Yesterday, we took a little drive up the ocean for lunch.  Parked the car,

ran across the street, climbed some stairs and settled into our little aerie.  Look at this goodness

 

Joanie was the rebel with the fish tacos and the coconut shrimp.  Lee, Linda and I chowed down on the scampi with shrimp and scallops over linguini.  Let me crawl in a ball and just be happy.

Great food, great view, great friends, great day.

Robin and I never do things according to a preconceived schedule, so today we had our bi-annual birthday luncheon at the culinary academy of our local college.  I had never done this before but let me tell you, I will be on their doorstep again in the very near future.  Reservations are necessary and menu's change every couple of days:

Wednesday & Thursday

September 26 & 27 

French Onion Soup

Our version of the classic broiled with three cheeses

Antipasto Salad

Artisan Italian cured meats, cheeses, roasted vegetables and olives

French Dip Sandwich

Shaved New York Strip steak dipped Au Jus on crusty French bread and served with hand cut French fries

Bang Bang Shrimp Salad

Tempura fried shrimp tossed in a sweet and spicy chili sauce and served over crisp Asian style vegetables and fresh greens. Served with an Asian vinaigrette

Tomato and Fresh Spinach Tart

Layers of tomato, fresh spinach and three cheeses baked in a flaky tart shell. Served with fresh vegetables

Pan Roasted Breast of Chicken with Truffle Butter

Tender breast of chicken pan-roasted with truffle butter and served over mashed potatoes with natural gravy and fresh vegetables

Ask Your Server for Today’s Fresh Made Selection Prepared by our Pastry Students!

Let's just say that the french onion soup, the chicken with truffle butter and not two but three desserts were scrumptious!!!!

Pecan cheesecake:

Black Forest Cake:

Apple Pie:

Robin and I just before the our respective food comas set in:

But we weren't done, we hopped upstairs to the photography exhibit and wandered around looking at 1920's era photos of the area.

A great way to spend the afternoon.  Thanks, Robin.  You are a good friend and I am lucky to have you.

I love Greek salad so if I don't feel like cooking, I often pop down to Panera's for one of theirs with a hunk of fresh bread and a large iced tea.  Then I thought, how hard can it be to find a good recipe for the dressing?  If I make my own, I can slip in more feta and kalamata olives and nix the raw onion . . . and my tomatoes will be fresher.  Yep, I am picky. 

So I scrounged around and found this recipe.  I started reading the reviews and figured 1069 people couldn't be wrong.   The only itch was that some of those that used the recipe complained about the vinegary-ness of it.  And, I really didn't need a gallon of the goop.  Plowing on through the comments, some kind soul left her recipe, cutting the vinegar and rescaling the proportions to fit in a standard sized cruet.  Thank you kind soul, thank you. 

Greek Salad Dressing:

8 Tbs (4 oz) extra virgin olive oil,
1 tsp garlic powder,
1 tsp dried oregano,
1 tsp dried basil,
3/4 tsp pepper,
3/4 tsp salt,
3/4 tsp onion powder,
1-1/2 tsp Dijon mustard,
 5.5 Tbs (2-3/4 oz) red wine vinegar. 

Kind soul #2 came up with these little words of wisdom and I was totally a happy camper.

 **For an extra-tasty Greek salad, put the desired amount of dressing in a small bowl, and add at least 1/2 the amount of feta you plan to use. Stir gently, then let it sit 15 minutes or more before adding to the traditional salad ingredients.

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When Kidlet was down earlier in the month, she went to the dermatologist for a checkup.  She wasn't happy with something on her foot and things on the skin make this household a little jumpy.  Friday, I got a call from the office saying that the biopsy they did on her back came back precancerous and they needed to do some more digging.  Then he put me on hold, came back and said, nope, they got clear margins.

I was clinging to the ceiling when I asked Sean to be very specific and explain once again what a precancer was . . . not like I haven't had a bunch removed along with Basil cell and Squamous cell cancers, but this was, after all, Kidlet.  His explanation was that if left untreated, the spot would have a 10 - 15% chance of turning into cancer sometime during her life time.  When I asked what kind of cancer, my stomach did a flop when he said Mel and his cousin Anoma.  My heartbeat is rising just typing that word.  She is now on watch every six months. 

Now rationally I know that a 10 - 15% chance of getting something sometime during a life time if not treated, is moot at best, but Kidlet and my views are a tad skewed. 

My next appointment is on the 4th and you bet I will be asking to see the results and asking pointed questions.  That's who I am.  Good thing they are used to me.

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When I checked to see how Les was doing, I read her latest post and cracked up.  I was so happy to discover I was not the only one who watched the "people" in her life.  I like to imaging lives for mine.  Most are quite happy and content but those who cut me off or screech past me way over the speed limit are granted lives of misery, going home to hovels, scabbering around for crumbs while growing warts of various sizes on the ends of their noses, even if they are driving Mercedes. Chuckle.

And, I stole this from Les as well.  Watch it!!!!!  That's an order.

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Made a trip to Lowe's for some spline.  It's clean and repair screen time.  One of the fall rituals that makes me know I will be able to smell the air once again!!!!

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Found another Photoshop tutorial.  This one is subtly magical.

Before:

after:

Check out that pop in color.  Happy, happy.

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And last but not least, Sue's been playing again and I love the results.  I think my October journal needs some major revamping.

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There was a definite snap in the air this morning when we walked.  Fall is around the corner.

food glorious food, part 7952 . . .

we have a local kitchen specialty shop which happily sends out monthly newsletters.  since fall is around the corner, the newest edition is focused on braising and roasting.  roasted cauliflower with brown butter.  OK, so a lot of folks aren't excited by this ball of white goodness but i am.  i can't wait to try some. slurp.  it also features the more normal roasted taters and squash.  i am in food heaven.  then there was the braising section.  of course that section was mostly geared toward carnivores.  me not so much.  want to know why?  this was a part of the article:

ACK!!!  now that is why i don't eat meat unless i've had at least two glasses of wine. 

since i finally went grocery shopping this morning, i made my new favorite sammie for dinner.  grilled marinated chicken, spinach, tomato, fresh mozzarella on a hot ciabatta roll with pepper mayo and balsamic vinegar reduction.  no wonder i am expanding exponentially.

on the more benign side and for Kidlet's edification, i went for my echo-cardiogram this morning.  and contrary to popular opinion, i do have one.  black and pitted to be sure but happily thumping away.

fall is in the air.  enjoy!

color me . . .

Monday night I looked down at my chipped toenail polish and muttered.  I really didn't feel like removing the old and doing four layers of new.  It was late and I had yoga the next morning.  Sigh.

I think it was the wine that made me do it.  In fact, I'm sure of it.  And I still had architect's tape from my washi project.   A little tape.  A little polish.  A little wine. 

missing chips!

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Two weeks ago, the air-conditioning man came to do a free check-up on the new unit we had installed in February.  It's still running well and saving me $100 a month in this summer heat.  Color me happy.

In 2000, we built the 9TS a man-cave.  Because of the ridge line of our house, it wasn't feasible to utilize the preexisting system and the cave got its very own a/c system.  It was wonderful.  The 9TS could go in his cave and turn it into a sauna or an iceberg while I could throw open the windows to the rest of the house.

Back to the future.  Having not turned on the cave unit since the sloth departed, I asked the serviceman if it was OK to not run it.  He marched into the cave, flicked the switch and nothing.  The air handler was shot.  Yikes.  While I was happy not running it all these months, it really was musty and the unit needed to be replaced so it could at least run occasionally.  The new system will have a Thermidistat to help control humidity as well as air.  Color me broke.

They arrived today to install the new unit and increase the size of the two bedroom ducts upstairs to get more air flow.  Thinking about the humidity control on the new unit, I asked if the main unit offered that too.  It does and it was never set.  Think I should have read the manual????  Color me stupid.

so you thought I could leave well enough alone . . .

not!

baby goodness . . .

Kidlet came home with some, oh so adorable, shots of this little cherub's first birthday party and I found yet another water color tutorial.  You know where this is going, right?

Could anything be any cuter?  Nope.  No way.  I really do love this photo.  Thanks, Jennie, for letting me share.