Paths...

I shall be telling this with a sigh 

Somewhere ages and ages hence: 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

Today was my 48 birthday....what path lies ahead, I do not know, but I welcome it with open arms!

moments

There are moments in life that define you.  Moments that shape you and make you who you are. Moments that literally suck the life breath out of you, kick you in the gut and drive you to your knees.  But it's not in the moment that you are on your knees that defines you.  It's the moment you stand back up.   Lena Horne said "It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."  So I'm carrying it and it's heavy.  Sometimes I have to stop and rest, sometimes I drop it, but I pick it back up and carry it down the road.  The road has changed too.  For so long the road was straight and smooth and I could see for miles.  Now the road is bumpy and curved with many hills and I can only see a few feet ahead at times .... but I can see .... and I will carry it.  

I hope someday the road will be straight and I'll be able to see for miles again. I hope the load gets lighter and easier to carry.  But for now I am carrying it and it's changing me ... I hope for the better.  There is always hope and rebirth and spring. 

Sandwiches!

Had some family over today and decided to make a variety of sandwiches as the meal.  I love a good sandwich....something warm and melted is always nice.

These are not warm or melted ... but they are my favorite sandwich.  Prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes and basil with just a smear of mayo...yum...soooo good.

Pizza dough layered with assorted cold cuts and cheeses and another pizza dough on top and Bobs your man you have a calzone.

This is smoked salmon, gruyere cheese, preserved lemons and chives, grilled ... so delicious!

And last but certainly not least ... Croque Monsieur, ham, gruyere, bechamel, grilled ... YUM.  

Leftovers ... anyone?

Antique Inkwell

Saturday I went to an "Antique Fair" held at a church in town.  This is an annual event that my sister, mother and I attend every year.  I tell myself every year that I will not buy anything, but I always do.  Nothing big...but there is one rule, I absolutely have to love the object.  AND I DO!  My sister thinks I'm nuts she doesn't find anything about this object interesting or beautiful.  Drum roll please........

The guy who sold it to me said he didn't know the origin of it but he has worked in antiques all his life and never seen anything like it.  The hinge is very old and very delicate so I know it must be pretty old.  So cool....

Patron Citronge Margarita

add ice to a shaker 

3 parts Patron Silver

2 parts Patron Citronge

3 parts fresh squeezed juice (orange, lemon, lime)

shake 

pour

say no more!

Seafood Stew

Yesterday I made a seafood stew.  It was good and hopefully not too bad for me. (Some butter was used...Shhh don't tell the Dr.)  I made brown rice and put a mound in the center of the bowl and put the stew around it.  That's healthy .... brown rice.... right....

First I chopped 1  large onion, 4 ribs of celery and 2 small cloves of garlic and cooked them in a large pot with some olive oil.  Once the onions and celery were tender I added some water (about 8 cups)  the zest of  2 lemons, 1&1/2 tsp of Hon Dashi fish stock powder, 2 tsp lobster stock paste, 2 Knorr chicken cubes and about 2 cups of white wine.  

While that was cooking I cooked 4 small pieces of talapia in a fry pan with some butter.  When cooked I added that to the pot of broth.

Then I cooked about 1 pound of large scallops in butter and added them to the stock.    

Make sure to clean the shrimp really well.

After cooking and adding the shrimp I threw in some crab meat and the squid at the end.  

I served it with a caesar salad.

And for dessert we had some frozen vanilla yogurt with some of the kumquat jam I made last week...so good... 

Girls Night IN!

I had a few girl friends over on Friday night for some drinks and small bites.  We had fun and laughed a lot which I'm sure is why I had a bit of a headache on Saturday.  I took a couple of shots of them during the night, some of them were smiling while others where shoving food in their mouths.  In each shot someone looked bad and I know the girls would rather not have a bad shot of them published.....so....on to the food.

First we had some pea pockets, I got the recipe from 101 Cookbooks, Heidi suggests to either fry or steam them but I decided to brush them with a small amount of oil and bake them because some the other things were fried.  (Next time I'll steam them)

Next was Donna's request she loves tomato, basil and mozzarella salsa on garlic toast.

My favorite veggie spring rolls.

Lemon hummus with pita chips and veggies.

Chicken of a stick...

These don't look good, but tasted great.  I wrapped a piece of brie cheese with some dried cherry and pecans and baked them until golden, then cut them in half.

I also fried some squid but the coating didn't stick yuck, and Carmela brought some stuffed mushrooms...yum! Didn't get a picture of them.

I also made some ham and cheese ebilskivers.... so good.  I had some of the batter and ham and cheese left on Saturday morning I made a giant ebilskiver for me and Joe to split.  Didn't get a picture of them either.

I had a good time with the girls and the best part was I never had to leave the house!

Who lost an earring.... found this in front of the fireplace Saturday morning ....

anyone?