St. Patrick's Day 2019

St. Paddy's Day was always a busy weekend for my large Irish family. Back in the day, there was Irish dancing, bagpiping, drumming, an iconic green river, parade appearances and plenty of eating and drinking with family and friends over the course of many local celebrations in Chicago. Our parents and grandparents instilled a great pride in our heritage and we pursued lessons in Irish music and dance for most of our young lives, with St. Paddy's Day presenting some of the best opportunities for showcasing our talents. That was many years ago. Now, I liken St. Patrick's Day to New Year's Eve: festive and preferably enjoyed at home.

I was folding clothes this week on my bed and when I put the last of the laundry away, a lone shamrock was left under the pile. It had been an unusually sad day for me, and the sight of this green clover made me believe in miracles. I was overwhelmed with comfort and at a complete loss to understand where this may have come from. Although, as an intuitive Irish lass, I have my suspicions. May you find something special to cuddle your soul today and bring you outright awe and joy.

Unexplainable shamrock on my bed

Fat Tuesday: The Last Hurrah

📷: Dave Brink for MMC 

***UPDATE*** 
Totally jumped the gun this year. Off by a month, but the head start in my Lenten sacrifice is my penance for a failure in checking dual sources. March 5th is Fat Tuesday and the 6th begins Lent. 

 I love Fat Tuesday. It makes me really focus on short term goals and intentions. Being the day before Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras celebrations are the last hurrah before imparting serious change during the sacred days and nights of Lenten sacrifice. For Catholics, Lent represents prayer, fasting, and giving. For me, it represents all of that and thoughtful reflections with positive motivation. Enjoy the carnival today and pay extra attention to a better world over the next 40 days and 40 nights. 

January 11, 2019

I've been terribly remiss in keeping current on my travel blog. Even our quick little jaunts are worthy of posting. My long hiatus from the Beechcraft Bonanza is over. We flew to Ponte Vedra on a Santa's flight the week before Christmas and then again on Christmas Day. A beautiful and quick trip to Key West took place in late December with Stephanie and DeWayne.

Today is Bill's birthday. I made a ham and cheese strada for breakfast with a special cake. The butter-pecan Danish kringle with maple glaze would have made Bill's mom proud. Will joined us for the goodies and then we played nine holes before heading to Miami.

A quick ride from Marco and we found ourselves in another world. Friday evening we are celebrating Bill's birthday at Zuma Japanese Restaurant in Miami.

iPhone Fully Operational After Immersion

All functions on the iPhone are working as usual since being dropped into the toilet.  Incredible.  I'm not sure if it is a testament to quick response and the drying out methods employed, or simply the iPhone's ingenuity.  Either way, I'm happy to have my appendage toy back.

Claire Kathryn is Born Today in Chicago

My dear childhood friend, Maggie, is a third-time grandma today.  Her oldest daughter, Shannon, and Joe, delivered a sweet baby girl by C-section this morning.  I particularly love her name:)

Shannon, grandpa Kevin, sister Kaylie, brother Jack, dad Joe, grandma Maggie greet new baby Claire

Mom Rogers Turns 95!

Peg celebrated like a rock star this weekend with a lovely dinner party at her home on Friday with friends and family.

  

  

Peg reserved the private dining room at the Oaks.  We brought an assortment of hors d'oeuvres, wine and champaign, and chef Joe did his thing.  Wild Willy gave a beautiful toast to his mom and Earl delivered a heartfelt pre-dinner prayer.  Ginny brought flowers and candles, Josie brought cupcakes and everyone had a great time.  On Saturday, her actual birthday, Peg's grandson, Chris, and Kristy, Alexis and Devin, made the day extra special.  

Will and Callie joined in on the festivities, too.

 

The great-grandchildren made and hung a poster at the front door announcing the day. We had champaign and Pom punch, a full-blown Thanksgiving meal with turducken, two stuffings, and all the other fixins'.  A feast!  

 

Alexis and Devin performed a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday on the piano before presenting the special cake, they made from scratch, including the cinnamon ice cream frosting and cut-out fondants on top.  

  

 

Kristy, channeling her inner creativity, made a delightful floral arrangement and keepsake for mom. 

  

We're already talking about the celebration we're going to have next year, but the 100th is going to be very special.  Have a great year, Mom!  

 

Vietnamese Chicken Lettuce Wraps

One really can't rest in the family until after the January 11th birthday celebrations.  Wild Willy and young Alexis culminated days of partying with a dinner in Chatham.  We are all big fans of P.F. Changs' famous lettuce wraps, so I set out to make something along those lines.  Among the millions of recipes listed under a Google search, I went with a PERDUE® recipe for Vietnamese ground chicken lettuce wraps to try to create a special appetizer.  I used my Kitchen Aid attachment and ran boneless, skinned chicken breasts through the course grinder (why simplify the process by buying PERDUE® ground chicken?).  While it looks like a long list of chopped and minced ingredients, it's nothing with a food processor.  The wraps were delicious.  I also tried Sophie Brickman's recipe for braised short ribs, but was disappointed with the quality of ribs I purchased.  Her combination of flavors were excellent, but I needed a little more time on the reduction.  I will try the recipe again.  Mashed potatoes, broccoli and two birthday cakes rounded out the meal.  Now I can get on with the year month; the blogmother-in-law turns 95 years old on January 30th.

Let the Decade Begin!

Happy New Year!  May 2010 be a fabulous year for all, and the beginning of the best decade ever. 

Sixteen Candles

Not exactly sixteen candles, but the blogson turned sweet sixteen yesterday and, luckily, I had saved the 6 and the 1 from the bloghusband's 61st birthday cake earlier this year. It's already been a hectic September with packing up and closing down the Vineyard home, driving I95 for five hours, birthday shopping, cake baking, lobster dinner cooking and digging out the back to school paperwork. I also installed Snow Leopard on the trusty MacBook. Yeaaa!