It’s hard to believe that Nathan is now double-digits! Before you know it he’ll be able to drive. Jonathan expressed the wish that self-driving cars would be a reality by then. But it is only 6 years away!!
Anyway to get back to his 10th birthday, since we are going to be in Italy when his birthday day party is happening (now postponed to March 19 due to rain) we thought we’d have a little pre-party. The afternoon started out with a birthday shopping spree. Nathan chose many nerf guns and ammo plus one Lego kit. Afterwards we all went to Amici’s for pizza. It all turned out really well, the pizza was delicious, and Nathan enjoyed his birthday party.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHAN!
John lights the pizza candlesNathan thinking of his wish while we sing Happy BirthdayTen is a lot of candles to blow outAlmost got them all!A surprise cake arrivesIt’s a lot of cake to eat!Yum!
Today is Sam’s birthday. He is in first grade now and is turning 7! John, Sarah, and I go over to Jon and Ryan’s house with some treats and some presents. We give him a couple of games and some Legos. We all play one of the games. His birthday party with his friends will be celebrated next weekend.
Sam is 7!Sam looks at a birthday card with Auntie Leigh
Our Christmas morning starts in the usual way with a breakfast of bagels and lox with cream cheese, onions, and capers. We wash this down with a bottle of Schneider Weissbier served in our Brasserie du Pilat glasses. The glasses were acquired a few years ago when John and I visited the Parc du Pilat in France. Yum, what a great breakfast!
Christmas breakfast!
We then open the presents that we have given each other and prepare to go over to Jonathan’s for more Christmas celebrations.
Sarah opening a present
Jon makes a wonderful prime rib and the whole family gathers to enjoy the feast! Nathan and Sam are still excited about getting their presents and show them to us.
Christmas feast!Sam in his new dragon pajamas with Auntie Leigh
Where has the time gone!? Here it is another birthday. George and I are celebrating together as usual but we seem older and gimpier this year. I turn 67 and George is 72. We both have knee problems. It’s been a lot of birthday celebrations since I was 29 and he was 34.
This year we are spending the birthdays in Lodi. We are going to three wineries and having dinner at a place called Wine and Roses which is a hotel, event center, and restaurant.
I am expecting that wineries in Lodi will be garage-type affairs or maybe off the back of someone’s pick-up truck. But, no! The first place we go to, Oak Hill Farm is beautiful. The wine is tasty and the server knowledgeable.
Mary, Karen, and George in front of Oak Farm Winery
George and Mary with vintage car (like us!)Interior of Oak Farm Winery
We go to a couple of other wineries but they are more like my original idea of Lodi wineries. They appear to be repurposed bungalows. The wine is just okay.
For lunch we stop at the Lodi Airport Airport Cafe. It has been suggested to us by the server at Oak Farm. It’s right on the runway of the local airport! It kind of reminds me of the Airport Inn in Red Bank. The fare is sort of upscale lunch stuff but my eggplant sandwich is greasy and the fries served with it are enough for three people. John munches some of them but there are still plenty left over.
Mary in front of the Lodi Airport Cafe.
Mary’s greasy eggplant sandwich
John’s meatball sub
Later in the afternoon we check into our rooms at the Wine and Roses Event Center/Hotel/Restaurant. After a little nap and shower we meet for drinks and dinner.
Karen and George in the barMary and John in the bar
The food is good but is somewhat spoiled by a very noisy group who hover around our table shrieking, hugging and high-fiving each other. We are not the most popular people in the place when we complain. George and John are very annoyed and I am glad the whole encounter ended with no one getting punched!
I have a few Santa figurines. Well, maybe like over 100. They are all in individual boxes which are packed in bigger boxes that are stored in a loft in our garage. Some Christmases I put them all out and others, just a few. I think this is a go for it, put them all out kind of year.
John graciously gets the ladder out and we start transferring the boxes of boxes down. Our assembly line of Dad to Mom, to Sarah works well and we have all the boxes in, in an hour. For the next several hours we unpack. We repair those who have become unglued over their sojourn in the garage this past year. I start to arrange them. I run out of steam. At least I have a picture of the behind the sink set up.
Kitchen Santas include, coffee and tea Santas, gingerbread house Santa, turkey platter Santa, rolling pin Santa, chocolate Santa, Italian bread Santa and more.
What can be better than to have your very best friend visit? Nothing!
I meet Sophie at the BART station in Pleasanton and we are so happy to see one another. We hop into the car and ride over to Palo Alto to have lunch with Sarah and Jonathan. They are really happy to see her. They have many happy memories of spending time at her house when they were kids. Sarah and Sophie Sarah and Mom Mary and Sophie
After lunch and some more visiting time Sophie takes the BART back to the city. She and Al have a dinner date with some other friends. The best thing is that I can say to her as she leaves, “See you tomorrow!”
Sophie and Al arrive in Pleasanton in the afternoon. We have a great time catching up on our different lives and hearing about Al’s round of golf at the U.S. Open course the day before. We have a nice dinner and discuss plans for our trip to wine country on Wednesday.
It’s a beautiful day and we start our wine tour at Jacuzzi tasting wine and sipping olive oil. Sophie and John at the olive oil bar Sophie and Mary in front of Jacuzzi
After a picnic lunch and some wine tasting at Imagery Winery, we head to Chateau St. Jean and enjoy their lovely porch and view. John, Al, Mary and Sophie on the porch at Chateau St. Jean
We have dinner that night at La Toque in Napa. The visit has been so nice and so much fun that I am doubly sad to see them leave. Hopefully we will see each other before too long.
We have the whole family over for a Memorial Day cookout. Nathan and Sam spend part of the time enjoying the toys that we keep at our house. Jon and Ryan watch Sam play Nathan playing on the stairs with a Lego car he made
Meanwhile John, Sarah and Leigh discuss plans for the day. John, Sarah and Leigh
Before we start our festive dinner, the boys, Ryan, Leigh and I work on a star project. I figure I can sneak in some patriotic info during this time. Both Nathan and Sam work hard decorating the stars. Stand up stars that we made for decorating the table
Then it is time to prepare the food. John is trying out cedar planked salmon for the first time. It comes out really tasting good. Salmon ready to hit the grill
I make a fennel salad with orange slices and roasted beets. Fennel, orange and roasted beet salad
Along with grilled asparagus, a pasta salad that Ryan and Jon brought, and a yogurt dill sauce for the salmon, we have a great dinner. Memorial Day cookout dinner
All too soon it is time for hugs and goodbyes. Nathan hugs John goodbye
I was looking over my recent blog entries and it occurred to me that I had never posted about Mother’s Day or Memorial Day.
I have a really nice Mother’s Day. Sarah sleeps over and bakes two of my favorite things. For breakfast, Sarah makes pretzel rolls. Whenever I am in Germany, they are my most favorite bread to eat. She has posted the recipe here. Even though this is the first time she had made them, they come out really delicious and very authentic. Pretzel rolls made by Sarah
Here is a perfect Mother’s Day morning for me – a cup of tea, yellow roses from John, a pretzel roll and a puzzle. Perfect!
Sarah also makes her fabulous snickerdoodle cookies. The secret to the recipe? Be sure to include plenty of salt! Sarah’s snickerdoodle cookies
Ryan, Jonathan, Nathan and Sam come over as well. Nathan made me a beautiful Mother’s Day crown and there are cards and hugs and all the things I like best. Thank you to the family for a super day. Queen for the day with Ryan, Nathan and Sam Jon and John with cards waiting to be opened on the mantle Ryan and Sam Opening cards The whole family except for John who was taking the picture
We had a great Thanksgiving. Here we are left to right, MaryMomBeeba, JohnDadZayde, Nathan, Auntie Leigh aka Ryan’s sister, Jonathan, Ryan, Sam and Sarah. Everyone helped in the preparation and I think the dinner came out as one of the best in recent memory. Although we made all of the old favorites there were some new twists.
Well, here it is almost Thanksgiving again. I have rutabagas in my refrigerator awaiting the axe. I love how the kitchen smells when the Thanksgiving dishes are cooked. It certainly proves how much memory is wrapped up in the aroma of the kitchen.
As usual we have so many “must have,” traditional dishes that we have to set up a separate table for food. We are trying a new technique on the bird this year, though. For the past few years we’ve been deconstructing the turkey and boning out and stuffing the thighs. Then we start the thighs ahead of the breast so that everything comes out perfectly cooked at the same time – so much work and so much mess!
So this year we have bought a kosher turkey which means we don’t have to brine it. Then we are going to butterfly it by taking out the backbone. Finally we are going to pack ice around the breasts for an hour before we roast it so that they will cook a little more slowly. Hopefully this will mean a shorter cooking time with everything getting done simultaneously. We’ll also put the stuffing under it so that it can soak some of the turkey goodness.
Jon and Ryan are making a green veg plus cranberry sauce and dessert. Sarah is making chipotle sweet potatoes a la Bobby Flay. We are in charge of turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, rutabagas and Death by Broccoli. No rolls this year! And maybe pie instead of Indian pudding. Gasp! what a break with tradition.
The first time John and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, it was just the two of us. Now we are up to eight. Undoubtedly, though, it will take until Nathan and Sam are teenage boys not to have a ton of leftovers. It will be fun to have them at the table this year. Sam has begun feeding himself . Hmmm… maybe I do need rolls.
