BASEBALL, BOOKS AND MOTHER'S DAY

To celebrate this special day, I have posted this photograph of my Mother in her graduation dress when she graduated from Columbia University. She was so lovely. She would be 103 years old if she were still alive. I tend to miss her more as the years go by.

We have been pretty busy lately but I'm not too sure just exactly what we've been doing! Time seems to fly by at a pretty rapid rate of speed. I've been reading a lot and also listening to books on my iPod Shuffle when I exercise. This really makes the time pass more quickly. The book that I'm listening to now is by Ken Fowlett and it's called World Without End.

We work out 3 times a week and I must admit that even though it's not my favorite thing to do, I feel so much better .... plus, once I get to the hospital where the health center is, I really like doing it! One of the machines that I use is called a NuStep. Here is Frank on one of them. It's my favorite thing to exercise on.

Because of my bad back and tread mills are out for me, it's ideal as there is no stress on my lower back but it exercises my legs and arms without my having to walk. I stay on this for 40 minutes and then go to the stationary bike for 15 minutes and then the UBE for 5 minutes which strengthens my arms and upper body.
I just finished listening to Fowlett's Pillars of the Earth which is the first of his two books about building cathedrals in England. I'm really pleased that the new book picks up where the firsrt one left off. It givese me something to look forward to.

Both books are set in the middle of the twelfth century, primarily during the time sometimes called The Anarchy, between the time of the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket.The book traces the development of Gothic Architecture out of the preceding Romanesque Architecture and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory against the backdrop of actual historical events of the time.
Week before last we went to the Ranger game with the Gittibans. We had 8 tickets for that particular game, so we gave the other 4 tickets to the kids and they went with the boys. The weather was perfect and the Rangers won, so what more could you ask for!

Nasser was prepared just in case a ball came our way! That net comes in handy for more things than fly fishing!

Speaking of sports, our grandson in law, Matt, is a big sports fan .... especially where the Cowboys are concerned. Here is a photo of him as a young boy with Tom Landry who was then the coach of "America's Team". What a great thing to have in your book of memories!

We have been to court since I last posted on this blog. Our Diocese is involved in a court case and Frank is one of the named parties. We, the Diocese of Fort Worth, have left the National Church for theological reasons and now they are attempting to try to claim our property. It's a very complicated case so I won't try to explain it. Here is a photograph of our Bishop, the Rt. Reverend Jack Iker with some of the youth in our Diocese.

I love this picture and as you can see, the young people all love him as well. He's a very holy and dedicated man, and as a conservative Diocese we felt that we could no longer be affiliated with The Episcopal Church since it has changed it's theology and has become so liberal. Please keep us in your prayers. This is going to be a long, drawn out case and it is very hard on everyone involved. We are praying for God's will to be done.
Yesterday was Mother's Day and it was a very special day indeed! When I woke up and went to my computer (which I always do every morning) I found this darling card waiting for me from my precious husband.

He's such a thoughtful and considerate man and I am truly blessed to have him to share my life with. God could not have picked a better person for me to spend all these years with and I am so grateful.
After the early service yesterday, each Mother in attendance was presented with a flower as we left the church. It's become a tradition at our parish. I love mine and have it properly displayed in our guest bathroom along with the card from my honey.

We went to breakfast with the "gang" as we do each Sunday and then came home and waited for the family to come over. They arrived at noon and brought me this lovely vase of flowers. I love flowers, so I really appreciated them!

After we enjoyed a Bloody Mary, we headed for Fort Worth and a wonderful restaurant called Taverna. It is located in Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth. Frank took this shot of me and my "baby" to help remember the moment.

Taverna is a very attractive place and it's always a delight to enjoy a meal there.

It's owned by the people who own Lombardi's and the food is delicious. We were seated at this long table in the front part of the restaurant while they were getting our table ready.

There was a piece of illuminated glass at the bar where they seated us and the boys never let an opportunity like this pass them by, so they started playing "hand games".

When Ian got tired of that, he pulled out his phone and was playing other games on it.

We could also see the pizza ovens from there, so that gave the boys an idea about what they wanted to eat for lunch.

Once we were seated, we had Mimosas all around and ordered our food.

We started with Calamari and Foccacia bread along with Bruschetta. It was very good but I have to admit, mine (and Julia's) is much better!

The boys had Pizza while Franklin and Beth had a traditional brunch item ... Eggs Benedict. She had the Hollandaise on the side but I think she ate most of it anyway. After all .. it WAS Mother's Day so you must take advantage!

Frank and I opted for two of their pasta dishes and they were exceptional.

Connor had been a little out of sorts since he had to wait for the food to be prepared, but we finally got a smile out of him when the pizza arrived.

We stayed there for a couple of hours and then as we waited for Valet to bring our car, we took a couple of shots of the rest of the family.

Beth and I both want to thank Frank and Franklin for being such good Husbands and Fathers, After all, if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be Mothers!!!

When they left us, they went over to Beth's Mom's house to wish her a Happy Day. When we arrived back at the house, I had a phone call waiting from Nicholas and a posting on Facebook from Rachel wishing me a Happy Mother's Day from my "big" grand babies. All in all, it was a perfect day, beginning with church, then breakfast with friends, lunch with family and ending the day with one of our favorite TV shows, "As Time Goes By".
I hope that each of you had as pleasant a day as I did. It won't be long until Father's Day will be here and we can all celebrate again!!!
XOXO, Pcasso

THE ROAD TO HEAVEN MUST BE PAVED WITH OLIVE OIL

Where to begin! After we returned from our wildflower jaunt to the Hill Country, I had appointments the rest of the week with what seemed to be every physician I have ever met as well as my dentist! Fortunately I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in!

Then last week we were invited out for dinner with our friend, Darden, and we had a delightful meal at Piccolo Mondo, one of our favorite restaurants.

Spring was in the air and I was ready to get into the swing of things. Speaking of shapes, I was feeling so good about myself that I rushed out and bought new swimsuit without trying it on first. Big mistake!!! I had gone to my Weight Watcher's meeting the day before and found that I had lost 5% of my body fat which is the first goal you set for yourself with the program, so in my mind I looked terrific. Let me tell you, Esther Williams I was not.

In fact, when I looked in the mirror, I looked a lot like this beached whale!

Back to the drawing board and away from full length mirrors for me for a while!

We've had lots of good times with friends the past couple of weeks, all involving food. Let's face it, at this stage of life, that's most of if not all of our entertainment. Last Sunday after church the Ferbends had our breakfast group over for brunch.

There are several of us who always go to breakfast after the early service and occasionally we change our routine and meet in one of our homes to eat. It was a lovely affair with good food and great conversation.
Then mid-week we went for dinner with long time friends, the Sawyers and Walkers. The Walkers had us over for drinks before dinner and we had a nice visit before heading out to the restaurant.

When we returned home that evening we watched "Idol Gives Back" which we had recorded. Thank goodness for DVR's. You can watch your favorite shows and also eliminate all the commercials. What a blessing! We lost one of the two contestants from Texas, but after all, there will always be one person eliminated each week until the finale. It's sad but the show must go on!
Last Monday I started attending the book club at St. Alban's again and I think it's going to be an extremely exciting study. We started with Dante's Inferno which is the first book in his trilogy, The Divine Comedy, and we are now beginning the path upward to Purgatory. Thank goodness we're finally out of Hell!

It's absolutely fascinating and I'm really looking forward to this study as Father Duncan brings the pages to life for those of us in his class. I am even ahead of the game with my homework for a change and ready for some interesting discussion tomorrow.
We sold our old car and got a new one. It was a bittersweet time as it was really a good car but we were ready for a change. If anyone is interested, I can promise you that the old one in great shape and should last for a long time. It has a little under 30,000 miles on it and has been handled with TLC. She still looks brand new. Here's Papa backing it out of the driveway for the last time.

We took a photograph of it before we took it to the dealership. I read somewhere that you should take a photo of each of your cars that you own so when you take that trip down Memory Lane you will remember what they looked like. Plus, your children would never believe what some of the old cars you owned looked like. Sometimes I forget to do that so I'm trying to be more accountable now. When Frank and I married I had a '55 red Thunderbird with both a hard and soft top and I did not take a single photo of it. I'm really sorry now! At least they're still on the Internet. I sometimes wonder if he married me for love or for that car! It was a real cutie (but I was back then too!)

Friday afternoon we didn't have anything to do, so we watched "Julie and Julia" again. It is without a doubt one of my very favorite movies. I adore food and absolutely LOVE to cook. There is a scene in that movie that has continued to haunt me since the first time I saw it.

In fact, I have even bought Julie Powell's book and am starting to read it now since the story interests me so. It was on the best seller list for a long time and is a delightful read.

Julia Child used to come to Longview, Texas and give cooking workshops and I had the privilege of attending one of those many years ago. I've always been interested in food and I get extremely excited when I either am served or prepare something that I consider to be exceptional. I took two week long workshops with Jacques Pepin at the Broadmoor at their School of Cooking in Colorado Springs in the '80's and loved every minute of it. When I was younger I was a very serious cook. I used to work in a gourmet cookware store and even taught some cooking classes. Some friends owned the store and I offered to help them out a couple of days a week. I'd never worked before but I had certainly cooked, so it was like playing all day, doing the thing you love the most and getting paid for it! It was certainly a win/win situation!

Jacques and Julia had a cooking show on PBS for a long time and they were wonderful together. In fact, they collaborated on a cook book and I not only have a copy of that book, I have all of his cookbooks and also Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

They also made a DVD of their show and I plan on getting it soon. It's such fun to watch them working together.

The two of them are absolutely delightful together. Two entirely different styles of cooking but they compliment one another completely in the kitchen.
And now, to the main point of this entry! While watching the film, I decided that I could not live another minute without trying the delicious Bruschetta that Julie (not Julia) prepared in the movie. Since I still have a little trouble getting around physically, so I sent Frank to the store ... he was MORE than anxious to go knowing what would be in store when he returned ... and he came home with all the necessary ingredients for our very special lunch. Here is the recipe and following this are the photographs that I took of what I call my masterpiece.

BRUSHETTA - al la Julie and Julia – Recipe

4 slices rough textured bread, such as focaccia, or from a crusty baguette, cut lengthwise

16 oz. assorted heirloom type tomatoes (I used President’s Choice Rainbow heirloom cherry tomatoes) chopped and seeded if the seeds look sketchy

Extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled and halved

sea salt

chopped fresh basil

1. Toss tomatoes with 1 T. olive oil and about 1 tsp. sea salt.2. Fry bread in 2-3 T. olive oil in skillet, browning on each side, and adding 1 more T. oil if necessary (I added a tad of butter to the oil)3. Rub cut half of garlic clove over 1 side of fried bread.4. Spoon tomatoes (with oil and accumulated juices) over bread. Top with chopped basil and more sea salt to taste.5. Eat with plenty of napkins on hand. It's messy but wonderful!
Serves 2.

I used some of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil in this recipe that I had purchased on our last trip to Tuscany and it tasted like velvet. Nothing on earth compares with really good olive oil from Tuscany. The bottle is small and the contents are very precious, like liquid gold. An absolute delight on the tongue.

We proceeded to open a bottle of white wine and put on our bibs as we bit into this glorious taste of a little bit of Heaven. Surely the road on the way to Heaven is paved with extra virgin olive oil!
This was very easy to make, not very time consuming and one of the best things that I have put in my mouth in a very long time. The sounds that we both made as we were eating it could only be described as complete ecstasy. I'm glad no one was listening because they would have wondered what on earth was going on with these two old people!
After taking a long afternoon nap (we don't generally drink wine during the day), we went out on the deck and finished the bottle of wine we had opened for our lunch.

As we watched the sun set on our little garden, we listened to some of our favorite golden oldies sung by Bette Midler and Michael Bublé .

It was the perfect end to an absolutely perfect day.
Since I am writing this blog, my precious husband told me that he was going to read the paper, but he was actually taking a nap. He thinks I can't see him when he's in his disguise
:-) I don't know why he doesn't just turn the lights out. that way he wouldn't look like a corpse in an ugly body bag!

After all the great food and wine, I need to get to the gym on Monday and start working on the body that I can only dream of. If I live long enough and keep going to Weight Watchers, maybe someday .....

or would I rather just continue to cook and have delicious food and enjoy this part of my life? You tell me!
Bon Appetite,
Pcasso