Top Food

Yesterday, we took our friends Eric, Diane, and Abby to see Copia, a food and wine center in Napa. Copia was founded by Robert Mondavi and others as a place to educate about and celebrate food and wine. There are often food and wine related events there: talks, demonstrations, tastings, films... but even on a day like yesterday when there isn't anything special going on, it's a very fun place to visit.

There was a lot to look at, from the lobby, through the entire place, and out to the amazing garden. rI was captivated by two giant urns in the lobby, each about 5 feet tall. When I looked close, I saw they were made out of BOTTLE CAPS. Cool! (Oh my, an unintentional pun...CAPtivated, get it?!) Click on the photo for a closer look at all those bottle caps...



And here's something that impressed us no end... Automated wine tasting machines. There were various ones, loaded with different bottles of wine. You'd buy a "wine card" from another machine (insert credit card and load with however much money you plan to drink)...then you'd put a glass under the spigot of choice, insert wine card, and choose "taste," "half glass," or "full glass." How nifty is that?



After a bit of roaming around, we had a luxurious gourmet lunch at Julia's Kitchen, the restaurant named in honor of THE Julia...Julia Child, of course.



I simply could not get over the feeling that I had stumbled onto the judge's table in an episode of Top Chef. The food was so elegant and tasty, not to mention far more fancy than what we usually eat. I kept expecting Padma and Chef Tom to appear.

I started with an appetizer of grilled scallops in a citrus/fennel sauce. They were swoonably delicious.



Oh --and all this gorgeous food gave me the opportunity to use my new camera AND try out the "food" setting. I know -- a camera with a FOOD setting? I shamelessly photographed everyone's meal. Here's Diane's pumpkin ravioli.



And Eric's bouillabase. Look! There's some sort of foam on top! Remember Marcel from Top Chef and how he'd put foam on everything? We were thrilled with the foam.



My appetizer was followed by an ahi tuna salad in some special dressing devised by Julia herself (when she was alive, of course). It was fabulous. Those are brioche croutons, by the way. Not just ordinary stale bread croutons.



After all of those well-cleaned plates were cleared away, the waitress brought pre-dessert. Yep, mini dessert to be served before dessert. Who knew? This was some sort of raspberry champagne gelatin thingie over a very creamy custard. I was so startled by the concept of pre-dessert that I missed the official description. But it was yummy, especially the tart winey jello eaten along with the creamy stuff.



And the grand finale was the dessert, which I ONLY ordered in the spirit of doing research for my Twelve by Twelve challenge group, which has "chocolate" as its upcoming theme. Dedicated, aren't I? This was called "Rocky Road Redoux" -- and quite the presentation it made.



That little triangle in the upper left corner was a coating of unsweetened cocoa powder (which made a perfect zen garden for making shapes with a fork)...then a tall shot class full of fancy malted milk, then a square of a chocolate mousse-rocky road substance that was downright heavenly, topped by a crunchy dark chocolate brittle... then a little neat pile of chocolate nibs surrounded by dots of chocolate and malted foam (more foam!!), then a little round of dense foam topped with a perfect walnut half.

Oh my.

Here we all are, looking happy and well fed and ready for naps.



Our friends leave tomorrow bright and early (to fly back to Maine, which is reporting a temperature of minus 14 degrees) so we will be heading back to life as usual. We will miss them sorely and look forward to our next visit.

Happy 2008

We are seeing in the new year with a visit with our dear friends Diane, Eric and Abby from Maine. They arrived on Sunday evening, and we have been talking and laughing and eating and having a grand time ever since.

To get ourselves out of the house, we ventured out to the dog park yesterday afternoon.



Gemma had a grand time -- it's her favorite place. And Caroline and Abby had fun, too.



Gemma made a new friend, who was happy hand over his tennis ball if only you'd throw it for him.



Later, we feasted on cold cracked dungeness crab, warm sourdough bread, and champagne. Delish.



The girls were happy with their sparkling cider.



We all struggled to stay awake until midnight to watch the ball drop, give each other New Year's hugs and kisses, and then we headed to bed.

More fun visiting ahead... meanwhile, may all of you have a new year filled with friends, family, love, and laughter.

Up and About

After a second bout with the most unpleasant flu I've had in years, I'm up and around again. That is, if you call "up and around" lazing around on the couch playing a new Nintendo game with Caroline (thanks to my sister), waiting for another batch of jello to firm up, and fiddling with the new camera. I actually ventured out to return books to the library and get a new batch. Quite the exhausting day.

But I did manage to capture a shot of Gemma's classic eye roll. It's one of my favorite things about her, how she can keep her head still and so expressively roll her eyes.



Tomorrow I'll embark on massive tidying to prepare for a visit from dear, dear friends of ours from Maine. We are all excited to see them, so it'll be a real treat to have them here.

Now, off to a soup-and-jello dinner...

Holiday Merriment

Christmas certainly flew by, and a grand time was had by all.

Christmas eve: Christmas songs played on a hammer dulcimer, Prosecco and pomegranate juice, velvety butternut squash soup, cold cracked crab dipped in melted butter, sourdough french bread, sampling of traditional Christmas cookies and chocolate bark, hunting for silly Christmas videos on Utube, and lots and lots of giggles...

Christmas morning: hot coffee, flying wrapping paper, cats jumping in and out among the holiday debris, Caroline's squeals of delight, Roger's laughter at unexpected gifts, apple cinnamon french toast, Gemma's confusion at which new toy to play with first, lots of pictures with the new camera...

Christmas evening: ham warming in the oven, mercury glass gleaming on the table, Joshilyn's "fat potato fat fat" in the works, happy arrivals of family members, the champagne cork popping, oohs and aahs over the traditional Christmas artichoke dip from Laura, more paper flying, happy exclamations over presents, new collars for Gemma and Katie, announcements of our charity donations in lieu of gifts (we're not so great at the "in lieu of" part), yummy dinner (ham, aforesaid fat potato fat fat, annual raspberry jello, spicey orange green beans, rolls), MMMMMMinty ice cream cake for dessert, a family round of Apples to Apples, more laughter, Caroline's glee at winning among all the grownups, comfy post-prandial couch-sitting.

A lovely, lovely holiday.

Followed by more flu in the household, causing Dec. 26 and 27 to pretty much vanish, but things are looking up.

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas, may you have...

a tree that doesn't fall over,



a delicious meal,



the joy of giving and receiving presents,



something bubbly to drink with friends,



warm hugs from loved ones,



greetings from friends and family,



and the peace of love in your heart.

Random Acts of Christmas

The other night, Roger took to bed early to head off a cold, and I suggested a surprise holiday outing to Caroline. We made up a batch of hot chocolate, filled our travel mugs, and ventured out for a drive around town to see the Christmas lights. We had a lovely time, pausing in front of each especially well-lit home to gaze in admiration and sip our cocoa.

One of our favorite sights in town is a metal sculpture of a horse grazing alongside a walking path. As we went by, Caroline said, "Mom, that horse needs a Christmas treat!" We looked at each other and grinned. Luckily, the grocery store was still open and we were able to pick out a wreath and bow to decorate him.

So, there we were, at 10:30 at night, giggling and adorning this steed with his own Christmas wreath. We dashed back to the warmth of the car to admire our handiwork -- he looks stunning and placidly happy now, we agreed.

I cruised by today to take a daylight picture.

I wonder how many folks will notice?

We had so much fun that Caroline and I decided that we will make that late night (well, late night for an 11 year old) city tour an annual event.

Spreading holiday cheer, one wreath at a time...

Sugar Rush

My sister Laura and I had a productive afternoon of baking yesterday. Brown sugar shortbread (above), the classic spritz cookies...



And chocolate peppermint bark.



Today's all about wrapping. No peeking!

You'd Better Watch Out...

I was emailing with my friend Sharon recently, and mentioned how I think of her each Christmas when I'm setting out our Christmas decorations. I always thought I set out pretty elaborate Christmas decorations...until I saw Sharon's house. Her house is just amazing. Sharon sent me a few pictures of this year's decor and has graciously allowed me to share them here.

Sharon's big, country-style home is filled with warmth and Christmas cheer. Every wall has at least one festive quilt, sometimes groupings of several quilts. There were big trees and little Christmas trees, something festive everywhere you looked.



But to be honest, my favorite part is Sharon's amazing collection of cross-stitched Santas. They are everywhere... in small sachet-sized pillows hanging from the knobs on her dining room cupboard, on pillows artfully arrayed on the furniture... Like this:



Regular stitchers may recognize these as the Prairie Schooler collection of Santas. Prairie Schooler is a counted cross-stitch pattern design company that has issued a different small Santa pattern every year, and I recognized them because my sister Laura ("the Two Handed Stitcher") has stitched a bunch of Prairie Schooler designs.

So I was especially impressed at Sharon's assortment of Santas because I know how many hours of work they represent. Lots and lots and lots! Look, here's more:



Sharon says she's stitched one every year for 24 years. Wow! (And thanks, Sharon, for letting me show them!) It almost makes me want to try cross-stitch again.

Coincidentally, just after I'd gotten these photos from Sharon to post here, I discovered that my sister is showing a few of her Prairie Schooler Santas on her blog.

I guess it's that time of year when Santas come to town. Better not cry! Better not pout!

Food and friends, friends and food

Marie of ZQuilts asked what kind of camera my new one is...it's a Panasonic Lumix FZ18. It's an 8 megapixel "SLR-like" digital camera with a Leica lens. It's in the category the camera folks call "ultra zoom" or "bridge" cameras...It's not an SLR ("single lens reflex"), but it has a really great zoom lens and does far more than the typical point-and-shoot camera. But you can't change lenses (the way you can on a true SLR) and it's not big and heavy. You can read about it here. I'm able to take basic pictures so far, but it has all sorts of setting programmed for different situations (snow! bright backgrounds! night skies! moving subjects! multiple faces!) and I suspect it'll be awhile before I figure that all out.

Meanwhile, I did take it with me to my holiday lunch at Pat's house. Pat -- a very talented cook -- made a lovely lunch of butternut squash soup with cornmeal bread and an assortment of cheeses. And Rita supplied champagne, so we were in fine celebration form.

Here's Pat, demonstrating the hand-held GPS unit she adores.

And Rita, fondling the GPS unit because she covets it.

And Janet, looking on with amusement.

For dessert, Pat presented her annual Italian fig cookies and pizelles. Yummers.

Which makes a nice segue into what I'm doing today -- baking, baking, and baking. Tommy has inspired me to make a few batches of chocolate bark, too. Can you smell the chocolate?!

Point, Shoot, and Nap

Look! My first picture with the new Christmas camera! (I was willing to put it under the tree and forego playing with it until Christmas, but Roger informed me it is my holiday obligation to figure it out so I can take Christmas pictures with it.) Not bad, considering I was sitting in a very dimly lit room and I hadn't even read the manual. I can tell there's going to be quite the learning curve to figure out all the fun things this camera does, but it has a great automatic mode that will allow me to have fun pointing and shooting while I figure the trickier stuff out. Exciting! (And for the person who asked, the camera DOES have a flash..it pops up when you want to use it but otherwise stays folded down.)

Can you tell Gemma spent the afternoon romping with her canine cousin Katie?!

I was similarly tired, having just returned from Nevada City where I spent a quick overnight with my aunt and uncle. My aunt (yep, the one I was with earlier this fall when she was recovering from surgery) took me and my cousin-in-law Linda out for a fancy Christmas tea.



I love doing "high tea" at Christmas time -- it's such a lovely ritual. We nibbled on scones and quiche and tiny sandwiches while sipping tea (Earl Grey for me, "Raspberry Truffle" for Linda, "China Gold" for Auntie Carole). How civilized! We had a lovely visit.

Now it's counting down to Christmas. Yikes! I woke up at 5 this morning with my mind spinning through the stuff I need to get done. I ended up getting out of bed to finalize the Christmas dinner menu, make the grocery shopping list, and sort out the baking I need to do later today and tomorrow.

Oh! And while I was in Nevada City, Roger called to tell me that the tree FELL OVER. This particular tree seems to be jinxed. Luckily, the ornaments were not on it yet. He righted it and ended up wiring the thing to the walls (it's in a corner). I tell you, the artificial tree is looking better and better. We'll finish decorating it tonight. I have never had an unfinished tree this close to Christmas, so I'm eager to get it up and looking sparkly.

Okay--I'm off to do some wrapping, then to lunch with good buddies Pat, Rita, and Janet... Having wonderful friends is the best holiday gift of all, don't you think?

Capable of Thousands of Words

Look what I'm getting for Christmas! It's hardly a surprise...I picked it out and ordered it myself. And it'll be here within the next day or two. Yahoo!

You may have noticed the lack of photos here... which is due in part to my being fed up with the old camera I have, which has such a shutter lag that it's hard to get a clear picture of anything that moves (such as people and animals and things being jiggled by a passing breeze). Roger is similarly irked with his tiny point-and-shoot digital camera, so we opted to upgrade our cameras as our gifts to each other.

I've enjoyed researching and reading and checking out cameras in stores...and I finally landed on this Panasonic SLR-like camera with an attached Leica telephoto lens. I think it'll far more than I'll ever need it to do, and yet it's still pretty small and something I'd throw in my bag to go places.

Roger's still deciding... not sure whether to go the digital SLR route and take advantage of some great Canon lenses we have, or to go the route I've chosen and go for something a tad smaller.

Oh--the tree, by the way, is UP in its stand but not yet decorated. (That's tonight's excitement.) After dinner (and fortification by a glass of good Shiraz) Roger and I tackled the tree together. Yes, it did need additional shimming to get it to stay upright in the stand...but we discovered that the tree trunk itself is bent, so when it was resting right in the stand, the tree looked crooked. Geez.

I tell you, I'm shopping for bargain fake trees on sale after Christmas.

O Christmas Tree...

Roger and I generally divide the holiday decorating. He does outside, I do inside. And this works out quite nicely, usually. This is his busy time of year (what with the end of the semester, final exams, and papers to grade) and I care more about inside decorations than he does. Way more. (He still marvels over the fact that we have specific boxes for Easter decorations and Halloween decorations in the garage.) So typically he gets the outside lights up some weekend after Thanksgiving, and I start bringing out the holiday decorations to suit my indoor theme. (I know -- I got inspired to decorate in "themes" by a) getting tired of putting the same stuff in the same place every year; and b) watching all those HGTV holiday decorating shows ever year, culminating in the White House decoration extravaganza that is impressive and beautiful and ridiculous, all at the same time.)

ANYway. We've had all of the decorations up for weeks now EXCEPT for the Christmas tree. We didn't want to get it up too early, as our good friends are coming from Maine to spend New Year's with us and we wanted the tree to have a least a tinge of green by then. And then there's been the flu and what with one thing and another, the tree isn't up yet.

So, while Caroline and I stayed home in our jammies yesterday, Roger ventured out and brought home a lovely tree. A Noble Fir, our favorite kind, not too wide at the bottom. We were going to get it up last evening, but by then Caroline's fever had returned, I was feeling achey and tired still, and Roger had papers to grade.

When I stumbled downstairs this morning, Roger paused as he was heading out the door (briefcase and coffee mug in hand already) to say "Shall we bring in the tree and set it up in the stand before I go?"

Now, I don't know how easily your trees go up, but around here it's a struggle. Aside from the required moving-of-furniture, it's never an easy or quick task. Inevitably the tree is too wide for the stand, or too narrow...or it requires creative shims to make it stand straight. It's not a 5 minute job.

Is that just me?

I tried not to roll my eyes too obnoxiously and sent him on his way. But later in the morning, after I'd had coffee and dressed and gotten Caroline squared away with gingerale and a holiday movie to watch, I figured I'd at least shove the furniture around and set up the stand and get things ready for the tree.

And once that was in place, I figured I could get Caroline to help me get the tree into the stand, if I lifted the tree and she guided it into the stand's bowl. That's where it went awry.

And you know, that's where things go badly every year. Maybe it IS me.

Yep, sure enough, the tree is quite narrow for the stand, so it wouldn't stand straight or balance and I simply couldn't get it screwed into the stand with any sort of stability. There was the annual muttering-of-swear-words while clutching onto armfuls of pine branches...now, there's a great tradition to hand down to your child at Christmas, eh?

We pulled it out. We attached wood blocks to the trunk to add width. We re-inserted. We wrestled and muttered and snapped at each other and pulled it out again. At one point, I dashed downtown to pick up one of those small cheap tree stands, thinking that it'd suit the narrow trunk of this tree better...but no, all that happened was that the tree screws BENT as the tree slowly tipped over. You guessed it -- more muttered swear words.

I tried and tried, with Caroline gamely helping, for FAR too long. I'm talking spending 3 hours doing this. And finally, I dragged the tree back out to the garage, where it is now sitting in its bucket of water.

Roger and I had been looking at artificial trees, thinking that we may have hit that developmental stage where an artificial tree sounds like a wonderful relief, as opposed to a horrid sacrilege. (That's the developmental stage that come right after getting a car with automatic transmission feels like a good thing, too.) I've even selected the tree I'd want (check out the very realistic trees at http://www.balsamhill.com/ -- I've seen these in person and they're pretty darn remarkable for artificial trees.) But they're pricey. Any of the decently-realistic ones seem to be.

And right now? I'm sitting here with some sap and pine in my hair, my back aching, and my hands stained by tree-sap and tingling with pine-needle pricks, and Caroline has been chastizing me about the words she's heard come out of my mouth this morning.

I figure I'd pay $1000 to never have to do that all again. I think an artificial tree would be a bargain.

I'll rest up and be in a holiday mood tomorrow. Once the halls are decked...

What Do You Want for Christmas?

Do you have people around you (say, a spouse maybe) who, less than 10 days before Christmas, suddenly ask you what you might like for a Christmas gift? And, if that happens, do you instantly go blank and have no idea of where to steer your good-natured and willing gift-buyer?

Just in case that happens to you, here are a few ideas ... And you know, you can just email the link as a visual aide for your last-minute shopper friends! These places have last-minute shipping, too!

Some great books are new on the shelves to provide inspiration for art quilters:

Jeanne Williamson's The Uncommon Quilter (you can read my review from a month ago here)

The Painted Quilt by Linda and Laura Kemshall -- great ideas and inspiration on design, painting, surface design, and more.

Nancy Crow's newest book, "Crossroads: Constructions, Markings and Structures" is available for PREORDER here (wouldn't you love a note tucked into a card that says you'll be receiving immediately in the mail when it's released?)

"Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists" by Rice Freeman-Zachary. A fascinating assortment of thoughts and ideas about creativity from working artists in all areas.

"Kaleidoscope: Ideas and Projects to Spark your Creativity" by Suzanne Simanaitis. This book has stories, exercises, and fun ideas to jumpstart your creative exploration.

Rex Ray: Art + Design features the abstract design of San Francisco artist Rex Ray. Luscious shapes, great color, wonderful inspiration.

Neogeo: Illustration and Urban Art by Robert Klanten - covers geometrical forms and solid colors in current design. Very intriguing and more great inspiration.

Okay, maybe books aren't the only things you want... Here are a few supplies you might not buy yourself but they'd be lovely to receive:

Paintstiks Holiday Starter Packs - these come with the "Paintstiks on Fabric" book, rubbing plates, and six paintsticks to get you started in your explorations.

Creative Textile Tool -- sort of like a wood-burning tool but for fabric. You can use this to play with applique, embossing on velvet, fusing, stencil cutting, and more.

Jacquard ExtravOrganza (sem-transparent silk organza sheets) and opaque silk (in sheets or in a roll),all ready for inkjet printing!

Angelina Fiber Jeweltone Sample Set -- Can't decide what color of Angelina Fiber you want to play with? Or are you always missing the one you want? Equilter.com has several different assortments in different price ranges.

"Bead Gravy" and "Bead Soup" -- Maybe Santa will fill your stocking with these great color-sorted assortments of glass beads from Equilter!

"Complex Cloth: The Workshops DVD Set" - If you can't take a class with Jane Dunnewald herself, you can watch these DVDs of her as she demonstrates the processes in her Complex Cloth book.

So, here's what you do. Print out this list (go ahead, hit that print button up there) and circle or check off the things you want. And keep it handy so when your ready-to-shop buddy asks, all you need to do is hand it over.

Sorry, I don't provide gift wrap! Happy Holidays!