Santa 2

Santa 2,
Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Here's a picture of Parker with Santa Claus at Fountain Square Mall in downtown Bloomington. It's a great set-up. $2 pictures with Santa, or use your own camera for free. Donations and all proceeds go to Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Beats the $15 picture packages at the "big" mall. This is the third year we've taken Parker here. Parker told Santa he wanted "cars and trains" for Christmas. He even got a candy cane and a stuffed dog!

Santa 1

Santa 1,
Originally uploaded by jcroach.

Parker also go to see Santa at his day care provider's house. He was pretty impressed that Jenny knew Santa Claus and that Santa knew about his love for "Cars." Parker told him he wanted "presents" for Christmas and a rocket ship to "go to the moon."

Merry Christmas

A Prayer for a Child

From here on earth,
From my small place
I ask of You
Way out in space;
Please tell all men
In every land
What You and I
Both understand...

Please tell all men
That Peace is Good.
That's all
That need be understood
In every world
In Your great sky,
(We understand,
Both You and I.)

By Dr. Seuss

Welcome to the world, Hannah Elizabeth Yoder

Congratulations are in order for Jennifer (Fogel) and Adam Yoder. Jennifer gave birth to a bouncing baby girl on Tuesday, Hannah Elizabeth Yoder. She was born at 5:45 PM and weighed in at 5 pounds, 12 ounces. Adams says that she is "beautiful, full of spunk, and quite adamant about eating." New big brother Henry is excited to meet his sister. We hear that mother and daughter are both doing well and should be home soon. Merry Christmas Hannah!

Egg Nog Ice Cream and Hot Buttered Rum Sauce

I made an Egg Nog Ice Cream and Hot Buttered Rum Sauce for my office Christmas lunch yesterday. I got a request for the recipe, so I thought I'd just post it here. It's not completely original. I based it in part from a recipe at epicurious.com and in part from a recipe in "Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book."

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Egg Nog Ice Cream

Ingredients for approximately 1/2 gallon:

• 1 dozen egg yolks
• 4 whole eggs
  
• 4 cups cream
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
  
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 6 tbsp dark rum
  

I actually used Egg Beaters instead of the 4 whole eggs, to cut the cholesterol a little bit and used imitation rum extract instead of the rum to reduce the amount of alcohol. Alcohol lowers the freezing point and makes it harder to get the ice cream firm.

Instructions: Whisk together get yolks and eggs. Combine sugar and milk in saucepan and heat on medium until lightly simmering. Reduce heat. Slowly add egg mixture to suacepan and stir constantly. Slowly heat until mixture slightly thickened, coats back of spoon, and registers 175°F on thermometer, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add rum and spices. Chill mixture at least two hours in refrigerator, preferable overnight. Add cream and freeze ina home ice cream freezer per manufacturer's instructions. Enjoy!
rum sauce

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Hot Butter Rum Sauce

• 1 Stick (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 3 Tablespoons Dark Rum (I used Capitan Morgan's Spiced Rum)
  

Instructions: Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar, cream and and stir until sugar dissolves. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Mix in rum. Cool slightly.

The poll is over, long live the poll!

Well, after a whopping 10 votes, it appears that 90% of Roach Family Blog readers prefer to see pictures of Parker than any other type of posts. And who can blame you? He's so freak'n cute! That's not going to stop me from sharing my witty remarks or posting links to junk on the web, however!

Here's the new poll question; "How do you handle Santa Claus in your house?" Don't have a solution that fits in one of the categories? Leave a comment here!

Easter: 1977

My brother George and I chipped in and got some of my parent's old 8mm movies digitized for Christmas. I was originally going to try to do it myself, but time and energy got away from me. Plus I needed to find a variable speed 8mm projector to sync the 29.97 frame per second video with the 18 fps 8mm. Made my head hurt. George found a company near where he lives called fodeo.net to do the work. I haven't seen the full DVD transfer yet, but he's really pleased with the way it turned out. Now, through the magic of the internet and telicine transfer technology, the Roach Brothers bring you Easter 1977 from the Roach Family Film Archives (also known as a box in my parent's closet). Just don't tell Jim and Tella, it's a surprise.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Cathy and I don't get much of a chance to see movies anymore, but I think we'll have to make a special trip to the theater to see this one. John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." It's a parody of music biopics, like "Walk the Line," "The Doors" and "Ray." With cameos by Eddie Vedder as Himself, Jack White as Elvis Presley and Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzman as the Beatles. What's not to like there?

Welcome to the world, Owen Micheal Treanor

Congratulations are in order for Charla (Johnson) and Kevin Treanor. Charla gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on Friday, Owen Michael Treanor. We hear that mother and son are both doing well and should be home by now. Merry Christmas Owen!

U2 3D and grammy nominations

More info is emerging on U2's upcoming 3D concert movie, called creatively enough "U2 3D." It's being distributed by National Geographic. The film is described as "the first digital, multi-camera, real-time production" and will open Juanry 25th in 1,200+ theaters around the world, include IMAX 3D theaters. This will hopefully include either the Indiana State Museum IMAX or the Kerasotes Showplace 16/IMAX on Indy's south side.

It was also announced recently that U2 and Wilco are both nominees for Grammys at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. U2's up for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Window in the Skies" from the U218 compilation and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Instant Karma" from the "Instant Karma - The Campaign To Save Darfur" compilation. U2 has won more Grammys that any other band, witha total of 22, the most recent being 2006's Grammy for Best Rock Album for "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." Wilco is up for Best Rock Album this year for "Sky Blue Sky" against Daughtry, John Fogerty, Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen. Wilco won 2 Grammys in 2005 for "a ghost is born."

2007 Roach Christmas CD

Ho, Ho, Ho! Time once again for that annual holiday tradition you have come to know and love. No, not fruitcake or a cold glass of Nogasake, but the Roach's Christmas mix CD. This year we're offering a wide range of musical style for you, from classic crooners to indie rockers to Aussie children's performers. Like last year, we're offering the CD as a digital download for your listening pleasure. So, click the link below, download and extract the .zip file, load the tracks into your new iPhone that Santa brings you (yeah, right!) and enjoy. If you have trouble with the download, or just can't live without a physical CD, please direct your comments to Buddy the Elf, c/o The North Pole.

Sorry, files no longer available. Happy New Year!