If You Get to be 60, You May As Well...

Invite your entire family to cook your birthday lunch for you. They did a fabulous job. We had so much fun cooking and playing with each other and our food. There we all are in the picture above. We've eaten. We've changed from our cooking clothes into our Indian clothes. For those who saw the skinny-legged pants for the boys and didn't know how they would fit - they fit. They are below as well, but here they all are in the picture above:

Top row: Gabriella and Chris, Trina and Mark, Sandi and Jeff

Middle row: Karen holding Torin, Ivan and Tara, Eric on one side of me with Cindy on the other, Julie and Adam, Peter

Bottom row: Natalie and Kevin and Maggie, Adrian and Palmer.

Pshew. That's a lot of folk. We cooked at Ramekins in Sonoma and they organized the day very well. Everyone had a printed recipe and the work station had ingredients that were pretty much measured out, knives and bowls. Chris and Gabriella aren't singing there on the right. They were studying the recipe for the grilled peach and blue cheese salad. The peaches were beautiful. Jeff was hanging around with the pretty young ladies. Tara and Julie had knives, he should have been careful around them. Trina appears to be grilling. Tara and Julie cut corn, asparagus and zucchini for the mixed vegetable ragout.

It wasn't all work. Who knows why Mark and Kevin decided to attack each other with cleavers. Maybe it was just the camera. They were involved with one of the sauces. I think it was the one that went on the steak. To their right is their chef/assistant.

I worked with the group on the left. Mary was our chef. Adam, Palmer and I made the dessert. Palmer is 7. He did a very good job with everything he touched. He got to use one of the very sharp knives to slice the peaches and strawberries. He used one of those hand squeezing juicers to squeeze a lemon. He had a ball. He got involved with different stations and was given a board scraper as a souvenir. His grandfather is in the background setting up his camera. Peter took movies of the whole event. I advise you not to ask. I carry the resulting DVD in my purse.

Jeff and Sandi prepped the mushrooms for the Mushroom Quesadilla. The quesadilla used hand made tortillas. Many in the group helped roll them.

Cindy and Eric are with the last chef, Elizabeth. Poor Cindy loves to cook. She got to make the roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Talk about a thankless job. Elizabeth had her run them through a food mill. Eric kept offering to help with that chore, but Cindy is tough. I'm not positive, but I think she did it all by herself.

Natalie and Adrian fixed a crowd favorite - shrimp skewered with basil and prosciutto. Num. Adrian grilled them later. They both helped make the mustardy mayo that was used as a dipping sauce. Wow, those were good.

Karen was the pied-piper of the two little ones. She and I have cooked at Ramekins a few times. And she does adore her grandchildren. We had thought the kids could help do things like roll tortillas. What they really wanted to do was play with Grammy. I got the three grandchildren together for a group shot in Indian clothes. Maggie looks like she will be asking for alms at any moment. There are more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/pnorman811

I think we all had a great time. And if you get to be 60, you may as well.

It Continues

But wait, there's more:

Friday we were lucky enough to have Natalie and Maggie join us on our trip to Sonoma. Kevin is working hard to develope a better ebook for Sony. He is a reader, but not an e-reader. I used to be an e-reader and this is a good device for that. It only does one thing - books. It's fun to see how this can be modified to give it features that would make me want to buy it as well.


We four drove to Sonoma to meet Cindy and Eric. Cell phones are little miracles. How would we have known what to do without it? We knew where they were at every step and could make reservations at the Girl and the Fig restaurant. Adrian and I are attacking the tower of cheese. It was expensive and not bountiful. The waiter said it would be good for a table as an appetizer, but extreme sharing was necessary. Adrian and I split a hamburger and salad. The food was good. I've wanted to eat there for some time. I'd recommend this.


Then we all went to the Chocolate shop, http://www.winecountrychocolates.com/. Rachelle's husband's cousin owns this place. They have great chocolate there. I didn't know that Karen had been there earlier in the day. We had tastes and purchased a bit and then looked for the wine tasting that was supposed to be in the complex. It was there, but closed.



We went back to Sonoma to drop Natalie and Maggie at the Cambells' farm. The kids, above, are in the wine tasting room of the farm. Pretty nice to have a bunch of wine across the street from your house. Adrian and I visited, I tasted wine and joined yet another wine club. Then we went on to Ramekins to check in just before going to eat yet again.


We joined my brothers and Eric's children
for dinner at the El Dorado Kitchen. You can't see them very well. I'll be using mine until I can figure out how to get full sized pictures from everyone else. The El Dorado Kitchen was very good. I had tomato soup and frito misto like vegetable tempura. I also ate Sandi's ricotta gnocchi. Loved the meal and the company. We had to have a kid's table. Adrian joined us old folk. The kid's table looked like a lot of fun, though.

Just Once Before You Die

I know, that's pretty ominous. But everyone should try to have a weekend or month or year that includes such joy as I experienced this weekend. Since my happiness meter tends to move more toward joy than dispair, I often get close. But let me tell you about this last weekend.



Thursday: Adrian and I drove up north, picking up bags of stone fruit and staying with the Fremont Campbells. I like to listen to books while driving. Having a picky listener in the car with me meant that I had to select very carefully. Like picking a wine. Red or white? Fiction or non-fiction? Non-fiction. Adrian likes fantasy as well, but I didn't have that. Born on a Blue Day written by an autistic man? or Goodbye Darkness written by William Manchaster about WWII in the Pacific? So we picked the Merlot, Manchester and the war on Guadacanal. Relax, no drinking occurred on the road.



The stop at Andy's Orchards wasn't as wonderous as I thought it would be. There was a lot of variety, but the fruit seemed a little hard. I got a lot, but not as much as I would have if... If I had known that these varieties would ripen by the time we drove the 30 miles to Fremont; if we had known that they would drip down your arm and neck with the sweetest juices. OMG. We couldn't stop eating.



I had brought shirts that Laura sent me. Most were too small for me, so I took them north to share. Natalie is wearing one. One was too funny. It had a huge dangling bobble on the neckline. Natalie was correct in thinking that it would look best on a four year old. Maggie wore that and her tiara. What a princess.



Natalie cooked a wonderful dinner of grilled vegetables and Hawaiian marinated beef. The focal point was the lemon pudding cake. Natalie once asked us all what our favorites were. The only one we remember is - what is your favorite dessert. Mine is lemon pudding cake. It wasn't on the menu for the dinner at Ramekins, but Natalie decided we had to have it for my birthday. It was beautiful and tasted great.

A Reason to Celebrate

♫I just want to celebrate, another day of life♪

But some days require just a little bit more celebrating than others. This Saturday, therefore this extended weekend, will be just one of those “days”. I’m having a little birthday celebration in Sonoma, CA with most of my family. Here’s the agenda:

Thursday – Adrian and I drive north and pick up lugs of stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines) to share with family. Staying with my nephew Kevin, Natalie and Maggie in Fremont.

Friday – All but Kevin leave after rush hour to drive to Sonoma. We’ll be meeting my brother Eric and Cindy in Sonoma for lunch. We will find a chocolate shop that is owned by Jack (please, don’t ask this relationship)’s cousin. Ummm, chocolate.
Then to my sister Karen and Peter’s weekend residence to meet up with the rest of the family for wine and visiting. They are staying at a winery! Is that not too cool?
Nephew Mark and Trina arranged dinner in Sonoma for most. Some will be staying at the winery because they have ALL the children and they will need to rest up for the next day.
My brothers and I will be staying at the cooking school that night. Ramekin’s beautiful and has a great B&B upstairs. Jeff and Sandi are flying up from San Diego. Eric and Cindy fly in from D.C. Eric’s 3 adult children will be staying at a small, cute hotel in town. Besides Mark, there will be Chris and Gabriella and Tara and Ivan.

Saturday – This is the birth day. Everyone is coming to Ramekins to cook lunch. My niece Julie and Adam will be there with their boys, Palmer and Torin. Palmer is 7 and will be my cooking partner. I am very excited about this. This is what they will be cooking:

Valley of the Moon Spring

GrandeProsciutto and Basil Wrapped Shrimp with Garlic Dipping Sauce

Wild Mushroom Quesadillas with Smoked Poblano Pesto

Pear Gorgonzola Salad with a Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Grilled Hanger Steak with Salsa Verde

Roasted Garlic and Chive Mashed Potatoes

Spring Vegetable Ragout

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisps with Cinnamon Sauce Anglaise

We will be going out to dinner that night, although I just really can’t imagine being hungry. I guess we’ll have to just drink.


But wait, it isn’t over yet


Sunday – Cindy and I are Peju Winery club members. I can’t imagine how she found this place in D.C. We will be tasting wine there and will try to emulate a favorite Tuscan experience of mine. I had cheeses, salumi, bread and such with wine while at visiting a couple of years ago. I decided at that time that wine goes best with food and that was the best way to do a tasting.
Probably a stop at Karen and Pete’s in Albany, then back to Kevin and Natalie’s to play with Maggie. I’m taking Monday and Tuesday off.

To synopsize:
Thursday – drive eat
Friday – eat drink eat
Saturday – cook eat eat
Sunday – drink eat drive

Yup, on Monday we all all be singing the hang over blues.