Posts from — October 2011

… from Mother Nature and Father Time!

Dave and I at our neighborhood Halloween Party on Saturday night.

It was always our Halloween tradition to make grilled pizzas before the kids went out to trick-or-treat. It didn’t matter if it was just the four of us, or if each of the kids had a dozen friends over, each person present made their own personal-size pizza. Dave and I and any of our friends who pop over will be making pizzas tonight out on the grill.  I’ll share the recipe and pictures with you tomorrow.

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Yesterday when I said that I hadn’t cooked for 11 days, I wasn’t including cooking classes into the mix – a girl’s gotta work! So, I not only assisted Barb with a class, but I also taught a private cooking class to a group of wonderful women. Thankfully I had the help of two of my generous friends both times. I could not yet drive when I was working at a class at Les Gourmettes, so my friend, Lori, drove me there and also helped serve and clear, keeping me from having to overwork my foot. Thanks Lori! xoxo

The private class was in one of the participants’ homes, so Peggy helped me schlep all the food, machines, pan, and other various supplies up to her 19th-floor penthouse and set up all the workstations. When the ladies arrived, Peggy worked right alongside me to help the pairs with their recipes, serve, and worst of all… clean it all up and schlep it back home.  The schlepping is, by far, the nastiest part of this job! So, thank you, Peggy! xoxo

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Last night was the first time I’ve cooked any sort of food for Dave and myself… in… let’s see… 11 days. Unbelievable! I think that is the longest stretch of “no-cook” time for me since back in 2008 when we were traveling through France and Italy with the kids. But, I’m back and the recipes will again be flowing, thanks for hanging in there with me through the trip to Sedona, the foot injury, and birthdays. 😀

On Wednesday, my dad took me to True Food Kitchen at Scottsdale Quarter for my birthday lunch. I usually order the light and luscious Edamame Dumplings, or their delicious Herb Hummus, or the fabulous Wild Ahi Sliders… but this time I decided to try the Mediterranean Chopped Salad. Good choice! Actually, I’ve never had anything I didn’t enjoy from the menu. The photo at the top is the True Food salad – taken with my new iPhone 4s, which I LOVE!  Once I got home, I just had to recreate it for Dave.  He, of course, loved it… and you will too.

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Before your tip of the week… a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my “birthday sister”, Laura Dileen Galloway Heffron! Laura and I have been friends since high school when we discovered our birthdays were only one day apart. Laura was my maid-of-honor 26 years ago and is Marissa’s godmother. I was a bridesmaid at her wedding and I am godmother to 2 of her 3 sons. Happy Birthday, Laura! I love you!

This picture is of Laura and me visiting my Aunt Beverly in Del Mar, CA back in the summer of ’78 or ’79. Laura and I were just high school girls standing there all awkward – while Bev poses all sexy… too funny! Bev’s birthday is Sunday, so I’ll take this opportunity to say Happy Birthday, Aunt Bev, I love you too!

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It’s no secret, I love my birthday. Do you know that person who complains that they are another year older? Yeah, I am the complete opposite of that person. Birthdays are a gift unto themselves.

I love October. I love the 27th. I love that I was born in a year ending with zero. What can I say? I just love my birthday. In fact, when I schedule posts in advance on this very blog, I set them up to post at 10:27 AM. So there you go, now you know.

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Since standing on my feet in the kitchen for long periods of time is out of the mix at the present time, how about a holiday craft? Now, I already told you in the first installment of Crafts 101, I am not a crafty person… not by a long shot.  In fact, for this particular craft, I needed professional help. Recently, Peggy and I took a class from the very talented Cindy and Lin Sue of Sweet-Stops on how to make these luxurious fabric pumpkins, which are perfect from the first day of fall, all the way through Thanksgiving. Now that’s some bang for your buck! And when I say “buck” –  I literally mean about one dollar! Depending on the fabric you use, or if you use scraps you already have on hand, these beautiful pumpkins may cost no more than that. If you’ve seen them in boutiques, you already know they go for anywhere from $20 to $40 each! That’s just crazy talk!

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photo courtesy of http://www.verdecanyonrr.com/

On Saturday, Dave and I drove 25 miles from Sedona to Clarkdale to ride the Verde Canyon Railroad through the Verde Canyon along the beautiful Verde River in Northern Arizona. The train passes by ancient Sinagua Indian dwellings carved into the mountainsides and ends up in Perkinsville, a deserted ghost ranch, and then turns around and comes back.  In the 1960’s a few scenes from the classic western “How the West Was Won” featuring George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, and Eli Wallach, was filmed in Perkinsville.

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I am done whining, back to a recipe! I am certain you are thinking, “It’s about time!”

At the request of a kind follower, Dagmar, I am also putting up a few more pictures of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon.  Tomorrow, I’ll share a few photos from our trip on the Verde Canyon Railroad, along the beautiful Verde River.

The recipe may have a long name, but it couldn’t be easier to make. Tri-Tip is a classic cowboy beef cut that is thick, nicely marbled, and very flavorful. It is the triangular cut at the tip of the sirloin.

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What the heck, people?!?  I pour my pain, my suffering, and my heart out to you people about my serious ankle injury and the one and only empathetic comment I get is one from my mother-in-law!?!  This just makes me sad. Not sad because my MIL commented – that made me happy and it was very kind and very sweet of her!  No, I am sad because none of the rest of you had anything nice or funny or even sarcastic to say. 🙁

OK, I’m going to give you all another chance. Maybe I didn’t post nasty enough pictures of my foot. It’s actually looking worst now, so to get the sympathy I deserve… more photos for you to “man up” and comment on!
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Isn’t this view, oh so pretty!?!

And how about this one?

Yeah, not so much… this is my sprained ankle.

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