polar bear pursuit

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you would have to look far and wide to find a polar bear any place but Sea World in Orlando but the Gaylord Palms has 20 ‘captured’ and on display.  We have been on the gnome hunt before and really enjoyed it so we went to this year’s version, Polar Bear Pursuit with Z’s parents and some out of town guests Friday.  The polar bears were quite a bit easier to find than the gnomes and we easily found a number of bears hiding in the swamp, in key west and in the castillo san marcos as we enjoyed the company and the Christmas decorations.

a foodie gift exchange

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It was Z’s office Christmas party yesterday and I took a day off work to attend as it was held from 9:30-2 or so.  I have spent the week hating on gift exchanges.  I am not terribly competitive but for some reason gift exchanges leave me hating people and gifts dug out of the bottom of their discard piles and junk drawers.  Today’s gift exchange had a twist though.  Everyone was asked to bring a food item, either good (as in your favorite) or funny.  There weren’t too many funny ones, which pleased me but rather many random acts of baking or purchases of token Christmas cheer including boxes of cookies, chocolates, and that type of thing.  Overall I was totally impressed with both the offerings and the packaging and the thoughtfulness.  We were also pleased to come home with a set of red and green Tabasco sauce as well as a box of Christmas Captain Crunch.  Probably the best gift exchange ever.

btw – we brought a bottle of 4R bbq sauce and a giant tub of white cheddar cheese balls.  Both of which were fought over and retired before the end of the party.

mash

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our small group has a small ministry of occasionally serving meals for the Mt Zion Baptist Institutional Church.  They all pitch in and each brings an item to serve to about 80 to 100 homeless or other types of challenged individuals.  Z and I made 50 pounds of mashed potatoes to contribute to a Thanksgiving dinner.  It took us a few thours – 3 or so to get everything peeled, boiled and mashed with milk and butter.  We bought giant ones at the local farmstand so they would be easier to peel and an extra peeler so that we could both go to work at the same time.  We stored the potatoes in a 13 gallon clean new trash can (with a liner of course) and 50 pounds ain’t no small potatoes.