The Cicadas Have Landed...or... Climbed Into Homewood

Yep it's true the periodical cicadas are back in Homewood and boy are there alot of them.

Cheryl, Tom and Uncle Mike - be happy you moved out.

They are everywhere. In every tree, bush and flower garden. And what does that mean for us the entymophobic? It goes like this...eeek aaaa yiiipe - get it away! And that is just to get Gabrielle to the bus in the morning. Getting to my car is like an Olympic event. I took gold. I am repelled yet intrigued by these creatures. They gross me out completely yet I am drawn to them. They are completely harmless and I still freak out if one touches me. The streets of Homewood are lined with the dead ones not lucky enough to have made it to the trees. The skies are filled with seagulls who are like vultures on the Serengeti. The squirrels are fat and my neighbors dog can't get enough of them.

Look closer at the leaves - click on the image

Here's a recipe for those of you who don't have Jewel or Piggly Wiggly near by:

Cicada Stir-Fry
Ingredients:
1 onion, minced
2 tbsps fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger root, minced
3/4 cup sliced carrots
3/4 cup chopped cauliflower and/or broccoli
1 can water chestnuts
3/4cup bean sprouts
3/4cup snow peas
40 blanched teneral cicadas
Directions:
1. Capture cicadas at night as they emerge from the ground. Blanche for 1 minute in boiling water. They can now be stored in freezer or used immediately in recipes.
2. In a wok or other suitable pan, heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add ingredients in the order listed above when those in the most recent addition are partially cooked.
3. Serve over whole-grain rice and add soy sauce to taste

Yield: 4 main course servings

I'm sure this won't be as good as Auntie Barbara's pork loin...

Love - Tamra

Graduation Day !

Daniel officially Graduated last night 5/24/07 from Alan B. Shepard High School !

Yes, I will have 2 in College this fall and will be accepting College Donation funds @ cbusse136@msn.com, Thank you all in advance!

Its official - The Gorski's will be Hoosiers as of July

Hello everyone. I just wanted to tell the family about our up coming move to Dyer, Indiana. We are closing on the house July 16. It is such a nice house, we cannot wait to move in and have you all over (at some point) I just want to thank my Mom for her words of encouragement when I was down and thought our house would not sell. She was right, it did. (Thanks also go to a little helper, our beloved St. Joseph buried in my rose garden) Also for all the young strapping lads of our family - if you want to come by and help us move that weekend, I can promise you good food and drink. We are in desperate need of able bodied movers.

Here is a picture of our house-to-be. A'int it a beaut.2824 Donnet
Dyer, Indiana 46311

Love, Tam

TITO - CSI MIAMI

CAPTAIN TITO AT THE HELM

One of the shows that Papou Tito watches in Crete is CSI Miami with its beautiful shots of Miami and air boats chasing the bad guys.


Well today we went to Billy Swamp Safari and zoomed around in the air boat (no, we didn't catch the bad guys). We also rode a big swamp buggy and saw alligators, wild pigs, Ostrich, water buffalo, etc. Thrown in for good measure was a good ecology lesson on the mysteries and perils of the swamp.


Then we went into the restaurant and ate some alligator nuggets (yup, taste like chicken). We really had a great time and Chuck and Tito look forward to seeing everyone at Yiayia's Big Chicago Bash!!!

C'mon - Let me drive

Tomorrow we're off to Tampa and Tarpon Springs and Friday Chuck and Tito will go to Orlando where Chuck's children live. Planned is a visit to Universal Studios for the ever young and peripatetic Tito Stavroulakis!!!

Popou Tito and Pork Tenderloin

Popou Tito stopped by chez Prater last Sunday. He and his friend Chuck were en route to Florida to see my folks. Though we'd never met Popou Tito before, we certainly felt like we had. (He has the same hair as my dad!) It was too short a visit, but we are looking forward to seeing him again in Chicago for Yiayia's party.

I made like a good Greek girl and fed them (a lot) at 10pm, shortly after they arrived having driven all day from Kansas City. On the menu were marinated pork tenderloins with a sour cream/mustard sauce, tomato/cucumber/onion salad with bread for dunking, Greek pasta salad with artichokes and feta (had to get some noodles in there, right mom?) and ice cream and ginger cookies for dessert. Whew! Don't worry, everything's back to normal here and Mark's eating Special K for dinner tonight.

Here's Mom's recipe for the pork - it's fantastic!

Marinade for the tenderloins, I doubled it:

1/4 c. Soy Sauce
2 T. Brown Sugar
1/4 c. Bourbon
3 1 lb. Pork Tenderloin

Marinate for 2 hours or so and then bake uncovered at 325 degrees, basting with marinade occasionally until internal temp of the meat is roughly 170 degrees (about an hour). Alternate method: you could grill it, that is you could if your darling husband doesn't forget until an hour before your company arrives and after the stores are closed that you're out of propane. (argh)

You'll be relieved to know that Mark is recovering nicely, and no, that's not why his knee is wrapped. I only hit him where it won't show in pictures. But I digress, on to the sauce!

Sour Cream Mustard Sauce: (Hot as in spicy not in temperature. If you like horseradish, you'll love this stuff.)

Combine:
1/3 c. sour cream
1 T. Scallions finely chopped
1/3 C. Mayo
1 T. Dry Mustard
1 1/2 T. White Vinegar

Mix and refrigerate while the pork is cooking.

Enjoy!

Love ya much. cp

Hronia Polla !

Happy Namesday to all the Constandinous and Elenes, and boy, there sure are alot of you out there! xoxo

Gabrielle's BIG #8 Birthday

Gabrielle turned 8 on May 11th. I can't believe my little baby is 8. Wow what they say is so true. One minute you are so careful bringing them home from the hospital, driving 10 miles under the speed limit, listening every 5 minutes for their breathing...then POW!!! It then becomes "get to bed, brush your teeth, did you hear me?" Now she is little mommy #2 with Anya. My sweet girls. I just love 'em. There is also a picture of my babies at Easter. They're so pretty. Anya is just getting so big. She is already 16mo and so flippin' smart. Here's a photo of Marty and I in Florida.

Well talk to you all soon,
Love Tamra

Happy Birthday, Barbara Jean!

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing Yiayia, Mom, my sister, sister-in-law, aunts, great-aunts, and cousins a very Happy Mother's Day.

I am missing and remembering my Grandma Lena and Mark's Grandma Kay today. Below is a favorite picture of Kay with one of her boys. Mickey, I think, her first born.

Much love,

Cheryl

90 Years Young

Birthday Boy

Yesterday''s birthday guy is Tom, now 36, who has recently moved to Sacramento with Dorie and the girls - Hollyn and Alexis. Here's Tom at about one year old up at a lake in Wisconsin.



Here's another shot of the guy at 15 in his BR in Clinton, Iowa. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Tom !

Michael's Prom

Michael had his Junior prom this past saturday, he went with Anna Nicole Smith. Their prom was at Union Station downtown. Mike said that had a good time, until the Limo broke down and never came to pick them up. They hitched a ride home with his English teacher. haha. Sunday they all went to the dunes. Here are some pictures:


Michael with BrittanyAnna Nicole

Bragging Rights

Well, not exactly, more like: I'm bragging and it's alright. Ok, so George is home from the war, but this is big news - on par with Trumpet's big two pointer a couple posts back......

If you are in a Borders or a Barnes & Noble, look for this magazine:

Turn to page 66.

See my six page article.

Yawn.

Put fingerprinty issue back on shelf in conspicuous location.

Very Good News

Just got a call from our cousin George Kakaletris. He's recovering at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. The surgery to repair his ruptured bicep went well and the docs say it'll be good as new. He's heading back to Chicago in a few days for some "convalescence" (for about 3 weeks). Then he has a short trip back to Bragg before he starts his physical therapy back in Chicago, which will continue through most of the summer.

God willing, he won't have to head back to Iraq.

It's still hard for him to type with his healing arm immobilized, but you can leave him a comment here or send him an email:

george.kakaletris@us.army.mil

Welcome home, George! Parastika!