Tails and I continued to watch TV and relax. As it got closer to 8 PM when people would be arriving I started getting the cold appetizers ready. I made a big platter adding the imported dried salami after slicing it and removing the peppercorns. To this I added two rows of crackers and assorted cheese cubes (Swiss, Colby. and Cheddar). I put out bowls of Potato Chips, Peanut M&M's, Mini Tortilla chips shaped like little bowls and spiced with just a hint of Jalapeno, Cheddar Goldfish crackers, a box of assorted truffles, and several things for dipping/spreading including double cream spread, spinach dip, and sour cream with onion soup.
Scooby Snax got nothing on these
Sadly, because of the way he was feeling Mom and Dad could not make it, and my older boy, as expected, was going out with friends. So that left myself, Scott, Danielle, the X, Kevin, Lili, and Lucy.
Once everyone had arrived I had also finished off my quick version of Chili Con Caso dip. I basically take some prepared taco ground beef (several companies sell this in little plastic tubs at the store) and heat it until it is warm. I then add some cubed Velveeta cheese and heat again until the cheese is melted, and then stir. Everyone (except Scott) loved this dip and it went pretty fast. There was a lot of the aforementioned dips and such left over but the Con Caso went pretty fast.
Uncle Kevin is very allergic to certain pet dander, and one of his eyes had swollen up alarmingly! I heard how he had sat for hours in the X's office using her computer. I asked how he could sit in a room with a cage of Guinea pigs being allergic to them....his reply was that he had work that had to be done....I would have moved the pigs or the computer! He looked awful and I felt bad for him as it was plain it was really bothering him during the course of the evening.
Ewwwww! Someone's been around the Guinea Pigs!!
Everyone partook of some snacks and while conversation was going on I showed Kevin the program I use to store and track my DVD collection. He was quite impressed because you can view the collection it a list, or by DVD cover images, you can search for titles by Movie Name, Actors, Genre, and a lot of other criteria, and once you've selected a movie you can also see full color pictures of the front and back covers along with detailed information on the movie, actors, description, and all this is populated for each DVD automatically via the UPS Bar Code of each DVD.
The others came wandering into the living room and we settled in to watch Eagle Eye which I though was excellent! I have been doing pre-installation work pulling old cables for my new AV receiver, which is supposed to arrive today. At the time I thought I had accidentally pulled off one of the wrong wires because the sound from the computer (which I used to play my DVDs from) was terrible. It turned out that while moving things around I had changed the audio processing options of the current receiver by pressing one of the recessed buttons. Funny how it only affected the computer and the the fiber optic TV service. Anyway, we ended up watching the movie off the XBOX 360 using the speakers on the plasma display for sound. Nowhere near as good as the sound from the AV receiver, but, more than usable in a pinch!
Posed pictures of the kids do just not work!!
I was also having some trouble getting used to having an XBOX game controller control the movie. This was the first time I have ever used the XBOX as a DVD player, so a few times I overshot chapters accidentally. I did what I could, such as providing funny squeaky voices as I fast forwarded to get to the right point.
About halfway through this week took and intermission where I started the hot appetizers (four types of mini egg rolls, Jalapeno and cream cheese poppers and breaded chicken and bacon nuggets. For Scott i made a bowl of Ramon, and then one for Lili after I mentioned there was more once she had seen Scott's. I was pleased I had chop sticks to offer her which she prefers.
Lili enjoys a steaming bowl of Ramon Noodles
Once the hot appetizers came out of the oven we filled out plates and returned to the movie which everyone enjoyed the movie and even Scott got sucked in. He had started by sitting on the couch playing his portable Nintendo. I like that about Scott, even if what we are doing in the living room is not to his liking most often he will come and sit with us anyway while he plays his portable game system.
We finished the movie a bit shy of midnight and so then we started going through the various networks looking for something to watch. Some teen heartthrob boy band was playing on all the networks which really rubbed the musical appreciation of our older viewers the wrong way! Unable to find anything to watch in the interim I put it on mute and everyone made fun of the band by providing their own vocals and sound effects.
The X had brought a bottle of sparkling lemonade which my daughter had wanted to we watched the countdown and the ball dropping in Times Square and toasted in the New Year with that particular beverage!
A bit after midnight, every one headed out. Tails and I stayed up until about 1:30 AM before returning.
Here's hoping for a Happy, Safe, Joyous, and Prosperous New Year for us all!
Scooby Snax got nothing on theseSadly, because of the way he was feeling Mom and Dad could not make it, and my older boy, as expected, was going out with friends. So that left myself, Scott, Danielle, the X, Kevin, Lili, and Lucy.
Once everyone had arrived I had also finished off my quick version of Chili Con Caso dip. I basically take some prepared taco ground beef (several companies sell this in little plastic tubs at the store) and heat it until it is warm. I then add some cubed Velveeta cheese and heat again until the cheese is melted, and then stir. Everyone (except Scott) loved this dip and it went pretty fast. There was a lot of the aforementioned dips and such left over but the Con Caso went pretty fast.
Uncle Kevin is very allergic to certain pet dander, and one of his eyes had swollen up alarmingly! I heard how he had sat for hours in the X's office using her computer. I asked how he could sit in a room with a cage of Guinea pigs being allergic to them....his reply was that he had work that had to be done....I would have moved the pigs or the computer! He looked awful and I felt bad for him as it was plain it was really bothering him during the course of the evening.
Ewwwww! Someone's been around the Guinea Pigs!!Everyone partook of some snacks and while conversation was going on I showed Kevin the program I use to store and track my DVD collection. He was quite impressed because you can view the collection it a list, or by DVD cover images, you can search for titles by Movie Name, Actors, Genre, and a lot of other criteria, and once you've selected a movie you can also see full color pictures of the front and back covers along with detailed information on the movie, actors, description, and all this is populated for each DVD automatically via the UPS Bar Code of each DVD.
The others came wandering into the living room and we settled in to watch Eagle Eye which I though was excellent! I have been doing pre-installation work pulling old cables for my new AV receiver, which is supposed to arrive today. At the time I thought I had accidentally pulled off one of the wrong wires because the sound from the computer (which I used to play my DVDs from) was terrible. It turned out that while moving things around I had changed the audio processing options of the current receiver by pressing one of the recessed buttons. Funny how it only affected the computer and the the fiber optic TV service. Anyway, we ended up watching the movie off the XBOX 360 using the speakers on the plasma display for sound. Nowhere near as good as the sound from the AV receiver, but, more than usable in a pinch!
Posed pictures of the kids do just not work!!I was also having some trouble getting used to having an XBOX game controller control the movie. This was the first time I have ever used the XBOX as a DVD player, so a few times I overshot chapters accidentally. I did what I could, such as providing funny squeaky voices as I fast forwarded to get to the right point.
About halfway through this week took and intermission where I started the hot appetizers (four types of mini egg rolls, Jalapeno and cream cheese poppers and breaded chicken and bacon nuggets. For Scott i made a bowl of Ramon, and then one for Lili after I mentioned there was more once she had seen Scott's. I was pleased I had chop sticks to offer her which she prefers.
Lili enjoys a steaming bowl of Ramon NoodlesOnce the hot appetizers came out of the oven we filled out plates and returned to the movie which everyone enjoyed the movie and even Scott got sucked in. He had started by sitting on the couch playing his portable Nintendo. I like that about Scott, even if what we are doing in the living room is not to his liking most often he will come and sit with us anyway while he plays his portable game system.
We finished the movie a bit shy of midnight and so then we started going through the various networks looking for something to watch. Some teen heartthrob boy band was playing on all the networks which really rubbed the musical appreciation of our older viewers the wrong way! Unable to find anything to watch in the interim I put it on mute and everyone made fun of the band by providing their own vocals and sound effects.
The X had brought a bottle of sparkling lemonade which my daughter had wanted to we watched the countdown and the ball dropping in Times Square and toasted in the New Year with that particular beverage!
A bit after midnight, every one headed out. Tails and I stayed up until about 1:30 AM before returning.
Here's hoping for a Happy, Safe, Joyous, and Prosperous New Year for us all!
1 comment:
Chris,
The food sounds excellent. Here is hoping the new year brings you great joy, happiness, and prosperity!
- David
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