Tag Archives: Food

FFF ~ Southern Charm & Epic Celebrations…

I’ve been sharing this week about Katie and my travels to South Carolina to see her guy graduate from Boot Camp and officially become a Marine. Being at Parris Island and experiencing these celebrations was unforgettable. Here are more favorites to share with y’all during our trip. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in the fun.

 

The food! We ate at 4 great restaurants and we were not disappointed at any of them. Fried green tomatoes were on my list to try and they were delicious. The fish tacos on top of grits with smoked gouda were pretty memorable, too. I didn’t eat that vertical cobb salad but it was a feast for the eyes. The popovers were huge and the trio of desserts was yummy. We ate at Wren, Emily’s, The Beaufort Inn, and Pannini’s in Beaufort. I’d recommend any of these places to eat if you ever travel there.

 

I really enjoyed the architecture and the beautiful water scenes we got to see. This is “Low Country”. The Lowcountry is often thought of as a geographic and social identifier. While there is a general consensus on defining Lowcountry as it relates to culture, there is a considerable difference of opinion on its geographic extent. According to some historians, the Lowcountry extends from the Sandhills of South Carolina, just east of Columbia, to the coast. This area is mostly near or below sea level; thus the term “low country”.

 

 

 

Katie and I at Wren Restaurant. This was one of the hours that my hair didn’t look like Bozo the clown. The South and the humidity don’t do anything for my hair. As charming and beautiful as the South is I could never live in that heat and humidity.

 

On our way home form the South we had a layover at the Dallas Airport. We were so excited to spend time at the airport with my brother and Miss Hope. Because Andrew was military they gave my brother and Hope a pass to go through security and sit with us at our gate! Miss Hope kept us entertained. We also got to board with first class on all the legs of our flight. I was really impressed that the airlines gave our military special treatment!

Our biggest announcement this week is that Andrew asked Katie to marry him! Katie is thrilled and we are throwing a quick engagement open house on Sunday before Andrew flies to North Carolina for 9 weeks of Infantry School.

So our heads are spinning around here. Hope y’all had a good week and I’ll be by to see your favorites in between shopping and preparing for the Engagement party!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

FFF ~ Food Glorious Food…

Friday-end of a traditional work week, the beginning of the weekend, a time to look back and count your blessings. Please click on over to Living to Tell the Story and join Susanne and other Bloggers in telling us your favorites from this past week.

 

This collage isn’t just about food but it’s all about the people and celebrations surrounding this food! I’ve missed a couple Fave Fives because family were visiting us here in the Northwest. We had lots of fun filled days and nights and of course so many of our adventures centered around food. So here are 5 food events…

1. A wonderful lamb burger at Olive You where we celebrated my sister Lana’s birthday.

2. A sandwich and soup at Three Cups of Tea with my sisters, DIL, and nieces after a trip to the Lavender Farm.

3. A frozen raspberry dessert that I made for an early birthday celebration for my niece Melissa.

4. A potato side dish to use up the potatoes my brother bought for the wonderful breakfasts he made while he was with us.

5. Apple crisp that I made from the ripe apples off our apple tree for just the three of us after our company departed!

I’ve missed all of my Fave Five Friends. Hope all is well with you.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

A Day Off…

…after a big shindig is a very good thing.

We pulled out all the red, white, and blue. Trader Joe’s even had red, white, and blue chips!

My guests brought some good sides and desserts to go with Dear’s slow barbecued Pork Butt Roast and Beef Brisket. Oh my it’s been so long since we barbecued over coals and the taste and aroma surrounding the meat was marvelous. Dear used a great rub recipe that was so tasty! Yum. I had a pork sandwich for breakfast to give me the energy to finish cleaning up!

This flag is a special one to us because it was the flag that was presented to my MIL at Dear’s Dad’s funeral. Rex served in the armed forces during World War II.

Our youngest guest with his father. Oliver is so sweet. His older brother Finn was off exploring.

My niece Debbee was here from California so we took the obligatory group shot!

The girl cousins.

I just had to finish with this shot to make you smile. Steve and Lana (my sister) decorated these great cookies that Lana baked for our gathering. I hope you are smiling. :0)

Our celebration was upstaged by the happiest of events. Our DIL’s brother’s wife went into labor on the 4th and their wonderful bundle of joy arrived at 6:00 P.M. sharp. Thankfully the hospital is really close to our home so Josh and Laura were able to visit during labor before our party began and then rush over to the hospital when the birth was imminent. Laura was able to hold her new nephew. So we now have a 4th of July baby to celebrate every year. Congratulations Scott and Lisa on the birth of Shawn Stephen. Congratulations Steve and Pat on becoming grandparents and to Josh and Laura for becoming Uncle and Auntie…

It Was So Much Fun…

…to laugh and talk with these girls!

 

6 of the 10 contributors on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog.

 

Julie, Bev K. , Betty R., and Charlotte were unable to join us.

 

It was my first face to face with all these ladies. You know these girls are even thinner in person. I forgot to ask them their secret on how they stay so slim while cooking all that great food!!  And for the record…Kathy, I think you are great!! I feel so blessed to have been adopted into the fold even though I’m not Mennonite. Many of our Russian recipes are similar to the Mennonite favorites.

 

Before eating we got a little shopping in. After lunch we parted ways. I headed South and they headed North with a stop at the Tulip Fields.

 

I brought home a food gift and the prize I won on Judy’s blog giveaway a while back.

My own Vancouver Olympic Mittens and a Canada Pin! Thank you MGCC for a wonderful day and thank you Judy for my prize. I love the mittens and the pin.

Before I met up with the girls I had a quick stop at the tulip fields and I’ll show more of those photos later.  Blessings!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Easter Was Glorious!

What a lovely Easter Day we had here in the Northwest. We started out the day by going to a baptism of two little girls we know. Sisters getting baptized on Easter morning. It was a great event to witness. After that celebration we came home to prepare for our Easter lunch with our DIL’s family and my sister Lana and Steve.

 

Sorry I caught some of you in mid-chew! I realize that when we host an event like this my photo skills go out the window. Too busy with other details. Everyone is busy eating Rack of Lamb, rice with raisins and almonds, and salad with Persian dressing. For dessert we had a Russian Strawberry shortcake made with the Kulich, Seerney Paska and strawberries.

 

Our centerpiece was the Russian Easter Bread with hollow chocolate Matryoshka dolls for each of the ladies to take home and colored Easter eggs. We call our Easter bread Kulich but another popular name for it is Paska.

 

 

Our other traditional Easter treat is this sweet cheese spread that we make from eggs, butter, Farmer’s Cheese, whipping cream and sugar. After you mix it all up you put it in a mold lined with cheese cloth and weight it down and leave it in the refrigerator for a day or two to drain as much liquid as you can out of it. The X and B are for Christ is Risen which looks like this in Russian, Христос Воскрес!

 

 

I was able to use my individual place card vases for each guest which was fun.


 

Katie, Lana, and Laura

 

Sisters flanked by my daughters :0)

The cross was one of my hostess gifts from my DIL’s mother. Thank you Pat! I love it along with my other goodies.

All the dishes are washed and put away but I’m still enjoying the vases filled with the tulips. My brain is in slow motion today but I’m sure to perk up here sometime soon so I can visit everyone’s Easter greeting posts that I missed yesterday.

Looking forward to another great celebration tomorrow. I’ll tell you about it soon.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

FFF~ The Birthday Weekend…

…that didn’t end!

Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in the fun!

My five favorites for this Friday are all about Family, Food, Fun, Flowers, and Flying Geese!

 

Our weekend and week was filled with so much flavor and wonderful experiences. So here are some stand outs.

1. Our weekend away in La Conner, Washington where we saw so much beauty. I was blown away with the experience of seeing thousands of Snow Geese in flight.

2. All of our indoor experiences from the lovely Inn we stayed in with a tasty 2 course breakfast and the restaurants we ate at for lunch and dinner. We were not disappointed in anything we ordered and ate.

3. The birthday dinner my son and his wife prepared for us on Sunday night and our meal together on St. Patrick’s Day.

4. Cleaning and organizing the basement. I feel so good about that task being complete that I’ve been offering tours of the basement! :0)

5. Going to our favorite Mexican restaurant and being greeted by the owner. He asked us if we were just visiting from California. When we told him we were back in Washington state to stay he brought us a round of drinks on the house to celebrate!

 

And now that my birthday week is drawing to a close it’s time for E.L.E.M. (Eat Less, Exercise More!) That’s my plan and I hope to stick to it. Hope to get around to see all the FFF’s this week. As soon as the frost burns off I’ll be mowing the lawn…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

FFF ~ The Kind That Grow On You…

So I’m chiming in with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story with my favorites from the past week!

 

My week started out with a 3 day road trip that included beautiful scenery, fabulous places to sleep, and lots of good food to eat! Next week I’ll have to tell you my favorite diet to take off all the pounds I’ve accumulated with joy.

So here’s my five in a nutshell…

1. Beautiful scenery and stops on our roadtrip.

2. Amazing food that I wouldn’t even try to duplicate.

3. A lovely hotel and fabulous Inn that we stayed in on our road trip.

 

 

4. Meeting up with a bloggy friend on our road trip.

 

5. The welcome home we received from our children and being with our children in our home in Washington.

 

And the most amazing thing that I’m still not used to is the fact that I get to stay home in my house in Washington.

I’m mowing the lawn today so if I don’t see you early I’ll be getting around to see your favorites after a good dose of Ibuprofen later in the day! Blessings on your weekend!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Blessed With Blogging Friends…

When I started blogging in 2007 I never expected to form so many friendships through my blog. What a sweet surprise it has been to develop these friendships. Some friendships have developed just with comments back and forth and some have had the added blessing of meeting face to face.

 

On our trip back to Washington from California Dear and I had dinner with Sandy from The Reluctant Entertainer and her husband. We had our fabulous meal and time of fellowship at the Winchester Inn in Ashland, Oregon. I knew Sandy lived close by and it worked out that she and her husband were available to meet us. We didn’t run out of things to talk about. Sandy shares my passion for food and fellowship around food. Her blog is about simple entertaining and creative hospitality. If you haven’t visited there yet click on over. This is Sandy’s photo that I asked for since my photo was blurry. Thank you Sandy! Look at those great salads! I’ll be posting more about this great Inn later…

 

Our dinner was worthy of a Top Chef episode. We even had an Amuse Bouche, that small cup of soup. Amuse Bouche loosely means fun in the mouth. Ours was served before the salad and main course. My salad was a work of art. The lamb was delicious.

The Monday before we left California Cori G! met me in San Marino for breakfast at Julienne. I was a distracted blogger that day and forgot to get a fresh photo of the two of us at Julienne.

 

I really love the graphics that Cori G! creates and she gifted me with this sweet little jar of Sugary Sprinkles with a beautiful example of her graphics on the gift/recipe card! Look at those little blue birds…

 

This was taken at our first meeting last year. Thanks for driving to San Marino and meeting me for breakfast Cori!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…

I’m posting early this week so I hope I don’t confuse anyone into thinking it’s Friday already…

Time for Friday’s Fave Five again! Visit the lovely Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in with this fun exercise.

 

#1 & #2

~ Saturday was a double date day! In the morning Dear and I walked at our favorite beach at dawn and then in the early evening we went to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate a belated 35th Anniversary dinner. Our Anniversary is December 6th but Dear and I were in different parts of the country on that day so we decided to celebrate this past Saturday.

#3

It’s no secret that the enjoyment of food is big in my life. My mother has never driven a car and she has never worked outside the home. She put her energy and time into her love language which was cooking food for us and others. We always had people over growing up to share meals with us. I never worried about bringing home an unexpected guest because there would always be enough food for all. Our family was in the lowest middle income class but my parents always found money to put food on the table and shoes on our feet. I’ve inherited the love of food and being around a table.

All of that to say that I experienced a wonderful Prime Rib dinner on Saturday with an amazing fig and orange souffle for dessert! Yum…

#4

What a fun sky we saw here on Tuesday night! Dear was out BBQ’ing and he called me outside and said “You’ve got to see these great clouds” I grabbed my camera and headed out and clicked away! The clouds were like little cotton balls.

 

#5

Oh dear me…I bought some more dishes. They were just so much fun and they met my criteria of being made in England. I’m thinking it will be fun coming up with a Valentine day dinner using these red checked dishes! Thrift store shopping and finding dishes at a bargain are always fun for me and a favorite!

#6

A Bonus Favorite: I love how people always come together after a disastor to help their fellow human beings. For all of us who feel so bad about what has happened in the Island Nation of Haiti don’t forget or hesitate to send some money their way using a reputable/tried and true organization like World Concern, or Samaritan’s Purse just to name a couple who have proven their integrity in getting relief where it’s needed. A little from all of us adds up…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Looking Back at 2009…

Ellen b.’s highlights for the year 2009! It’s all about Family, Friends, Food, and Walking! God has blessed us richly!

This will be my First Fave Five post for 2010. I apologize up front for the way over 5 photo overload!! Please visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in with Friday’s Fave Five…

 

Weekend getaway to the Central Coast in California over Martin Luther King weekend.

 

Walking throughout the year is always a highlight! Early Saturday morning walks with Dear at Emma Wood. Walks in Willow’s neighborhood or an occasional beach walk or a walk at the Blueberry Farm with Joy always provides good fellowship and encouragement. Walks in the Seattle area on the Burke Gilman trail with my Saturday morning walking buddies Jan and Jody (we have been doing this for 10 years now). An occasional walk on the Burke Gilman during the week with my friend Beth. I love to walk with people not alone…and if there’s a donut shop at the end of the walk that’s icing on the cake! :0)

 

My birthday celebration in March at the Tam O’ Shanter.

 

The tragic tea in April where my mother fell and had to spend her tea time at the hospital.

 

Easter is my favorite holiday of the year because of what Christ accomplished for us. This was the first year we made Kulich (Russian Easter Bread) on our own, too!

 

In May my brother’s family arrived just in time for Mother’s Day, a couple birthday parties and then we had a family outing at Disneyland!

 

Memorial Weekend in Seattle.

 

June ~ The Sounders were in L.A. and we had a quick visit with Josh…

 

End of June my cousin’s son got married and we stopped in for the fabulous event on our roadtrip to Seattle.

 

Fourth of July in Seattle…

 

Later in July my niece visited and we did some fun touristy things including a Mariner’s game.

 

August we made a quick ferry trip to Vancouver Island to see Butchart Gardens and Victoria!

 

 

Later in August brought another visit from Brother and his family to Southern California. We again enjoyed meals, a baby shower, and Disneyland!

 

 

September we celebrated Dear’s birthday at Five Crowns in Corona Del Mar.

 

On Labor Day our son headed out for his new vocation and Dear and I made another trip to the Central Coast.

 

September 29th Katie and I made a day trip to Vancouver, B.C. and visited Stanley Park and the Aquarium.

 

In October we re-did the tragic tea but this time there were no tragedies. The newest member of the family was in attendance.

 

November was filled with great family events. New Mexico to attend Daniel’s graduation.

 

Our Annual Black Friday Tea after shopping at Goodwill.

 

Fun times with our Thanksgiving Company.

 

Thanksgiving Day…

 

December brought a fun celebration of Katie’s completion of her degree.

 

Christmas 2009!

 

Our last big celebration of the year is Katie’s birthday which falls on December 27th!

If you managed to make it through all of this, congratulations! Hoping for a year of acknowledging daily God’s blessings in our lives…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.