Tamale Gluttony & a little Christmas Spirit

OMG! Denis and I are suffering from a bad, bad case of Christmas Eve tamale gluttony. The man was unstoppable last night, this morning and this afternoon (probably a dozen himself). We also managed to hijack a few dozen out of his grandma's house. Nothing like stealing tamales from an 83 year old woman to get you in the Christmas spirit!

We are most definitely hitting the gym after the said tamales, and all the SHIT I made!

4 batches of WTF Peanut Brittle
3 batches of gut-busting Rocky Road
2 batches of ass-sticking Dill Crackers
1 batch of stupid Peppermint Bark
Chocolate covered pretzels

AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE!

Merry Christmas,
The Stuffed Shefferd's and Jake too!

Bread, Bread Anyone need some Bread?

For those of you who know me really well, you know that I am a bargin shopper, a coupon cutter and a deal seeker! This morning TOPPED ALL!

6:00am - Alarm goes off (This Sheff doesn't like mornings ... keep that in mind)

6:20am - In line ... where in the hell is she in line at 6:20am??? Well, I was one of those idiots in line at Boudin SF (a new restaurant in San Marcos). Just call me Number 55!

6:45am - Freezing my ass off. It was 44 degrees for god sake!

7:15am - I bargin with the kid in front of me. He is to walk to Starbucks to get me a latte and in return I will by him a coffee. That little turd bought a grande latte for himself!

8:00am - Work conference call while waiting patiently in line

8:45am - We are to line up in numerical order

9:00am - The doors open!

9:20am - Driving home with a loaf of bread, 365 coupons for free bread, a keychain all wrapped up in a cute little bucket.

WHAT IN THE HELL WAS AMY SHEFFERD DOING THIS MORNING?

Boudin Bread Co. had their grand opening in San Marcos this morning. This is the company that had the novel idea of Clam Chowder in a bread bowl in San Fran back in 1849. Okay, maybe the bread bowl idea was later, but the San Fran sourdough 1849.

The first 100 people in line today received a full years supply of bread. I was thinking maybe a loaf a week ... man was I wrong. I am now the proud owner of 365 (plus a few more for good measure) certificates for bread.

Apparently the first person in line got there at 8:30pm last night, tent and all. Now, I might be stupid but I am not that stupid.

Looks like everyone is getting bread for Christmas!

Happy HALLOWEEEEEEEN!

We spent a very busy night minus trick-or-treaters ... in the kitchen. Denis carved his heart out, I baked my heart out and our neighbor Cheryl laughed at us the entire time.


The man and his Master Piece ... I just wanted Pumpkin pie!

Bet you didn't know that my husband can carve a mean pumpkin ... goatee and all.

Scary how much they resemble each other!

This wife can decorate a mean front porch ... Christmas here I come!

Well we did have some twerps show up to beg for the candy that I really wanted to eat! Nobody too cute or even any of our neighbors knocked on our door. Man, what happened to good 'ol Halloween?

G.A.P.

For those of you have been waiting .

Shefferd's G.A.P. (Good Ass Pizza)

For one GAP Pizza

Roll out 1/2 of one Trader Joe's pizza dough ($1.09). For cheapskates like me you can get three individual pizzas out of one dough. Don't forget to poke holes in your dough ... or you could have a bad night!



Brush EVOO on your perfectly rolled out dough!

Give to the BBQ Master of all Masters to par-cook the dough (both sides). YES on the BBQ for you doubters!

Be sure to brush EVOO on the other side of the dough after on the BBQ. Give a cheesy smile just like Denis!

Take off BBQ and prepare for the fun! Add pizza sauce and cheese!

That is one hot MAMA!

For the fun part ... TOPPINGS! Denis likes pepperoni, goat cheese and raw garlic. I like mushrooms and goat cheese. Otherwise known as heaven on a pizza!

Almost ready!

BBQ Take II

Slow cook until cheese is melted and crust is crunchy! If you have a rear-searer (like my spoiled hus) sear away!

Just be patient ... (that's hard for a dog)

2 Horchata's and a Tequila Shot later ... GAP! GOOD ASS PIZZA!

MMMM let's cut this baby up!

I got pizza and beer! What are you eating for dinner?

The End!

LET ME BE! Said Denis

Thought it was necessary to have an entry about what the hell is happening in San Diego. First and foremost ... we are okay and our house is still standing!

I was in New York all week for work and thank God! My mom told Denis that she was happy that I was gone because I would have been a freak running around the house barking orders, packing the house, and driving Denis crazy ... which I still managed to do!

Denis and Jake were never evacuated, but on Monday we had Ronnie, Celeste, the twins, Lee Ann, Corey, Cheryl, Cody, Corey Junior, Lara, Tom and four dogs at our house. It sure sounded like a "Fire Party" to me! Of course I called a million times and Denis kept telling me to "Let Me Be". He didn't like the fact that I told him to put food for Jake in the car, pack up our home owners policy, grab our passports and pictures. He did however think it was really funny to tell me twice that he couldn't talk because he was being evacuated ... NOT A FUNNY JOKE!

I came home yesterday and as I was landing I could see flames out the plane window. My stomach dropped, but I was lucky enough to be sitting by a Red Cross Relief Worker. We had a little bit of drizzle last night, but this morning OMG! The smoke is so thick and disgusting. The wind is blowing again and we will probably be inhaling this crap for a week!

Oh Southern California ... what more could you want?

Nate's Butt Farm

Oops, did I say Nate's Butt Farm ... I mean we took a family trip to Bates Nut Farm for the annual Shefferd Pumpkin extravaganza! When I say family ... I mean FAMILY! Even Jake and our roommate Lara came along! Jake peed on every corn stalk, hay bale and weed he could find! Denis attempted to wrangle him so he didn't pee on the small children while they picked their pumpkins!

Gotta love the Big Macs! It seems like all people do is sit their big asses on them and nobody buys the $60 beasts! So of course we plunked our big asses on the big ass pumpkins and took a few pics!

Bake 'em up

Most of you know that I dream of running away with the Gypsies most days and now I have something to add to it!

Do Gypsies eat baked goods? Dammit, they better! I now plan on running away with the Gypsies and opening up a bakery ... a girls gotta dream! My friend Alicia who lives in Oregon is on board, but now we just have to make it happen! She is so freakin' funny and keeps me entertained with "pain in the ass husband stories" and last night she experienced a 3 P's night. Her baby peed, puked and pooped on her all at 4am! She really needs a bakery!

Anybody want to buy a house in San Diego so I can runaway and eat lemon bars, banana bread (damn good recipe Alicia), cookies and cupcakes all day long!

First Day of Big Girl School!

I can't believe it ... Brooke started Kindergarten today! Corey said she was SO excited and was very happy to find her seat right next to the class Guinea pig!

Congratulations Brooke!

Playing Catch-up

What a Sunday! Denis and I were woken up at 6:15am to MASSIVE lightening and thunder! We watched the show half-awake for well over an hour and listened to the rain beat down on our house. Who knew that Hurricane Dean would give us a little ... very little taste of a dissipated hurricane? We were mesmerized to say the least. It apparently dumped 2 inches in just over two hours! That is about annual rainfall for us!

Later in the afternoon Denis went out to mow the lawn and DAMN ... it felt like Florida in the summer. We were reminded once again why we love Southern California and why we haven't packed up and moved to the east coast ... much to my sister's dismay!

Jakey Boy

Thought we needed to include a few pictures of our boy Jakenstein. I can't believe he is 8 years old and still acting like a mad man. The other day I caught him taking a nap on the couch (where he isn't supposed to be) and I had to take a few pictures.

He is SO darn cute!

A little G. Love

Another eventful weekend with the Shefferd's! We spent an extended weekend up in Ventura, surprise/surprise, but man did we have fun. On Saturday the guys went to the Dodger's game and Tamara and I spent the evening at Wine Lover's. Man, did I love the wine ... maybe a little too much. Sheffy had a bit of a hangover on Sunday!

The real reason we headed up to Ventura was for a concert at the Santa Barbara Country Bowl on Sunday. The venue is awesome ... just like the rest of Santa Barbara. We saw Slightly Stoopid and G. Love and some local Santa Cruz band.

You know you are in California when the security guards are busting people for smoking cigarettes, but not for smoking other things!

And Away They Go!

Last Saturday Denis and I went to see the ponies run in Del Mar. The racetrack is such a fun San Diego thing to do! We unfortunately didn't win any money, but we had a lot of fun!

Sixteen years ago during my first visit to Del Mar, my dad told me to bet on the 6th horse in the 6th race ... it didn't pay off then and it didn't pay off this weekend either!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Denis & Amy Family Blog!
We are finally getting around to having a family blog! Hopefully this will be a great way to stay in touch with everyone!
Visit our site often as it will "hopefully" be updated with the happenings around our house, and definitely some pictures of Jakey too!

Amy & Denis