Category — Linda

At the January Sweet Salvage sale, I spotted something “fabulous” as I was standing in the checkout line. It was something very similar to a thing I’ve been dreaming about for months now. I looked at the price, looked at all the stuff I already planned to purchase, and knew I could not have it all. I let the “fabulous thing” slip away.

(Hint #1 – the “fabulous thing” is in the photo above. I swiped this image from the Sweet Salvage blog. Can you guess what it is?)

For the rest of the month, I regretted not putting everything else I had in my hands down and getting the “fabulous thing” instead. But I held on to a glimmer of hope that “fabulous thing” would not be sold and would still be there when I returned for the February sale.

Kim and I walked into the door on the Friday morning of the February sale, and I headed straight for where it had been the last month. And…

IT was still there!

(Hint #2 – the “fabulous thing” is also in the February Sweet Salvage photo above – this image is also swiped from their blog. Do you spot it yet?)

I was so relieved! After being filled with regret all month long, it was still there, a sure sign that I was meant to have it! At least that’s the ‘sign’ I read.

(Hint #3 – I’ve been dreaming of this fabulous thing ever since I first learned that such a thing even existed. I had seen something very similar to it on the blog of the talented person I love to stalk. A year and a half ago, I read THIS post on Heather Bullard’s blog and have been coveting the item ever since.)

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On March 4, 1933, in his inaugural speech, newly elected U.S. President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, uttered the now-famous words, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!”

That was exactly 80 years and 1 day ago, today! This past week, that idea has proven to be very true for me.

For many months now I have been afraid of letting others in on a very difficult decision that I made.

I was afraid of letting people down.
I was fearful of people’s reactions.
I was afraid of possible backlash.

Turns out I was only afraid of fear – there was nothing to be fearful of after all!

On March 1st, I sent out an email to my entire mailing list and also posted it on the “Classes and Summer Camps” page over there on the left side, at the top, of this page.

March 1, 2013

Before I share more party details, I want to wish my dear friend, Karen Mock a very Happy Birthday!

Karen was a bridesmaid at my wedding. I think everyone should have a bridesmaid like her. She carried out her duties like a pro! I mean, it is not easy being a bridesmaid at your friends’ wedding – you have so much to do! From managing the bride’s emotions as she approaches her big day, to organizing her hen party (you could click here to find some ideas for yourself), it’s just a big roller coaster ride. Hats off to Karen for pulling it off!

At the time of my wedding, she was pregnant with her first child, Nick. Dave and I are Nick’s godparents … so yes, Karen and I have been friends for a long time and I love her to pieces. Happy Birthday, Karen! I look forward to celebrating with you on Friday! xoxo

On to the party ….

Peggy arrived a little early so she’d be there to greet her guests, and I was actually ready to greet her and the guests too. That doesn’t always happen. More often than not, I’m still scrambling and getting ready at the very last second before a party at our house begins. But not this time, and here is why –

I had gone to Sweet Salvage the day before the party with my friend and colleague, Kim Howard. (after all the party posts, I’ll share with you what I got that day – it is so cool!)

I was telling Kim about the party plans and she said, “Let me come help.” I resisted at first because I’d already hired two servers and a bartender from Elite Events AZ. Kim insisted and I finally came to my senses and took her up on her generous offer. Kim and I work together at Les Gourmettes. When I teach my series of classes there, Kim works right beside me. We’re a great team and I knew that having her in the kitchen, finishing off the dishes, overseeing everything, and doing things exactly as I would do them – well I knew that I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing and I could really relax and enjoy my own party.

That is exactly what happened! Maybe I enjoyed it a wee bit too much if you know what I mean! So, thank you, Kim. Thank you, Jana, Cami, and Jeanie from Elite Events. And thank you, to my adorable son, Connor, who was the lone man in the kitchen, there to help with whatever the ladies asked him to do!

Anne and I, gave Peggy her official birthday kiss.

Peggy with her darling parents, her brother, John, and her sister-in-law, Lorraine. Take note of Peggy’s pink crown and scepter. The Birthday Princess!

Anne and Dave at the appetizer buffet. The bar is in the background…

… thanks Anne for taking this picture of the bar, I can see your reflection in the window and I see myself in the kitchen. What am I doing in there?! I think I was cutting green onions for the mashed potatoes and talking to Kim about the recipes. This was prior to the guests arriving. Well, of course, Anne was a guest too, but she was and is much more than that! She helped me so much in putting on this gala event. Love you girl! xoxo

Along with the full bar, we offered two signature cocktails…

The Pink Pear

1 1/2 ounces pear vodka
3 ounces mango nectar or pineapple juice
1-ounce cranberry juice
Lemon juice, for rim
Pink or gold sugar, for the rim

Dip the rim of a clear “highball” glass in lemon juice, then dip into sugar. Fill the glass with ice.

Gently layer the vodka, then the nectar, then the cranberry juice into the glass for an ombre cocktail.

Serves 1

Pink Chihuahua

Coarse pink salt
1-ounce tequila
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
3/4 cup grapefruit juice
Grapefruit slice, for garnish

Dip the rim of a clear “rocks” glass in lemon juice, then dip into sugar. Fill the glass with ice. Pour tequila and Grand Marnier over ice.

Top with grapefruit juice and stir. Garnish with a slice of grapefruit.

Serves 1

Also on the bar, were bowls of the ever-popular Ranch Oyster Crackers, also known as Crack Crackers. These are seriously addicting!

Another fun 50th birthday party touch was a little something else I found on eBay …

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Before I continue to tell you about the party planning for Peggy’s 50th – I first have to say…

Happy Birthday, Peggy!

Today is her actual birthday.

One of the wonderful party ideas I found on Pinterest was to take a bunch of photos of the honoree and create a huge “50” with them. I gathered photos of Peggy, scanned them onto my computer, edited each one into gray scale, and printed them out.

Next, I taped sheets of newspaper to my marble fireplace and taped the photos to the newspaper.

I then carefully took down the numbers and placed them on a flat surface to trim the newspaper backing.

The “5” was on the fragile side, so I reinforced the weak center area with a bit of cardboard on the backing.

This was all done about a week before the party, so into the garage staging area, the numbers went to stay out of harm’s way until party time.

I was able to buy two pink crinkle taffeta 117-inch round tablecloths, four pink crinkle taffeta 60×126-inch tablecloths, six gold organza runners, one embroidered chair slipcover, one fuchsia satin chair sash, 50 gold, pink, and fuchsia napkins, and one 90-inch gold organza overlay for only $107 – and that included the shipping! They all washed up perfectly too, no ironing was needed. I could not have been happier with the selection of table linen cloths I had. I’ve always thought that how you decorate your tables is the backbone of any event; it sets the theme and tone.

Here is what the preliminary “mock table” looked like in my staging area.

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I started planning Peggy’s 50th birthday party about a month ago. But first and foremost, I needed to thoroughly clean the entire space so that the guests were not put off by the presence of dirt anywhere.

That is why I thought I would look for professional floor and Window Cleaning service providers to clean the places that had a lot of stubborn stains. But then I decided to do it on my own. So I washed as much as I could and decorated the rest of the space to draw our guests’ attention to the beautiful styling.

Anyway, as with any party, the first thing the host needs to decide on is the theme. Well, 50 was the theme but a color scheme is what I’d build the party around. I decided on pink and gold. Pink because Peggy is such a beautiful sweet girl and I’m sure she was a girly girl when she was little. And if not, she sure is now! Gold because she is the gold standard when it comes to friends. You know the song… “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold.” She is Gold to me!

I believe this is the first time I’ve emailed a formal invite instead of sending it by snail mail. I’m glad I did because I was able to put so much more info in the email than I would have on just the mailed invite.

For instance, I was able to let invitees know that “The attire is casual-elegant – whatever that means – just wear something comfortable – weather permitting, we’ll be outside.” Turns out that was an important thing to let people know considering it actually snowed here only three days before the party.

I could also let people know that “The ‘theme’ is Elegant 50 ~ no ‘over-the-hill’ shenanigans!”

Once I had my color scheme, I went to town to carry it out!

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The day after returning from San Francisco, I had a follow-up appointment at the orthopedics office. The x-rays showed that I am completely healed and may resume all activities, unrestricted. Yay – take that you stupid extension ladder!

I had THE best time with Marissa in the City by the Bay. We shopped, we ate, we treated ourselves to a mani/pedi, we ate, we shopped some more, and we ate…

One of the stores we went to was Pot & Pantry on the corner of Guerrero and 18th Streets.

It’s an adorable little store that is deliberately designed to feel as if you’re shopping in a friend’s kitchen. Customers can buy, sell, or trade new and gently used kitchenware. It’s mostly new with a bit of vintage here and there.

I bought a couple of little things, big surprise!

While checking out, I noticed little postcard-sized cards that had lovely watercolors of food on them.

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Five years ago yesterday, a loving little boy, I have known since he was in preschool, officially turned into a young man, an adult.

January 5, 2008, was Joey DeBolske’s 18th birthday.

Joey was in Colorado that day, celebrating and skiing/snowboarding with his father, Kevin. He was in his element. Joey loved to snowboard, he loved his dad (this was an annual trip Kevin made with friends, and this was the first time he had invited Joey to join him), and he loved Colorado.

In fact, he was considering attending college in Boulder, the following fall, after he graduated from Saguaro High School (my alma mater) later that spring.

Five years ago today, on his way back home to Arizona, that little boy, who had grown into an amazing young man, whom we all adored, who is the son and oldest child of my best friend, Peggy Murrietta, died in a horrific bus crash in Mexican Hat, Utah.

The photo above was retrieved from Joey’s cell phone. It is time-stamped 1/6/08, taken on the mountain that last day. Peggy so treasures this photo, knowing that Joey was living life to the fullest, doing something he loved to do.

Also left behind, are Joey’s adoring siblings; Samme (then 16 – now 21), Natalie (then 13 – now 18), and Steve (then 11 – now 16).

Joey was the consummate big brother. He was their protector. Their defender. The peace-maker. Their beloved big brother.

Joey was all that and more, not only to Samme, Natalie, and Steve, but also to his beautiful mom, Peggy, and to his friends, including his buddy and my son, Connor.

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My New Year’s wish for you is that you’ll know exactly what you need to do to make all your dreams come true!

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I hope your Christmas was merry and bright. Ours was absolutely wonderful! Although, I did overdo it a bit (trying to move about without the walker) and I’m paying the price today!

I’d planned on posting photos of my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day tablescapes, but I haven’t even begun to format those photos yet. Coincidentally, I was featured on the front page of the Arizona Republic today, so I’ll share that article with you instead and save the tablescapes for tomorrow.

You may recall that I told you the photographer from the Republic was coming, only two days after my release from the hospital, to take a photo of me with my cookbooks for an article about Millennials and recipes… well, here it is.

Here I stand, on my own power, painfully clutching my first edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the walker was pushed away. Anything for a bit of good press! 🙂

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Here, all on one page, are my 12 Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen. Enjoy!

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:

Homemade Irish Cream

A Jar of Vanilla Sea Salt

Tins of Bacon Toffee

Rum Glazed Eggnog Bread

Fennel Cured Salmon

Spicy Guinness Mustard

Two Jars of Mustard

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Homemade Kahlua Liqueur

Lemon-Sugar Hand Scrub

Cranberry Citrus Vodka

and a bottle of Tomato Dust

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