Chopped (Millette Edition) - Season 3

Rather than the usual picture/blog post, we decided to video tape it this year. Those picture blogs take forever to upload and write.

Watch here to see what we did. And the winner is...

Summer Bucket List: Fun close to home

 

Last summer, we spent a lot of August trips to Melfort for doctor appointments in the weeks leading up to and just after Jude was born. The new park there was a hit with our kids, so we decided we wanted to bring Jude back to the place where we played so much while waiting for him to be born. With the new spray park also open at the same site, we've now spent two afternoons hanging around with picnics, KFC, and fun in the sun. 

Summer fun always involves cousins. And very few pictures to document the great fun. This summer is was water fights. Hopefully we have more of these days before summer is over. 

 

At home, we decided to do a day of bubble bath in the pool - seriously, it's amazing. Moms and dads can't even resist the urge to step in, fully dressed, and enjoy the bubbles. This turned in to three days of fun, giving new life to the bubbles on each subsequent day.

Our backyard has been home to many a fun afternoon or evening: football games, parades, playhouse building, water fights, grills and picnics, puttering around with wood and hammers. Despite staying closer to home, we're loving our little space. 

Second Annual Chopped: Millette Kids Edition

I believe that if you do something once and it's good, then it must be tradition. Right? And so, I present this year's edition of Chopped: Millette Kids Edition.

Contestant #1

Emilie Lucy

(her name has no Lucy in it, but she's been having us call her that lately)

Helper:

Mom

Why I'm doing Chopped:

"Cause I get desserts."

Contestant #2 

John Paul

Helper:

Dad

Why I'm doing Chopped:

"Because I want to cook with dad."

Contestant #3

Joseph

Helper:

Jude

Why I'm doing Chopped:

"I like cooking and stuff."

The contestants must use all four mystery basket ingredients as part of a dessert. 

Ok contestants, open your baskets...

Cool Whip!

Doughnuts!

Walnuts!

Cape Goose Berries?

You have 20 minutes to make a dessert. You will be judged on presentation, taste, and use of the basket ingredients. And your time... starts... NOW!

Chopping goose berries.

Smashing the berries into a juice.

Crushing walnuts

Melting chocolate is exhausting.

Grilling sliced doughnuts. Idea stolen from John Paul.

Crushing walnuts as well.

Time running out!

5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Hands off the desserts! Stop working!

Now for the judging.

Each category will be judged separately.

Presentation

John Paul, Emilie... sigh, you have been chopped. 

That means Joseph wins!

Judge: "Joseph, your doughnut covered dessert was beautifully crafted and superior in presentation. Congratulations."

Taste

John Paul, Joseph... sigh, you have been chopped. Emilie wins!

Judge: Emilie, your cake was fantastic. The marshmallows and cooked down goose berries brought brightness to the dish. The grilled doughnut provided nice texture. The sweetness to acidity was balanced perfectly. Congratulations.

Overall use of basket ingredients

Joseph, Emilie... sigh, you have been chopped. John Paul wins!

Judge: "Making a dessert sandwich was very creative, and a great way to use the ingredients. The grilled doughnuts and roasted walnuts provided perfect texture. The gooseberry sauce cut the sweetness. And the Cool Whip brought a pleasant filling. Congratulations."

Now... 

Let's Eat!

"Where are Our Keys?" Locked in the Van... with the Baby!"

Not everything has been going our way lately. Because of this, yesterday was a very good day.

Two things to complain about: the rain and the Mass. The rain has been plentiful this summer. Too plentiful. The only thing more plentiful than the rain has been the mosquitos. Meanwhile, the Mass has been frustrating. Mass? I Meant Massk. Or was that the holy sacrifice of the Mask? Call it what you will, but when a priest becomes afraid of COVID, it becomes a hellish nightmare for the parish. Or what's left of the parish.

God is good. Yesterday we ended up at a Mass in a nearby town. Our third in four months. The Mass there is usually a challenge, liturgically speaking. But what a difference four months makes. The Mass yesterday was just a normal Mass. No incessant talk on The Virus. No masks and gloves.  No hand pumping of sanitizer every 34 seconds. Just a small, practical, and very normal Mass (liturgical challenges and all). I cannot tell you enough how refreshed our souls were afterwards! Thanks be to God.

As for the rain... rain brings colder temperatures. We were leaving a house sitting session for my parents - out on their acreage - later that afternoon. As were preparing to leave my wife somehow locked our keys in our van. Haha. 

Wait... our ten month old boy was trapped inside in his car seat! I have never felt so helpless watching him sitting there through the tinted window. Absolutely gut-wrenching. But, as it's been very rainy, the day was cool. In the twenty or so stressful minutes it took for the tow-truck to arrive, the van did not heat up much at all. Our little ten-month-old Jude did quite well. His parents lost a few years off their lives, but otherwise are very grateful. To top it off, the tow truck guy refused to accept any payment for his service.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28). Amen.

One last thing. Rain means crazy big potato plants! 

Deo Gratias!

Buddies & Bucket Lists

  

The last couple weeks saw us knocking fun activities off our summer bucket list: fishing, Nipawin pool, picnics, beach day, backyard camping and campfire. But, more importantly, spending loads of time hanging out with family, especially cousins.

We spent a glorious day at Greenwater Lake with the Humboldt Millettes. We're trying to make this an annual event (we missed last year) because it's just so much fun. Besides sitting and eating chips and candy all day, we build sand castles, surf the incoming waves, pose for crazy pictures... and go far too far out in the water on a tube. At least, that's what our kids did this year, until their dads hauled them in. They won't be doing that again. Besides that little escapade, it was a day to go down in the memory book.

The boys came back delighted from a successful fishing trip with Grandpa. Dan caught a good-sized Jack; Grandpa caught 2 big Walleye; Joseph caught a stick; and John Paul got a cool picture with a train in the background. We ate like kings, finished all the fish at one meal, and agreed we could get used to this life.

The Long Weekend found all the Millettes at the Nipawin acreage for a family reunion. Despite all living within a few hours of one another, we hadn't made this happen in well over a year. The boy and girl cousins ganged up to have wars against one another (as kids will do), defending the tree house and building new forts. We ate far too much good, delicious food (as we always do at Grandma's) and many calories of decadent dessert. If this baby comes out really big, I'm blaming mudslide pie and giant cookies. Our campfire got rained out, so we moved to the garage and sang weird and wacky songs to the tune of guitars while the kids ran in and out of the rain. Most of the kids slept outside at least one night with the dads, although some got rained out the second night. We had a heavy rain storm in the evening, but our new tent was cozy and dry for the boys, Dan, and their cousin. They even heard coyotes during the night (but Dad has his knife ready, just in case). We had a family Mass (pretty sweet having a priest in the fam) and a family baseball game and a family swim. It was pretty much an awesome time!

This week found us in Melfort for a doctor appointment and hospital tour just ahead of D-Day. We took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping to get our kids' bedrooms a bit more organized. Then we headed to the new spray park and playground. It was a cold day - too cold for water play - but the kids loved the playground and couldn't wait finish their picnic lunch before taking on some slides. I'm pretty sure they're hoping to have more out-of-town doctors visits just so they can go again.