Do You Know the Muffin Man?

I tried a new muffin recipe this weekend and thought I'd share!

Peach-Oat Muffins (Southern Living Magazine April 2007)

Ingredients
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 3/4 cups uncooked regular oats
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup peach nectar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
5 cups wheat bran cereal
1/3 cup chopped dried peaches

Preparation
1. Heat pecans in a small nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, 2 to 4 minutes or until toasted.
2. Process oats in a food processor or blender, about 45 seconds or until finely ground.
3. Beat sugar and oil at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. (Mixture will be light yellow.)
4. Combine ground oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Stir together peach nectar and buttermilk in a small bowl. Add oat mixture to sugar mixture alternately with peach mixture, beginning and ending with oat mixture. Stir until blended after each addition. Gently stir in bran flakes, dried peaches, and toasted pecans. Spoon batter evenly into lightly greased muffin cups, filling three-fourths full.
5. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Note: Muffins may be frozen for up to 1 month. Heat in toaster oven or microwave at HIGH 30 seconds. For testing purposes only, we used Post Premium Bran Flakes cereal.

Yield
Makes 24 muffins (serving size: 1 muffin)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 176(0.0% from fat); FAT 6.6g (sat 0.6g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.8g); PROTEIN 3.5g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; CALCIUM 21mg; SODIUM 180mg; FIBER 2.5g; IRON 3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 27.5g

Longball Vineyards

If you needed an excuse to drink, you've got one now. Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, and Tim Wakefield have teamed up with Charity Wines to produce Longball Vineyards, a collection of three fine Chilean wines named after our favorite Red Sox players. Here's the best part: the proceeds from each sale benefit a charity of that player's choice. "Manny Being Merlot" benefits the Charlee Program; "Schilling Schardonnay" benefits Curt's Pitch for ALS; and "CaberKnuckle" benefits Pitching In For Kids. According to Dr. Vino (no, not Bev...she's Dr. Wino), the Schilling Schardonnay -- "Estate-grown and hand-crafted, this unoaked chardonnay shows lively flavors and aromas of apricots, apples and tropical fruits. Crisp and medium bodied, this well-balanced white pairs well with salads, pasta, fish and chicken" -- is the best of the bunch. Personally, I'm waiting for Papi Pinot, maybe the Youkilis Manischewitz. The wines are supposed to be arriving in New England retail stores soon, so if we can find them, you can bet we'll be stocking up. Let us know if we need to do any special orders!

The #1 Cause of Marital Discord: Personal Finances

Coming Soon to the Boob Tube...

I don't usually get too excited about upcoming TV shows, but there's a lot to look forward to in the coming months and seasons. For one, I just learned today that HBO, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg are currently making Pacific, a 10-hour miniseries similar to Band of Brothers which will focus on the war in the Pacific. If this series is even half as good as Band of Brothers (which has annual showings in the Blair household), we're in for a real treat. Tom Hanks is also busy producing the 7-hour John Adams miniseries for HBO. I'm pretty excited about this one not only because of the cast -- Paul Giamatti as John Adams, Laura Linney as Abigail -- but also because I think the Revolutionary War is underrepresented in Hollywood. Hopefully this series will have some good colonial Boston scenes...even though I hear it was filmed primarily in Williamsburg (you sit on a throne of lies). Also on HBO in the fall will be a new series from Six Feet Under creator/genius Alan Ball. The show, entitled True Blood, will be based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire book series and will revolve around the intermingling of humans and vampires in rural Louisiana. Sounds pretty fun. And finally -- speaking of Six Feet Under -- my man Peter Krause is starring alongside Donald Sutherland in a new ABC fall drama called Dirty Sexy Money. You never know with these new pilots, but it looks like an interesting combination of Arrested Development and Dynasty. In Krause we trust...

So that's that. Some fun stuff to look forward to (in addition to the return of Big Love this summer, Curb Your Enthusiasm this fall, and Ken Burns's upcoming World War II documentary). Better clear some space on ye old DVR.

Blake's Big News

There is big news in the Anderson family this weekend! Blake has accepted a spot in the entering class at the Medical College of Virginia for this fall. We are all so excited for him. This has extra special meaning for us because our great grandfather, Dr. Louis Gerrard Roberts (Mom's grandfather), is also a former graduate of MCV. We even have Dr. Robert's class composite at home, so it's very neat to think that Blake can carry on his legacy. Congratulations, Blake!!

Maybe one day I can call these 2 doctors? :)

Has Anyone Seen My Dignity?

Or Banks's pants by chance?

I should have made this call many times in college. Luckily, though, I checked my dignity at the door (and lost the claim ticket sometime freshman year).

On Top of the Monstah!

Price and I finally made it to Fenway Park this afternoon, after our game was rained out last night. Our adventure really began last night, as we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of some wicked storms and faced with a rain-out. Of course the front office took their time making any sort of call, so we quickly migrated to Boston Beer Works and snuggled up with our Haymarket Hefe Weizen and Victory Red. Tasty!

The game today started at 12:35, and since this is my usual work night, my first thought was...NO BEER? With temperatures in the upper 40s at game time I made a last minute decision.

Sam Adams...It was a gooooooood decision.

Okay, back to the game. The Sox faced up with the Detroit Tigers in the third of four games at Fenway. It was a tad chilly; I don't know what happened to sunny May! The game time temperature was 47 degrees, but we were well prepared and just too comfortable to care :) We had a spectacular view from the Green Monster seats and were more comfortable than we could ever have imagined at Fenway. Price is used to having his knees smashed against the seat in front of him, while I try to figure out how to inconspicuously mix my Captain and Coke :) No such worries on the Monstah! We had plenty of room to keep score and and more than enough room for food and premium beverages.

MMMmmmm :)

A Remy-look-a-like even made an appearance (the pics don't do him justice), but it was really confusing the drunk college guys sitting next to us!

All-in-all it was a great game. Tavares pitched a gem and we also saw Okajima(san) for the first time. He was lights out! Youk and Manny both RBI'd and we got to see Tito throw some steam at the umps for a bad dead ball call (much to Price's chagrin, he didn't call him a c--ksucker Bull Durham-style and get the heave-ho). Pap came out for the 9th and sealed the deal and just like that, the Sox win 2-1! I promise more action happened than that, although there were no home runs and no hits that really came close to the Monster.

I don't know if or when Price and I will ever have another chance to sit on the monster, but it was an experience we will always remember. It sure won't be easy going back to Fenway this Sunday (weather permitting, of course) and looking up at those seats from the bleach-ahs!

It's Articles Like This That Makes Me Sick

Let's get one thing straight. Lynchburg is not "Falwell Town." Sure, Jerry Falwell did a great deal to bring notoriety to Lynchburg, but he was not the heart and soul of the city. AP writer Kristin Gelineau's article, "Va. city mourns death of Jerry Falwell," paints Falwell as a visionary who transformed Lynchburg from a small industrial town into an influential Christian college town. Unfortunately, Gelineau neglected to interview anyone from Lynchburg who not was a Bible-pounding member of Thomas Road Baptist Church. If she had interviewed me, I would have told her that Jerry Falwell was a vile and hateful bigot, that he was an embarrassment to the majority of the community, that Liberty University was viewed as a brainwashed cult that had extended its tentacles across the city. A giant L.U. was recently constructed on Candler's Mountain overlooking the city. With Falwell's passing, here's hoping they change the name of the university to Falwell University, so they can change the letters on the mountain and more people will know what others in Lynchburg really thought of him.

Salut!

Cheers to Mom for graduating with her Master's Degree in Special Education today!

Cheers to Mom (Mary), to Mom (Carol), to Grandmommy (Rochet), to Nanny (Mary), to Grandmama (Mary), and to all the other mamas on this beautiful Mother's Day!

And cheers as always to Pops on his birthday!

William Blair (1820-1880)

No, the man you see at the right is not Abraham Lincoln. It's none other than William Blair, the first Blair of our lineage to come to America. In the course of my research I was really hoping to find a picture of my great great great grandfather, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find a man with such a "Blair" face. The cheekbones, the soft but deep-set eyes, the prominent brow -- you could almost be looking at a picture of Granddaddy with a sweet beard. In fact, I think Banks's new 'do is even starting to look like William's. Business up front. Party in the back. I've been able to find some really neat information about William Blair.

• William was born July 31, 1820 in the town of Dundonald in Ayrshire, Scotland. His father was Bryce Blair and his mother was Annie Dunlop.
• William first stepped foot in America on August 11, 1836. His ship, the Brig. Cartha, landed in New York City on that day. Give me your tired, your weak...
• William traveled to the U.S. with his brother James. They both settled in Mumford, NY for a time and learned the machinist's trade.
• William moved to Waukesha, WI in 1845, where he started a lucrative thrashing manufactury.
• William married Nancy M. Emmons on June 1, 1847 in Le Roy, NY. They had 5 children, three of whom (Frank C., George R., and Willie G.) survived until William's death in 1880.
• Nancy Blair died on May 20, 1859. William then married Henrietta A. Emmons (presumably a relation to Nancy) on June 23, 1860. They had two children, Henry E. and Arthur J. -- the latter being Grandaddy's grandfather (or Roswell's father).
• William lived the American dream. He came to America as an immigrant and developed into a highly respected businessman and civic leader. William Blair served as state senator in WI for 6 years; he was stockholder, president, and director of the State Bank and Waukesha Co. National Bank; President of the Village Board for many years (essentially mayor); and long-time trustee of the Wisonsin Industrial School for Boys.
• William died on a Tuesday July 13, 1880 at 6 p.m. He passed away from "a cancer of the stomach" (scary), and he was noted to have fought the disease with great courage and dignity. Apparently some things are passed down through generations. He was buried at 3 p.m. on Thursday July 15, a day which the Village Board declared an offical day of mourning.
• William Blair's house, built in 1876, is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Blair House at 434 Madison St. is now used as a family health care facility, and among other things houses the Stillwaters Cancer Support Center.
  

• Blair Elementary School in Waukesha is named after Senator William Blair, in honor of his contributions to education and civic life.

Wow! I wish I could have known this man.

Carry Me Back to Old Virginia

We are just back from a fabulous weekend in Virginia! We headed down last Thursday and had a nice evening with our friends Erin and Jay. Erin made homemade amaretto margaritas and then Jay worked his magic on the grill! Friday we headed to Charlottesville for a visit with my great aunt, Virginia, and then on to Lexington for Price's 5th year reunion at W&L. Those of us who made an appearance had fun together and much thanks to Blake for once again letting sketchy, old alumni invade his digs!

The campus looked beautiful on Sunday!

Hard to believe Blake is graduating in a month!

Price, Slade, and Liz...that's right, in Blake's room!

Lawn party in action, trying to beat the rain.

Price managed to squint all afternoon and the sun wasn't even out!

Price, Bev, Lauren, and Blake after dinner at The Bistro.

In Athens, Greece, We'll Win It 6 Times!

I'm on top of the world today, as my beloved Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Champions League Semifinals yesterday. It was one of the most exciting, nail-biting, gut-wrenching football (sorry, soccer) games I've ever watched. High drama. In fact, I defy anyone who watched the game not to become a fan of both European football and The Pool. Last Wednesday, Liverpool had lost the first leg 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. Yesterday, they returned to Anfield -- the Fenway Park of the Premiership, the stadium where visiting teams don't stand a chance -- for redemption. In the 22nd minute, Liverpool got out to an early lead (and evened up the aggregate score 1-1) when defensive back Daniel Agger lined a Steve Gerrard free kick inside the near post. The Kop went absolutely crazy! The rest of the match was a defensive stalemate as Liverpool tried to prevent Chelsea from scoring a decisive "away" goal. Neither team was able to score in regulation or in 30 minutes of overtime, so the game went to penalty kicks. Liverpool's keeper -- Pepe Reina -- was incredible, stopping two Chelsea PKs; Zenden, Alonso, Gerrard, and Kuyt put their PKs into the back of the net; and Liverpool won 4-1 on PKs. Liverpool will now play in the Champions League Final on May 23 in Athens, Greece, where they will be going for their unprecedented 6th European Cup. (In the words of one cheeky British announcer: "Liverpool's love affair with the European Cup contines. They just can't keep their hands off it!") You'll be able to find me that entire day at the Phoenix Landing, the official meeting place of the LFC Supporters Club of Boston. Word on the street is that Scouser Bev will even be in attendance. COME ON YOU MIGHT REDMEN!

Not Such A Sensation

From what I hear, Raine, Jenne, and Banks saw pop sensation (and Foxborough's own) JoJo in concert this past weekend. Raine apparently loved the concert and told everyone she met, "JoJo's my mofo!!! I'm going to buy her CD as soon as I get back to Fairfax! Maybe she'll even add me as a friend on her MySpace page?!" Apparently, not everyone was as enthusiastic about the performance as Raine was. This blurb ran in the Boston Globe today:

A rough show for JoJo

It's not easy being a teen sensation. Just ask Joanna "JoJo" Levesque. The fresh-faced lass from Foxborough experienced serious technical difficulties at the Dogwood Festival in Fayetteville, N.C., over the weekend, and posted an apology on her MySpace page yesterday. "The sound company that was hired for my show did not deliver what they promised," the 16-year-old singer wrote, "which resulted in my show being delayed 30 minutes, my microphone going out twice, speakers going out. . . . What doesn't break you makes you stronger!!!" Still, it wasn't all bad: JoJo said she was given the key to the city. "Does that mean I can get in to all your houses?" wrote JoJo, signing off with a smiley face.