Happy Birthday, Greg!

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since my last entry! Sorry about that! Yesterday (March 18), was Greg's birthday! Yep, the old man turned 52 yesterday! It worked out with his normal schedule that he happened to be off work, so we were able to have his "birthday dinner" on schedule! The girls baked a chocolate cake for him, which was delicious. In our family, everyone gets to pick what they want for dinner on their birthday (well, except for me, I get to pick the restaurant we go to!). Greg's choice was, not surprising, STEAK! I made homemade fried potatoes and some fabulous brussels sprouts to go with it. My friend potatoes are little different than most, in that aside from the standard onion and a touch of garlic, salt, pepper, etc. I also add Worcestershire sauce and grated Parmesan cheese! I also use a seasoning called Vegetable Supreme which I have found to be FABULOUS in potatoes and even in homemade hamburgers! I can't find it at our local grocery store, so whenever I go to "town" I end up buying a couple of bottles! Yes, it's THAT good!

My brussels sprouts were a bit different, too. I grab a bag of frozen sprouts and let them thaw a bit. Then I cut them in half and let them thaw a bit more. I then use a skillet and heat up a tablespoon or so of olive oil, add some chopped garlic and then fry the sprouts in the olive oil and garlic. Oh yum! They are SO good that way! My kids even love them!

So that was Greg's birthday dinner. Other than watching Idol and Dancing with the Stars, it was a fairly normal night!


We started some new advertising, on a radio station (about 50 miles away) that is the only station around that has EVERY SINGLE NASCAR RACE live on the air. We're going to have ads during every race from now through the end of the season. This works out well, as one of our billboards is up for renewal soon and we're not going to renew it. The cost of the ads is the same as the cost of the billboard, so that should work out just fine!

This station is quite a bit bigger than the station in Medford (20 miles north of us), and has a lot more options when it comes to ads! I was sent an e-mail of the audio file and uploaded it, but I didn't want it to be so boring, so I added some pictures to it! I haven't used the Windows Movie Maker program much, but was able to add some pics to the sound! It actually turned out pretty cool!

Here's a link to it! RVing Outpost Radio Ad. Now mind you, this is a radio ad, but it would certainly be boring to just listen to it, so I added some pics! The ad will open in Media Player or some such program. I thought they did a GREAT job and mentioned the store name a TON of times! Of course, the add will change ever so often, but these folks are really GOOD when it comes to dreaming up ad copy! I'm quite excited about this new advertising venture! Jay, be sure to let me know what you think!

I had a delivery today and am happy to say that we have another NEW product at the RVing Outpost. The latest is another fabulous Coleman product! OK, OK, I'll tell you what it is! It's another Coleman lantern, but this one is a DUAL FUEL LANTERN That means that it can run on either Coleman Fuel OR unleaded gasoline! That's a GREAT option, but with gas prices the way they are, Coleman fuel may be cheaper! LOL



So, VERY cool to finally have this product in our store! I'm still soooooo excited to have Coleman products available. It's just awesome!

On another note, Sunday is Easter. We're going to be making the usual . . . ham, double baked potatoes, and of course, following the tradition of Greg's family and having cold kielbasa. I'm not sure that any of the churches up here bless the food, so we'll just eat it cold and say our own blessing. For those that don't know, it's a Polish tradition to have Easter food blessed in Church. Once food has been blessed, it cannot be reheated, thus the reason it's "cold." Yes, I thought it was odd too, when I spent my first Easter with Greg's family, so don't feel bad if you think it's odd! Now, of course, after 24 years of Easter with Greg's family, it's a tradition in our family, and our children actually missed it when we didn't have it the first year we moved up here!

Greg's mom used to take all kinds of stuff to church to have it blessed. Everything from the hard boiled eggs we were each required to eat, to the horseradish that the guys liked with their cold ham! The first time she took the horseradish, we had such a laugh over it! What wonderful memories of a very wonderful woman. I miss you, Irene! There are many times, where I think, I wish I could call Irene and tell her what's going on. And then I remember that she's gone. She's here in spirit, though, and has visited us numerous times since we moved! We know we're being watched over and Irene is definitely our guardian angel!

Thinking about the ham I'm going to make, I figured I'd just make it the way I normally do. Score the top, stick a boatload of whole cloves all over inside, press a bunch of brown sugar over that and then pour ginger ale over it and baste while it cooks. But, while reading the paper today, I came across a recipe that looks REALLY good!

Baked Ham with Bourbon Glaze

1/2 cup honey
2 Tbsp. molasses
2 Tbsp. bourbon
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 bone-in smoked ham
Whole cloves

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place rack in lower part of oven.

Microwave honey and molasses at high for 30 seconds to thin; whisk to blend. Whisk in bourbon, orange juice and mustard.

Score the surface of the ham on the diagonal to create diamond shapes. Stick a whole clove into the center of each diamond. Place ham in a roasting pan. Brush liberally with bourbon glaze.

Bake for 1-1/2 hours, uncovered, or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 140 degrees, basting every 20 minutes or so with honey-bourbon glaze.

Doesn't that sound GOOD! I'm definitely going to try it with our ham this year! I'm not sure if my parents are coming or not. They haven't decided yet, because they don't know if dad's even going to be back from his latest job.

Well, this is getting rather long, even for ME! LOL I guess I'll sign off for now.

Hope everyone has a "normal" day!

Julie