FRIENDS, FOOD, FILMS FOOD AND FALLEN HEROES

It's Memorial Day weekend and all is well on the Western front.

I guess I've put off writing long enough. Frank is at the Colonial Golf Tournament in Fort Worth, so I have several hours with nothing to do but blog.

Our days have been crammed full of activities now that summer is approaching and I've enjoyed every second of it. However, it seems as though the faster I go, the behinder I get!
I told you about the Bruschetta that I've been making lately in a recent blog. Well ... I've become addicted to it (so has Papa)! Any time that I can't think of what to fix for a light meal, we end up having Bruschetta. It's made with a course bread such as Pugliese and it's so delicious. How can you possibly go wrong with butter, garlic and fresh tomatoes with basil?

I had the strangest feeling when I saw a photograph of our newest Supreme Court member. I kept thinking that I had seen her before. Well, it finally dawned on me that she looked so much like the actor, Harvey Fierstein that they could be twins. That's why I was confused. What do YOU think?

I'm back on kitchen duty again but then that's one of my favorite things to do. After all, I get to eat what I have managed to create.

I decided to make enchiladas again and had promised two of our "bachelor" friends that I would make them a real New Mexican meal. It was the first time that Darden had eaten my enchiladas and I think he's hooked.

We had a combination of lemon and raspberry sorbet for a closure to the meal and to cleanse our palates. It was perfect after all the spicy food.

We then ended the evening with a glass or two of Tuaca. It was the perfect way to spend an evening.

Our other friend, Jim, was unable to make it and he was certainly missed. Guess he and his puppy were too busy riding around in vintage cars and doing other things ;-)

A dear friend from church asked us over to her new residence to watch the Preakness with her. When she was in her old home, we would always go over to her place and watch the Kentucky Derby and drink Mint Juleps. It was our "tradition".

We somehow missed getting together for the Derby this year, so she decided to have a few people in to watch the Preakness. Lookin At Lucky won but didn't pay nearly as well as the horse that won the Derby. It was fun anyway as it always is when you're with long time friends.

I believe that I have mentioned before that we have a group that goes to breakfast together every Sunday after church. We occasionally go somewhere to brunch for a change of pace, so we had everyone over to our house for Bloody Mary's and Mimosa's and then we were off to Fort Worth and Cabo Grande for a delicious meal.

As you can see, some of the boys opted for martinis, shaken, not stirred!

The Higham's had altar duty at the church, so they were running a little late but they didn't get too far behind on the drinks :-) What a fun way to start a Sunday afternoon.

The weather was delightful, so we were able to sit by the pool and enjoy the gentle breeze as we waited until it was time to go.

The buffet at Cabo is very good and also reasonably priced. PLUS .. the Bloody Mary's, Mimosa's and the Sangria are gratis. How can you possible beat that! Here's my meal and it was delicious. I passed on the eggs as we have them all the time at home and substituted bread pudding for dessert. It was a good choice for me!!

One of our favorite movies is "Nine", so we watched it again during the week. I also purchased the soundtrack. Thank goodness for Netflix. We can see the current movies as soon as they hit the shelves and we don't even have to leave the house.

The movie is based on Federico Felinni's film, "8 1/2" , and they have not only made it into a film, it is also running on Broadway. Dame Judith Dench, one of our favorites, is in the movie as well as Daniel Day Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and a host of other excellent actors. If you like musicals with a very interesting plot, I recommend it.
We have really been trying to watch what we eat, so I found a recipe for Chicken Picatta and decided to give it a try. It was great, very light and tasty and the perfect meal for a light spring dinner.

I accompanied it with a spinach and beet salad and we felt as though we'd gone out for dinner at a fancy restaurant.

We generally eat our lunch out and I cook the evening meal most of the time. I love to cook, so that's not a problem. We have an unwritten rule around here. The one that doesn't cook does the dishes. That way we all come out winners.
We also went to see Robin Hood when it opened with Russell Crowe and it was quite good. The film industry hasn't produced many good films since the Academy Awards, so it's nice to have something enjoyable for a change. Movies are another one of our pastimes.

The story was based on Robin of Locksley's early life, so they have left the door open for a sequel. Smart move!
One of my new pastimes is playing the game "Words With Friends" on my iPhone.

It's a lot like Scrabble and helps keep "mature" minds young. It's absolutely addictive! When we were having lunch at Pappadeaux the other day, I pulled out my iPhone while I was waiting for my food and the waiter said, "Words With Friends"? When I said yes, we were instant friends and he visited with us for what seemed like forever. He was a delight. We even exchanged names of our favorite TV shows and movies that each of us liked. WWF's is like an International language and SO much fun. I have 6 games going right now. Here are my "playmates".

I usually lose more than I win, but I don't mind. It's the game that's important.
Guess I'll never win the Pulitzer Price for Intelligence, because I like this game, American Idol and Dancing With the Stars. In other words I love to be entertained. We never miss an episode of the aforementioned programs and haven't for years (at least I don't vote anymore!)
Our hometown boy, Casey James, was in the top 3 on Idol.

I really hated to see him go. And then, when we got to the top two, it had to be the hardest decisions that the judges had made in all the seasons the show has been on the air.

There was talent galore here, but the winner after all the competition was Lee DeWyze. It was a toss up between him and Crystal Bowersox and they both deserved to win. In fact, all three did!!! Pity they can't have multiple winners.

The season was a job well done by all of the contestants. The judges really know how to select talent, especially Simon Cowell. I'm so sad to see that he's leaving the show. I'll really miss him.
The following week was the finale of Dancing With the Stars and the treasured "Mirror Ball Trophy" went to Nicole Scherzinger who is the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls.

She is not only an excellent singer but ... WOW... can she dance. What a talent!

We went to Arlington Highlands last week to have lunch with the Gittibans. The Orvis store there is closing, so of course, we had to go and see how much money we could save.

After we had saved a great deal of money purchasing bargains, (our husbands joined in on the buying spree) we went to Hoffbrau's for lunch.

I had this small steak (which I never have at noon) thinking that I wouldn't have to cook much that night and I was right. We were still full from lunch, so we had Bruschetta (again!) I seem to always have tomatoes and garlic on hand.

Frank and two of his buddies went to the Ranger game the next night and had a great time. I couldn't decide whether to call them The Three Musketeers or The Three Stooges! At any rate, they had a good time and that's what matters. You can tell who the die hard fans are by the way they're dressed. Frank and Nasser are die hard Cowboy fans so their uniforms are different in the fall.

Early last week Ian had a concert at the Levitt Pavillon here in downtown Arlington. He plays saxophone and is doing a great job.

The next shot shows him practicing a few days before the concert. I've also included a photo of Jim, our eldest. He was quite a bit older than Ian when this photo was taken. They both started playing the sax when they were in the 5th grade.

That particular instrument holds a very special place in my heart since Jim played professionally for many years and the saxaphone was his main instrument along with all the woodwinds and the piano. He was a very talented young man, just like his nephews.

Can you see the family resemblance? Ian's concert was very good and we are so proud of him. It was the first time we had been to the Pavilion and have scheduled several trips back in the month of June.

Connor is more into electronic games than school concerts, so he found a way to occupy himself during the evening.

The rest of us waited patiently for the music to begin and it was well worth the wait. We always go to outdoor events when we travel, but somehow never manage to go when they are local. Thanks to Ian and his school performance, we will now be going to the Levitt frequently.

The Middle School choirs also sang so it was a very well rounded venue. We're so blessed to have this new facility in our own home town so everyone can enjoy the arts.

On Thursday we went to see the movie, "Kites". It was a very different independent "Bollywood" film but we really enjoyed it. I had read about it in the NY Times so we decided to take a chance and see what it was about since it got excellent reviews.

In 1985 there was a photograph on the cover of National Geographic of a girl from Afghanistan with the most incredible green eyes. They weren't "Bette Davis Eyes", in fact, they were even more so! If you ever saw this image you would never forget it as it was so haunting. The man who played the lead in Kites, Hrithik Roshan, had eyes that reminded me of the girl in the photograph. I have combined a photograph for you to see the comparison. His eyes aren't quite as intense as hers but they, too, were certainly haunting (and he's such a hunk!) I think I need to plan a trip to India!

On Friday our youngest grandson, Connor, was honored along with his other classmates at the 4th grade Awards Day ceremony at his school. We are so proud of him. He's such a sweet, smart young man. He must have taken at least 15 different awards where he excelled in academics, plus he was on the "A" honor roll all year. He has certainly made these two grandparents proud!

I promised you food in the title of this blog so here's some more. And speaking of food, I found a website called The Hungry Novelist. It's all about food and it's great! Right up my alley!

We have been combining Weight Watchers and the South Beach Diets (Frank needs to stick to the eating plan of the SBD since he is a diabetic and needs to avoid most carbs), so I made this tuna salad from their cookbook. It was excellent and very tasty.

I always seem to have a camera or my iPhone handy when there's food around.

We went to lunch another day at Olenjack's Grill and had the tortilla soup and a chopped chicken salad and I can't wait to go back.

As the old saying goes, "Try it ... you'll like it". We sat out on their patio and enjoyed the nice weather. It was a pleasant way to spend an early afternoon. It was also the prerequisite for our nap!
Then on Thursday night after the Awards Ceremony for Connor, Darden came over and I fixed lamb chops and artichokes, two of all of our favorite things. I'm not sure where the stores are getting them now, but the artichokes are exceptional and exceptionally large this time of year. These were almost as big as a head of lettuce. Both the lemon and the tomatoes were extra large, so you can see the size comparison.

The lamb was from New Zealand and was cooked to perfection, thanks to Frank. The chokes turned out well too. Darden said that he would have liked to have eaten the remaining butter with a spoon. I said go ahead, but since he was on his best behavior he wouldn't do it. I probably would have. The beauty of this is that it was Butter Buds with lemon juice and salt, not butter, and it's calorie free but NOT flavor free!

Frank always reads the Raton Range on line, which is the local paper from our old home town in New Mexico. We moved there when we married and he started his practice there, so we still have friends that live there. We lived there for 7 years before moving to Arlington. His eldest brother, George, was killed in France during WWII and there is now a memorial in front of the Colfax County Court House in Raton with George's name on it. Frank found this photograph on the Internet in the Raton newspaper. I thought it only appropriate to mention this since tomorrow is Memorial Day and we should remember all the fallen heroes in our prayers who have helped to make this land that we love so safe. May God bless their souls and may light perpetual shine upon them.

I went to breakfast with the group after church and tonight we will be going to the Levitt Pavilion to hear Mingo Fishtrap.
The concert starts at 8:00 but we plan to get there early so we can get a good parking place. I can't walk too far, so Papa drops me off, parks and then he carries the chairs and ice chest while I hobble along.

There's really not a bad seat in the house and the sound system is great, so we will enjoy our sandwiches and wine and listen to the music of this great group.

If you're not familiar with them, they sound a lot like "Chicago" from the 70's and 80's and their music is great. Check out their sites to listen to them.
.:: Mingo Fishtrap ::.
YouTube - Mingo Fishtrap Born Without Her Heart.m2t

There are several of their performances on You Tube.

Having had 3 generations of our family involved with the music industry we have been groupies for nearly 50 years and we have loved every minute of it. Music soothes the soul like nothing else, at least it does for me.
Have a relaxed and safe Memorial Day. The kids are coming over tomorrow to swim and visit. Ian will graduate from elementary school next week. He's going to have a swim party here on Thursday with about 20-25 young people. It will seem like old times. We can't wait!
Take care.

XOXO, Pcasso

P.S. It's 10:30 p.m. and we just got back from the concert. What a treat! Perfect weather and a great crowd. The music was unbelieveable. We had a wonderful evening and wish that all of you could have been there with us to enjoy it. Maybe next time.

XOXO again, Pcasso