March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion

Snow? Today? What's going on around here? It's Spring!!!

Happy Easter

Keith and I just returned from a great Easter weekend with our family in Longview. We were missing a few of the regulars (Nate and Regan are in Mexico, my parents are still in Tucson), but it was great to see Grandpa, Greg and Genie, Whitney and our gracious hosts, Randy and Patti. I've been extremely busy with work on houses and school, so it was great to have Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to just cook, eat, visit and "share stories" (read: BS-- you BS'ers know who you are!) with my family.

As always, the food was delicious- for dinner on Saturday we had salmon with an apricot glaze, a mashed potato & sharp cheddar casserole, asparagus, broccoli, rolls and a garden salad. For brunch on Sunday we had every one's favorite egg dish and an orange & pecan coffee cake. Yum Yum.

As I write these descriptions of meals, I realize that I'm becoming more and more like my mother everyday. Like my mother I, too, look back on my life and remember where I was and what I was doing by remembering the meals I had. I guess there are worse traits a daughter could pick up from her mother. The daughter of a foodie becomes a foodie. Thanks mom!

Touch of Yellow

Yesterday morning, Shilpa, Wenmei and little Zach made the trek from Seattle to the Eastside for brunch at my house. Shilpa was in town for a few days visiting from NYC. I haven't seen Shilpa since September of 2005 and it was so wonderful to spend some time with her!

Brunch gave me a chance to try out some of my favorite recipes. Once everything was prepared and we sat down to eat I realized that the entire meal was...well, yellow! I had made a scrambled egg casserole dish, a baked, fluffy Swedish pancake called Aggkaka and served pineapple! It was a moment of personal pride, realizing that I was following in the footsteps of some great women in my family, specifically my aunt Patti who is known as a gifted monochromatic meal maker. I'm glad to be bringing the tradition to the next generation. Maybe next I'll try to sew like my aunt Gennie who made the cute apron I'm wearing in the picture.

Paint Date

Today, Zach and I went to Paint the Town (paint your own pottery at U Village) and made some artwork for his mama and daddy. Since Zach is still a breast-feeding infant, we had to bring his mama along, too. I guess our gift won't be too much a surprise for Wenmei! We commemorated Zach's 4 month birthday by painting his footprints on a picture frame. It took us a few attempts to get clear footprints that weren't smudged. Once that slimmy paint went on his feet, Zach got a touch squirmy and he would alternate between curling his toes and spreading them out. Luckily, Paint the Town has an experienced staff who knew how to get perfect feet to pottery contact. Next, they'll put it in the kiln and I can pick it up after March 9th. We can't wait to see how it turns out!