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She has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She will drop everything to help a friend or family member in need. She taught me that we should all give back and help those less fortunate. And that we should all work hard, be honest, and stay true to ourselves. She encouraged me to be creative and use my imagination. My ability to figure things out is a direct result of her teaching me to be resourceful - instead of being lazy and letting someone do it for me. She can get a house ready for company in 5 minutes flat. And plan a dinner party in 10. She's the woman you want on your committee. She gets things done. Need a party planned? She's your gal. Need a shoulder to cry on. She's a great listener. Need someone to laugh with? To dance with? To act goofy and be silly with? She's always game. Who is this fantastic person? She's my mom. She is my inspiration and my biggest fan. So what should I get this amazing person for Mother's day? How ab...

I don't know about you, but pizza is a staple in our house. Especially on Friday night. And back in the old days of me working for a living we would go out and eat pizza. But you know what? The stuff we make at home is better. So who needs waiters, and dishwashers, and bartenders. You can do it at home and pay the kids to help. Or you can dream that they would offer to help for free. Maybe your kids do that. Elli and Don? Not so much. Yes, I just lumped Don in the kids category. He doesn't do dishes without whining either. He's allergic, remember? Breaks out in a terrible rash and hives. It's really awful. Or so he says. I don't know, it's too terrible to think of him suffering like that so he gets out of dish duty. He does doggy poop duty instead. It's probably a fair trade. And yes Elli. THAT is an example of sarcasm. And, I probably shouldn't talk about "duty" and food in the same post. That's just gross. But what's done is don...

Don's very first half marathon is this Sunday. He's running in the Avenue of the Giants race in Humboldt County. I've never been there. But the giants they are referring to are not from Where The Wild Things Are . They are trees. Very big, very old redwood trees. It's going to be really beautiful. The perfect place for Don's first marathon. The big send-off dinner was last night. And guess who won the MVP award out of the group. The person voted to have the Best Shoes, Most Improved and Most Committed. It was DON! Everyone clapped and told stories about how impressed they were with him. I was so proud!!!! When he started running three months ago he couldn't even run one lap around the track. He came home really bummed and was doubting if he could do it. Then he started attending the Team-in-Training sessions and meeting the honorees and he was hooked. Plus he wasn't just running for himself. He was running for Mike. Our brother-in-law who was...

It wasn't good news. After years of trying, the whole baby-making thing was just not happening for us. I was sad, but not completely devastated. I never wanted a litter of kids. Just one would be nice. I grew up with a large family and so did Don. I didn't think I was cut out for all that chaos. I lived through it and didn't really want to be the sergeant that my mom was. It's a tough job being a mom to four kids. I wanted a career. I wanted to make my own choices and be in charge of my life. Or so I thought. Then the more I thought about it the more upset I got. It was supposed to be my choice. I never anticipated that I would not have a choice. This was not the way it was supposed to work. I was suppose to decide how many kids I wanted. The decision to wipe snotty noses on one kid or ten kids was mine to make. All of a sudden I was thirty five. We'd been married eight years. If we wanted to have kids we had to get it figured out or we'd be that weird c...

I recently met someone that said food didn't really matter to them. I have no idea what she said after that because all I could think was "I'm not sure we can be friends. You don't care about food." I'm kidding. That would make me crazy. But I was shocked she said it. Because I think about food 24-7. I wonder what she thinks about? And I wonder if she's ever had an amazing meal that she's thought about for days. I can think of so many delicious things I've eaten. I can practically taste the pistachio souffle from Aqua restaurant in Westport, and the Thai food we used to get at Taipan. If I shut my eyes I can smell and taste it. And bakeries. Oh I love the smell of fresh baked breads and pastries. Not donut store kind of bakeries. I'm talking the stuff you find at La Boulange, a local french bakery. I can smell the butter and sugar right now. I would love to be a food tester. I have a lot of opinions. I can't really prepare food li...

Last weekend Elli and her friend were begging me to bake something with them. So after much hemming and hawing I altered a recipe I have for blueberry scones substituting strawberries and orange zest for blueberries and lemon zest. 'Cuz that's what I had. This is a very forgiving recipe. Trust me. When 2 giggly girls are baking there is no guarantee that things are getting measured correctly. Or that they're keeping track of anything. These scones were delish. They're light and fluffy. Just sweet enough. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, dessert or a snack. We used them to make Strawberry Shortcake for dessert that night. Just slice them, top them with fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream. Voila. Yum. Too bad my dad's not here. He would have loved them. They only take 30 minutes to make. Start to finish. Go. Now! Strawberry Scones 2 c. all purpose flour 3 T sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top 1 T baking powder 3/4 t. salt 6 T butter (c...

I love when this happens. A friend tried a few recipes from the old blog (three!) and then shared a recipe for Bar Nuts she thought I would like. Yay! Danny Meyer, Union Square Cafe (photo: Union Square Cafe) It just so happens the recipe is from one of the restaurants Don and I used to eat at when he worked in NYC.  The Union Square Cafe  is Danny Meyer's restaurant. They have really yummy food.  I actually met Danny when I went to the Food and Wine Festival in Aspen a jillion years ago. He gave a talk on pairing wine and food. I still remember sitting there taking notes as fast as I could so I wouldn't miss anything. So I was pretty excited when I saw the recipe was from Union Square Cafe. I'll be whipping up a batch of these babies this weekend. For sure. 'Cuz nothing goes better with a bottle of wine than hot and spicy bar nuts.  Here are both of our nut recipes. In case you're feeling really nutty.  Union Square Cafe's Bar Nuts ...

It took you by surprise when you opened the door. The carpeting looked like shaggy strawberry jello. The rest of the house was conservative and muted. But not this room. And I was going to spend my senior year here. I slowly walked in taking in the scents and light, then layed down on the carpet right in the middle of the empty room. It brushed against my bare legs and settled beneath me as my body sank in. A soft breeze blew across my face and down the top of my legs from the open window. I was spread out on the carpet like a star with my head looking straight up. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, my chest sinking down, as I stared at the swirls in the ceiling and looked around. One thing was for sure. I had never seen carpet quite like this. The shag was so long you could grip it with your toes. I could feel the strands between my fingers as I slowly ran my hand back and forth across it. I bet I could make a snow angel. The thought of that made me smile ...

Thank you to Log Cabin for sponsoring my post about updated traditions in my household. To learn more about Log Cabin Syrups (which are all free of High Fructose Corn Syrup), breakfast for dinner, and other new ways to update traditions in your home, click here . I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective , which endorses Blog With Integrity , as I do. Most of the traditions in our house are carried over from my childhood. The birthday parade, sitting on the stairs for a Christmas morning photo, Mimi's yummy eggy breakfast casserole's, and home-made cookies from our kitchen. We would beg my mom for cookies and treats at the store and her answer was always the same. "You want cookies? Then bake them." she would say. So we did. Which probably explains why I never buy cookies at the store. They just don't taste as good. Then one day I tasted home-made granola. I've never been a big fan of store-bought granola. It's usually too swe...

I'm gripping the steering wheel so tight my fingers ache. How could I be so stupid? I just wanted to celebrate the good news. We got a distribution deal. We'll finally be making money. Why did I have to smoke a cigar? They're going to figure it out. They're going to know it was me that burned down the vineyard. Ten years of work gone. All because of a stupid cigar. I could swear I didn't drop any ashes out there. I can't believe this happened. Holy shit! What is that? I slam on the brakes, the truck skids off the road, I hit a ditch and the truck flips over. The airbag busts open in my face. I feel like I hit a brick wall. Uggggh , my head. I crack my eyes open and see a cow staring at me. He's frozen. As stunned as I am. Christ. I nearly killed myself to save that beast. Someone will probably be eating him for dinner tonight. What the? Lucky for me this truck is built like a tank. I'm not hurt but I can smell something burning. Unbelievable....

"Hey, when you have a chance will you look for a recipe on the Jamie Oliver app?" I ask Don, who is checking something on his iphone as we're driving home from Napa. No response. So I wait a few seconds. At least it seemed like a few seconds. "Would you mind looking for a recipe for me?" I ask. Again. No response. "Don?" "I will! Let me finish what I'm doing!" he snaps back. Ooops. Have I mentioned that we've been working together everyday since I lost my job. That's two months now. They call me "the intern" at the store. I do all the grunt work and don't get paid. We haven't spent this much time together in a very long time. So you know, I get on his nerves.  "Ok. I just want a plan about what to cook before I get home." Sheesh I whisper to myself. Ok, I whine. So now I wait........ "How about Grilled Lemon and Herb Chicken with Mash?" he suggests. "What's in...

"You should go. You'll meet some new kids." my mom said. "Yeah." I whispered, lying and just dreading it. I had no choice. She would make me go whether I wanted to or not. That's how it worked in our house. "It's a fundraiser for the church youth group. You're going. It will be fun!" she said in her perkiest voice. I hated this perky talk. It really made me cranky. Ugh. Why does she make me do this stuff? I don't want to meet new kids. I would rather poke my eyes out than hang with these geeky church kids at the youth group car wash. I seriously hate her sometimes. She is little miss happy and "lets make friends!" I do not want to make any friends. I wish she would leave me alone. Moving sucked. I had my story. "No, we're not in the military. My dad is a really smart executive in the airline industry. He's in ops. He gets promoted a lot. So we move a lot. I've never lived anywhere longer than four year...

Don and I went to the market on Sunday. He didn't really want to go. But he went. And let me just tell you. The man sampled every item in the market. Everything. And it was all delicious. Our strategy was to taste everything then go back and buy stuff. We actually ran out of cash. We went to make our last purchase at the Flavored Butter table and didn't have enough money. Kind of embarrassing and really sad. I wanted the chile lime butter it was really good. I'll have to wait until next time. We'll definitely go again next month and take Elli with us. She would have loved it. We bought her some Himalayan Sea Salt as a present. The girl loves salt. Plus the company gives back 10% from every purchase to help build schools for girls. And next month my friend Michelle Stern will be there with her new cookbook. Here's what you missed! I didn't get pictures of everything. Cuz you know, I was busy eating. It's hard to juggle the camera, purse, samples. Man, i...

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Danya Adolphs the founder and Market Director of Homegrown Marin Market . Danya started the market to give local food artisans a place to sell their unique culinary creations. It's not a Farmer's Market and it's not the church bake sale either. You know those folks that are amazing cooks, the one's you always say "Hey you should sell that stuff!" Well these are those people. And some pros too. But mainly they are your Bay Area culinary wizards that just love creating in the kitchen. Lucky for us there are organizations like Homegrown Marin where we can buy all the goodies. Every month is a different group. You'll find everything from home-made crepe's, jams, jellies, breads, cheeses, coffee, barbeque and of course yummy baked goods. The market takes place in San Rafael at the Marin Fencing Academy. Bring the family and your appetite. There's lots of yummy stuff to sample and purchase. This month...

This is a regular conversation for us. Is it for you, too? "What do you want for dinner tonight?" I say to Don. Silence. "What are you in the mood for?" I ask. Silence. "I haven't planned anything." I add. Don is relaxing in the car on our way home from Napa. The seat is in the recline position. His eyes are closed. He's trying to catch a quick nap. And I'm bugging him about dinner. Hey, it's my job to think about what we're going to eat. Because I need to start making dinner the minute we get home. Elli is always starving. And I usually am too. "I bought chicken teriyaki meatballs at Costco on Saturday." he says. "Perfect. I'll make rice. We'll have meatballs and rice." I respond. Phew. I thought for a minute I might be making pancakes for dinner. An okay choice in Elli's opinion but considered a dinner cop-out to Don. Breakfast for dinner has been sounding better and better to me...

Hi everyone. Want some new wines to try this weekend? Attending a birthday party for a certain special someone and want to bring something yummy to the barbeque? ( Happy Birthday dad!!!!) Look for these wines when you're out and about. We tried them recently and they are really good. Both wines are from Spain. I'm not sure how easy they are to find. I know for sure you can buy them at The Spanish Table . So if you live in the Bay Area, Seattle or Santa Fe just go there. The first wine was my favorite. 2008 Fronton de Oro Tintilla Gran Canaria It's from the Canary Isands. It's made in extremely small quantities. So you better get your toosh to the store if you want to try this one. The wine had flavors of dark cherry, raspberry and a slight floral aroma. Good stuff. Retail price $27 Photo: Timanfaya National Park on Oct 2006, ( katiecoos ) From Trip Advisor The second wine is from Ribera del Duero, which I'm pretty sure is in northern Spain clos...