Letters to Leo

when you receive an email like this, how can you not do something?

First let me apology for bringing up a personal issue at work but I could use your assistance if you would like to help.  My 9 year old son, Leo, has been battling a terminal illness since his 2nd birthday.  As of late, things have taken a turn for the worse and we are taking things one day at a time.  The one thing that makes him smile is receiving cards in the mail.  I know none of you have met him but if you have the time, I would really appreciate it if you could send him a card.  He loves it when I come back from the mailbox with a card for him.  

The attached photo was from this past Christmas vacation to Big Sky, Montana and Yellowstone Park.  He had a wonderful time and was just waking up from his nap on the snow coach tour bus.  :) 

Thank you and god bless!

Tony

it wasn't much, but we had arts & crafts hour at work and made 50 cards to send to Leo to help brighten up his day.  watching all my co-workers play with stickers and construction paper was hysterical...good team bonding activity...we had a great time and hopefully we can do it again during the summer once all of the cards have made their way to Leo!

if you'd like more info on Leo, read this article from 2009.  if you'd like to send Leo a note please leave a comment with your email address (or email or facebook message me) and i'll send you his address.

image source. 2009

  

hoppy easter - the family

no holiday would be complete without pictures of the decorations and the honored guests!  it was so nice to have such a big crowd together under one roof!

found these little chicks for $1 at christmas tree shop and (kinda creepily) scattered them throughout the house! 

thanks for the apron nana!

grill master!

hoppy easter - the menu

here's the final menu with my alterations and a bit of timing info.

• apps
• White Bean Dip - 
• I doubled the beans and parsley, added a touch extra oil and left the garlic as is...also used whole wheat pitas for the chips
• made this the morning of so the dip didn't separate too much, but think it would've held up okay a day in advance
• Aparagus & Gruyere Tart
• i doubled this for the 12 people but probably didn't need to
• shredded the cheese the day before and trimmed the asparagus early easter morning
• Cheese, crackers & olives.  

• non-alcoholic bevvie
• Strawberry, Lemon & Basil soda
• made a big batch of this the night before in the food processor and then served it in a little pitcher to mix yourself with seltzer
• main
• Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb
• didn't change anything here!
• Pea Salad
• turned out to not be my favorite, oh well.  i used frozen peas since i couldn't find a large quantity in any stores.  i omitted the dill - cuz i hate it.
• made the dressing the day before and cut the radishes the morning of
• Honey Glazed Carrots
• made the broth mixture and cut the carrots easter morning
• Artichoke, Leek & Potato Gratin
• based on the notes/reviews, i replaced the half&half with heavy cream (no brainer, more fat = more better ;-) ) and sautéed the leeks with butter instead of just steaming.
• shredded the cheese the night before, put everything together in the morning and popped it in the oven when the lamb went on the grill
• Corn Muffins & Bread
• mini-muffins made easter morning using Indian Head Cornmeal

everything above is just filler...now on to the REAL meal...

• DESSERTS!!  it took a lot of will power to narrow down to just 4...if it were a three day weekend i would've made more...and handed out stretch pants to all guests.
• Chocolate Pot de Creme

• my mom makes these often and they are phenom.  it doesn't really count as a dessert, it's more like a side...you have to have a taste with whatever other dessert you choose.  i can't imagine eating a 5oz portion, 5 bites can do me in.  i doubled the recipe (used ghirardelli chocolate) and served them in votives that i found at bed bath and beyond for $0.99.
• made them friday night.  whenever you make them...because you should, for whatever reason so put it on your calendar...be sure to make one extra because it's pure torture pouring out the perfect portions for your party and not eating one the minute they're ready.
• Coconut Key Lime Pie

• had to use bottled key lime juice but it was delicious!
• made the crust friday night, the pie & toasted coconut on saturday, topped with whipped cream sunday
• Raspberry Rhubarb Crostata

• this crust was tasty but a little tough to work with...worth it though!!
• made the crust friday night and the crostata first thing sunday morning
• Ricotta Pie with Pasta Frolla

• this was a recipe from a family friend that i received at my RI bridal shower.  i used vanilla extract in the pie and orange zest in the crust (instead of lemon - omitted the vanilla in the crust).  
• leave a comment if you want the pie recipe!

in my book, whipped cream really should be it's own dessert.  i could've eaten this entire bowl.

of course i only took pictures of the desserts...and of course i had to try all of them...and therefore of course i felt like i was going to vom all day on monday.

and i was way too excited to take a good picture.  oops!

hoppy easter!

oh, easter 2011...where do i start...with the 3 hour easter vigil we accidentally attended? nah.  with the flowers i 'stole' from the neighboring vacant house? no thanks.  with the zillion trips to every grocery store in the area? nope, i'm repressing that memory.  let's start from the very beginning, the very best place to start...

my mother-in-law had to have shoulder surgery a few weeks before easter so originally we were going to help with some cooking and have the holiday in nj.  as the surgery got closer it seemed like that plan was not going to fly...fast forward to a mid-afternoon gchat with my sister-in-law and wham, bam, thank you ma'am easter was moved to my little ol' house!  many people might've started pulling their hair out immediately, but not me, i was stoked!!  i didn't think there was any chance we'd be hosting a holiday anytime soon but i knew we could live up to the high standards that our parents have set in the years past.

i got started right away with menu planning.  thankfully i'm a borderline magazine hoarder so i consulted a few years worth of easter martha and bon appetit to get some ideas.

 and then the mess of lists began...

i love lists, can't live without them, especially for something that requires a whole lotta coordination.  at one point i think i had 5 lists going in various locations, organized chaos at it's best.  i've learned from the best and know that taking on a big dinner requires attention to each and every detail...so i read and reread my recipes and walked through everything in my head and on paper - down to which dishes i'd use - so when the day arrived we were busy but not stressed.  plus most of the work was done in advance so the kitchen was kept pretty clean throughout the day.

there was a great ham vs lamb debate and the decision maker came down to oven space.  if i made ham that would limit my options for sides, etc, since i only have one oven.  so i went the lamb route and sent it out to the grill for speed and oven space.

the only thing i didn't plan on was how many times i'd have to wash my darn food processor!  that appliance definitely paid for itself with all of the use it got on friday and saturday.  super thankful that i recently picked up a second set of measuring spoons from anthropologie...they make me smile :).

more easter deets tomorrow!

5 minute blog post.

lots going on here this week/past weekend, but i have zero time to put together a proper post...so this is going to be a whirlwind of shoddy pictures and fragmented sentences (how is that any different than usual? don't know)...

finally found a suitable frame for my awesome artshark prints and gave them a good home:

it's hanging out in the entry way near my eiffel tower (what, you don't have one of these in your house? weird).  if i wasn't so lazy, i would've changed my lens so you could see the entire foyer, but read the title...we're going for speed here, so just stop by if you want to check it out ;-)

now all i need are two red umbrellas and an umbrella stand to complete the look.  you might think i'm joking, but i'm quite serious.  almost bought a $130 pagoda umbrella but then decided that was crossing the line - especially since i'd need two (and who knew linen's n things was still in business?).  

oh look...super cheap bulbs i bought/planted in the fall from christmas tree shop are blooming, yay...

and lastly our benches got some much needed love and paint this weekend....

and that, my friends, is all she wrote...until after easter.  adios!

planning for paris: google maps part 3

last map (for the moment)...

my mom got me hooked on this blog a while back and for valentine's day she sent me clotilde's book which is really entertaining, informative and loaded with great tips and reviews.  and oh so handy since she sent it electronically so it's now on my kindle/phone/mz's ipad. genius!

clotilde posted a while back on the places she would go (primarily to eat) if she had 12 hours left in paris.  and how friendly that she made a google map to go along with those places!  maybe we'll try one or two in our travels or pick another great suggestion from her book!


View Twelve Hours in Paris in a larger map

planning for paris: google maps part 2

after the tedious task of mapping the frommer's suggested itineraries, i spent some time mapping their walking tours...

Walking Tour 1 - Montmartre

View EUR: France: Paris: Frommer's Walking Tour 1 in a larger map

Walking Tour 2 - The Latin Quarter

View EUR: France: Paris: Frommer's Walking Tour 2 in a larger map

Walking Tour 3 - The Marais 

View EUR: France: Paris: Frommer's Walking Tour 3 in a larger map

for the record, i did this while watching tv back in january.  definitely should've used an external mouse since i think i wore my fingerprint off after an hour or so of copying and pasting with my laptop touchpad.

as we get closer to june i'm planning on going through these maps to highlight what we don't want to miss and also add in key info like hours of operation, prices, etc.  stay tuned!

wall update + canvas on demand

many months ago i attended a book club meeting at my sister-in-law's sister's house and she had this neat idea for decorating her wall.  she had made a frame out of molding and then swapped out the items inside to coordinate with the season.  i loved it, so simple yet so creative, i had to have it.  so mz was more than happy to help build the frame since it meant using power tools.  i had hung it up at christmas time and hung a bunch of ornaments in it....and then it sat empty for about 3 months.

i had planned on filling it with pictures and had bought a bunch of frames on sale from michael's a while back...but  like many of my projects, they sat untouched for weeks.  partially due to my laziness and partially because i hate completing projects since there's always a good chance that the end result won't live up to the picture in my head.  but then i saw an awesome groupon for canvasondemand.com and decided to suck it up and fill up the frame.

i received my canvas yesterday and was really pleased with the results!!  the groupon got me a $125 16x20 thick wrapped canvas for only $45.  mz and i picked a picture i took out a car window in greece with my mom and sister.  the dimensions of the picture were a little funky for the size of the canvas (and i don't have photoshop so couldn't use the canvasondemand template)...so i was a little nervous that the canvas wouldn't do the photo justice.  so in the notes section of the order form i gave them some details on how i wanted the final product to look (i.e. make sure the tall flower didn't get cut off on the wrap and crop more of the sky than field) and they followed them to a T.  i also saw that they have a 100% satisfaction guaranty so if the canvas came out funny i could just send it back.  doesn't get better than that!  i'm crossing my fingers that there's another groupon for this website again soon because i'm hooked!!

**if you'd like to get 20% off your order and have $5 of your order go to the Ronald McDonald house, order through this link.**

finished product...unless i decide to add more frills to the corners:

note that this is actually all level (i'm neurotic about that), i just foolishly stood off center when taking this picture so it makes the frame look a bit crooked!

happy birthday, sister!

this blog could easily become a birthday spotlight blog, but i promise it won't...just a few spring babies that need a special shout-out post on their special day :).

k - we had so much fun last year with all of our different adventures...nyc, boston, phila, hershey, jackson, atlantic city, graduation, tri's, etc etc...can't wait to see what this year holds for us old biddies ;-) couldn't have asked for a more fun or loving little sis. love your guts! Perch! xoxoxo

happy birthday, blog!

a year ago today i started this blog with little intention of continuing it after the first 30 day challenge...but here i am 153 posts later with more on the way...so i guess it's here to stay! for now :).