Meet me in St. Louis, Millie

Last month we took a quick road trip to St. Louis to visit Tony's family. It was Millie's first long car trip and first formal visit. While she was not on her best behavior, she did as well or better than expected. At almost 11 months now, she's finally starting to settle down a little. The photo to the left was taken at Tony's old high school, which is right behind his mom's house, where we took the Millinator to let off some energy. The rest of the pictures are on Flickr. We had a nice visit with Tony's mom, brother, sister, niece, grandnieces, and other assorted family members. The drive was pleasant except for about an hour and a half on the way home in a raging thunderstorm. Millie did great in the car during the 600+ miles each way. We had wanted to stop at K-7 to visit Jenni, Dave, and Zoey, but it didn't work out this year with the kamp schedule. I almost cried both times when we passed the turnoff to Kanakuk. But it's now less than 2 months before they come back home, and baby Wieselet is due right around the same time. We have much to be excited about and thankful for.

Now I'm in the advertising business.

A few weeks ago, I had an intriguing email from an unknown entity named Al Malekovic. Apparently he had found my blog, and he had an interesting proposal for me. His company, Country Bob's, makes an assortment of sauces and seasonings, and he asked if I'd review his all-purpose sauce if he sent me some. Before I agreed, I did as much homework as I could, and I concluded that this was a legitimate offer. So I received my two bottles of Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce and proceeded to incorporate the sauce into my cooking. The sauce is delicious. It's a combination barbecue/sweet 'n' sour sauce, with a kick. We've tried it on hamburgers, both during cooking and afterward, and on steak. Most recently, I made a batch of my sauteed mushrooms/onions/barely wilted spinach, and I stirred in some Country Bob's right before serving. YUM!! It really is all purpose. I may try it on chocolate cake next. Okay, that was a stretch, but I will definitely use it in lots of dishes.

The really neat part of all this is that Al and I emailed back and forth a bit, and he's a really cool guy. His company's motto is "Christ is our C.E.O.", which was enough for me to give him a chance, even though he was a perfect stranger. Well, he's a stranger no more, and if we're ever in the Centralia, IL area, we'll meet him in person.

Country Bob's products are widely available in grocery stores. You can check everything out, including a list of places to buy the products, at www.countrybobs.com.

Update 6/30/08: I just got back from Wal-Mart, and I found Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce with the barbecue sauces and marinades. Good thing, because I'm almost ready to start pouring it over ice and drinking it. Last night I sauteed some shrimp with garlic and broccoli in olive oil, and right before serving, I dashed on a good bit of Country Bob's and stirred it in. It was delicious! My sister Alix has also blogged about this sauce, and she said there are bunches of recipes on the Country Bob's website. She said the meatloaf is to die for. I'm going to try it soon.

Baa the way........

My friend, Fran, has a small farm on a street not far from our house where I walk Millie every day. She has pet sheep who love bread, so I make special trips to the Mrs. Baird's bread store in Lewisville to buy big bags of expired and/or crushed bread to feed them. They are so sweet and tame, and they eat the bread right out of my hand. The original six, shown in the picture with Zoey from December, are named Ramago, Chocolate, Half n Half, Ewenice, Ewehaul, and Ewenique. All the females have "ewe" in their names--so cute! This week, Fran got 3 more of the "black bottom" variety, a mother and 2 babies: Sheba, Mark, and Rachel. They're still a little shy, but I'm plying them with bread, so it probably won't take them long to join the hungry throng at the fence. Some of the older ones have become so bold as to jump up on the fence if the bread isn't coming quickly enough. I know, I really need to get a life. Zoey loves them, and every time she stays with us, we make a trip to see the sheep, cows, horses, chickens, and turkey that reside on this particular street. It's country in the city, and we're very glad to live so close to this peaceful agrarian oasis.