Gathering together for Serena and Scottie's Wedding

Gathering together to celebrate Serena and Scottie's Wedding

On a gorgeous Autumn day in November family and friends came together for Serena and Scottie's wedding at the Thatcher Winery in the foothills near Paso Robles. The setting was perfect for a barn wedding theme, and everyone had a great time.

Here's a Smilebox slideshow showing some of the happenings before the ceremony:

Gathering Together for Serena and Scottie's Wedding

Grammie's 91st Birthday Party

All of our small family gathered together to celebrate Grammie's 91st Birthday. We posed for a family portrait, Chris gave a toast, we chatted over a brunch of poached salmon, orzo salad and pineapple, and Grammie blew out her candles. Here's a Smile Box slide show of this special celebration:


Grammie's 91st Birthday Party

California State Fair 2012

I went to the California State Fair for the first time this year. When I was little and in Minnesota, I went to the fair because my cousins raised animals to show at the fairs. San Mateo has a great fair, but not too many farm animals. I loved San Mateo's floral areas and looking at the art by local artisans and often went when I was younger. Eli, not quite three, has been to the CA State Fair three times and milked a cow and a goat...He's way ahead of me in this experience!! Below is a slideshow of our day.

Digital slideshow made with Smilebox

Easter 2012

This Easter we had brunch at Scottie's new house...a one hundred year old home that has a yard full of heritage plants and some of the features of long ago. The camellias, roses, weeping cherry tree and Japanese maples are just as I remembered being popular when I was a child. Now they have very big trunks but the roses and camellias are the same. Scottie will be updating the house as he lives there but plans to leave some of the distinctive features of a century ago. Since there were no little children, we just had brunch and a good visit. Below is a slide show of the day that I just learned to make...

This free digital slideshow made with Smilebox

November 2011: Eli Explores More Food

At two years of age, Eli has already become a gourmet, trying new foods whenever the opportunity is there. He especially likes to try what the big people are eating and drinking...He's a hands-on type of guy who savors every bite. I hear that he is fond of quesadillas and pho, and I have seen his mouth open wide for lasagna and pureed sweet potatoes. One November night, he ate before everyone else but shared an after-dinner drink with Uncle Scottie.

Crab Louie

While growing up,we all loved seafood from clams to mussels to abalone to smelt that we would gather ourselves, but it was crab, dungeness crab fresh from the nearby ocean, we loved best. Whenever we went to a seafood restaurant during crab season, Poppa would order the Crab Louie. At the opening of the crab season, around Thanksgiving, we would prepare our own version at home. Since it is a time-consuming chore to clean the crab, it became a family activity reserved for special occasions. This year we made Crab Louie for Christmas Eve. Jim spent the afternoon cleaning crab and Carol put together the salad. Sourdough bread is our preferred side to this scrumptious meal, but it has become increasingly difficult to locate the real thing, a San Francisco specialty.

Our "recipe" for the Louie is to slice up and layer the following ingredients: ice-berg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, hard-boiled eggs, red peppers, celery and pickled beets from the can. The eggs often are still warm from just being boiled and the beets are chilled in the can in the refrigerator. We then place a heaping serving of crab meat on top of it all and drizzle the dressing on top. My recipe for the dressing is done "by taste". It includes: mayonnaise, ketchup, fresh lemon juice, a tiny bit of sugar and horseradish. All together this is what makes the traditional Feige Family Crab Louie.

Eli's First Easter Egg Hunt 2011

On Easter 2011 Eli went on his first Easter egg hunt. No competition at this one...just Eli and his family, all adults that day. Although he could say something that sounded like "egg" and held on to his basket the whole time, he wasn't too sure about looking for eggs, especially since he had to go on the grass which was wet from the heavy mist that had fallen all morning. Also, there was no candy in the plastic eggs since he was way too young to start eating candy, even a little on Easter. The first egg he found had a coin in it and wasn't very exciting, even with cheers from the grown-ups. Grandpa Chris helped him in his hunt, and once Eli discovered dried strawberries in an egg, he was ready to search for more... All eggs were found and placed in his basket, so Eli was successful. Wait until next year after he has practiced a bit!

Want to see more photo's of Eli's First Easter Egg Hunt? You can find them by clicking here on The Feige's Family and Friends, my Shutterfly family share site. Once on the page, click on Pictures and Video and then on Easter 2011. There's a collage for Easter 2011, but Eli's First Easter Egg Hunt is included with the photos in Easter 2011. (Hint: If you're really interested in seeing lots of Eli photos plus others, you can explore several years' worth of my digital photos at this site.)