On Saturday, my friend and neighbor, Amy (that would the Amy – as in Amy’s Famous Taco Soup) hosted a French-themed baby shower for her girlfriend, Melissa.  It is true, I can’t mention Amy without referring to her soup.  Sorry, I simply cannot! I mean, I love soup and I love Amy, so it is just impossible.

Anyhow, back to the baby shower. Since I have a truckload of French stuff, Amy and Melissa asked if I’d help with buffet tablescapes. Yes, of course, I would love to!

Seriously, if I don’t use as much of my “stuff” as often and in as many ways as possible, how am I going to continue convincing Dave that I NEED and USE this stuff.  Matter of fact, I’ve loaned out my French “props” twice in the month of April alone.  First, decorate the stage at the Jacques Pepin taping and again for this adorable baby shower. Proof positive that my treasures are not junk to be easily disposed of.  See ladies, you were doing me the favor, not the other way around.  Thank you!

Back to the baby shower, again! At the time the invites went out, Melissa did not know the sex of the baby. So instead of the usual baby colors of pink or blue for the theme, she chose lavender. Reminiscent of the lavender fields throughout the French countryside.  So Pretty!

Amusez-vous s’il vous plaît ! (enjoy please!)

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Today’s quick, easy, fun, and delicious recipe comes from my fun adventure friend, Sheila.  You remember Sheila – she and I went on that wild and crazy trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl Flea Market, back in March. Yes, that Sheila!

The two of us were at Sweet Salvage on Thursday evening (if you are keeping track, it is true, I went twice in one day) and then out to dinner at the new NoRTH Arcadia on 40th Street. Shelia was telling me about a menu she had recently made for a group of women she gets together with monthly – and when she mentioned this cannoli take-off, I begged for the recipe. I didn’t really have to beg, she graciously agreed to send it to me. She doesn’t remember where she found it but assured me that it tasted just like real cannoli. Wow, was she ever right – You will love it!  Thank you, sweet Sheila!

Note: Next time I will add a little orange zest to the ricotta mixture. I’ve already edited the recipe below to reflect that addition.

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I’ve only cooked one night, my dad’s birthday dinner, in over a week! That is so NOT like me, it’s such a rarity that it has probably been 3 or 4 years since it last happened. Well, if you exclude out-of-town vacations, that is.

What I’m trying to tell you is that I have nothing to share with you, recipe-wise. But I still have a few things to show you – Baseball. Gardening. Shopping! All of the photos were taken with my iPhone, the top two, were with a special camera app that I cannot recall the name of.  Marissa, will you please help me out with the answer?

I’ll begin with baseball. Dave and I went to our first Diamondbacks game of the season. We split season tickets with 8 or 9 other people. They are great seats in the third row behind the DBacks dugout. It was a total bust of a game though. Our guys lost to the Braves for the second night in a row. We left in the top of the 8th when the score was Braves – 7 and DBacks – a big fat ZERO. The final was 9 -1, Ouch! Let’s move on to something more pleasant, shall we? Shopping!

On Thursday, Peggy and I made our monthly trek to Sweet Salvage and I found several treasures. My favorite is this basket. I love the worn leather detail.

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Terry, Barbara, and Sloane

All-day long while Jacques, Barbara, Henry (executive producer), Kim, Sloane, Terry, and I were busy at the taping – others were slaving away as well. My husband, Dave, was working like a dog on taxes (it was April 15 after all, but the “real” April 15th was still two days away if you know what I mean). Henry’s wife, Jesse, was working like crazy because they have two young sons… and we all know what hard work that is! And Kim’s husband, Paul, was at home, cooking up a storm!

So after the show had wrapped and we all made ourselves as presentable as possible in 10 minutes… we rejoined at Paul and Kim’s gorgeous home, for an intimate dinner for ten.

Henry and Jesse

We started out with wine by the fireplace on their “back forty”.  Kim brought out Baguette Slices topped with Wild Mushrooms, Comté, and Roquefort along with a terrine of Jacques’ Chicken Liver Mousse brought over from the set.

Linda, Jacques, Dave, and Henry

The conversation and the wine easily flowed as we recounted the day’s events and as Jacques entertained us with a choice few of his many wonderful stories. Then we headed inside to Kim’s stunning dining room table, which I should have taken a picture of, darn it.

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The BIG event this past weekend was the taping of … Jacques Pépin Cooks for Eight.

Barbara Fenzl brought legendary chef, author, and educator Jacques Pépin to Arizona to tape a very special cooking show that will first air on June 4 at 7:00 pm and will serve as the main pledge-drive program for our local PBS station, KAET – Channel 8.

The title has a double meaning; Jacques and Barbara not only cooked together for channel Eight, in addition, but the menu was also set like a meal for Eight people.

But the taping of the show wasn’t the only big thing that happened over the weekend… there was a KAET fundraising dinner the evening before, Saturday night, in the gorgeous East Room at Vincent’s on Camelback. Here is a look a the menu. The artwork was provided by the guest of honor.

Barbara gave the most lovely and loving introduction for Jacques to the 100+ guests.  I think that was my favorite part of the entire evening.  She spoke so beautifully and eloquently.  I am always proud to call her my friend and my mentor, but especially at that moment.

Chef Vincent Guerithault and his staff put together an intimate and delicious evening.

The two Frenchmen have been friends since the mid 1970’s, when Vincent first came to the United States. It was a spectacular evening and each guest received Jacques’ most recent cookbook, Essential Pépin.  Then at the end of the night, Jacques signed and personalized every single book to each guest – and as he was doing so, a photo was taken, as a memento of the evening for each person, as well.

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Linda and Jacques in Kim and Paul Howard’s backyard on April 15, 2012

On Saturday, I mentioned that I was working on something very BIG over the weekend. These pictures are a hint of just WHO and WHAT the BIG deal was all about.

If you do not already recognize the handsome gentleman in these photos, he is none other than world-renowned chef, Jacques Pépin.  And if you don’t already know who Jacques Pépin is… please either read THIS or THIS or THIS, or just Google “Jacques Pépin” and read up. I promise you will be very impressed with this amazing man.

Kim Howard, Barbara Fenzl, and Jacques in my backyard on October 26, 2008 to celebrate Les Gourmettes’ 25 Anniversary.

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Image from Pinterest

I’ve been working with a friend/neighbor, cooking together once a week, to help increase her repertoire and confidence in the kitchen.

We make a meal for that night and another meal for the next night… something in the crock-pot or a casserole that can be refrigerated overnight and then popped in the oven the next day.

She has two sons who are picky eaters, I had forgotten what it felt like to have picky eaters! Because of that, we are taking it slow.  Let’s see; no fish or seafood, extremely limited variety of vegetables (when I say limited, I’m talking only potatoes, corn, and tomato), nothing too spicy… you get the picture.

They like pasta, red sauce, and meatballs… so I came up with this easy recipe for the “second-night” dinner… from the refrigerator to oven.  Add a fresh salad and she is ready to rock and roll.

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For Easter, I rearranged the hanging basket, over the sunken swim-up kitchen… keeping the ivy and replacing the roses with purple iris, daisies, and lilies.

Then, I drew all the new drop-cloth drapes on the patio, to keep the sun and warmth out, turned on the ceiling fans, and we had a beautiful late-afternoon dinner outside.

The place settings consisted of my collection of pink and green Bordallo Pinheiro majolica plates. Here is how I built each setting.

The green salad plate varied from one seat to another.

The bunny plate on the bottom right is my favorite, I particularly love the edging on that one!

For holiday dinners, I usually plate each course, but since Connor’s roommate was joining us, I didn’t want to make any assumptions about what he might or might not eat.  So instead, I set up a buffet.

We dined on Brussels Sprout Salad, Challa, Fruit Skewers, Smashed and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Roasted Leg of Lamb with Zinfandel Sauce, a glazed spiral ham from Costco, and Plum and Raspberry Upside-Down Cake.

The fruit skewers are self-explanatory – and just click on the names of any of the other dishes to get to the recipe. Below you will find the recipes for the lamb and the potatoes.

Even though Connor and his roommate, Patrick, are both nearly 21, they still enjoyed searching for, (above) and then playing with (below) the stuff in, their Easter baskets.

Oh, and turns out, I could have saved on the washing of a bunch of bowls and platters and just plated the meal after all. Patrick ate it up!

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Groovy Flowers + Lemons = Stupendous Centerpieces!

My Bestie, Amy, who you already know from Amy’s Famous Taco Soup – is always in charge of making cute name tags for our neighborhood soirées  – love those blinged out peace signs, Amy!

More peace signs along with smiley faces, a flower power table runner, and 70’s album covers were the decor at Rainy and Trent’s ultra cool and “Mod Squad-esque” home.

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Today I’m going to focus on the appetizer portion of our annual Progressive Dinner… which so happened to be held at my house. There will be some of the decor (yes, we had a Disco Mirror Ball!) and a couple classic 1970’s recipes.

Then on Tuesday, I’ll share with you a few more recipes and the super creative decor and tablescapes from two of our dinner host homes – Let me tell you – the two featured couples know how to set a theme table!

When you imagine decorating for the ’70’s, you have a bunch of choices to throw into the mix; Peace signs, the iconic Smiley Face, Flower Power, Hippy, and Disco. So much color and a little too much fun!

I’d recently purchased a case of vintage Pop Shoppe bottles online and had planned on serving a couple of “signature” cocktails in them… but the bottle openings were too small to get the ice cubes into. So instead, they served as a centerpiece.

For the cocktails, I pulled out my crate of antique individual milk bottles – not all that easy to get ice into either, but they worked. (Note: the photo was taken prior to filling the bottles with ice or beverage.)

Here are the recipes for a pitcher of each:

Tom Collins
2 cups Tanqueray gin
1 1/2 cups lemon or lime juice
1/3 cup sweet and sour mix
1/4 cup club soda

Harvey Wallbanger
2 1/4 cups Smirnoff vodka
3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup Galliano

Both cocktails are classically served with an orange slice. Speaking of orange…

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