Ravens Rookies Night

Tonight the pep band played for Ravens Rookies night. The weather has been pretty crappy lately, and I was afraid that, as was our usual practice, we would be playing outside of the stadium, in the rain. Luckily, tonight, we played in the concourse. We were waaayyy down at the end, but the people that showed up in our area seemed to enjoy our music. I had a good time.

Spooky Little Book

I completed printing out my Spooky Little Books Sunday night, but have been cutting, folding and glittering since then. I'm really quite pleased with them, and they turned out the way I wanted them to.

The research into old herb names was a little tedious, but well worth the effort.

Crock Pot Success

And for the first time in my disjointed memory, I used my crock pot. Last night, I prepped the food items, and before work this morning I threw everything in and turned it on.

I sliced up some red potatoes, tossed them with canola oil, dried rosemary, salt and pepper, and fried them up in a pan with some butter. For my final trick, I opened up a can of corn and warmed it up on the stove with some butter. Tom said it was a great meal, but I thought it was average - the meat wasn't flavored with enough rosemary and garlic. Maybe because I used dried rosemary, maybe because Tom added water to the crockpot while I was gone, thinking there wasn't enough liquid in the pot. Who knows, but the roast was still tender and flaked apart with a fork.

Slow Cooker Rosemary-Garlic Beef Roast

Prep Time: 20 Min
Total Time: 8 Hr 20 Min
Makes: 12 servings


INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
5- to 6-lb beef boneless sirloin tip roast
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup Progresso® beef flavored broth (from 32-oz carton)
3 tablespoons chili sauce
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

• In small bowl, mix oil and Worcestershire sauce; brush over beef roast. Rub roast evenly with garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. In 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, add onion. Pour 1/4 cup of the broth over onion. Place beef roast on onion. Refrigerate remaining broth.
  
• Cover and cook on Low heat setting 8 to 9 hours.
  
• Remove beef from cooker; cover to keep warm. In small bowl, mix remaining 3/4 cup broth, the chili sauce and flour; stir into hot mixture in cooker. Increase heat setting to High. Cook uncovered 5 to 10 minutes or until thickened. Serve gravy with beef.

And, yes, due to Tom's tender taste buds, I omitted the chili sauce from the gravy. It still turned out well.

Huber Day 2011

This year's Huber Day Picnic was at Valleybrook Country Club, the same place as last year. Unlike last year's picnic, today was chilly, and misting slightly. There was plenty of food, but it was too cool to go swimming, even though there some die hards who still tried out the pool. I didn't stay long, since I had to work in the evening.
I did, however, finish blocking the doily that I started on the drive up to Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago.

I think it turned out all right.

Ravens vs. Steelers

Wow! I was expecting the Steelers to put up a better fight than that! The Ravens won our season opener, 7-35, with an amazing game. Normally, I can't stand ass-whoopings like that, but the game was still exciting. The Steelers played well, but things just didn't go their way.
The band's pre-game show went well, but the rest of the pre-game ceremony was quite touching. As a tribute to the ten year anniversary of 9-11, a 300 foot long American flag was carried onto the field by 150 first responders and service people and unfurled after a live feed was played on the big screen where Robert DeNiro announced the playing of Taps at the location of the plane crash in Pennsylvania. It was quite moving. To continue our tribute, we played Empire State of Mind and America the Beautiful at halftime.

Purple Friday

This Purple Friday kicked off the 2011 football season. The band accompanied cheerleaders, PlayMakers, our mascot, Poe, and the ravens, Rise & Conquer, from the Baltimore Zoo, who also attend our games. We played at schools, Giant food stores, Verizon stores, M&T Bank locations, a Joseph A. Banks store, Hightopps restaurant, Bill Bateman's Bistro, and the AirTran terminal at the airport. It was a busy, busy day, and one of the best parts was seeing John, our band president, in a band uniform.

He really should play with us more often, because he looked like he was enjoying himself!

Flood Prep & Kickoff Party

This afternoon at Tidewater, we cleared the restaurant out again, but this time in preparation for the flood waters from Tropical Storm Lee. The rain from further up the Susquehanna River was beginning to arrive, and we needed to be prepared.

The most entertainment we had was from the sailboat anchored in the river, which was eventually knocked loose and floated downriver to who-knows-where.

There was already some flooding around town, which would only get worse when high tide came.

That evening I had a pep band gig, the Kickoff Party at Power Plant Live! We performed a short concert prior to the festivities.

A Viewing and a Funeral

What a crazy couple of days! Yesterday, Tom drove us to Pennsylvania to be with my family for Aunt Ethel's viewing. I can't believe how much I cried, especially when Theresa, a cousin's wife, told me how Aunt Ethel had been planning on having a big Labor Day cookout for the family. Uncle Lyle decided to go through with it, for Aunt Ethel, and after the viewing we all gathered at their house for the cookout. Food, wine, family - you just can't lose there.
The next day was the funeral. I bawled like a baby. After the interment, my immediate family went to the house that my parents are planning to retire to, my grandparent's old house. Then to the wake. The ladies of the First Reformed Church of Christ outdid themselves with the luncheon. Then Tom drove us home.
It was a whirlwind of activity, and I'm very glad that I went.

Goodbye, Aunt Ethel

Thank you, Aunt Ethel, for all that you have given me through the years. I've never expressed to you how much I appreciate what you've done for me, especially during my college years. Your hospitality when allowing me to stay at your home during school breaks, and your help when moving in and out of the dorms was greatly appreciated. You will be missed.