V is for Vulture Craft

You might remember the walrus craft I made a few weeks ago, when I realized I had animal crafts for all the letters of the alphabet except I, V, W, and X. Today's vulture craft takes care of V, leaving only I and X to go. 

When I was halfway done with my vulture, I asked Steve if he could tell what it was. He guessed it was a buzzard. That made me realize I had absolutely no idea what the difference was between vultures and buzzards. Time to Google! After reading "What's the Difference Between Buzzards and Vultures?," I sort of understand. Today's craft is definitely a vulture, which you may call a buzzard if you live in North America. But I have plenty of animal crafts that start with B, so please consider this a vulture no matter where you live.
 

Construction Paper Vulture

Materials:

• construction paper (brown, red, grey)
• scissors
• glue
• black pen

Steps:

Cut the following pieces from construction paper:

• a brown body
• two brown wings
• brown tail feathers
• a red neck
• a red head
• a grey beak
• two grey feet

Glue the pieces together, then use the pen to draw an eye and a line to define the upper and lower beak. 

Hot Brown and Mock Mint Julep

It's a good thing I didn't put money on my Kentucky Derby pick, Thousand Words, as he was scratched from the race after getting spooked, rearing, and falling in the paddock shortly before post time. Fortunately, he is perfectly fine, although his trainer suffered a broken arm/hand. Congratulations to Authentic, winner of the very exciting 146th running of the Kentucky Derby. 

I didn't end up making burgoo or Derby pie for our 3-person party, but I did make hot browns for the first time. I served them with mock mint juleps and both were delicious. I brought the recipe for the Hot Brown home from our visit to the Brown Hotel where it was invented. I found the mint julep recipe at Taste of Home. I'm officially adding both to Our Favorite Recipes. Below you'll find the recipes as I made them, slightly modified from the originals. I didn't get a good picture of the mint juleps, so I guess I'll just have to make them again. Soon.

Hot Brown

(serves 3)

6 strips of bacon

2 oz. flour

8 oz. heavy cream

8 oz. milk

1/2 c. pecorino romano cheese, plus 1/4 c. for garnish

salt and pepper

12 oz. sliced turkey

3 slices thick white bread

tomato, cut into wedges

paprika

Cook the bacon until crisp, reserving 2 oz. of bacon grease. Remove the bacon from the pan, then slowly whisk the flour into the bacon grease to form a roux. Cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently. Whisk cream and milk into the roux until smooth, then cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in 1/2 c. cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Cut the crusts off the bread, then place each slice into a separate ramekin. Layer the turkey on top, then pour the sauce evenly over the three ramekins. Add two tomato wedges to each. Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the top, then put the ramekins under the broiler until the cheese starts to brown and bubble. Remove from the broiler, sprinkle with paprika, then cross two pieces of bacon on top. Serve immediately. 

Mock Mint Julep

(serves 3)

1 c. water

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. lemon juice

3 sprigs of mint

1 1/2 c. crushed ice

1 can lemon lime soda

3 sprigs of mint

  

Combine water, sugar, lemon juice, and mint into a lidded container. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then add the lid and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, add 1/2 c. crushed ice to each of three glasses. Retrieve the lemon and mint mixture from the refrigerator, discard the mint sprigs, then pour it evenly into the three glasses. Add 1/3 of the can of lemon lime soda to each glass, then garnish with a fresh sprig of mint. 

Trevor at 14

As always, I made the annual "Trevor at" layout without looking at the previous pages. I like knowing that the adjectives I choose to describe him are how I see him now, without influence from the past. Of course, most words don't change from year to year. He's been smart, generous, trustworthy, and reserved since birth. 

Trevor at 14 (affiliate link)

I always buy Trevor a new shirt for his birthday portraits, often a polo that he can then wear to church. (He hasn't had much opportunity to wear that shirt since his birthday, since going to church is not a thing during the pandemic. Since March, we've been on our couch each Sunday morning watching church live via YouTube and joining the fellowship hour after church via Zoom.) 

Anyway, I started the tradition of having Trevor wear a new shirt for his birthday portraits from the beginning. During his first year (when we took monthly portraits), it was a fun way to 'debut' the many gifted outfits and hand-me-downs he'd received. Fourteen years later, it's tradition. In looking back at his previous photos, I realized he is wearing the same shirt at 14 as he is at 8. Not the exact same shirt, as he has grown significantly since then, but the same shirt in a bigger size. No big deal, just something I noticed. I'm just thankful to have such a cooperative kid to do these portraits every year. 

Newspaper Hat for the Kentucky Derby

Ever since touring Churchill Downs and visiting the Kentucky Derby Museum, I've thought it would be a lot of fun to take part in Derby Day. Not in person (I hate crowds), but from the comfort of home, with the hats and the burgoo and mock mint juleps and Derby Pie. However, the Kentucky Derby is traditionally held the first Saturday in May, which is also National Scrapbook Day... and you can guess which one matters more to me.

Enter COVID-19. Back in the spring, when I heard that the Derby would be postponed from May to September, I decided we'd be hosting a Derby party. Silly me, thinking back then that everyone would follow the rules and we'd have squelched the pandemic by now. We're still having our party, but we aren't having any guests. deRosier, Party of Three!

We aren't the only ones without guests. Churchill Downs recently announced that, for the first time ever, the race will be run without fans present.

One of the most important rules for the Kentucky Derby is that all women must wear a hat. Not just any hat, but a dressy, showy, and/or over-the-top hat. I'm not a hat person (and when I do wear a hat, it's my Mickey Mouse ball cap), so I made my own fancy hat out of newsprint and a bunch of other things from the craft room. 

How to Make a Newspaper Hat

Materials:

• newspaper or newsprint
• masking tape
• Folk Art paint
• ribbon, faux flowers, pipe cleaners, etc. 

Steps:

Separate the newspaper or newsprint into individual pieces, then center 3-4 sheets on your head. Press down to smooth them, then ask a helper to tape around the paper, just above your ears. Go around at least twice. 

(I'm smiling in this picture.)

Remove the paper from your head. Tightly roll the edges of the paper up toward the top of the hat to form the brim. It will hold in place. In this picture, you can see that I've started to roll the section by my hand, but haven't done anything with the rest. 

Once the brim is formed, you can gently shape the hat. Then add a coat of paint. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly. Now it's time to decorate! Anything goes. I started with a sprig of faux roses, then tucked in the ribbon. I curled silver pipe cleaners around a pencil, then added them. I hid the ends with faux ivy leaves.  

I'm ready for the Derby! 

I don't know anything about horse racing, but it's still fun to try to pick a winner. It's no fun betting on the favorite though; I want to root for an underdog. (Underhorse?) Based entirely on the name and the jockey's silks, I'm going with....

There are all sorts of official Derby events and contests taking place online, leading up to the 146th Running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at 7:00 pm EST. Go, Thousand Words!

Kansas 2019

As always, I had a really hard time narrowing down the photos to use on the scrapbook page about our visit to Kansas. Even though we only spent one day there, we packed a ton into our day. 

Kansas 2019 (affiliate link)

I didn't leave myself enough room to tell the full stories of the storage room off the parking garage at the Capitol, or the reason we didn't complete the entire dome tour. There's so much more I could have shown or told than what appears on this layout. Fortunately, my blog post fills the gap. I've increasingly been viewing my scrapbook albums as providing an overview instead of the place to tell every detail. It's interesting to look back on that evolution.