Early May Weekending.

This weekend wasn't nearly as photogenic as the last one (or hopefully as this next one promises to be !) but it seemed a lot more typical of weekends around here.

A Friday afternoon pedicure. (which isn't all that typical - I make appointments for every five weeks in the winter and four in the summer ... but I certainly wouldn't mind if this were a regular Friday thing!)

Friday night snacks (back to the typical).

Morning walks to the lake. I took Holly with me on Saturday and went by myself on Sunday. The round trip is three miles and I have to carry Holly for at least 2/3 of that. She only weighs 8 pounds, but still, I was surprised I burned more calories on the solo Sunday walk. (maybe because I didn't pause to take any photos?!) I realized this morning that neither Marc nor I have had to resort to the treadmill in over a week. This is a new - and much-welcomed - return to typical!

Cinco de Derby. fun Mexican is a standard feature around here (that's Ina's grapefruit margarita bottom right ... highly recommended) and we are horse racing fans through the Triple Crown. I think Justified might have a chance...

and that brings me to the center photo. a new knitting project (details forthcoming) and a new book. definitely typical! but oh my goodness - I haven't been this captivated by a book in months. I am loving it!

I guess "typical" is a broad term.

What from your weekend was "typical"?

Beaufort 2018 | Part Two.

aka "the one with the food and a cocktail". and note I am writing this post on Friday afternoon, to be sure it lands in your feed reader at just the right time 😉.

As I shared last week, our dining routine has been fine-tuned over many years. We did add in two new meals this year and we're planning to repeat them:

First, Thursday night - I picked up a ready-to-heat pasta/spinach/sausage casserole and a caesar salad from Costco (before we left). It was nice to settle into the house, visit with Charlie and not have to think about going out. Also, the meal was delicious!

Second, Friday's lunch at Lowcountry Produce. I'm not quite sure how we managed to miss this one for so many years - except that there are lots of great restaurants and we only have a few meals there! We all shared the housemade chips with blue cheese and bacon to start

and then Lydia and I shared a slice of tomato pie and the pimiento cheese trio.

This is hands-down the best tomato pie I've ever had. Of course lunch out with four foodies (three of whom actually cook ... um yep, all but me!) means trying to deconstruct the recipe and all I can say for sure is that it was chock full of tomatoes and cheddar cheese and maybe no mayonnaise. It might be next year before I get to have it again since all my recipe searches have yet to turn up anything that looks close. If any of y'all have a suggestion, please share!

...the rest of the weekend followed in the steps of previous years...

Friday night's dinner is Emily's. for tapas. Here's our first course - oysters, bruschetta, smoked salmon and tuna tartare

it was followed by two more, with lots fewer dishes ... and sadly no photos, but I think we all have very fond memories of the single plate of soft-shelled crab that was the most perfect "dessert".

Saturday's lunch is Wren's. because of the big round table in the back, I think. This year I had the fried green tomato stack - the tomatoes are layered with goat cheese and that's bacon onion jam drizzled (?!) over the top. This is a recipe I would never even try to make at home!

Saturday's dinner is Old Bull Tavern. because lamb shanks, which are my mom's favorite. We started with cocktails (see below) and smoked mullet dip. Then Lydia and I shared this delicious gnocchi with shrimp and a pizza (they have a huge brick oven and the pizzas are A-mazing).

and somehow, we all managed a few forkfuls of tiramisu for dessert.

Sunday's brunch is takeout from Blackstone's. because crab cakes benedict. Only on Sundays, they make crab cakes and the crab cake benedict is (for those in my family who love eggs) the best. Charlie told us that the original owner had retired and sold the restaurant, but we certainly couldn't tell from the food or the service. We did arrive a little later than normal this year to place our to-go order and they'd just run out of crab cakes! Still, I had a tuna salad (not pictured). Lydia had Saturday night's leftovers (also not pictured). The rest of the crew had good reports about Eggs Benedict (without crab cakes - also not pictured). I do however, have a photo of my mimosa and knitting.

Sunday's dinner is Saltus River Grill. Charlie is friends with the restaurant's owner and we are most jealous he gets to dine here more than once a year! The menu is a seemingly odd mix of sushi and low country dishes; I guess it all works because it's fresh and predominately seafood. We shared a round of specialty cocktails

and two sushi rolls to start.

We were midway through that first course when we learned the kitchen had run out of shrimp (?!?) Lydia, Karen and I had all planned to order shrimp and grits so we had to re-group. We landed on the crab cake, with a side of grits. It was a great choice.

Beaufort is not a big town, but it's a very popular destination. If you go - and I hope you do! - be sure to make dinner reservations. We saw folks turned away all three nights. Lunch isn't quite as necessary - unless you have a special table and/or time in mind!

And now the cocktail. Saturday night, I ordered "Snoop Juice" from Old Bull Tavern's specialty cocktail menu. It listed grapefruit juice, gin, cocchi american rosso and rhubarb bitters as ingredients and of course it had me at grapefruit juice and gin. It was delicious; I had two (and then of course thought "I can make this"). I got home and googled "snoop juice" hah! (clearly not in my comfort zone). But I have the four listed ingredients in my liquor cabinet and with my sister's help, I present

Gin and G-juice 
(inspired by Old Bull Tavern)

1-1/2 oz gin
1 oz amaro
3 oz grapefruit juice
rhubarb bitters

Fill a double rocks glass with ice. Add the gin, amaro and juice and stir well. Top with two dashes of bitters and a squeeze of orange peel.

Cheers and Happy Friday!

Looking Back on Our Cabo Vacation.

Hello! We had a wonderful vacation, but it feels good to be back here (finally!). I shared a few photos on Instagram while we were there, but I didn't look at everything all together until this past weekend.

Here's a peek at my Top Ten (warning - lots of sunshine, beautiful food, ocean views and selfies 😊).

Hands down the best photo of the two of us, taken at the beginning of a sunset sailing cruise on Monday evening. This is at Land's End - the Pacific Ocean is on the other side of that rock behind us.

The best sunrise (with my favorite morning beverage - the cappuccino was perfect), Tuesday morning. 

My favorite evening spot. This bar looks out over the pools and the ocean and at night, they light the fires. The evenings there are around 60 degrees ... the fire felt good!

You can't swim in the ocean, so we spent our days at the pool. Just beyond the pool you can see the tops of the umbrellas on the beach and the ocean. Pretty much my favorite day spot!

I also read a lot ... and finally got to Louise Penny's latest - LOVED!

Here's the view from my balcony pilates studio. Coming back to my living room has been tough!

The sunset on our cruise was amazing.

We chose the resort (Le Blanc Spa) because the food was supposed to outstanding. It was. Every meal was beautifully presented and it all tasted delicious. Coming up with favorites was hard!

Prettiest dessert. A deconstructed Crème Brûlée, from the French restaurant.

Best new thing I tried. An egg white omelet filled with vegetables and goat cheese.

Best take on a favorite snack. Chips and guacamole.

Best take on a favorite cocktail. The Negroni XXI at the Fire Bar, made with hibiscus infused vermouth and pineapple infused Campari.

Coming back to salads and lean protein and "plain old wine" hasn't been easy!

We both took a lot of video, too - here are my favorite 48 seconds.

Sigh ... and now it's Monday (but at least it's not snowing!) ...

I'm looking forward to catching up with all of you over the next few days.  Here's to a great week!

Weekending.

At first glance, this past weekend might look a lot like the one before it. Netflix, snacks (with wine) in front of the TV, knitting, walks in the park

rewatching the end of Grace & Frankie season 3, ice on the pond, Saturday snacks
blocked lace, #parallelogramKAL (mine is the one at the bottom)
bright blue skies, Sunday snacks and today's sunrise over the pond

...but then there's this!

Bodie is now an FO! Holly snuck a quick snuggle with it Friday evening once it was dry and I got to wear it Saturday! I am in love with this one (in case you can't tell!) ... it fits beautifully and it's the perfect light coat for the typical Atlanta weather this time of year. 

I hope your weekend included a smile-inducing moment or two ... and not only related to the outcomes of yesterday's games!

Happy Monday!

Three on Thursday | Holiday Food and Drink.

Carole is taking a well-deserved break from her blog today, so there's no official Three on Thursday, but it's what I've planned and I'm going with it anyway!

1. 19 Crimes. Yes, it's still a thing and now, with more flavors! Lydia brought a bottle of The Banished to our party on Saturday and we enjoyed it immensely. I checked out Costco's selection on Tuesday. They still only carry the Red Blend, but it's still (only) $8.49 a bottle. I had Sara pick out two and hopefully I'll have another cork to add to my collection by the time 2018 rolls around.

2. Giada's Roasted Pork Loin Stuffed with Spinach and Prosciutto. Sara made this for Christmas Eve dinner. It was hands down one of our best meals (and not only because Sara did the cooking!).

making the sauce

We also had green beans (steamed and seared) and wild rice with pecans and cranberries. Marc and I will have the leftovers tonight (he's finally feeling a little better - thank you for all your kind get well messages!) and I'm sure it will all be delicious the second time around.

3. Spiced Pear Martini.
Inspired by the leftover spiced simple syrup (from Bonny's Spiced Rum Cocktail), I had planned to make these Christmas Day ... but when I ended up being the designated driver, I saved them for last night.

2 oz gin
1 oz spiced pear liqueur
1 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz spiced simple syrup

Shake over ice and serve straight up.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Weekending.

I've already shared much of Saturday and Sunday's activities, so today, I have just three more stories. First up, the food.

Our "turkey sandwich Thanksgiving" was a huge hit. I decided we needed homemade sides so I did end up cooking more than I'd planned. Going along with the sandwich theme I made kale and brussels sprout slaw and in lieu of potato salad (Marc doesn't eat them) found a delicious wild rice stuffing (gotta love the Pioneer Woman - that's prosciutto frying upper right :-) I also made blue cheese dip to accompany store-bought potato chips. We repeated the whole thing on Friday when we visited Katie. and then again on Saturday and Sunday and we have one more meal to go - pretty good mileage for a few hours of cooking. I even got to watch the parade!

The highlight of Friday's visit with Katie's family was putting up the tree in the boys' playroom. We took over the tree and box of ornaments that Charlie and I put up last year.

In spite of Sam's best efforts to eat the ornaments, Marc and Charlie did a fine job getting them up on the tree. I must say, our playroom seems quite bare this year, but I'm delighted the tree is going to see a whole lot of fun in its new home. (and I didn't make a single "suggestion" this year about anything!)

And finally, one more from yesterday. My nephew (Lydia's son Andrew) starts a new job in Washington DC on December 4. We had a send-off lunch for him at a local pub and even managed a photo.

(great food, plenty of beer ... and of course the best company!) 

Today felt oddly quiet around here. I did do a little bit of decorating; for the first time in a few years, I think I'm going to be ready when December 1 comes!  Hope your week is off to a promising start as well.

Ten on Tuesday | Game Day Favorites.

from October 2009 (!! deep in the archives for sure!)

Professional football kicked off this weekend. Carole is a huge Patriots fan and she won't miss a game. She'll also enjoy some great food while she watches; this week, she's asked us to share our game day favorites.

Football food around here means "fun" and "easy" (but not necessarily "healthy"). Here are ten of my favorites:

1. Vegetables and dip. That's homemade spicy peanut dip in the photo above and it's outstanding. I haven't made it in a few years, but I need to. (and because I love y'all, I've included the recipe below.)

2. Cheese and crackers.

3. Mixed nuts.

4. Popcorn.

5. Roasted shrimp cocktail (the shrimp above is not that - it was marinated and while it was delicious, it was really messy).

6. Guacamole, cheese dip and tortilla chips.

7. Chicken chili.

8. Turkey wraps (Costco does these brilliantly).

9. Potato chips and blue cheese dip.

10. Something sweet. I can't decide between grapes, M&Ms and chocolate chip cookies ... maybe all three?!

Food lists are always fun - I can't wait to see what delicious ideas y'all share. Thank you, Carole, for hosting us! (If you're not already playing along, click here to join.)

Spicy Peanut Dip

4 cloves minced garlic
2 T finely minced cilantro
2/3 C soy sauce
2/3 C rice vinegar
3 T hot chili oil
6 T sugar
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1 C creamy peanut butter

Blend in a food processor. Make it the day before

Weekending.

...also known as yikes! how can it be Monday (again) already?!

Here's a peek at a few of the highlights from my weekend:

• I started listening to the backlog of podcasts that had accumulated since I started Book Bingo reading in early June. So now I've heard the last of Ann and Michael (and yep, I cried).
• I also made a pretty decent start on cleaning out closets and cupboards. I have a big pile of books, clothing and other stuff to donate. (Now there's just one more room to go - my "yarn room" - which also has the biggest closet.)
• Katie and Charlie spent Friday night and much of Saturday with us (while Rob painted the boys' rooms and hung bead board in their bathroom). It was a treat to have them - even if Marc and I needed an extra night's sleep to recover (man, toddlers are exhausting)!
• Saturday morning, Katie, Charlie & I visited the Alpharetta Farmers Market. It's a regular weekend stop for them, but it was my first time there in years. It's a lot better than I remember and I hope to make it a regular stop for us, too.
• Because Marc and I both enjoyed Saturday night's dinner of fresh vegetables, cheeses, salami and crackers and a small pizza. (along with a little wine and a movie on Netflix whose title I can't even recall...yeah, we were tired!)
• A huge thunderstorm blew through early Saturday evening and left behind a gorgeous sky and sunset.
• and slightly cooler temperatures which made for a not-too-hot run to the lake on Sunday morning (and a lovely shot of blue sky blooms).
• I spent a few hours at the shop taking photos for their new website. The shop really looks great (it's hard to believe we've been in the space for almost six years). Theresa has added a lot of needlepoint threads and canvases and a few new yarns as well. I'm really excited about all the possibilities (and I might've even added a few new skeins to my stash :-) 

All that good stuff made it even harder to wrap my head around the news from Baton Rouge (following the news from Turkey). Sad, crazy times. (and that was even before the Republican convention kicked off this week ... ok, I'm done!)

Hoping your weekend was full of the good stuff, too.

Cooking with Sara.

I've written before about how much fun Sara and I have together in the kitchen. This past weekend, we cooked more than yesterday's post (and my Instagram feed full of blue skies and cocktails :-) might've suggested. But it wasn't until Monday that we cooked together. For brunch, we made a spinach mushroom strata and sangria. It was delicious (especially accompanied by a mini-marathon of the last season of Sex and the City episodes). and you'll have to take my word for it since I forgot to take photos.

So I made up for it with dinner. a very non-traditional 4th of July menu, featuring fresh produce and bread from Sunday's market, leftover burrata from Friday's dinner and a pork loin with garlic, thyme and rosemary (that Sara wanted to learn how to make).

It took a little bit (and we had a few dishes to wash), but it was worth every minute.

Sara also made a rhubarb compote, which she served with a dollop of greek yogurt just before the fireworks started. Perfect ending to a lovely meal.

Weekending, Madison Style | 2016.

Ha - why mess with a good thing, right?! Apparently this year's visit was almost an exact duplicate of last year's. So maybe I should simply call them our traditions.

The day before the long weekend, Sara works. I hang out, enjoy a run, walk to Trader Joe's for dinner provisions, prepare dinner, then enjoy time on the balcony and by the lake with my knitting and/or a book. It's fun to have a special cocktail and plate of appetizers ready for Sara when she gets home (upper right).

We go to a matinee. This year we saw Finding Dory on Saturday afternoon. The theater has been renovated since last summer and now has a bar (upper middle) and those super comfortable recliner chairs. We loved the movie. and it gave us the perfect excuse to re-watch Finding Nemo, too!

We celebrate a belated Mother's Day with cocktails and dinner (and Uber) at Merchant. (lower left and center).

We go to the Farmers Market. This year we skipped the huge market at the Capitol on Saturday morning in favor of the neighborhood one we could walk to on Sunday morning. There was a wonderful selection of fresh vegetables and Madison Sourdough. We only needed a few more things  and we had food for two dinners and a brunch.

We go to Sardine for brunch (upper left).

We watch the fireworks at the lake from Sara's balcony.

Along the way, we have plenty of time to catch up and simply enjoy each other's company. I also get to read (I finished three books), knit (slow progress, but at least I'm on size 3's now) and enjoy the neighborhood. All too quickly, four days pass....

I talked with my mom last night and enjoyed sharing a few of the stories. We agreed it's a huge treat to visit your grown children and see them doing well. Indeed it is.

Thank you, Sara, for another wonderful weekend!

Ten on Tuesday | Mother's Cooking.

This week, Carole's asked us to share favorite foods* our moms used to make. Lucky me, my mom has always been - and still is - a very good cook. Family dinners and Sunday brunch (after church) were fixtures in my childhood home. We didn't have an eat-in kitchen until I was in high school (and even then, I think we used the kitchen table more for projects and homework than for meals). We ate in the dining room. family style.

porch view. 6pm today.

unless we ate outside. and we never had popcorn for dinner! (or maybe she did have popcorn dinners when she was my age ... and her husband was out of town ;-)

In any event, here are ten of my favorite foods from then, and now.

1. macaroni and cheese, custard-style.

2. swedish meatballs. such a favorite I asked for this at my 16th birthday party.

3. cornish game hens, with cornbread stuffing and an orange glaze. I remember this as our standard Christmas Eve dinner in my high school years.

4. enchiladas.

5. zucchini fritters. Mother had a vegetable garden when we lived in New Jersey (my high school and college years). Of course she grew zucchini and of course there was too much. I remember an entire meal of zucchini fritters...just us...one summer when I was home from college. (that might be the closest we came to a popcorn meal :-)

6. chicken and dumplings.

7. eggnog french toast. this recipe is really easy and it uses dairy eggnog. what a holiday treat it was!

8. taco salad. do y'all remember this one? fritos and catalina dressing ... I haven't had it in years, but it always seemed like a special occasion when she made it.

9. marinated grilled chicken. I do not have this recipe. I'm not even sure it is a recipe. but she'd marinate all the chicken parts in a mixture of (I think) white wine, lemon juice, oil, and LOTS of herbs. and then grill it over a slow heat. I remember having this fairly often during the summer, and I probably didn't appreciate it as much as I should have.

10. baked fish. a fairly recent addition to her repertoire and one she always makes when I visit now. It's especially good with catfish or salmon and I try not to think about the mayonnaise in the topping.

p.s. we rode in the caboose today.

I promise Charlie did smile...just not for the camera!

*Mother always baked dozens of different kinds of Christmas cookies. many of those are still holiday favorites around here, but that's a post for another day!

Thank you Carole for the delicious walk down memory lane! If you're not already part of the Ten on Tuesday fun, click here to join.

Weekending City Style.

...begins of course, on Friday. We set out in the morning under clear, chilly blue skies and headed down to Chelsea.

First stop was Cookshop for an early lunch. We started with burrata and it was the best we'd had. That toast was spread with roasted garlic and the cheese was nestled into a wild nettle pesto.

After lunch we headed to the High Line. This was our first visit and wow! what a great space. also WOW! it was windy and cold. 

We got off at Chelsea Market and made a bee line to Ninth Street Espresso.

We wandered around the market for a while to warm up. What a fun place it's turned out to be! On our next trip, we'll definitely plan a meal-time stop, hopefully on a weekday so it's not so crowded.

Next we headed to Pottery Barn and then made a quick stop at Lion Brand for Sara to pick out a color for a new afghan. All that cold wind wore us out and we headed back to our apartment via Union Square (where I finally saw #blueskyblooms!)

We got cozy with our books, took quick naps and then had fun with Yelp figuring out a fun place to go for cocktails. We had dinner reservations on the Upper East Side, so we looked around there. Lo and behold we found The Penrose. Super fun on a Friday night. We had cocktails and a cheese plate and enjoyed lots of people watching. The Upper East Side has changed a lot in the five years since Katie lived there!

We walked to dinner at Seamstress. I have no photos of the food, but it was all delicious. Sara said it was her favorite meal of the trip and I'd have to agree (we set a very high bar in that regard!) I did get a few photos of Sara, certainly my favorite dinner companion.

Saturday we packed up, checked out and headed to the Upper East Side to meet a friend of mine. We had brunch at Isabella's and I did take photos.

smoked salmon omelette for Sara

and smoked salmon platter for me

Then all too soon, it was time to go (and raining!) We shared a cab to the airport...and flew our separate ways home. The only bright spot about getting home late on Saturday was getting to see this guy (and his mama!) on Sunday!

I can't wait to go back - or really anywhere - with Sara. She's such a fun and easy travel companion. Maybe next time she'll manage tickets to Hamilton and invite me along!

Thursday in the City.

The weather has been a lot better than I thought it would be. Sara didn't even wear her coat yesterday and the rain was just off and on showers in the afternoon. We spent most of the rainy time sitting at this cozy table with the Times crossword (which mostly stumped us, but we'll try again today), a delicious meal and a few glasses of wine.

Then we walked down to SoHo and did a little shopping. Sara bought shoes (Supergas) and I bought yarn (three skeins of the newest Linen Quill to knit Tails).

We decided to head back to the apartment to relax a bit before the play. Stopped into Dean and Deluca for snacks. Totally appropriate that we had our little picnic with an episode of Sex and the City (and yikes! I can't believe that show is almost 20 years old!!!)

The play was in a very cool theater in NoHo. This was my first Off Broadway show and I'd love to do it again. The setting is so intimate and we had great seats. The play was fantastic, too!

We ended the evening with fun cocktails at the Stanton Social Club,

the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Today the sun is shining and I think we're going to check out the High Line. It's fun to have no plans...