the week & sunday in pictures

On winter evenings when it's dark and cold, we sit and plan parties. I got the happy notion one evening that a photography party would be fun, given our love of costumes and crazy pictures. Well, don't you know, photo booth parties are a big thing now. You can even rent one, which we did not do. I guess they're big at weddings.

We just issued an invitation for people to bring props, we set up a bench in front of the curtains in the living room, and Regis found an app for his iPad that would take a strip of pictures like this.

Not everyone at the party was comfortable with the public nature of my blog and Facebook page so I'm not going to publish all the photos here out of respect for that. But I didn't think Richie would mind so here we are. Gus liked to be in every shot.

This is Gus looking for a place to nap this morning. He's a dog who likes his leisure. He gets slicked up at Kind's tomorrow so he'll be clean and smaller after that!

This is NOT Gus but it looks like it could be him. Isn't this a riot? This dog must be smaller than Gus because I don't think there is any way you could carry him like this person is doing.

A couple of recipes requested by our guests last night. The first one is what we always use on chicken wings now and it's a nice bitey flavor without the slop of wing sauce. Better on the grill but acceptable in the oven at 375 degrees for almost an hour.

Chesapeake Bay Seasoning

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground celery seed
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
This is our favorite barbecue sauce. Regis discovered in his search for the perfect rib recipe. We don't always use it on ribs now since he learned to how to make a glaze out of the braising liquid by reducing it. This is still good on almost anything else. We served it last night on pulled beef sandwiches. I even made buns...Vi Hanson's Bread Machine Buns!

St. Louis Barbecue Sauce
Yield: Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat. Stirring occasionally and simmer for 20 minutes. Sauce should be thin, but not watery. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. Sauce is better if allow to sit for a day.

Wine Trip

We're planning another wine trip for April 21st. This year, we're going to Crow River in Hutchinson and Sovereign Estates in Waconia. Should be a good time.

I don't know why I didn't get this posted yesterday, but here it is now.