Weekend Wrapup

It was a fairly busy weekend, even for us Morgans! Friday at work we celebrated ROCtoberfest with a nice selection of German foods and some faux beer.  I searched for something to contribute that didn't include meat or potatoes or dessert (as they were already covered) and that would be at least sort of healthy. What I found was Rachel Ray's German Cheddar and Beer Fondue (I finally found a way to take beer in to work!) I love fondue and take advantage of any opportunity to use my fondue pot.

I've done the cheese fondue thing a few times for gatherings at my house and work and the chocolate thing too (yum!). My go to recipe for chocolate fondue is Michael Chiarello's Chocolate Fondue. And I like Rachel's cheese fondue better than the one I usually use. I normally use white wine (but I prefer to drink red, and FYI, Michael's chocolate fondue includes red wine) in my cheese fondue, but German beer tastes better (IMO).

German fondue for ROCtoberfest at work

For dippers, I opted not to serve wursts or franks as listed in the recipe. Instead I served raw cauliflower, mini dill pickles, grape tomatoes, pretzels and sourdough bread. I almost got a marble rye (it was in my cart and I could not stop thinking of Seinfeld) but I figured a loaf of sourdough would not go to waste if we had leftovers (and it was cheaper). The fondue was really good and my favorite item to dip was the cauliflower. 

Dripping with goodness

Friday evening found us busy mowing, weeding and putting items out for Big Trash day pickup. We wheeled out an old grill, a broken wagon and a dishwasher box full of as much of the hot tub as we could fit (which was not much). Most of the hot tub is still in the back yard and we are planning a work weekend specifically to remove the rest... It was nice to have those other big items gone from their final resting places though. We burned the branches that were in the fire bowl and the kids helped (a little) in picking up all of the magnolia seed pods so no one twisted an ankle on them.

Saturday Emi had a soccer tournament (they won both of those games) and we were busy with that and cleaning, etc in preparation of friends and family coming over to eat lumpia, make music in the back yard and watch the game. That afternoon I rolled and fried up a big batch of lumpia before the guests came over for pre-game festivities. Scott put some pinion wood in the fire pit and that added to the ambiance of our Indian Summer evening. Good friends, good music, good food, good game (we won!) and good kids. 

Emi and Brogan feeding the fire

After a late night in the back yard we dragged ourselves to Emi's first soccer game of the day Sunday morning (they tied that game).  After we got home from that game, the Little Ones went down for a nap after playing with Emi's friend who came home with us, and I sought refuge in my own bed.  After naptime, me and the Little Ones had a snack while Scott and Emi headed off to her last game (which they lost *sad face*). I cleaned up the kitchen and started some laundry then we ran to Barnes & Noble to get a gift card and a reference book that I thought might freshen up some of the knowledge I gained in high school so I can be more prepared to help Emi with her homework. {she's doing algebra and geometry in 4th grade!} We also ran by the library to pick up some books Emi had reserved (Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing and the The Cricket in Times Square).

I was wiped out after that but the kiddos were not, so I set them up with their Legos in the sunroom while I intermittently read my book and catnapped. 

Luckily for us I had a stash of lumpia rolls that I fried up for dinner...we got our bellies full for sure. Also, luckily for us, there is no more lumpia in my house for us to gluttonously stuff into our food holes. [Note: I fried up the lumpia that Teri had given me a few weeks ago too and while I liked hers and it all disappeared very quickly - it's lumpia, what's not to like? - I prefer mine because I put a lot of garlic and crunchy veggies in mine: bean sprouts, water chestnuts and carrots.]

Pencil Sketch Me with the Magnolia and the Pecan

While we were tired from the many activities crammed into our weekend, we still had time to watch the 2nd season premier episode of The Walking Dead last night. Priorities, right?

I hope you had a great weekend too!