When I was younger my father always went to a convention each year. My mom would go with him and after the convention they would make a little vacation out of it. Every year it was in a different place. Every year I was left behind(you may now feel sorry for me :) ). Every year my mom would try to compensate by bringing me gifts(yes, I was spoiled...but if you knew me, you would spoil me too!). I would get random t-shirts and trinkets but two things remained the same: I would get a sweatshirt from the local university and a cookbook from the local Junior League. Oh how I looked forward to getting those cookbooks. Regional cooking is so very interesting to me. Sadly though they never went anywhere back east and neither have I as an adult. My father eventually stopped going to these conventions(retired) and so my yearly Junior League cookbook allotment stopped. Boo. I then made it my tradition to buy the Junior League cookbook of places I visited. One time on the way to see my parents I … [Read more...]

I think far too many people don't celebrate life. I used to be like that. I used to be the person who never used their good dishes unless it was some super duper special occasion. Never broke open the good bottle of wine I bought. Never wanted my picture taken because I'm too fat. Always thought I would be happier if I had more money, was skinner, had a home, better car, etc.... And then I switched. I still don't use my good dishes every day but far more than the average person. I mean they are just too pretty to not! If I buy wine, I drink that wine. I don't let it sit around for forever....because I might not be around for forever. I stand and smile in whatever picture I am in. For that is me, and where I am at this point in life. Sure I may be a chunkster but my body is healthy enough for me to play hockey, go to the gym a few times a week and can do what I like to make it do. More money is always good, though I tend to find the more you make the more you spend, so really it is … [Read more...]

I talk about my mother on here from time to time, but my Dad has been lucky enough(until now that is) to avoid being featured on the blog. I get my love of baking, being in the kitchen and entertaining from my mom. However, it was my dad who really introduced me to a variety of foods. He still claims to this day the worst thing he ever did was introduce me to avocados because now when I am home we fight over them(we even arm wrestled once for the last one in the house). One time on one of our many “life lessons”, my father made my brother and I pile into the car and we went and saw a horrible movie, I want to say it was called King of the City. I remember very little about it except for the hooker who had a razor blade under her fingernail and killed her “John” in the car with it. A truly uplifting movie as you can see. We then drove around the slums. Next week we got all dressed up and went to a fancy restaurant where I got to have my own lobster(up to that … [Read more...]