DALLAS DREAMS

 There has been a winner declared for this years Crossword competition.  There were 22 people who viewed the page which contained the crossword.  But, alas, it turns out only two people got all the way to the solution and sent me the codewords.  I am a little disappointed this number is not a little higher.  I am hoping some people are still working on it and perhaps will get there sometime.  If this is you, please still send the code words to my email when you get them and I will still add you to the scoreboard.  If you are stuck anywhere and need a hint, or the answer to a particular clue, please send me a message and I will gladly help you get further.  Send me a message on email or Facebook.   I hope that I can make a better puzzle which is more engaging next year.  To this end, I put together a short survey about you felt about the puzzle. Please follow this link to give some feedback, I would really appreciate it:   ...

 THANKSGIVING >   This is my favorite holiday.  A holiday totally focused around a Giant meal.  Family comes together to just eat and hang out play games.  And there is always a lot a of Pie.  All of this with out the pressure associated with giving and receiving gifts from others.  Truly the ultimate holiday.   I was only going to make one awesome pie for thanksgiving, a large Apple-Cranberry Pie, but Amy felt like it just wasn't Thanksgiving unless there was at least one pie per person, so we ended up making 4 pies, and then some friends brought us 2 more! That is a lot of pies, and we didn't really need that many. But it was delicious.  I thought the best pie was the Apple Cranberry one that i made.  Very interesting mix of flavors, and I thought it was very appropriate for Thanksgiving.  Amy cooks many things she finds on "Mel's kitchen Cafe," this pie came from that site.  Mel says it is one of her all time fa...

 The time is here -  At exactly 12:05pm EST, I will post the crossword here: Smith Family Crossword 2020 Use the crossword to find the 3 secret code words! When you have found the codewords, Send an email to dashingdallas@gmail.com with the 3 code words and how you would like your name to appear on the score board.   NOTE: I also had to learn some javascript to get the websites working.  I used Chrome, it probably works on other browsers, let me know if you have problem with the websites.  Remember:   Red clues have to something to do with our family, so knowledge of our family will be helpful. It would be helpful to print out the crossword.   Good crossword technique includes using cross clues to help get the answers. Remember, you win when you get the code words sent to me, that is the end.  I WILL NOT UPDATE THE SCORE BOARD UNTIL AFTER 5 pm EST , so you will not know if you have won until then.. GoodLuck

For the past three years, around Christmas time, I have made a crossword puzzle.  Each puzzle contained clues about our family.  At the completion of the puzzles, crossword-solvers would decode a secret message. The first year, the message revealed that we were expecting Lucy.  The second year, we shared that we were moving to Maryland.  Last year, we announced that we were expecting twins.  This year, we do not have a great life event to disclose. So I have decided to make this year a contest.  This contest is open to everyone who has access to the puzzle. Whoever finishes the puzzle first and sends me the three secret code words will receive a pie from us.  Regardless of where you live, we will get you a pie!  I have decided this year, I will release the puzzle on my blog on  THANKSGIVING, (November 26, 2020)  at NOON (12:00 PM - EST) Note: This in noon on the east coast!   If you live in California, the puzzle gets posted a...

 Thats right, the twin just turned 6 months.  We have kept them alive half way around the sun.  We got them some new baby food for their half birthday.  They didn't eat much, but its the thought that counts.  They are starting to be more mobile.  Mabel does a good job pulling herself around, (this is quit slow but gets the job done). Olive will get up on all fours and rock back and forth, eventually pulling herself over the direction she wants to go.  Here are some picture of them on their special day:  Here they are playing on their new pretend Laptop.   Olive is teaching Mable all about the operating system Here they are trying to eat some new food.  They love to eat, or at least make messes while we try to feed them They love playing with these water bottles Here they are fighting over them. 

My pie today was a caramel pear pie, featuring homemade caramel.   Making caramel is a pretty stressful job, stirring and not stirring the perfect amount to make the caramel while not burning it.  I didn't love that part, but I think i turned out ok, plus now I have extra caramel for dipping apples.   I thought the pie turned out pretty well, it is very similar to an apple pie but with an obvious pear flavor.  The caramel I thought gave it a nice twist, though it was pretty sweet and I couldn't eat a ton of it.  This may be my best crust yet, and probably my best looking lattice top.   I also put some course sugar on the top and I think that gives the pie a nice sparkle.  The pie was pretty good today, but I have a feeling it is going to be a pie that gets better as leftovers for the next few days.  I need to finish it since this weeks pie is going to happen on thanksgiving, Thursday instead of Saturday! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

 I just finished the book "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell.  This was an interesting little read.  The essential thesis is that people who are "Outliers" are created by a number of forces beyond the persons own hard work and determination.  He make this point using a lot of different stories to explain lots of other factors that can determine who become the most successful.   For instance, one of the first things he talks about is how a disproportionate number of professional Hockey Player have birthdays in January and February.  This is because when kids start training in hockey the cutoff for starting is at the end of te year, so kids how are born in January are 11 months older than those born in December.  That is a pretty big different for kids who start when they are three.  So, those kids who are the all-stars when they are 3 get put into the better hockey teams and get into better hockey training programs.  Thus they are more likely ...

 We finally made an appearence at church again.  This was the first time we were able to attend since January.  More importantly, this was the twins first time ever going to church.  The meeting was very short, and it wasn't really like going to church since we actually didn't talk to anyone or sit by anyone.  There was only one speaker and sacracment.  But it was something! I'm sure the babies appreciated getting to finally wear a fancy dress and go somewhere.  The other girls all probably enjoyed the experience even if they read the Friend the whole time and had to wear masks.   Here is the picture we took when we got home :  (Mabel in Pink, Olive in Blue)

 Well, it is not technically a "Key" lime pie, because I just used regular limes, but it sounds better to say key lime.   This is my second week in a row NOT making a pie crust.  This pie really needs a Graham Cracker crust and they were on sale at Food Lion.  I thought this pie turned out pretty well.  It used 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk, which seems like a lot to me.  It was a pretty sweet pie.  There were some other recipes that only called for one can, and also used a lot of eggs (whereas this recipe had no eggs).  I am now wondering what those pie taste like.  Well, there is always next time I make a lime pie.   I tried to make the top look very pretty with the whipped cream and the twisty lime on the top. I'm not sure how I did.  I like my pies to look delicious too.   Well, it was a big hit with the girls.  They seem to like cream pies the best.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

 I missed writing this post yesterday, but we didn't eat the pie until today and I hadn't taken a picture of it yet.  So pretend this came yesterday.  I took a break this week from baking a real pie crust and I simply used a store bought graham cracker crust.  We had had it for a long time and I guess it was time.  My brother had a birthday on Saturday, we asked him what his favorite pie was so we could make it in his honor. This is how I decided on a strawberry pie.   I already made a strawberry-rhubarb pie a few weeks ago, so I wanted to make this pie very different.  This pie was NO-bake.  I had a thin layer of cream-cheese cream and topped with a load of strawberries held together with a strawberry sauce.   It was super delicious.  I was afraid it was just going to turn out as a strawberry cheesecake, but it has enough strawberry flavor to overcome the cream cheese on the bottom.  Not a normal pie for me, but a real wi...

It is finished!  My goal of dong 3 goals everyday for 100 days is complete! 100 days is a lot longer than I though it was going to be, but by the end, all the goals I had chosen have become pretty easy to keep up.   I completed a spanish duolingo lesson every day for the past 100 days.  I think my spanish is getting better, I guess you need to ask Amy who is my main Spanish coach.  I will continue to do Duolingo everyday now that I have a 100 day streak, I don't want to lose that! I ran everyday (at least 2 miles, usually 3 or 4, up to 8), or did some equivalent aerobic exercise.  I'm glad I finished this now because it is starting to get COLD outside.  I can do it on the treadmill, but I always prefer running outside.  I have gotten into a pretty solid habit of running now, I will also continue to run everyday.  Of all my goals, the hardest was tracking everything I ate with my fitness pal.  My goal was not only to track what I ate, but...

Today was a big day for Alice, her first day of (pre) school! She was so excited to go, and I got to pick her up after she was done.  She did some art projects and told me she met a girl named Alex, which is almost the same Alice.  She told me that that were going to be friends now. Now she can't wait to go back (on Wednesday). Also today we voted.  This was the first time I was able to go and vote in a long time.  Feels good to contribute to society.  We voted a day early here, I guess you can do that in Maryland now.  I wonder why Amy's voting sticker is so much cooler than mine.  I feel like I got cheated. 

 This month I read the book watership down by Richard Adams. I thought this book was actually a delightful read.  It is the tale of a group of bunny rabbits who set off to find a new home and thier adventures along the way.  When I started reading I felt a little bored as it seemed a little slow. (Especially since I had just finished reading that hunger games book)  But After I got more into the characters, I really enjoyed reading it.   Its kind of a funny read because it is a really serious book about the adventures of a bunch of rabbits, not like childrens book.  Even though they are rabbits and still have names like "Strawberry" and "clover." It even gets pretty intense sometime as either the bunnies are trying to get away from a fox or chased by hunters.  There is even some bunnies attacking and killing other bunnies.  These fights are detailed in the book,  pretty violent for a book about bunny rabbits.  The whole story really...