Fall Food

We've been eating a lot of chicken recently at the Hausmeister household, and have discovered the greatness of the beer can chicken recipe.

Since there are more recipes online than are possibly necessary, I won't give it to you here in detail other than to say that they all involve stuffing a half full container of beer into the back end of a chicken, rubbing it with seasoning, and cooking it. It's a rather ignominious end for the bird, but tastes great.

We especially enjoy the meal when it ends with some of Mrs. H's pumpkin mini-bundts. The little cakes themselves taste good, but when they're warm, stuffed with Nutella, and surrounded by a scoops of ice cream with cinnamon and nutmeg on top, they taste even better.

3 Month Recap

I haven't posted for a while. Some of you noticed. Some of you also contacted Mrs. H and told her to tell me to do something about it. When this happens, it often culminates in a night like tonight, when I'm flopped on the sofa while the sound of "O Tannenbaum" emanates from the bathroom as the rest of the Hausmeister clan takes advantage of the double shower in our apartment to soak and sing . . . loudly.

So, what's been going on you ask? How about a photo recap of the past 3 months?

First, Kid H went to the fair with her Aunt and M, where she rode elephants, fed donkeys, went on rides, ate junk food, got new clothes, and just generally spent time hanging out and having a great time. She came home completely exhausted, but now asks constantly when she can go hang out with them again.

Next, the Hausmeister clan went apple-picking at the Dame Farm in nearby Rhode Island. If you're ever in the area, I recommend stopping by. We are convinced that the best apples are at the tops of the trees and can only be reached by having Kid H and Mr. H combine to form the ultimate apple picking machine. Occasionally, the person on the bottom takes an apple to the cranium, much to the amusement of Mrs. H.

The Dame Farm also has wagon rides, all sorts of fresh produce, flowers, and is owned by some great people. Our stop there included enjoying all of the above, as well as a pumpkin impression by Kid H that will have to wait for a future post.

Our next "highlight" was the pooping-by-the-side-of-I-93-in-the-middle-of-a-traffic-jam-in-the-rain incident. Traffic was at a standstill and Kid H had to go.

What you can't see in the picture is that we also had a State Police escort as well, complete with lights. I made sure to pick up the TP when I was done.

This fall, Kid H started school as well. It was a little rough at the beginning, but we got things straightened out, and she's doing great now. The school she attends is in Boston's Italian district, and has included learning Italian, thanks to a teacher supplied by the Italian Consulate. This has added a fourth language on top of the scattered Chinese and Spanish phrases and words she knows. Tonight, I was treated to three songs in Italian and heard her count to 10. She's putting the "poly" in polyglot and making her dad jealous.

Mrs. H and I also went to Japan with her cousin and cousin-in-law for a week vacation and saw lots of very cool stuff. I'll have to dedicate a couple of posts to covering it in the next few weeks.

There was a trip back to the Midwest to visit one set of the Oma and Opas, and the other Oma and Opa came here to cover while Mr. and Mrs. H went on vacation and when Mr. H had to travel for business. While in the Midwest for business, I also got to meet my new nephew for the first time.

And there was Halloween. Kid H dressed up as the animal from the book "Put Me in the Zoo". Indeed.

That brings us to the present, which finds us getting ready for Christmas and thankful for the highlights of the last 3 months. This year the Christmas season is bringing with it a significant amount of change for the Hausmeister clan as well as a number of things to look forward to, including the addition of a new Baby H and a Christmas visit from family in the Midwest.

The Lock Jig

Either you were there, or you weren't. Either way, it was a sight to be remembered.

The Wonder of the Kinder Eier

I've always thought it would be cool to be a Lego designer. However, that's probably not meant to be. A similar job would be to design the toys that go into Kinder Eier. For those who aren't familiar with this treat, it's a white and milk chocolate egg, which has a plastic capsule inside it with a small toy that you assemble after eating the egg. They are SO COOL! The US version is the Kinder Surprise. Of course the German version is better. One of the things that makes them clever is that they almost always move or do something. Sometimes, you can even combine them to build a "super surprise." Echt cool!

After being away from home for the last week, Mrs. H greeted us with Kinder Eier. Mine was this cool little guy who could smile or frown when you flipped a switch on the back of his head. Kid H's toy was a pirate gorilla who's arms could flip up to reveal a map hidden in a barrel. When we got them, we both devoured the chocolate and got on to building the toys. I'm such a sucker for clever little things like this.

Thanks, Mrs. H! You're the best!

Poolside Walk of Shame

So tonight we head out to the pool for a quick swim before going to bed. Kid H and I have been on the road for work and visiting grandparents the last week, so we were both pretty tired.

After about 45 minutes in the pool, Mrs. H and I announce that it's time to go in. Kid H pops out, complaining bitterly about the unfairness of the whole ordeal and after being covered up with a towel, disappears.

Assuming that she went inside, Mrs. H and I head in a minute later, only to find that Kid H has disappeared. After a few minutes, I find her back by the pool, buck naked, and crying. Apparently, in a fit of rage, she took off her swimsuit and threw it over the railing. It fell down a story, but got hung up on a ledge. This was immediately followed by remorse, which was probably deepened by getting a naked spanking poolside.

After getting her back upstairs, I called down to make sure the suit could be retrieved, then Mrs. H and I put Kid H to bed. She was very ready to go to sleep, but had to be reassured multiple times that the wind wouldn't blow her suit away overnight before the staff could get to it.

We're all going to bed now.

LEFTOVERS IN BBEEEEEEEEEEDDDDD!

You'll notice that both Mrs. H and I are in the picture. So, who might be taking the picture?

Clicking on the image to see the larger-than-life version might allow you to see that the expression on my face isn't one of pure surprise . . .

"Put the camera down, NOW!"

Cartoons and Legos

Have you ever wondered about what living with a house full of girls does to the only male of the house? I have. I'm already sure I know more about Hello Kitty than most guys, and am adding knowledge of other foreign cartoon characters as well. These include Pocoyo, Kai-Lan, and Pokemon at the moment. What happens when I have two girls?

For those of you who wish to test your knowledge on the above characters, can you name the countries of origin for each without resorting to web searches?

I've also been getting pretty good with pop beads. However, I'm trying fight back. Kid H and I spent a lot of time a few weekends ago working on building a Sikorsky Skycrane Lego set (which I'm proud to say I knew by name when I saw the box on the shelf), complete with a working winch. It's a pretty close model of the original, and both Kid H and I are enjoying playing with it. We're going to try for the plane or boat next, but need to find one of the pieces of the rotor first. It's probably under a sofa.