An Ode to Beard

Here at the Casa de Evers, there is a standing agreement that Austin is allowed to have a winter beard followed by a hipster mustache...little did I know the extremes to which this would lead us.

This was Beard in full effect (3 months) in winter 2010:

And last year's shave:

And hipster 'stache (worn around for 3 days):

This year we bumped it up a notch and went to 4 months with Beard and a week with the 'stache. 

Beard in full effect (4 months) in winter 2011:

The sad night before we said goodbye to Beard:

Just before the shearing:

The progressive shave away:

The hipster 'stache (worn around for a week):

It is so funny how many compliments my husband receives from other bearded and non-bearded men; how many people are inspired to sport facial hair despite their wives' dismay (sorry ladies); and how many people cheer for Beard to grow and are legitimately sad to see Beard go away. Beard has brought many laughs and scared a few children. Beard has even brought me a few compliments (mostly along the lines of being a saint to let him grow it) and a few sighs of disapproval (when I stick hard and fast to the agreement that brings about the eventual end of both Beard and the 'stache). But above all...this beard-growing season brings my husband great joy and for that reason, the winter beards will continue. 

My husband is a good-looking man; and for a few months out of the year, he's a good-looking bearded man. 

For now, goodbye Beard!

I'll keep you posted.

Monday Funday

About four months ago, I invited a handful of girls over to my house for what I now call "Monday Funday." The whole idea is that on Monday nights we get together and cook or craft or both together. So far we've sectioned it off by months, but it's really not too rigid and basically we can do whatever anyone in the group wants.

For the month of September we started off with cooking and learned a few ethnic dishes: pancit and chicken adobo (me); a mexican dish from Guadalajara (Zoe); indian food (ayesha). Then we moved on to baking in October: coconut creme pie (Casey); cake balls (me); the Brown's carrot cake (Sarah); and pumpkin bread (Madison). Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of those awesome meals.

And then the crafting began in November/December: we made homemade laundry detergent (which I gave away as Christmas presents to my husband's extended family as stocking stuffers)

Then we spent 3 weeks trying to figure out how to make Christmas stockings. Casey led the way with her sewing machine and made some cool elf boot curved stockings (sorry no picture) but these are the ones I made for my family :)

And lastly we made these cardboard Christmas trees off of pinterest. And they were much harder to do than it looked. Again sorry no pictures.

Now that it's January, we've started up again with the cooking and this time I took pictures: 

Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash

thanks to Larkin for introducing me to this tasty treat and sharing the recipe

Visit the link for precise measurements and directions 

Cut the squash in half and get all the seeds out. Season with butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper then roast them in the oven.

Sautee celery, onions, thyme, salt, and pepper

Mix with wild rice, dried cranberries, and pecan pieces

Divide equally among the halves and continue roasting in the oven

The final toasted product! Enjoy!

If I can keep up with this blogging business there will be more Monday Funday cooking adventures and crafting creations to come.

I'll keep you posted!