we were so lucky to have jeffrey's family come visit us this past weekend. it was great! here brynn, fuzz, elliot, and sam pose on top of the rock (rockefeller center) with nyc in the backgound.elliot liked sticking his hand out. crazy how the people below look like ants!
i love this shot of sam and grandpa. here's lookin at you!
we took the free ride on the staten island ferry. we stood on the back to get a good view of nyc and the statue of liberty. it was so great to have grandma, grandpa, brynn, and fuzz all come to visit. 
here is sam stuck in the stoller on the ferry. he wasn't too happy.
the day before it was overcast and gloomy, but just look at the sky this day! we got lucky! land of the free! 
we finally made a trip to madison square garden. we've been wanting to hit that spot since last summer, but we just hadn't made it to that spot of nyc yet. jeffrey took a picture of one of his favorite buildings, the flatiron building located on the intersecting streets of fifth ave. and broadway.
we also stopped by the shake shack. wow were those burgers awesome! if you're ever in the area, you gotta stop and grab a bite to eat here. seriously, and i usually don't like burgers. i would even say it could compete with our beloved bartley's burgers in cambridge.
we were lucky to visit storm king, near west point, ny. it is amazing. the art there is huge! i guess it closes the first week of november and doesn't open again until the end of april, so we were happy we didn't miss it. 
they had two seats made of welded coins!
we got to see the wall by andy goldsworthy. it was amazing. it curved down, winding between trees . . .
. . . down into the pond and out the other side, and then continued on up the hill. amazing the things that people can create. 
my super cute husband pushing our phil and ted up the hill.
fuzz/christian/garrett had his birthday while they were out here. we went to a great mexican restaurant in west point and they brought him tres leche cake, sang him happy birthday and took a picture with this awesome sombrero.
elliot was rocking the sombrero too.
we were sure sad to see them go. it was so nice to be with family. there is nothing like it. brynn, last night elliot said he wished you were here. he misses you all already. we'll see you in december! the bomberman competition between elliot, brynn, and fuzz will have to be on hold until then. love you all! 
4 comments:
I can't believe how big Elliot is getting.
Looks like you guys had a blast while your family was in town. You saw so many cool things with them. It looks so pretty up there.
Jeffery,
This is going to be a super long comment- but i don't know your email address. I got the dutch oven pizza recipe for you. Here it is:
This is almost more a narrative than a recipe, but bread is one of those things you almost have to show someone rather than give a list of ingredients. Here's what I've got. This is my own recipe, it never came from a book or someone else, just my own trial and error.
Jason's Pizza Dough
2 C. water as hot as the tap can get it. Add 1 Tbsp. of sugar and stir, then sprinkle 2 Tbsp. yeast evenly over the surface of the water. Let this sit for 5-10 min. or until the yeast is foamy and activated. Add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil (I prefer extra virgin) and 1 egg. (You can do this without the egg; just add a bit less flour later. I like the texture you get with the egg, though.) You'll need about 4 cups of flour, (I use all-purpose, but bread flour would probably work too) Add 2 cups to the bowl, and then add 1 and ½ tsp. salt before you mix in the flour. You want to add the salt here and not earlier, because it will interfere with the yeast activating if it isn't mixed in with some flour.
I do the mixing in the kitchenaid with the dough hook, but if you aren't so lucky, it's time to break out a good strong spoon. Flimsy metal will bend, and thin wood will break. Stir until the first two cups are mixed in and then add more. The texture you want is fairly wet and sticky, but you should be able to touch it for a second without having dough coming away on your fingers. The wetter and stickier the dough, the lighter your final bread will be, so try not to add too much flour.
Once you've got the flour mixture right, it's time to start kneading. Sprinkle some flour onto the counter and rub some onto your hands and then pull the dough out of the bowl and start working it. If you don't know how to knead, just keep folding the dough onto itself and push, over and over and over, etc. This has to keep going for approximately 15 minutes. Once you've got the dough kneaded, you want to pour a bit of olive oil into the bottom of the bowl, roll the ball of dough in the oil until it's coated, and then cover the bowl with a towel. Hurry up and wait while the dough raises for at least thirty minutes, though an hour is even better.
This is my pizza dough recipe; once it's raised, punch it down and break off a piece to form into a pizza crust. There are infinite ways to do this, and different things you can do for different flavors. If you have a pizza stone and a peel, you want to coat the bottom of the crust with cornmeal so it will slide off the peel and onto the stone, and vice versa. Or if you like the cornmeal crunch, you can just do that anyway. We use a cast iron skillet in the oven most of the time, and we also like to cook the pizzas in our dutch ovens. The recipe works with cookie sheets also, but make sure you grease the pans. You want to cook the pizza at around 375-400 degrees for about 17 min. This is all relative, of course, so as a general rule, keep it in the oven until the cheese is melted, visible crust is golden brown, and you've got the little brown crusty spots forming on the cheese. You know what I mean. (I hope.)
As for the sauce, we use Hunt's canned tomato sauce, because its cheaper and less chunky than stuff like Prego. It really works better that way. Any sauce will work, as will any topping. If you're using pineapple or mushrooms or any toppings with high water content, make sure they're as dry as you can get them before you put them on the pizza, or you'll have a puddle in the middle of your pie. Not pleasant.
This dough makes good cheese bread, or even simple Italian bread, but if it's too much thicker than a pizza, you need to add time to the baking process.
I hope you enjoy!
wow.
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