Gourmet Dinner Group for March

This month, instead of everyone bringing part of the dinner, Paul chose to cook it all and have us just contribute monetarily. That was fine with all of us, as Paul is a wonderful cook. He has gourmet taste buds and was willing to share his favorites with all of us, and we were not disappointed. The items on the menu were varied and many.

We started out with apricots stuffed with goat cheese.  I have to admit that I really don't like goat cheese.  I have tried and tried it in many things and many ways, but it's just one of those things that I never acquired a taste for.  The apricots were good though.  Sorry Paul, but they we so pretty.

Then out came the stuffed grape leaves.  I don't know exactly what they were stuffed with, but a rice and lamb mixture maybe.  Let me know Welton's.  They were very good.

You can't have a meal without bread can you?  It was delicious with fresh shaved        Parmesan cheese.

                                            Homemade tamales with.......

                            fresh homemade guacamole.  Both were outstanding.

Beef Tenderloin was my favorite. It was truly so tender and rare, was atop a bed of onions and was topped with a blue cheese sauce. It was cooked to perfection.

Another delight was this chicken dish on a bed of rice and topped with his home made sauce/salsa.  I should have paid more attention to all the ingredients but it had onions, peppers  balsamic vinegar and other things.  I guess I spent so much time looking and eating that I neglected to concentrate on the ingredients.  Sorry Paul.

Maybe my favorite thing was smoked polenta with a balsamic vinegar/chipoltle glaze on top.  I didn't get a photo of it because it was gone before I could get my camera out.  He made the polenta, flattened it and cut out rounds as if he were cutting out sugar cookies.  He grilled it on the grill so it had a little smokey flavor.  Yum, yum, yum.

Doug and Julie

Scott and Lori

Susan and Paul.....see Susan, you never take a bad photo

Rick and Laura....see Laura, it's hard to get a good photo of you but you are so darling so I keep on trying

Wayne and Joan

Jim and Jaymie

Next month...German cuisine???

Life is not Always Easy

My beautiful daughter Amy had a miscarriage  today.  Actually, the baby died inside of her a couple of weeks ago and she will have surgery but will have to wait until the baby comes on it's own. It could be tonight or next week.  She was about 4 months along and we are all very saddened by this occurrence.

 I can really feel empathy for her because I have had two miscarriages myself. One was especially hard because I was about 5 months along and 2 of my sisters-in-law were due at the same time.  Now they would have babies together and I would be left out.  I mourned for a long time for this lost baby.  It was not a fetus, not a pregnancy, but a baby. 

Amy had Hyperemesis    Hyperemesis gravidarum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
which meant she has been very, very sick for these past few months but we kept saying just get through this and it will be worth it.  Now their (our) dream is gone.  Some of the things people thoughtlessly say are " oh, you can have another", or  "it's for the best, it was probably not right",  "it was God's will",  "get over it, it wasn't a baby yet".  Even if some of the things are true, they should never be said to the parents.  Instead say, "I am sorry",  "I love you",  " I will help you with the housework, food and other children so you can rest",  "take the time you need to mourn", "we care", "I will keep you in my prayers", "I am here".

Losing a baby is hard on the husband too as he tries to be strong and not show too much emotion in front of his wife. He has lost this dream too.

One thing I do know from my experience is that it can make you stronger. Or, if you let it, it can pull you away from people and from God's love.  I had some wonderful people in my life to help. Amy and Wes do too.  They are strong and will get through this with care and love from all of us.

Today

                           Today is National " Pi "Day.  Are you Excited?

                       On March 14, 2015, at both the AM and PM hours, the date

                      will read 3/14/15 at 9:26:53.589. It's the most accurate

                         pi day that many people on earth alive today will ever see!

                               The short version of Pi is 3.14, and today is 3/14

It's also Albert Einstein's birthday.  I am sure that he would have understood what that means.

It's also National Potato chip day. Now,  I get that!  Give me the sour cream and chive and the cheddar and onion ones.  No Pringles please.  Wayne was at their plant and watched how they were made.  Let's just say before they are formed and baked, the dough is gray and they are made from all the potatoes that couldn't quite cut it as real potato chips.



Last year, this is what I found under my deck.  I was in awe of the pattern of life as I watched the hatching, the growth and the good-by flight. I was sad when they left.  I am hoping some little bird will make a nest outside my bathroom window this year so I will have a "bird's eye view".

Spring officially starts on the 20th of this month so I am going to watch for amazing things to happen in the yard again.  It has started already with the blooming of my pussy willow. Pussy willows are amazing things.  They start out with the little toes and then  yellow flower burst from the toes and then the pretty green leaves appear to last all summer.  I am going to really stop and smell the roses more often this Spring, (this year) and maybe, just MAYBE,  even appreciate the delicate blossom of a weed, that if it were not so prolific, might even be considered pretty just before I rip it from the ground.

When He Comes Again

Isaiah 11:6  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

I am a major animal lover and find myself drawn to almost all of them with the exception of maybe the snake.  My daughters and I were talking Sunday about how nice it will be when Christ comes again and there is amity between man and the animals.  I will be right in there to hug a panda bear,  a tiger or maybe even this guy, although he has a face that only a mother could love.  I am pretty sure I will be able to go visit the animals in heaven because it wouldn't be a real heaven without them, especially my long gone dogs.

We did have some good supervision

This is what my house looked like for weeks.  I am a (little bit) of a neat freak and it drove me crazy but I had no choice.  I wanted my living room, dining room, hallway  and kitchen painted. We had to do most of it on weekends when Wayne had time, and because Amy was here most of the time and because she was so sick, we didn't want the paint fumes to make her more sick.

 All of the upstairs of our home was originally painted in an oil based paint.  Who does that any more Mr. Home Builder? All of the upstairs was painted the same color....flesh.  Wayne called it nude.  It wasn't horrible but just didn't ever look really good with anything. The ceilings and walls were all the SAME color and I just couldn't take it any longer.  I have an artist's heart and love color, so after weeks of looking at paint samples at every hour of the day to see how the light played off the samples, I finally chose my colors. Because of the oil paint EVERYTHING had to be primed first and several areas needed a second coat.  Let me just say, it was soooo much work.  I did almost all of the taping off with a little help from Wayne and Wes. With our architectural elements it was tough.  I went through 4 rolls of painter's tape.  Then I helped Wayne by doing a little bit of the cutting in, but Wayne did all of the painting.  The ceilings were the worst, especially the high ones, and I have a feeling the next time I want it done we will be checking out the yellow pages.  Was it worth it?  Yes, to me it really was.  I now live with a golden tan living area and a subtle green kitchen.  I kept my one rusty barn red wall.  I will post pictures when I am through putting stuff back up where it belongs if I can just remember where it goes.

A Wacky Wednesday Birthday

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday so it must be Wacky Wednesday also.   My grandson got the "Wacky Wednesday" book a few months ago (he is 3) and every time he reads it or even talks about a palm tree in a toilet he bursts out laughing.  Then he tells me about how the table legs on the table in the book are WACKY.  He is enthralled with this book. When I first got married, my little brother Greg missed me and would call and read to me over the phone.  His choice was "Hop on Pop".  That was 40 years ago.  Who hasn't read the book or seen the cartoon of the Grinch who stole Christmas? My other grandchildren used to laugh at some of the other books that Dr. Seuss has written, and Wayne used to fix green eggs and ham on Saint Patrick's Day.  Some of our kid's friends relish that memory.  Dr. Seuss has been a household name for many, many years.  Take a minute and sing happy birthday to him today.  Our lives would not have been so fun or WACKY without him. 

 Check out the other things he has done:  Dr. Seuss - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia