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No, I don't have a mystery date. It's more exciting than that. We get to play Mystery Date - the game. Wait! Don't go. There is strategy and chance, and cute boys behind a door, but it's really boring. It's not as much fun as I remembered. You just go in circles hoping to get the 3 cards you need to open the door and then hope by CHANCE that you have a match. Otherwise you start over. It's not my favorite game, but Elli likes to play it. And being the nice mommy that I am I play it with her once a year. See how nice I am? Lucky for me, last time we played I got really lucky and won early. Thank heavens. Because I'm usually ready to pack it up after about 4 minutes. I'm not a very good sport when it comes to playing games. I kinda like to win. Not a big fan of losing. Just ask my family. I perfected the art of moping when I was a kid. I remember when Don and I were newly married and we played Sorry! with his sister and her family and I totally S...

I know I've already said this, but I just love spring. I love all the flowers. I'm not a huge fan of all the RAIN, but rain brings flowers so I'll get over it. We have a plum tree out by our front sidewalk that is so beautiful right now. The little white blossoms are so gorgeous and dainty. Next will be the leaves, then the plums. Elli loves this tree. It's small enough she can climb it and she likes picking the plums when they're ripe. She doesn't really like eating them, just picking them. We haven't had much blue sky lately, but the plants and flowers don't seem to mind.         Almost looks like snow doesn't it? Thank goodness it's not! "The Plum Blossoms" by Henri Mattisse , 1948  I learned from my friends at Wiki that the tree originates from China. Some blossoms are pink like in the Matisse painting, some are white, and some are red. Our flowers are as white as snow. I just love looking at this pain...

Yesterday was a rainy, gray Sunday. So Elli and decided to make some cookies. We were too lazy to leave the house so we were going to use what we had. The plan was to make Chocolate Chip Cookies. But once we got to the kitchen we discovered we were out of chocolate chips. Boo. We have a huge box of truffles in the pantry that were from Christmas (which haven't been opened) so we thought we would chop them up and use them to make Chocolate Truffle Chip Cookies. Seems like a good idea, right? Simple enough to chop up truffles and use them in place of chips. Well, let me tell you, we're keeping it real here at "What's Cooking?" and it's definitely NOT a good idea. In fact it's a really, really, bad idea. I'm no cooking scientist but something funky happened in the oven and out of the oven popped this!!! This is how they looked going in.   And this is how they looked after 10 minutes. Holy schnikes! This is not cool at all. Elli and I were ...

Last weekend we went to Farmstead Restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch in St. Helena for lunch. We had two reasons to go there. One, was for lunch. (duh) The restaurant had just opened the day before so we wanted to check it out. The second, was to check out the cushions Pollin's had made for their patio to see how they looked. Everything was fantastic - the lunch and the cushions! I highly recommend it for lunch or dinner. If you go at lunch you can check out their flower and plant nursery and visit with their sweet chickens. If you go in the evening you can hang out at one of their awesome bars. They have one inside and one outside. They have an amazing wine list. They serve their own Long Meadow Ranch wine and other wines along with a full bar (I think.) We each had a glass of Cab with lunch and it was quite tasty.     Looks pretty comfy, huh?   This is the place to have a glass of wine and hang out. That is a bar at the far end. I wonder if you...

One of the things that I really love about Napa is the scenery. I love the hills and the vineyards. But sometimes it's the simplest things that are the most beautiful. Like the mustard plants that are in bloom right now. Add a cute little smile, or a country home, and it's just spectacular. Elli's good friend Susana. BFF's Susana and Elli screaming because they saw some ants. "Sit still" I yell, "we're almost done!" And then an ant bit me.  Nice. I took this one as were were flying by on our way back to Napa from St. Helena. I love how the motion blurred the mustard flowers.  Are you ready to come visit????

I love Snickerdoodles . I also love to laugh, and the name Snickerdoodle makes me smile and laugh. It's a silly name for a super duper yummy cookie. I had an up and down day yesterday and so did Don. So I decided I would make Snickerdoodles when I got home. Even before I started dinner - I wanted to make the cookies. One thing I love about these cookies is that I ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand - flour, sugar, butter, cream of tarter, cinnamon, you know, basic pantry stuff. So anytime we're craving a sweet treat we can always whip up a batch of Snickerdoodles. Cinnamon is a key ingredient in Snickerdoodles. I buy my cinnamon from Penzeys Spices. They have all kinds of Cinnamon. I used Penzeys Chinese Cassia for the cookies. It....is....good. Really nice cinnamon flavor. The color is a bit darker which is why the cookies look so golden. I don't have a Penzeys store nearby like I did in Connecticut. So now I order on-line, which isn't a bad thing. ...

Ok. That's a long title. But that's exactly what I'm about to share with you. It's the BEST valentine I could possibly give everyone I know. Ok, all the peeps over 21 that is. It's Wilfred's Top 10 list of wines that are in the current 5c sale. Who is Wilfred you ask? (gasp!) He's the Cellarmaster at BevMo. He's a wine master, all around funny guy, quite the foodie and my friend. So shoppers, get your cart ready.......and remember, the price I have listed is for the first bottle. The second bottle is JUST 5 CENTS. If that doesn't make your heart flutter than I don't know what will. Well, I can think of something, but I'm not going there!!!! Wilfred's Top 10 List 1. '08 Powder Keg Zinfandel , $19.99 - 91 PTS Wilfred Wong 2. '07 Kenwood Zinfandel , $27.99 - 91 PTS Wilfred Wong 3. '07 Line 39 Petite Sirah , $14.99 - 90 PTS Wilfred Wong 4. ' 08 Zolo Gaucho Unoaked Chardonnay , $15.99 - 90 PTS Wilfred Wong 5. ...

I was craving a cheeseburger yesterday. I didn't want a fast food burger, I wanted a home-made burger on sourdough toast with carmelized onions, a big, fat, tomato slice, and swiss cheese. And I knew I wanted french fries and coleslaw too. Hopefully the rest of the family will be happy with this! aaaaaaah..... so juicy and delicious. It totally hit the spot. Doesn't it look good? I want to grab it right now and take a bite. The carmelized onions were so sweet and delish on the burger. I'm actually making my mouth water as I talk about this burger and stare at the photo. And carmelized onions are so easy to make. Slice up an onion (I used a red onion) throw them in a non-stick pan with a teeny bit of butter and let them cook until they are golden brown and sticky-like. This will probably take about 15 minutes. Of course Elli didn't want a burger for dinner. Kids. I usually make her eat what we're eating but I just didn't have the energy to argue with h...