Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, 

the people he chose for his inheritance.

Psalms 33:12

As requested, here is the recipe for steak Skewers with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce.  It comes from the cookbook, Fix, Freeze, and Feast.  This cookbook focuses on making multiple entrees for freezing.  This recipe makes three entrees, four servings each.

1 tray (about 6 pounds) boneless top sirloin steaks
1/2c. olive oil
1/4c. red wine vinegar
1 1/2t. black pepper

Sauce
1 (4-5oz.) container crumbled blue cheese (approx. 3/4c.)
3c. heavy cream
3/4t. black pepper

You need:
6 one gallon freezer bags, label 3
3 one quart freezer bags

Have on hand for cooking:
8 (9inch) wooden or metal skewers

To prep:

-Rinse steaks and trim fat.  Cut into  1 inch cubes.  Divide beef evenly among the unlabeled 1 gallon freezer bags.

-Whisk together oil and vinegar in a small bowl.  divide the marinade evenly over the beef.  Into each bag, measure 1/2t. pepper.  Seal bags.

-Divide the blue cheese among the three 1 quart freezer bags.  Imto each bag of cheese, measure 1 cup heavy cream and 1/4t. pepper.  Seal bags.

-Into each labeled 1 gallon bag, place one bag of beef and one bag of sauce.

-Seal and freeze.

To cook:

Prepare on an outdoor grill or indoors under a broiler.
-completely thaw one entree in freezer.

For outdoor:
Prepare a medium fire in grill.  If using wooden skewers, soak them in water while meat is thawing.  Thread steak pieces onto skewers.  Grill, turn occasionally, about 10 minutes or until done to your liking.  discard remaining marinade.

meanwhile, heat the blue cheese mixture in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Simmer gently, stirring frequently, until the cream reduces and thickens into a velvety sauce.  Serve as a dipping sauce with the steak.

For indoor:
-Arrange skewers, prepared as above, on an ungreased broiler pan.  Broil under high heat, 5 inches from heat source, turning frequently for about 10 minutes, or until done to your liking.  Discard remaining marinade.

-Heat cheese as described above.

It all began with the simple thought, "why don't I take the boys to Santa Cruz for the day.  We can dip or toes in the ocean, and maybe I can meet up with a friend I have not seen since high school."

The day started off just fine.  Traffic was OK, and we were delighted to discover a totally unexpected view.  Coming over a hill, heading into Benicia, through a light mist, we see a bunch of unique looking boats.  'A' was convinced they wre battleships, but I could not be certain.  I promised him we'd look it up online when we got home.  Well, he was right!  These ships are a part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet.  They are "mothballed" ships that can be activated if necessary.  I could not get any pictures, so here is one I found:

It takes three hours to drive to Santa Cruz.  About 20 minutes outside of Santa Cruz, I began to not feel all that great.  When I pulled into Santa Cruz, I had full on flu symptoms.  I was so sick!  I knew I would be incpacitated for a while, so I checked us into a motel, the Bella Notte, and spent the next five hours wishing I were dead.  The boys were a little bummed that they could not play on the beach, but they got to watch alot of TV and eat delivery pizza, so it wasn't all bad.

The next morning was overcast and cool, but I felt much better and wanted to explore with the boys a bit.  My friend, Deana (lives in Santa Cruz), suggested a few places to check out.  One was a surfer's museum.  We found out that there was going to be a surfing competition close to the museum, so that was where we headed first.

The Surfer's Museum was closed on Wednesdays, but we took advantage of a photo op anyway...


While waiting, someone was blowing these giant bubbles.  The kids enjoyed chasing them down.  There was a slight breeze and the bubbles gave them a good run for their money...

Waiting for the competition to begin...


We soon learned that the competition had been moved to a different beach because there was not surf.   It was too bad because there were all these vendors who had to break down their stands.  People knew the name of the beach, but did not know where it was, so we went to plan 'B'.

Deana had suggested we check out Wilder Ranch State Park.  Unfortunately, they were closed as well.  We then went to Natural Bridges State Park.  They have a grove of eucalyptus trees where monarch butterflies spend the winter.  We walked the trail and saw the butterflies.  Could not really get a good shot, the butterflies were too high, except for this one...



Heading home, I decided to surprise the kids with one more stop, the Jelly Belly Factory!

It was a medical day today.

The Shots

I gave in and got the H1N1 vaccine for two of my daughters (my oldest and youngest) and for me, complete with Thermisol (mercury) for my older daughter and me. I have very well-managed asthma that has occasionally gone totally South on me in the past. Real misery.  30-40% reading on my peak flow meter kind of stuff. And my eight year old has CVS, which she has gotten sick before from a cold and it causes her to not be able to keep things down at all, once for almost a week. So, despite my misgivings, and outrage at them STILL putting things like Thermisol in our vaccines, I got the vaccine. My littlest daughter got the one without thermisol, but it was "unavailable" to us who are older. We even had a flu like thing come through our house, but not everyone got it and it wasn't that strong or long-lasting, so I'm figuring it wasn't H1N1.

In the end I just figured I was going to worry about which was the right decision and I'd just get the vaccine and then put the worry behind me.

Abigail was cute as can be. Kids were there screaming before they even got the shot, just in anticipation. She, at first didn't know what was going on. Then I got a shot and Natalie (8) got a shot and then I picked up Abigail (2) to hold her. What a smarty she is. I pulled her sleeve down to bare it and she immediately grabbed her upper arm muscle to cover it. So smart. We all feel alright so far.

Dentist

Jon went to the dentist. We belong to an HMO. He called for a dental cleaning and they told him it was three months or today. So, he took today. In customary fashion, nothing wrong with his teeth. I tell you, he brushes his teeth so fast and only once a day and isn't consistent about flossing. But, never any cavities or any other problems. He tells them about the difference between him and I. I don't know why Jon tells me these things, but he tells me he says they say it's just how you take care of your teeth. He tells them about how many cavities I have gotten when pregnant. They tell him that extra cavities associated with pregnancy have only to do with being distracted. You have got to be kidding??? These people just frost me! (Am I not supposed to say that on a blog?) I brush my teeth like a maniac when I'm pregnant. They tell Jon there is no nutritional basis for cavities and that teeth cannot have minerals leached from them. What are they smoking??? (Am I not supposed to say that either?) I suppose weak teeth have no possible connection with weak bones either...as in how badly I broke my wrist... Oh...my, I do need to brush my teeth like crazy. That's true. But, it is my belief that I have some genetic thing going on with both my teeth and my bones and my moods that I best do something about. The medical community can be so narrow minded sometimes. Medicine + a thoughtful (rather than bureaucratic) look at nutrition = powerful. Medicine the way it is = unhelpful.