Debate Round Robins

Stephen and Nathan have joined our local homeschool debate club.   In December they participated in a debate round robin.   Each team got to debate two rounds, one negative and one affirmative.   For Stephen, this was the only debate he would be allowed to do since he is too young to compete and is auditing the course this year.    He seems to be a natural at debate and astounded my dh and myself with his passionate speaking style and presence at the podium.

Consulting with his partner before he gets up to speak.

 Stephen as first negative speaker.

 Stephen did very well and got the win for the team and best speaker in the round.

Nathan and his partner Kurtis preparing to defend their affirmative case.

 Nathan in his first affirmative rebuttal.

Nathan and Kurtis won their round as well.   As a former debator myself, I am thrilled to see them get this chance to speak and debate.   And it brought back all my memories of debating weekends in Kansas City.

Paris-Brest

When my dh was home this holiday season, he made me a beautiful dessert called Paris-Brest.   This dessert was inspired by the road race from Paris to Brest and resembles a car tire.   First he made the pastry cream.   Then he made a praline that he reduced to a dust in my food processor.   Then he folded that praline dust into the pastry cream.   

Then he went to work on the pastry rings.   They resembled eclair dough and were made by cooking the dough and then piping it onto parchment paper and baking them.

 The successful finished pastry on the left, the first try that got too dark on the right.

 He split the finished ring in half, spread the cream on the bottom and then put a "inner tube" ring in the middle of the cream.   Then he spread more cream on top of the inner tube and put on the top part of the big ring.

 Ta-da!   The finished product.   And it was very very good.

Merry Christmas 2011!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 We had a blue spruce tree again this year.   Blue Spruce is my favorite kind of Christmas tree.

 Going to church Christmas morning.

 A fun time was had by all.   Many Legos were received with joy.

 Nathan's new gladius sword.   So far he hasn't broken anything in the house...yet.

 A present from my mom - Camo socks!!

Annual Tapas Night

Welcome to our annual Tapas Night!   We usually hold it on New Year's Day, but this year we decided to hold it on New Year's Eve.   My parents were visiting and enjoyed sharing in our New Year's tradition.   So without further ado...

Course 1:    Fried Gruyere Cheese with Bacon and Eggs with Black Olives made by Stephen.

 Vegetable Pate made by Deborah.

 All three dishes tasted good.   The Fried Gruyere was my favorite of this group, but the Vegetable Pate was a surprise hit.   We decided that we should do this in the spring with fresh asparagus.

Second Course:   Cumin Carrots made by Aaron.

 Garlic Shrimp made by Stephen.

The Cumin Carrots tasted very Mediterranean and were served cold.   The Garlic Shrimp was moist and fantastic.   Nathan did complain that it didn't taste garlicy enough.

Third Course - Potato, Tuna, and Vegetables in Puff Pastry made by Aaron. 

 Fried Garbanzo Beans with Onions made by Nathan.

 Aaron's puff pastry was a delicious way to serve the salad which was light and flavorful.   Even my mayo hating Nathan liked it.   Everyone but me liked the Garbanzo beans.   The onions had been cooked for a long while and really were quite mellow in the dish.   

Fourth Course - Potato and Banana Omelet made by Deborah.

 This was my biggest surprise.   I really liked it.   I was afraid that the sweet bananas wouldn't work, but they did.   We served it at room temperature but I think it would be even better served warm.   We used "baby bananas" and they were very sweet.

Fifth course - Veal Stew made by Nathan.

 Well, by now we were getting kinda full.  But this Veal Stew was so velvety smooth that everyone loved it.   I'm looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow!

Sixth Course - Sauteed Bread with Honey Syrup made by Deborah.

 This was Joe's favorite dish which surprised me because Joe isn't really a big dessert person.   But these were amazingly good.   Of course, dousing anything with homemade honey syrup would make it taste good.   They were like French toast but so creamy and custardy inside.

My Executive Chef, relaxing after a hard day and a half of work.  Well done!