Cooking Side Blog Commences

I started my latest side blog. It's called Lavender Basil Vanilla Thyme. The link is below right (Loretta Cooks!). Inaugural recipe: sugar cookies. Life is good. I have more to write about, but I'm too busy baking and eating sugar cookies (with a tall glass of milk) right now. I'll catch you up soon.

Happy Birthday to THS!

It is Memorial Day. I am remembering and memorializing. I am also cooking my husband's (The Hunky Scientist's) birthday dinner. It's his birthday today. It's been a birthday weekend for him, starting with a little barbecue and friend Donna's house in Friday. Another pal, Wayne, was there, which made it even more fun. We had steaks, baked sweet potatoes, and grilled asparagus. For dessert, Donna served Bob's favorite ice cream: Coffee. she put a candle in his. Sweet! Then on Saturday night we went to Masa's here in S.F. It's one of the swankiest and expensivest in town. We met more friends, Susan and Peter, there and had a great time. Sue and Bob got a wine pairing to go with the six-course tasting menu we all ordered. Peter and I were designated drivers and so we made do with water and little swiped sips of wine. The food and wine were wonderful (we loved their sommelier) and the service was outstanding, as it should be. Yesterday was a prep day for today. I made pasta in the morning, and went grocery shopping. Today cooking began in earnest. I started with a squash soup and mint-parsley pistou. They're now cooling in the refrigerator. Then I cleaned all the salad greens and sliced and bagged some cucumber for green salad. The fresh-grown tomato I'll leave until last to slice and add. I just finished prepping all the prep-able ingredients for the lasagna. It's time to start making the sauce. Then I'll pre-cook the noodles and bag and refrigerate them. I'll assemble the whole thing an hour in advance and put it in the oven a half hour before guests are due. I'll serve the soup in cups with a little pistou swirled in as Bob's pals arrive, and we'll have crackers and dips out for appetizers. Then I'll serve lasagna and salad. Friend Arthur is on his way over and we're going to make cannoli for dessert. It's what my sweetie requested instead of cake. And so he shall have it. All this food writing reminds me to inform you that shortly I will start writing a food blog. I'll link to it here as soon as I post the first entry.

Mother's Day Review

Mother's Day passed well and without trauma. I'd gone to my hometown to celebrate the birthdays of my older sister, her husband, and my younger brother, who were all born on May 5 and 6. We had a wonderful beach barbecue, flew kites, and ate luscious homemade birthday cake (made by family friend Ellen E.). It was a gathering so like the family parties my mom and dad used to orchestrate. We brought bottles of soap solution for the kids to blow bubbles with, and at the beach my 4-year-old niece sat while we scooped sand over her legs and feet to make a mermaid's tail. Then she'd burst up, run to another location, sit down and demand we do it again. That was Saturday of Mother's Day weekend. That evening, my brother-in-law offered to watch the little ones while my younger sister and I went out for a sisterly visit. We hadn't had that luxury--just her and I, alone to do as we pleased--in probably 10 years. We went up to a nearby restaurant and ate strawberry shortcake on the back patio and talked and talked. Sunday, Mother's Day, I got up and ate breakfast with her and the girlies, then drove north 15 minutes to see my younger brother's new apartment. I stopped again in Santa Barbara proper to visit my older sister in her bookstore, and then drove up to San Luis Obispo to see Jim and Ellen. I hadn't had my Jim and Ellen fix in too long, and it was a balm to see them. We watched golf and drank wine and ate crackers, olives stuffed with anchovies, and smoked oysters, all of which made my Greek blood hum in my veins. I got to read the latest, and final, draft of one of Jim's short stories, which he's submitting to a few contests (good luck!), and found he had polished it to a lovely shine. Too soon, it was time to hit the freeway for four more hours of driving. I did think of my mom quite a lot over the weekend, and my dad as well, but never in grief. I'm grateful.