exceeding the speed limit

Too Sunny for a Coma, Darn

I love it when it pours after Christmas and is dark and gray.  Then I can hole up, let the fam eat cereal for 3 squares and watch chick flicks in bed for hours.  My Christmas Coma.  Well, guess what.  It is beautiful outside.  Not hot, but fabulously sunny.  So no sleepy movie time.  Damn.  The guys put together the trampoline that Santa and his bad ass, lazy elves were too busy to put together Christmas Eve.  Everyone seems to be jumping for joy.   And I have a slightly sore throat from not using my diaphragm as lead singer on Rock Band.  (btw, I am a near expert on vocals).

I'm collecting baby clothes again for my virtual best friend, Mel, in South Africa.  She runs a fab organization there called Bosom Buddies.  I think it's one of those hopeful charities that provide baby clothes and necessities to poor mothers and their infants who live in the townships.  I love getting the clothes people send to me to organize for her.  Little packages from all over the US that bring smiles and hope to people half way around the world.  I'll be sending two suitcases again the first week of January.  There's still time and you can probably score some amazing deals on onesies or sleepers.  Give me a shout if you want to help!

Off to make some soup.  Ciao for now!

Merry Christmas!!

Aaaaaahhhhh, Christmas is finally here!  For those of you who didn't receive a card (literally, I kid you not, I used the addresses in my phone first, and never got back around to my address book), here it is!!  Hope your stocking is filled with Christmas cheer, and if it's not, try vodka.:-)

Tea n Tee

I'm still breathing.  And guess what?  If you don't get a Christmas card this year, it's not that I don't love you.  I've just decided to try to enjoy the holidays a tiny bit.  I really do enjoy writing out cards, but this year has been a bit of a joke!  Let go.  Let flow!  

So in pursuit of my uber Christmas spirit, I took my girls to tea in the city.  When Claire was 3 we started our first annual Christmas mother-daughter tea.  I had enough tea cups and plates for ten girls and enough china for ten moms.  It was about the cutest thing you've ever seen.  Little girls trying to drink tea, and eating sugar cubes and wearing fancy dresses.  As years passed and Jules was old enough to participate, the group changed.  On years when my mom had surgery or was sick, we opted to go out, each girl with their best friend.  And so it goes.  We try to make tea at home every other year so we can include more friends.  It's now really just a chick tea because not all of my girlies have daughters or kids.  The year I was pregnant with Mac we all joked around that everyone was sure I was having a girl, but if I happened to have a boy, we all hoped he'd be gay so he could help me with the tea and do flowers and compliment my girlies on their outfits!  Yeah, that didn't happen!  I love tea.  I love little food.  I love sharing this time with my daughters. 

Tina, Steph, Jody & Jill

Camille, Claire, Katy, Maggie

Hannah and Julia

I'm not feeling the gay thing with baby boy.  And so now, for the first time,  my boys have a tradition.  While the girls do their tea, the boys do the golf tee.  Only fitting.  And Mac LOVES the 19th whole.

Yesterday we went to the Fairmont in San Francisco.  It was beautiful.  The girls each with their best pals and I with mine and Jill's grown up daughter Katy enjoyed a fab couple hours of Christmas cheer.  So grateful to sit and enjoy the holidays for a moment.  I'm so blessed to have such great friends.  Really amazing that my girls still have the same BF's from when they were in preschool!

Claire and BFF Camille now 11 and almost 12

Hannah Banana and Jules now 8 (almost 9!)

I had one glass of champagne and about 7 cups of lovely Earl Grey tea.  Serious Elvis effect....then I came home and had a martini to quiet my caffeine buzz....I think I'll try that again.  

Not So Silent Night

Baby Jesus must have been one tough cookie.  Baby Boy questioned me the other day.  "Mama.  You know that bed thing Baby Jesus sleeps in?"  "Yeah Mac, the manger..."  "Well did his mama ever pick him up?"  Poor boy all he's seen are all the creches with baby Jesus in the manger. Have you ever seen a creche with Mary actually holding the poor baby Jesus?  Quite the brilliant observation by my boy!  I should have told him that she forgot the Baby Bjorn and the pack-n-play didn't fit on the donkey.  The Aero bed had a pin hole in it.....

I realize every day that Baby Boy is getting so big and to enjoy all of his little moments.  Last week we got to go to the kids' Christmas concert.  Mac is front and center.  The rule follower.  The lip syncer?  Here's a clip of him keeping everyone in line...and then poke fest that ensued during Silent Night!   So funny. For me, these moments are the best part of Christmas.    He's the shaggy blond in front...enjoy the show!

Download Macsings 

I'm still pretty far behind.  My kids have about 2 things each.  I spent 4 hours at the mall yesterday and came home with one pressie.  Today we are off to tea at the Fairmont in San Francisco.  It's a chick tradition.  We either have it here or go out every year.  This is a go out year!  More later!

Oh Comfort and Joy!

Did you think I'd forgotten you?  I kinda did.  I'm done mailing packages, done making and buying teacher gifts and cupcakes for school parties.  Kinda done...but have soooo much more to do.  Pretty much all of my shopping, wrapping and Christmas cards.  Crap, crap, crap!  So, bring on the cheer!!  I'm sure it's 5 o'clock somewhere!

 A couple of years ago on New Year's day my pal Jody and I went shopping and to a movie at Santana Row, our little fav place to see movies.   We stopped at Thea and that is where we had our first kiss....Pomegranate Kiss that is!  Since then, it's been our drink of choice at Thea, stopping only for fasolada soup, some homemade pita and hummus, and our beloved Pomegranate Kiss.  We even got the bartender to spill his guts and give us the recipe.  Nearly 40 and still've got it! ha!  Ooh, I'm even going to convert it to metric for all of you out of America folk!  It's my gift to you dear reader!

Are you an egg-nogger?  Hot buttered rummer?  Tea-totaller?  What is your drink of choice??  In my house??  Whatever gets you through the holidays!  Cheers!

Pomegranate Kiss

by Thea

1.5 oz (44.36 ml) Grey Goose Orange Vodka

.5 oz (14.79 ml)oz Triple Sec

.5 oz (14.79) POM pomegranate juice

juice from 1/4 lime

splash of cranberry juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice.  Shake.  Pour into martini glass.  Garnish with orange zest.  This is sure to take the grinch out of your holiday madness! 

Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary

 

I guess I could have wiped the bowl a bit, eh?

I've made mention that I despise cooking from recipes.  I think it's both an attention and control issue.  I'll discuss with my therapist.  Having to follow someone's orders!  What if it's gross??  My kids, on the other hand love looking for recipes and having me try new ones.  Claire saw Giada making this soup on the Food Network and we decided it looked pretty good.  And, you know what?  It was.  And you HAVE to add the creme fraiche.  It's amazing and tastes so much better than sour cream!

Last year, Giada was doing a personal appearance at Sur la Table and my kids were jacked to go and meet her.  So I bought her cookbook so they could get it autographed.  Now, I have to admit, her over-enunciation of words and gianormous smile kinda bug, but she was v. nice to the kids and was as beautiful in real life as on TV, cleavage, white smile and all.  She really can cook and does have good recipes.  And, she's shorter than me, so I felt better.  ha ha.  She was talking to the kids and my boy was speechless.  Just stood there with a huge smile!  Didn't even hand her the flowers he had for her!

Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary Creme Fraiche

by Giada DeLaurentis

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini (white) beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, plus 1 teaspoon, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (I changed to white pepper as I don't love black)
• 2/3 cup creme fraiche
• Zest of one lemon

Directions

In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

Puree the soup in a blender in batches, being careful to remove and discard the bay leaf. Return the soup to a soup pot and keep warm over low heat. Season with salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl fold in the lemon zest and the remaining teaspoon of rosemary to 2/3 cup creme fraiche. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and dollop each bowl with the lemon rosemary creme fraiche. Serve immediately.

A Very Merry Tenderloin Sandwich

Geez, what has it been now, 14 years since i've done a food post?  ha ha.  Actually, the week of my event it was pigs in a blanket and take out all week.  I promised the hub that after a week of eating out I would make an effort to do dinner in this week.  Yay me.

Did you ever see the movie Mermaids with Cher?  Well, it's quirky, and she made hors d'oeuvres for every meal.  Small cute food.  It was funny.  I find that when things get smaller they get cuter and more appealing.  Same goes for these sandwiches, which require v. little effort for the cooking impaired.  And, double bonus if you have a Trader Joes, because you can get everything there.  My cousin, Sue, made a version of these over the summer and look, perfectly holiday appropriate!

Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches with Roasted Red Pepper Spread, Pesto and Fresh Mozzarella

For marinade:

1 pork tenderloin

1 7 oz. (199 g) container pesto, or your own fresh, split in half

1/4 c. olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. salt.

1 tsp. white pepper

To assemble:

6 dinner size franchese rolls (par baked are the best)

1- 8 oz ball fresh mozzarella, sliced

1 jar roasted red pepper spread

reserve of pesto

whole basil leaves

Throw (literally) tenderloin, half of pesto, all of oil salt and pepper into a ziploc bag.  Massage.  Marinade in fridge for 4-6 hours.  I went out to grill my loin and my propane was empty, so I put it on the George Foreman Grill.  Your meat should register 155 degrees before you take it off, and then 160 after it's had time to rest.  Cooking time 10-18 minutes depending on size.

After it rests, cut into 1/2" slices.

Split rolls in half and bake until cooked, but NOT brown.  Add mozzarella to one side and place those pieces back into the broiler until melted.

On the other half of the roll, spread pesto and on the cheese side, add the roasted pepper spread.  Add sliced pork and top with a basil leaf!  Very Merry!  And v. cute dinner in less than 30!

Starting off the holidays in cardiac arrest

Yeah that's 185 orchid stems, baby!  I've been a bit preoccupied with our school's endowment event this week.  Combo of long days and little sleep=no time to blog.

Wednesday morning I got up at 3:30 a.m. to go to the mart to pick up my flowers...it was super foggy and my normal 45 minute trek took an hour.  Couldn't exactly go 80 now could I?  I kept passing signs for deer crossing and was sure that this would be the end of me.  I would die from hitting a deer on 280 N in the fog.  Ok so I'm a fatalist sometimes, but it was a white knuckler!

Here are some pics at the mart.  It really sucks getting up so early, but once I get there there is an awesome espresso cart and I luv, luv, luv all the energy and options!'

want peonies?  they've got them (and my are they pricey right now, $30/5 stems!)  Peonies are my fav.

or hydrangea...

or even artichokes

This is my sideways boy Susano (having v. difficult time rotating my pal in typepad, so just deal).  Whoever says men can't multi task hasn't met this man.  He's awesome and he gives me chocolates.  So this time I gave him a package of Orbit...kinda of all I had in the car!!

So I got all the goods, headed home, got the babes to school and went to start all the flowers.

It was literally butt cold that morning and we were outside all day, freezing, literally, noses dripping, fingertips purple.  My friend, partner in crime in this adventure, and yen to my yang, Tonja was there with me.  She is so strong....so amazing.  Lucky me :-)

Then we go home.  Worked out.  Came home again.  Hot bath.  Early to bed.  And then....at 1 a.m.  a stage 1 puker!  Uugghh.  Mac got the stomach flu.  Not a restful evening....

Game on.  Big day.

First we made the big arrangements...

and finished all the room details...

and then showtime!

These are our "Snowflake Girls" who sold cookies and raffel tickets.  My friend Andrea made their outfits (among the many many things she did for this event!)

yum.  my fav combo - butter, flour, sugar....sold by the girls

And finally, my girlies showed up for our all girls table, generously bought by my pal Jill and her hub Bob!  Thanks guys!

Me and Jill

my gal pals...me, Joy, Trish, Jill, Synthia (bottom) and Steph, Jody and Kim (top)

The evening went by waayyyy to quick!  Word has is on the street that is was one of our most successful events!  Yay!  And now I'm in holiday cardiac arrest with not a single gift purchased, made or wrapped.  Crap Crap Crap...here we go!