currently) frozen turkey on Thursday might want to get it out of the freezer today so it will be thawed by then. Air thawing in the refrigerator will take several days.

Alternatively, you can fill a 5 gallon paint bucket with water and the bird and leave it in your garage if it is unheated and at most 40 degrees F. This quick thaw method will still require 12 or more hours.

http://www.homedepot.com/s/5%2520gallon%2520paint%2520bucket?NCNI-5
Dad had a dedicated bucket for this task. He used it for brining his turkey too. IT became contaminated during the move, so he will have to get a new one. Speaking of which, a good video on brining is here.


Take note though. Many birds are treated with 10 ~ 12 percent solution of salt and water (brine) already. So additional brining could result in an over salty bird.

Fresh birds obviously do not need to thaw.

This year Dad investigated buying a Heritage turkey. But at $8 per pound, he declined.

Good article on Heritage turkey versus factory farm raised turkeys here. Does a Heritage bird taste better?

Testers sampled dark and light meat from both birds blind. People found the conventional turkey to be universally saltier and some claimed that it had a more artificial taste. Although most found the heritage meat to have better flavor, the biggest criticism was that it was the dryer of the two meats.
The Health Nut: Heritage. “I don’t notice a huge difference between the two, but I probably prefer the heritage slightly. It’s less salty and has more texture.”
The Foodie: Heritage. “I love, love the flavor of the dark meat on this bird. And the white meat of the other one has an almost chicken nuggety texture and flavor.”
The Kid: Heritage. “The other one is too salty.”
The Dude: Store-bought. “This meat is juicier.”
The Verdict
Heritage.
http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/does-heritage-turkey-taste-better-than-conventional-in-a-blind-taste-test


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Daddy's Little Helper

DAD is currently fixing the hand rail. Buggy wants to help.




Daddy drilled into the wall, so Liesel is "drilling" into the wall.

Buggy Art

LIESEL has discovered MS Paint on Dad's laptop.


Toddler Chic

EJ decided to define his own style that is contrary to social norms. EJ has lately been choosing his own clothes and dressing himself.



Dad is indifferent about his son's fashion sense inside the house. However, when they go out into public, boys wear boy clothes and girls wear girl clothes.


Friday, November 7, 2014

Future Post: Hanging a Towel Rack (or Other Item Onto Drywall)

HERE is the first Future Post for the Twins. It is about hanging a towel rack. It is not a do it yourself (DIY) step by step instructional post. Other resources on the web do that well, much better than Dad could do in fact. What it is, is a supplementary knowledge base of Dad's experience. It is analogous to a bOOk's appendix. It is intended to be augment basic skill set. So guys, go research a how to guide like this one then come back here for more information.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Future Post: DIY Tips for EJ and Liesel

LONGTIME readers will have surely noticed that the scope of this blog has expanded from its tight focus on the Twins during the first 6 months of their life. Food posts are a great example.

It is about to expand some more.

With all of the projects that need to get done, Dad has taken myriad pictures of his projects in progress. Unsure why, other than to document his progress and satisfaction with Getting Stuff Done, he pondered it for awhile.

Then it hit him, this blog documents the New Family with a primary focus on the kids, but also a focus on their life as a family for the purpose of entertaining and informing the kids later in their life when they can look through it and enjoy it.

Moreover, Dad has lots of knowledge and experience to share with them at the appropriate age, so why not get it documented on the blog now?

Going forward, Dad will share his K&E with posts titled "Future Post." This signals to EJ and Liesel when they are older that this post was created with them in mind as the primary audience.

You are welcome to read them too, and if you find anything useful or helpful, please don't hesitate to comment below or email Dad.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Fall Walk

NO Dad is not nearly done with projects, but all work and no play make for crabby two-year-olds. So Dad took a break and went for a pre-nap walk.

Dad needs to mulch some leaves, but now is play time.








EJ wanted ride underneath.



Yogurt Face






Update: It's Morning Again, in America






Voters went to the polls yesterday to send a message. Pundits will debate what that message was, but clearly there is massive dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

Dad is reminded of something the President said recently, "I am not on the ballot this fall. Michelle’s pretty happy about that. But make no mistake: these policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them."

That is sufficient explanation for Dad. 

Donna please tell Heidi there are new posts up :-) .

BTW, the post's title is reference to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY

Monday, November 3, 2014

The Twin's New Bunkbed

THE kids got into the towel closet and decided it was time to play "sleepy."







Dad helped stage the photo a bit. Liesel didn't pull the towel over herself. EJ crawled underneath his.

Dad dryly noted that they left their home in Wheaton in part so that the Twin's would have spacious individual rooms. Yet they seem content with each other. In the closet.

Donna please tell Heidi that there is a new post up.

Weekend Projects

DAD neglected the yard work this weekend past to focus on some inside projects.

Despite the size of their new home, there is a lack of storage. So at Mom's direction Dad bought and installed a 4' x 8' storage rack that makes good use of otherwise empty space overhead in the garage.

A good place for overhead storage.

Done!
Having finally obtained all of the parts necessary to install the reverse osmosis water filtration system, Dad installed that as well.

Almost Done!
Their are always complications when doing home improvement projects. This time was no different.

Dad, having installed an RO system before that resulted in disastrous consequences, it leaked and destroyed their new floor, decided to install a drain line adapter instead of using the included drain saddle that came with the system. Well, that presented additional complications. The DLA cannot be used in conjunction with a disposal on a single P trap configuration. So Dad decided to put the disposal on a separate P trap.

After all of the aggravation and time spent installing it, Mom probably wants to know why Dad did not just renovate the entire kitchen. Seriously, this took four hours to complete including the time spent on the multiple trips to the Big Orange store.

3/8" Drain line adapter (DLA) won't leak like a drain saddle could.
 
DLA will replace the sink tailpiece.

Here, a Tee ties the disposal into the drain. Dad identified two problems with this, First, the accordion style flex hose is a sloppy DIY fix done by a previous owner. Second, there is the possibility that while operating the disposal, that waste could go up into the DLA, or even back flow into the sink above rather than down through the P trap so Dad decided to separate the two and put each onto its own P trap. The water trapped therein should provide enough resistance to disposal forced waste to go down the drain rather than up.

Dad is not a plumber, doesn't pretend to be one, but has enough experience to know what can happen with a single P trap configuration and an RO system.

Done!

Good enough for DIY.
Dad decided to install a three way wye instead of a two way wye. The third outlet can be used in the future for clean out or other currently unforeseen purposes. Moreover, the difference in price was minimal.

Once the drainage issue was addressed, Dad then began the RO install.


Not Done!
On testing, Dad found a leaking slip joint under the right sink. PVC cement took care of that. Next, he discovered the RO system malfunctioning. While it made all of the usual gurgling noises on start up, after three hours of filling, it would not dispense water. He will follow up on that issue later.