Posts from — May 2010

How can it only be Wednesday? Isn’t it strange how some weeks just fly by and others never seem to end?!  I’m going to pretend it’s Friday and give you a cocktail recipe today, albeit a somewhat healthy one! (now that is a true oxymoron) It has a texture somewhat like a smoothie and with all that alcohol, it is smooth!  Now you’ll have time to get to the store and be prepared when the weekend finally does roll along…

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For Mother’s Day, Dave and my adorable son, Connor, made me not only breakfast but dinner as well! So when our Phoenix Suns swept the Spurs to advance in the playoffs, it was as if I hit the jackpot yesterday!

Breakfast was thick-cut bacon, mimosas, and cinnamon-pecan waffles with fresh strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream! And for dinner, they made lamb, chicken, and beef kabobs (picked up at Whole Foods), our favorite parmesan asparagus, toasted garlic-olive bread, and sea salt roasted fingerling potatoes with whole fresh herbs.

Since the asparagus has been featured here a couple of times already, we’ll share the very easy potato recipe. You can use the fingerlings as the recipe calls for, or if fingerlings are hard to find or too costly, just use russet or Yukon gold potatoes cut into wedges. Both choices are pictured below.

Today I send blessings and love to all of the wonderful mothers out there. Just like all of you, I am grateful for all the joys that have been given to me by my own amazing children. Thank you my darling Marissa and Connor for making me the person I am. I love you both more than words or actions could ever express. xoxo

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Connor and I spent the entire day yesterday unpacking and finding places for all his dorm stuff. And since I’d left all his bedroom belongings in Marissa’s room after the new carpet was installed last month, we had the added fun of putting his room back together. Marissa’s room has wood floors and because she is still at school, it has served as the perfect “storage” space all this time. Needless to say, Connor (and I) deserved a nice relaxing meal last night. Welcome home sweet boy!

Unfortunately, I took the picture before the sauce was poured on, so you’ll have to just imagine it there…

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This is our 25th Anniversary picture/card from my son, Connor. I found it in my email inbox when we returned from dinner on Tuesday night. It depicts Connor hazily studying for finals – the last of which is today.

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Today, May 4th, is our 25th wedding anniversary~
Happy Anniversary, Dave ?

Thank you for the gorgeous flowers!
xoxo

Love,
Linda

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A photographer, I am not! I know this, and I accept it. And if you stop by here often, then I am guessing you know and accept it too.  Sometimes I just can’t get the correct light or am unable to correct the light and color in Photoshop. I’ve never taken a Photoshop course and really only know a couple of quick tricks out of the whole big program. Marissa and I signed up for a community college photography night class five years ago when she was a senior in high school. We quickly discovered that the instructor wasn’t really organized enough to teach. Being the great example-setting mom that I am, after only two very disappointing classes, I turned it into girls-night-out for shopping and dinner instead. Hmm?

Imagine this blog without food pictures, even mediocre pictures. Hard to do, at least for me. So I take on average between 6 and 10 shots of each picture I want to feature and hope for the best. That didn’t work out so well for today. I took 9 different shots of this broccoli last night. Then we had it for dinner.  This morning, I downloaded the photos and every single one is out of focus! It sure didn’t look that way on the camera screen last night. Please forgive me, I still want to post the recipe because it was really good, but I won’t go to the store to buy more broccoli just to get a focused picture.

On a happier note; at the same time that Maris and I signed up for the photography class, we also signed up for a weekend watercolor class. I think there were five other women in there and Maris and I were, by far, the youngest… and the least talented! I mean, we were awful! And please keep in mind, that my son, Connor is a great artist! That is one of his many watercolors above, which he did when he was 11 years old. We came home each week with our pitiful “art” and I do not know how he kept a straight face. But we stuck with it! And we had fun. It helped that our instructor was very sweet and encouraging even though it was obvious that neither of us was getting any better. If you’re interested in seeing my talented son’s artwork, you can check out some of his work at this link. Most of the art posted here is done with a Pen Pad and his computer. Plus there are a few photographs of some of his oils as well. Hope you enjoy the broccoli and the art.

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Two weeks ago, Dave and I went down to Tucson for a long weekend. On the first night, we decided to go to J Bar, my friend, and James Beard award-winning chef, Janos Wilder’s, casual restaurant which is right beside his acclaimed upscale namesake restaurant, Janos. After perusing the menu, we wanted to order everything on it!  Instead, we decided we’d control ourselves and just come back the next night, which we did. One appetizer we just had to have was the J Bar Nachos. They did not disappoint – I haven’t been able to get them out of my mind since!  When Janos came to the Valley last week to teach a class, I asked him to please share the secret of “the out-of-this-world” chili con queso that pushed the nachos into a league of their own. Turns out the con queso had an Italian twist in the form of mascarpone. I didn’t ask for the exact recipe, although he offered, Dave and I think this is pretty darn close. The Salsa Fresca is from Janos’ cookbook, The Great Chilies Rellenos Book, which is a must-have if you love Rellenos. I used heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market I visited this morning.  See, I took my own advice and went this weekend, hope you got a chance to get to one too!

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It’s nearly summer, and a true summer staple is fruit salad. This is a springboard recipe. Start with this and then add in whatever fruit is fresh and in season. The obvious choices for summer are berries, cherries, mango, kiwi, pineapple, and such. But even in the dead of winter, when those choices are not only out of season but out of range for many pocketbooks, this base recipe will get you going. This was one of the recipes I made on Channel 12 Valley Dish yesterday (you can watch the other dish we made on the “In The News” page at the left).  We added sliced strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, and raspberries. The pictures from the live show were taken by the birthday girl, Sloane. I have no idea why I look so darn serious in the first shot, I was just setting up my stuff, but look at those huge lemons in the foreground, no those are serious!  Get out to a farmer’s market this weekend and let your imagination run wild with all the colorful fresh fruit possibilities.

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