Angie Windheim

Just added a few more tidbits of wisdom to eHow.  I share menu ideas for hosting a football game get-together and the breakdown of hosting a holiday brunch. I absolutely love the idea of brunches as a way to change up that Christmas Eve get-together. You can make everything the night before and you aren’t having to juggle those last  minute Christmas details with a bunch of big dinner clean up.  It’s also a nice way to keep family and friends off the road after dark on Christmas Eve.  I plan to blog some of my favorite breakfast/brunch recipes shortly so stay-tuned.

Thanksgiving started out with a very fun run/walk at the annual Give N’ Gobble. There were easily twice as many participants as last year which was great to see.  We all beat our times from last year and are already talking about goals for next year.  I’m definitely going to find myself a goofy turkey hat for the occasion.

I haven’t hosted the Thanksgiving meal in quite some time. I’ll have to say, now don’t groan, that I loved doing it. I actually had fun. The stuffing, the turkey, the pecan crusted sweet potatoes and the gravy all turned out super yummy. Oh, and I must not forget the fondue. Jennifer’s easy and so delicious cheese fondue was an amazing starter (2 bricks of cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan, 3/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp garlic, 3/4 cup milk). I’m still not a big fan of the green bean bake though, so I’m changing that up next year for sure.

It must be the week of youtube.  Ben’s guitar instructor, Myron LeRoy, who has a very creative sense of humor, has posted a new “Christmas Classic.” Myron’s recently gotten into animating songs through the help of a friend, and his latest features Eddie the Elf going a little nuts with a Nerf gun on Christmas Eve.  It’s not Silent Night, but it just might rival Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.

If you are an Oregon Duck fan,  you’ve got to check this youtube video out!  I love my DUCKS, I love my Ducks, I love my Ducks….

No, I don’t mean that it’s time to “stuff your turkey.”  I do mean that it’s time to get those black oil sunflower seeds and suet out in your feeders for our native and wild bird friends. The birds are hungry!

Tip #1: Suet is a decent buy at Al’s for $1.99, but the best deal I’ve seen on the black oil sunflower seeds is the bulk food section at Winco.  They had thistle and some squirrel munchies as well.

Tip #2: The Farmington Gardens November newsletter provides a quick run down on how to plant for and feed our wild and native birds.

Nothing says “thanks” like “giving” to those less fortunate.  The Sherwood Give N’ Gobble Run/Walk and food drive is still taking online registrations for its annual event.  All proceeds benefit the local food banks.  I just finished signing up the whole family, and I’ve bid on a few items in their eBay auction.  The Give N’ Gobble is a “healthy” way to celebrate Thanksgiving in more ways than one.

OK. So some famous people truly deserve to be famous. Bono is the best example of that. He’s larger than life and treats that power with responsibility without being boring or overly preachy.  Brian and I are currently enjoying the youtube footage of U2’s recent live global webcast concert at the Rose Bowl. Some of the songs give me chills every time I hear them. You can listen and watch individual songs on youtube.  I also love  Bono’s very poignant opinion piece in the New York Times. He is inspirational, insightful and just freakin’ awesome. And, if you want to get active, try visiting ONE and see what inspires you.

Giving a small thank you gift to your community can be fun, rewarding and even easy.   Sherwood has basically plopped three such opportunities in my lap this week.

1. Raindrops to Refuge, a non-profit group that seeks to protect Sherwood’s watersheds through activities, grants and education, is hosting a tree planting event on November 7th. Volunteers are needed to get over 750 trees and bushes in the ground from 9am to noon on the Platanus Trail (Take Sunset Blvd, right on Ladd Hill and turn on Willow Street). They’ll show you what to plant, how to plant and how fun will it be to come back and visit your work over the years. What a gift to the environment and yourself. And, there will be coffee for you and donuts for the kids.  Wear rough wear clothes, tough gloves, a water bottle, a snack and a shovel.

2. If you like the cause but not the labor, you can still help out Raindrops to Refuge at a fundraising Spaghetti Dinner on November 13th from 5:30pm-7:30pm. They’ll be serving up a steaming plate of home-cooked spaghetti with sauce, a tossed green salad, garlic bread and a drink. The dinner is hosted at the Rebekah Lodge on SW Washington Street in Old Town Sherwood. The kids and I attended their spring Spaghetti Dinner and had a good meal for a good cause and it was fun. Gives you that small town, warm and fuzzy feeling 🙂 Just $5 a plate for adults, $2.50 for kids and dessert is $1.

3. A new Thanksgiving tradition for my family is the Sherwood Give n’ Gobble Run/Walk and Food Drive. It’s great fun for the whole family and it helps feed hundreds of local families through the Helping Hands Food Bank.  My kids loved warming up with family and friends and then taking off on the 5K run/walk. A 10K run is also available for the more ambitious folks. 9am is the start time (not too early yet you can still get that turkey in the oven). They offer a family registration package for $85 for up to 5 people, and donating a bag of food gets you a free t-shirt!

So unless you crawled under rock, you know that the Ducks played USC on Halloween (we won!). While it was hard to tear ourselves alway from the game to trick-or-treat and party with friends, we managed to do it all and had a blast with our Ducks inspired costumes.  We had two groovy Oregon hippies, a Duck Santa Claus and a Duck Witch. C’mon everybody, yell “OOOO”

Ducks on Halloween

I just published  my first ehow.com article. I wrote tips for throwing a wine tasting party in your home. My inspiration was a great hostess of just such an event. Nice job, Connie! One thing I didn’t add, was that the Caramelized Onion Spread recipe in my Good Eats – Recipe archive would be a great addition to any wine-inspired event.