Nurse Nancy: June 2010

Ken and Sarah's Wedding June 18th, 2010

Ken and Sarah's Wedding June 18th! I have a beautiful daughter - finally!!! I can't believe that it has come and gone already - it seems like just yesterday that they were engaged and that was 2 years ago. What a beautiful ceremony and great reception. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Well, here are just a few pics of the wonderful day!

the groomsmen and Ken at our house before the wedding

The two "best men" and Ken ~ brothers forever!

the beautiful ceremony

Beautiful couple, yummy cake!

Mother-son dance to "The Man You've Become"

Ken's dad and his wife, Eve with Sarah and Ken

My dad and the newlyweds

my brother, Tom, with his family, Joy, Mike and Andrea

Ken's sister Peggy & brother-in-law Gary, nephew Anthony

Kramers!

My girlfriends - Coneheads reunited!

Happy 20th Birthday, Vince! May 31st

Vince's birthday landed on Memorial Day this year. We made our annual pilgrimage to honor our WW2 veterans and family at 3 cemetaries in Chicago. Heavy rain precluded our usual trip to the parade and ceremonies here in Palatine. Afterwards we came home to celebrate Vince's birthday and later watch the Black Hawks win one of their playoff games ... that made for a good end to a great day!

Vince did not want to go out for his birthday, he wanted to cook with me! I was honored ... he requested calzones and home-made vanilla ice cream. We did it all from scratch and also made a home-made chocolate cake to go with the ice cream. Delicious! Here's a picture of one of the calzones:

It is hard to believe my youngest is no longer a teenager, but a young man! And a wonderful one at that. I am so blessed by Vince and he has become an honorable and good man. No credit to us, but all the credit goes to the Lord. We are so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with Vince. I look forward to seeing the plans that the Lord has for him in the future. Happy Birthday, Vince, may all your dreams and aspirations come true in the year ahead. I love you more than words could ever express!

And happy 25th birthday to my daughter-in-law to be, Sarah, as she shares a birthday with Vince. Sarah celebrated her last birthday before the wedding having a birthday lunch with Ken and then dinner with her family. No annual trip to El Toreo this year .... maybe for my birthday ...

Sarah, you are a blessing to us and we are so thankful for you!

Iron Chef CLA May 27th

Since I began teaching Culinary Arts at CLA 4 years ago, I have had an Iron Chef competition. This year the secret ingredient was pineapple and each team had to create 4 courses and a drink that contained pineapple. They get an hour to cook and then present their creations to a panel of judges and the chairman ( me, of course!). We had a great time and the dishes each group created were amazingly good!

Team 1: Kelly, Katie,Sara, and Cathryn

Won First Place in Presentation

Pineapple & Chicken Shish Kabobs

Pineapple Steak with Pineapple Salsa and a side of honey pineapple

Drink: Pineapple Refresher

Pineapple Hot Fudge Sunday Cake

Team 2: Jon, Darby, Beth, and Emily

Won First Place in Use of the Theme Ingredient

Pineapple-Mandarin Almond Salad

Tangy Pineapple Chicken over Wild Rice

Zucchini-Pineapple Cake

Drink: Cran-Dandy Cooler

Team 3: Jocelyn, Tyler, Blake, and Ben

Won First Place in Originality

Coconut Shrimp and pineapple salsa

Pina Tropicale

Teriyaki Chicken and Coconut Rice with a

medley of grilled pineapple and fresh vegetables

Pineapple-Coconut Cake

Team 4: Keren, Kim, Kally, and Adam

Won: Iron Chef CLA 2010

Caribbean Ham and Pineapple Pita appetizer

Coconut Shrimp over Pineapple Fried Rice

Cheese Blintzes with Broiled Pineapple and Macadamia nuts

Drink: Sparkling Pineapple Breeze

Iron Chefs 2010: Team 4

Your cuisine reined supreme!!!!!!!

The Honorable Judges: Mr. Morello, Mrs. Lach, and Mrs. Kott

Joe & Vince graduate from Harper May 23

On May 23rd Joe and Vince finished up their studies at Harper and graduated with their associates degrees.

Congratulations - on to the bachelor's degree -
Vince to Northern & Joe to National Lewis.

Couples Shower May 5th

Great couples shower given by Sarah's friends, Megan & Todd, with a fiesta theme.

Great games, like the apron memory game only this time Kenny had to do it:

and the all-time favorite .... make a bridal gown out of toilet paper - every bride has to have that game at one of her showers .... and the guys were really good sports - take a look!