February 8, 2010
We're singing...
...in the rain.
Just singing in the rain.
deux bebes , Tim | By Tim and Jo | 10:48 PM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2010
Easy slow cooker potato soup
This was sooo easy! And really good. The kids loved it, and it was really warming for these wet, coldish days we're having right now.
I looked at a couple of recipes and then fused them with some touches of my own.
Easy slow cooker potato soup
Serves 6-8
1) Peel, then cut potatoes into chunks. I did about half of a five pound bag (so 2.5 lbs., more or less).
2) Toss them in crockpot and pour on water or chicken or vegetable broth to cover (I had some chicken boullion, so I used that). I'd guess about 3-4 cups, but just did it until the potatoes were barely covered.
3) Cook on low for about 6-8 hours or high for about 3-4 hours
4) Meanwhile, take one small head of garlic, rub it so that you get rid of some of the papery outer peel, cut the top off so that the cloves are exposed. Put it on a small piece of foil, drizzle it with olive oil, and wrap the foil around it. Cook at 450 for about 35-45 minutes, until soft and slightly browned.
5) At the end, add one 12 oz. can evaporated milk (or regular milk), salt and pepper to taste (less salt if you used boullion, more if you used water or homemade broth), some ground chipotle pepper (for warmth, optional), and some liquid smoke (again, for warmth, optional). Squeeze the garlic cloves into it.
6) Mash together until as smooth as you like, and serve.
7) We garnished it with sharp cheddar, chopped green onions, and a little bit of bacon.
You certainly could do this on the stove-top as well, just boil the potatoes in broth until soft and follow the rest of the directions.
cooking stuff | By Tim and Jo | 9:34 PM | Comments (4)
Comments test
For some reason, it doesn't look like comments are working on the blog. So this is a test entry to see if I can get it to work.
Feel free to try to leave a comment--if anyone has any ideas, let me know (joannabug at yahoo dot com). I've checked the blog guts and it says that comments are enabled, so I'm baffled.
ETA: Okay, it looks to me like it's just Piggie-Pie that's resistant to comments, but if anyone else has problems, would you mind putting a comment here and letting me know?
web stuff | By Tim and Jo | 9:05 PM | Comments (1)
January 28, 2010
Piggie Pie
Tim: It's time to introduce yinz to some Smolko family weirdness. Behold Piggie Pie!!!!

We know the book is called Pinkie Pie, but our twins refer to it as "Piggie Pie," possibly because they like pigs or because pigs are pink and the book is pink. No matter. We all love to hate Piggie Pie. We have no reasonable justification to hate Piggie Pie, or any other item in the vast My Little Pony universe. And we enjoy reading books to our kids and will read them any book they like, even if the cute factor is off the charts. But Piggie Pie is so over the top that it gives us hives. I'm a librarian and believe that all books have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but if there is one book that deserves the Fahrenheit 451 treatment, it is this book.
But we have not burned this book. It is very useful to us in the car, as a means of occupying the twins during long trips. Any time they get restless, or are bored with the other toys and books in the car, we can always call on Piggie Pie.