Beautiful Olives

How beautiful is this?  John, Jamie, Pierre and I had so much fun tasting some new-to-us varieties of olives!  A wonderful way to spend an hour with my family...

 

Easy Crepes

Last week brought our girl, Gina, home to us.  It also brought the (NON-event) Hurricane Irene which allowed Gina to stay an extra day, which was fantastic.  Our family was quite busy all week, but carved out some time to spend together and that always involves food!  John was craving crepes then Lewis (Gina's friend) jumped on board and proceeded to make us his English version of crepes.

Simple and barely sweet, fresh summery flavor that leaves you satisfied without leaving the table too full.  Perfection on Sunday morning!

CREPES

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
pinch of salt

Blend all together in a mixing bowl with a whisk.  Allow to rest about 20 minutes to remove air bubbles.  Heat a crepe pan to hot and butter lightly.  Pour in just enough to coat bottom of pan, allow to brown slightly and flip.  Viola!

While hot, squeeze a good bit of fresh lemon juice over the crepe and sprinkle with plain white sugar.  Fold into thirds and top with a bit more lemon juice and teaspoon of sugar.

It's interesting that the lemon juice absorbs into the crepe and the sugar melts almost instantly to give a lovely tart/sweetness to the crepe, but keeps it light and airy.  

The crepes gave us enough sustanence to make a trip to a local apple cider mill to eat doughnuts and drink cider on the Huron River later in the afternoon and to cook a lovely supper full of fresh vegetables from the garden and farm. 

It was a beautiful day in Michigan and a lovely send off for Gina and Lewis.  Now we are backing to missing them.      

Busy...

How busy are you?  Do you do the things you want to do or are you too busy?  Do we create busy...hmmm that's a big thought for so early in the morning.    

I saw a television clip not long ago from a motivational speaker/business consultant, Danielle La Porte.  You can find her here http://www.whitehottruth.com and she is a firecracker! 

The particular clip was about being "BUSY".  The synopsis was how everyone is "busy" and each person feels their "busy" is more important than someone elses "busy" and that people will be competitive about how "busy" they are!!  It's also about how we use "busy" as an excuse for not doing _______.

I found the whole clip to be hilarious and enlightening.  Do I use "busy" as an excuse?  The short answer is "yes and yes and no".  

I tracked my "busy" for a week and found I did use "busy" as an excuse to not complete some ugly tasks ...hardly a federal offense.  I claimed "busy" to send regrets to a couple's wedding shower...I am sending a gift early, and I really do have other plans that can't be changed.  Then I cleared my schedule for this weekend to just be with family, no busy what-so-ever; college graduation and having the family over for supper. 

There are 22 of us...but 4 were "too busy"!! 

Sure, it will be busy, a great, fun, fabulous kind of busy with family!  I can't think of a better way to spend my time....        

A fabulous year begins...

Yesterday was my birthday. I contemplated wearing the sweater I wore on my birthday last year, in hopes of denying another year had passed me by. 

Birthday 2010-Paris

I don't mind getting older (much) it's more the feeling that life has sped up and I still have so many things I want to do!!!  I thought my "Things to do in this Life" list would get shorter and instead, I find myself adding to it every week!  There are so many places and people, things to cook and eat...stuff to explore!

My partner in crime, John, always makes my birthday special.  How did I ever get so lucky to have him by my side for 22 years?  John can make cheese and play anything on an electric guitar.  He can MMA train, kicking ass and sing "Happy Birthday" to me while holding p-dog.  He makes me laugh everyday and took me to Paris.  He is the love of my life. 

John

His gift to me was "Pixie"!!! Nespresso's newest espresso machine.  An orange one...we drank espresso at 11pm toasting another great year.  John also got an enormous sampler pack of cartridges in every flavor.   It was a fantastic day! 

Meet Pixie!

The Roma is fabulous!

Our oldest daughter, Gina, fed some of my serious addictions...soap.  She sent me this little beauty and a this sweet little candle.  I am loving the cat (as did she) and the fact that it killed the odor of frying corn tortillas in oil the other night.  It's a miracle.  I am saving the soap until tonight...I've just been enjoying the beautiful aroma and package.

My mom fed my dish addiction with sweet,earthy Japanese small plates and a lemon pound cake!!! She also forced some forsythia branches for me and brought a lovely bouquet to The Market for all to enjoy.

Lemon Pound cake with Chocolate and Pistachios!

Flowers from Mom

Julia and Jamie sent lots of birthday wishes, kept Pierre in line and the homestead tidy.  Those were great gifts!
My in laws had a short visit and a Frank Sinatra singing card with some cash tucked inside.  Enough for a cute pair of stripey capris I've been eyeballing.  That was a great gift and Sinatra is still singing this morning!

My friend Mel brought me Madagascar Cocoa!!

I received lots of Birthday wishes from friends and family, near and far...Facebook can be amazing.  I am raring to start another year full of love, adventure, food and family!