The Most Important Montgomery Blog Ever

Real reality

2011-12-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

The latest installment in my Passive-Agressive Wallpapers® collection

2011-09-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

For Paul Simonday

2011-08-09T06:58:00.000-07:00

Date night: Italian. That's amore!

2011-02-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

On January 15, Tracy and I enjoyed switching form the Thai food we made during 2010 to an Italian meal for date night. So, here's proof that we did such a thing.

Asparagus and sun-dried tomato risotto with meatball surprise (sounds so Italiany). Then we finished the meal off with chocolate zabaglione (not pictured). We pulled out the nice China for this Italian food.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T17:46:00.001-08:00

Here's this year's limited edition Montgomery Family Christmas postcard. Some of you got these in the mail. Hold on to them. You can give them away on ebay one of these years.

Aidan and his Chowder

2010-08-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

Tracy and I were dating for Saturday afternoon, and, upon our return, Oldest and Youngest had made a chowder and gluten-free breadsticks. They're good kids.

Pad Thai! Pad Thai! What a crépe!

2010-05-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

Soooo, Tracy and I finally had a third Thai date.

On the menu was Pad Thai (apparently Thailand's most popular dish) and banana crépe for dessert.

Tracy says, "The Pad Thai was very tasty — a different and good flavor."

Tracy adds this about the banana crépes, "I had two. It's a good thing I ran a 10K this morning."

Daniel joins in, "We didn't add nearly as much cilantro as the recipe called for. I think it worked out. The dish was very tasty. I concur with Tracy."

He continues, with his thoughts about the banana crépes, "I had two. I wish I had run a 10K this morning."

We cooked these dishes based on recipes from a cute little series of cookbooks Tracy picked up at a tag sale or something — maybe Marshall's. We picked out the meals last week when we sat at the coffee shop drinking non-coffee beverages. You might get the impression from the photo that we're thinking about moving to a new continent for another cooking date this year. But first, we've gotta use up our jar of fish sauce.

14!

2010-04-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot of Oldest from our photo shoot for his school pictures (he looks like such a nice kid). He is! Bride and I are excited to watch him grow up. He turned 14 this month.

Julian's Dream List

2010-04-27T06:53:00.001-07:00

A couple of years ago, I asked Oldest, Youngest and Bride to spend a couple of days jotting down what dreams they have. It's great to see them on paper so we can all help each other fulfill our dreams.

Youngest recently updated his list.

Tasty Dates: 04

2010-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

Almond chicken in the house. Video!

iPat

2010-04-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

A fun little thing I do in my spare time is make Apple parody product design. Here's one for my colleague at the Mackinac Center.

WE FINDED IT!

2010-02-26T17:31:00.001-08:00

We've had this Find It game for several years and just tonight, found the penny for the very first time! Now we can fade into the West.

Tasty Dates: 03

2010-01-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

Not our third tasty date. It's our third post related to our tasty dates.

The deeds are done. Bottom line, the Thai was good.

We started off Friday eve by cooking the fragrant rice (for the Thai fried rice — we changed our minds on the dish last week; spring roles were out, Thai fried rice was in).

The fragrant rice was aptly named. Daniel loved the aroma. Too bad it costs twice as much as 'normal' rice.

While our rice was cooling in the fridge, we began to make the crab cakes. Note to self: rice crackers are tangy when you don't pay attention and buy wasabi rice crackers. It certainly gave my tastebuds something they hadn’t had in a while. Tracy set up a little dining area in front of the fireplace. It was picture perfect.

Oldest and Youngest stayed downstairs in seclusion all night. We ended up sharing 1 crab cake with them. Not one apiece, just 1. With a bit of sweet chili sauce and a dollop of mayo, Tracy took it down to the boys and then we ate in front of the fire, sitting on the floor (on cushions — just like they do in Thailand, right?)

As the fried rice portion of the meal was being prepared, we started on the Thai Celebration Cake. A celebration, indeed, as we cut into our very first star fruit.

And Tracy tried to be funny by smearing some very tasty frosting on Daniel. (She took care of removing the frosting afterwards — so, he's not complaining.)

We enjoyed sipping in a cherry wine sangria from Grand Traverse Winery.

As a recap, here are the three Thai things we cooked.
Crab cakes - as an appetizer
Thai fried rice – as the main course
Thai celebration cake – as the ... ummmm ... cake.

On a scale of 1-10, Tracy rates the crab cakes a whopping full 10 points. Daniel's more like a 8 or 9.
Tracy rated the fried rice a 6. Daniel gave it a 5. (It was very tasty but it needed more pizazz — more Thai.)
The celebration caked fared a 3. Daniel gave it a 7. Maybe an 8. I really liked the rice-based cake.

If you hadn't read, we're sticking with Thai for all year (or 6 months) instead of something new every month. That way, we'll be able to use up all the oyster sauce.

So, until next time, bon appetite. 봉 식욕

Tasty Dates: 02

2010-01-29T05:53:00.001-08:00

Not that we've had two dates. That's not what the 02 means. All of our dates in a month don't revolve around cooking, but there's a thread.

Wednesday night we needed to start preparing a Thai celebration cake so it would be ready to eat on Friday. So, we did. Just like that.

We started by cooking the thai fragrant rice. And it is certainly that. The bay leaves and cardamon powder took us by surprise because we're cooking a cake after all.

Anyway, Friday's here and the rice cake has been baked and cooling and ready for 'the next level.'

Tasty Dates: 01

2010-01-10T15:58:00.000-08:00

So, Tracy and I were thinking of shaking up our dating life by doing something a bit different. We'll be married 18 years this coming May and wanted to try a set of theme dates for 2010.

Here were some contestants:
Costume Dates — We'd surprise each other on date night, before we went out and did an activity — in costume. Maybe we'd do mobsters one week, then, western on another. We'd take pictures all year long and then have a whole year's worth of good memories.

Make Beautiful Music Together — For each date, we'd both bring ideas, melodies, and lyrics together and sit down at the keyboard or studio with a piano and guitar (or saxophone, harmonica — whatever) and by the end of the date we'd have some sort of a song we'd recorded. We'd post it on the internet and have a yearlong record of our musical dates.

Make Beautiful Food Together — Every three or four week cycles, we'd identify, shop and prepare a delicious meal of an ethnic variety. For example, in January, we might look for a Thai recipe or two, spend the next couple weeks hunting down hard-to-find ingredients and then, in culmination, on meal night, we'd make the dish or dishes together. We'd take pictures along the way and post the outcome on this web log.

Exploration — We'd spend the year working our way through the Kama Sutra. No pictures or blog associated with that one. (At least not ones we'd share.) :)

Drum roll ... Making beautiful food together won the day (in addition to the exploring one)! We've identified 12 ethnic foods we either don't know too much about, or don't cook very often. We begin January with Thai food.

The meal has been identified. It involves three items.

DRINK: Bangkok Cooler 1 ounce Sang Som, 1/4 ounce of Crème de menthe (Green), 1/2 ounce of lime juice, 1/2 ounce of grenadine, 2 ounces of pineapple juice

APPETIZER: Fresh spring rolls
MEAL: Crab cakes

The whole purpose of what we're doing is to do something together that we both can discover and enjoy. So, as I (Daniel) write, Tracy is at my side not laughing at my jokes. :) That's teamwork. (See, she didn't even chuckle at that one.)

I shoulda took a picture of a fruit we've already discovered as part of our cooking journey — buddha's fingers. I know from now on to chronicle every little thing we see. It'll make for good photojournalism.

So, the next step is to locate a few missing ingredients. We'll probably end up taking a trip to an Asian grocer to find these ingredients:

For the crab cakes;
2 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
3 spring onions (we'll prolly substitute 'regular' onions if we can't find springy ones).

For the spring rolls;
1 package dried round rice wraps
And we can't decide of we want to use dark soy cause and light soy sauce — we wonder what could possibly be the difference between them and 'regular' soy sauce.

Stay tuned. Oh, and we've never even heard of a movie called Julie & Julia. : )

Christmas'd!

2009-12-28T10:02:00.000-08:00

So, after four months, an actual post has been posted. This time, it's of Oldests' last Christmas concert in the Youth Honors Choir.

Saint Helen and Quadrunners

2009-09-08T17:10:00.001-07:00

Day trip to the great Up North of Michigan — ORV trails and all.

Catch a Wave

2009-09-02T19:25:00.001-07:00

Oldest snapped this photo of me while I was trying to catch the perfect wave. He's a good beach boy.

Pictured Rocks Day 2 Part 2

2009-08-25T22:39:00.001-07:00

Trying to cross the Mosquito River as it flows onto the beach.

Hollywood special effects from Weta Workshop? No. Special Effects from the Universe (a.k.a. Yahweh)

Chapel Rock. Named so because a preacher was thought to have stood up there and preached to native Michiganians. I don't believe a word of it. The waves are crashing too loudly to hear anything.

Crossing a footbridge which spans the lower Mosquito Falls.

River and lake.

Secret caves (for secret sacrifices).

Here's Julian crossing the lower Mosquito Falls as it empties out into the ocean — err — lake.

Chapel rock from the secluded beach.

It's hard to believe, sometimes, that this is a lake.

I will forever compare all nature majesty to our time on Chapel Beach.

Cleaning up after a fun time sitting on a rock.

Chapel Lake

Nearing the end of the trek back to the car. Daniel walked up the trail on the left and everyone else — the trail on the right. You can see who took the trail less traveled.

Even Rocky had a montage

2009-08-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

Verily verily I say unto you, we shot this all over the place.

Pictured Rocks Day 2

2009-08-25T21:04:00.001-07:00

Miner's Castle

Chapel Falls

A local tree

Not an optical illusion

Chapel Rock

Miner's Falls

2009-08-25T21:02:00.001-07:00

At the base of the Miner's Falls. Photo credit by Isaiah from Kansas City.

Beauty and the Oldest (and Youngest)

2009-08-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here's Oldest after night two of his major theatrical debut. Three more nights to go. 2 of the 3 people in this picture are wearing mascara.

Motown is yotown

2009-08-03T17:56:00.001-07:00

Oldest and Youngest taking part in that Motown Sound. I heard it through the grapevine.

At a state park far far away

2009-07-12T12:30:00.001-07:00

As part of our anniversary getaway to Michigan's west coast.

Sleeveface

2009-07-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

We actually went shopping (at Goodwill) for records this morning. We were looking through the racks and I asked the kids if they knew what a record was. After telling them, they called them Big CDs for the remainder of our event. Colorado Cousin #1 even wants to take a Big CD home. She picked a double album because it had two Big CDs. She said,"How big does your stereo have to be to play these?"

Youngest and Colorado Cousin 1

2009-07-11T10:56:00.001-07:00

Bike success! And here's proof. Props go to Vince for his tireless hours of helping Colorado Cousin 1 learn to balance. There is now balance in the force.

The Return of the Hammock

2009-06-25T22:28:00.001-07:00

What Father's Day would be complete without a gift of a hammock? Sunday naptime is back in full swing.

Fishfest

2009-06-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

Youngest caught his first fish on Saturday at Deerfield Park out west of Mt. Pleasant! A bluegill and everything!

Sparkler Time

2009-06-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like lighting sparklers in the middle of the day.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Musicals, Inc.

2009-06-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

We're so proud of Oldest. He tried out for, and made, the chorus of Teenage Musicals Inc.'s production of Beauty and the Beast this summer. He starts 3-hour rehearsals, 4 days a week. Boy, all of the sudden, we wish he could drive.

Get Your Port Hure On

2009-06-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

Dear friends had a daughter graduate from school. We visited them near Canada.

Toledowinks

2009-06-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Toledo Zoo was super. We stopped at Cabela's on the way home for a bit more sight-seeing. Live animals at the zoo, dead ones at Cabela's. We saw it all today.

5Ks and 1.6Ks

2009-06-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

The whole family broke a sweat during a the Dow RunWalk on Saturday. Adults = 5K. Adults+Sons = 1 mile. 2 races.

Grandma's Birthday Sell-a-thon

2009-06-07T12:20:00.001-07:00

Here we find three kids attacking a little old lady — during her birthday celebration none-the-less. Kids? What's the matter with kids today?

100th Post - 100 Days of Summer

2009-06-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

Not that we're doing something super everyday, but, we'll have our share of extraordinary ordinary days this summer. Oldest and I visited Cedar Point for our father/son getaway — just Thursday past. This set includes the coolest photo I think I've ever taken.

Memorial Day Activit-Eves (wha??)

2009-05-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

Here are Youngest and Bride crossing the famed hidden East Bridge of the Forest. Search your heart — search your soul. And when you find me you'll search no more ...

We had a feast fit for the middle class!

These Pictures are a Disaster!

2009-05-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

The whites are blown out. The color balance is skewed. There are sun streaks all over the place. The skin tones are off. I blew it! We'll have to redo the picnic.

The Singiest of All

2009-05-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

I needed to take a different kind of picture of Oldest at tonight's choir concert. I have hundreds, it seems, of him in his white tux shirt. So, tonight starts the count of having hundreds of pictures of him in that hall.

Armed to the hilt

2009-05-02T19:43:00.001-07:00

Here's a shot of an army girl.

Dawn of Flight/Easter

2009-04-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Youngest and The Park have a successful afternoon at kite land. This video shines a light on the truth.

To the Max!

2009-03-30T13:04:00.001-07:00

The whole family went to the optometrist last week.

Can you read this?

2009-03-13T12:45:00.001-07:00

Any guesses as to what Youngest wrote in this note?

Hoser!

2009-03-10T14:51:00.000-07:00

From the archives: Youngest discovers the power of water.

I'm not gonna lie ...

2009-03-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Today's 54 degrees made me wish for the spring/summer moreso than any day yet this season. I can't wait to get free tickets to see the Loons this year.

Nesting

2009-02-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

Youngest likes to play animal. Youngest likes to be animal. So, when he realized he could make a nest from a laundry basket ... Here he's taking a break from eating worms.

Countless lives!

2009-02-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

When I started giving blood, they served soup. Now it's cookies. I like oatmeal raisin.

Manager! Manager! I see something.

2009-02-01T09:22:00.000-08:00

Actually, that Burger King Guy is pretty weird, too.

Wittle Baby!

2009-01-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

The Divine Miss Em brought her offspring into the office. I wuv wittle babies.

And we'll have run run run til her daddy takes the t-bird away

2009-01-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

This time, we follow the treadmill exploits of Bride, Oldest, Me and SisterLaw.

Students for a Free Economy

2009-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a sample of what I do for a living.

My sis, her husband, and a guy drinking tea

2009-01-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime (at Ryan's Buff, eh).

Pre-working off those Christmas cookies

2008-12-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

Bride and I are dueling on the treadmill.

Everybody is Kung Fu Drawing

2008-12-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

Youngest uses the bonus DVD extras to draw Kung Fu Monkey. The Force is strong with this one.

It's beginning to look alot like Xmas

2008-11-30T15:44:00.001-08:00

Lights are up and just in time. Snow, snow, snow.

Singing with the Symphony

2008-11-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

It's not exactly the symphony this time, but Oldest sang Mass of the Children by John Rutter with the youth honors choir. Good music for a Sunday afternoon.

Singing for His Supper

2008-11-30T15:13:00.001-08:00

Oldest, and others, singing at the temple.

I picked this one

2008-11-25T18:12:00.001-08:00

For less-than-obvious reasons, maybe, I picked this photo. It kind of reminds me of this one.

Apple Computers Are Your Friends

2008-11-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a funny little window I got one day when traversing the mac operating solar system. Now, if every error message came with an 'override' option, I'd be really set.

Bride and I

2008-11-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

Hubba wyffa.

Best Sons Ever

2008-11-14T07:28:00.001-08:00

On a recent business trip, the Boys traveled well with me for a night of pizza and IMAX plus they sat for nearly 12 hours in a building at U of M while I was working. They truly are a gift from the Great Gift Giver in the Sky of our Hearts.

Candyween and Juno, a pregnant teen

2008-10-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is more awkward than it is inappropriate. Justin said he'd be the girl next year. Folks turn their eyes as I walk past. It makes them feel uncomfortable that my baby is out of wedlock ... probably.

The Life of Leisure

2008-10-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

When traveling for work last week, the hotel bill had a real fun descriptor of who I was. It's my new mantra.

Something's missing ...

2008-10-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

It's 2:30 and something missing.

Whiner

2008-10-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Bride and I visited the Old Mission Peninsula this week and did a little, umm, local beverage testing one day. Pretty as a picture. Oh, wait ...

Bounce Housed!

2008-09-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Q: How many times can a kid go on a bouncy tunnel jumpy thing like this? A: 4 ever

Barnes, Noble & Date

2008-09-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's a new law firm. They've got a lot of books there. And people go on dates there. They've got compfy chairs.

Dan, yon at the canyon

2008-09-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

An inch away from certain peril, our fearless hero lets go of the rock to his right just in time for the camera to snap this pic.

Do not try and pull this off at your (trailer) home

2008-09-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

This pic is from the Montgomery family archives. Firepeople were already on site as I drove up to this site. What a sight!

Birthday Face

2008-08-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Youngest admires his 6th birthday cake. It's ocean animals, baby!

Birthday Race

2008-08-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Family bike ride this morning on Bride's birthday.

All the News that's Montgomery

2008-08-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

Oldest Brother offers his two cents for two seconds.

Fishin'

2008-08-22T05:57:00.001-07:00

Youngest and I borrowed a good friends' canoe and set off for a Saturday morning adventure on his river. No fish were killed in the production but even the six year old told me afterwards, "good memories."

'nother together

2008-08-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

On Mackinac Island. Same lake, diff'rnt spot.

Singing!

2008-08-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Bride sang at church and I snuck video.

I get all the news I need from the weather report

2008-08-15T12:36:00.001-07:00

Kids are fun. Kids are great. Kids are eating birthday cake. (Or getting ready to eat birthday cake.)

Mackinac Island Blue

2008-08-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's true. My bride and I spent 2 nights near Mackinac Island Michigan U.S.A. With two bike trips around the island under our belts, we now feel like we can ride around ANY island in the world (which has a flat, 8.2-mile course around it). Bring it on!

Missed!

2008-07-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

I think Niece narrowly escaped certain wet doom by darting out of this dangerous situation.

Zoo to You

2008-07-23T07:22:00.001-07:00

Youngest on display at the local children's zoo. *Thanks to guest photographer, Trinaranjus.

Finding Oldest

2008-07-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Taking a dip in the pool, Oldest, does his best Sebastian Crab. He's cool.

Bugs in Rug

2008-07-15T21:36:00.001-07:00

Another shot of Bride and Youngest. We lost Oldest to a lake but he has since returned. Yea!

Starboard Mateys

2008-07-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

Where's a pirate's favorite place to play? A parrrrrrrrk. Arrgh.

Friendlys

2008-07-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Friends of old stopped by Thursday night. A great night for baseball and for catching up. It makes me sad, though, that I've missed so many years of their lives. Maybe that'll change. They're super people. They have powers. Really!

A Far Country

2008-07-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know if a day can get any better. This summer in Michigan has been stunning. We've been rewarded greatly for making it through last winter. This night, we had good friends for dinner. We'll miss them but they tasted good. :)

Behind the Scenes

2008-07-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Director's audio commentary. The local newspaper had a shot of The Bride and Youngest (as seen in Proof!). Here's a shot of the photographer taking the photo.

The Sky's the Limit

2008-07-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Cutest three-year-old niece ever. She wins a prize.

Proof!

2008-07-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

4th of July and a couple of folks from my family made the front page of the paper! Yea! Independence!

Cool

2008-07-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

Youngest and I (and Fam) enjoyed a Loons game Saturday night. You can see Bride and Oldest along the third base line if you know where to look.

Paste Tree

2008-06-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Aunt is now a pastry chef at a local hotel and we stopped in Saturday morning by surprise. What the surprise ended up being was free fresh cookies from Chef Jeremy! Youngest enjoys his.

Wall•E!

2008-06-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

The fam plus two Elvises are headed out to see Wall•E on Saturday noontime. Here's proof.

Coffee House / No Coffee Us

2008-06-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

On a recent date with my Bride, neither of us had a coffee product while sitting outside the coffeehouse. I did, however, have a fantastic iced chai with whipped cream on top. My bride, a date, 72 degrees, frozen chai. All this and heaven, too. Life is good.

I'm glad we don't live on a trampoline

2008-06-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Through the Bouncehouse Mesh Darkly

2008-06-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Summer solstice and the livin' is easy.

Kids in Sand = Sand in Kids

2008-06-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

Youngest and his girl cousin doing their best to get messed up on Father's Day. Life is sandy.

Famous Amos

2008-06-19T07:20:00.001-07:00

Bride and I saw Amos Lee in concerto this last week. It was outside in the Gardens. It was beautiful weather and I wish you were there.

Take me out the Father/Son Getaway

2008-06-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Oldest and I enjoyed a night away to talk about serious "growing up" stuff. Oh, and to go to a Tigers game and to see Kung Fu Panda in Imax at The Henry Ford. Did I mention Oldest has a store? It's up there and to the right.

5K was OK

2008-06-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

Bride and I competed in our first-ever 5K race this Saturday past. We sweated to the oldies and crossed the line with Bride's fastest time ever for 3.1 miles. Our results are found here.

Our next goal is to run the Nike World 10K in Chicago at the end of August. My Bride DOES NOT want to run that race ... but she also told me she DID NOT want to run the Dow 5K. And look what happened ... :)

Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer?

2008-05-24T20:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a pic that proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I'm the richest man on earth.

16-Pack

2008-05-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

Bride and I celebrated 16-years of marriage in a Back to the Future sort of way. She will be out of town on the 30th (the real date) so we actually had our anniversary date last Friday by trying out a new place (for us) in Sagnasty. The Montague Inn. It was great food and I certainly don't deserve my beautiful bride. She is fantastically gorgeous!

Boys' Morning Out

2008-05-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Each Saturday, the boys and I head straight out and get a soda and a croissanwich. Youngest usually gets a donut, though. It's the kind of memories I'd want to remember when I'm old and grey. I'll let the boys decide for themselves.