Gourmet Cooking Class

Throwback Thursday: Gourmet Cooking Class

My mother has informed my siblings and I that she no longer needs any gifts of "stuff". She is at a point in her life where all she wants to do is clean out junk so that when she dies there is less of a mess for us to deal with.  Her words, not mine.  I appreciate her effort although I haven't really thought that far in advance yet.  Now, how does that relate to this delightful post on a gourmet cooking class? Instead of gifting my mother a tangible gift to place on a shelf last Christmas, my sister, sister-in-law and I gifted her a gourmet cooking class for the four of us.

Myself, Anna (my sister), Gretchen (SIL), and Mom

We selected a date in March of this year to attend "Italian 101" where we actively participated in creating a gourmet meal that would later be our dinner! Anna and I carpooled and met up with my mom and Gretchen.  A humorous side note: I was in my third trimester with Katherine and one of the weird pregnancy side effects I often encountered was motion sickness while driving.  I totally got carsick on the way there.  I started crying and my sister pulled over - at first on the left side of the 101 (super busy freeway in Phoenix) which was a little scary and then eventually she pulled entirely off the freeway into a parking lot so I could get out. Driving helped alleviate my motion sickness for some reason so we switched spots and off we headed again.

Our meal consisted of:

·         Wild Mushroom Cannelloni with Lemon Thyme Cream Sauce

·         Chicken Saltimbocca with Creamy Polenta

·         Chianti Poached Pear with Cinnamon Semi-freddo (my fave!)

Anna rolling out her pasta with some assistance.  This took a little practice at first but was quite fun to practice.  Now...I only need to practice using my own pasta roller at home!

We cut the long strips of pasta into rectangles, cooked them in boiling water and then used them for canelloni.

The Chianti Pear dessert was awesome.  I have never had a semi-freddo before and I felt like I could have eaten a gallon of this. Semi-freddos are not for those who are afraid of raw eggs though.  It was fun to learn some new kitchen techniques, like how to make pasta from scratch, and the people watching was pretty fun as well.  We sat with some interesting people.  Overall it was a super fun night making memories with my mom and sisters.  It turned out to be one of the best gifts we had given!

Merry Christmas in March Mom!

Play date at the "beach"

Throwback Thursday: Play date at the "beach"

Referring to our play date at the "beach" is a bit of a stretch.  Okay, a big stretch but we had fun anyway.  Our friends, Katie and Carson, hosted us for a mid-summer play date this past July.  HB is only two days older than Carson and they were both delivered in the same hospital.  If my memory serves, Katie and I actually  had the same due date.  I liked to refer to her as my pregnancy twin at that time.  It's fun to get together now since our boys are so close in age.

HB loved the water slide and sand table.  He ate so much sand that day I feared for his digestive tract.  No matter how many times I washed his mouth out with water he continued to go back for more.

Katherine was about six weeks old but I somehow failed to capture a picture of her on her first play date.  Truth be told though she didn't do much playing.  She napped on the patio table while the boys played and then napped some more while we snacked and played inside.  I also failed to capture a picture of Carson's cousins, Moses and Lancy, who stopped by with their mom Amy.  We love this whole family!  Thanks for a great time:)

Carson is trying to crawl up the water slide here because as I have learned with little boys, slides are meant to be crawled up.  Duh, mom.

It is seriously a feat to get more than one toddler to look at the camera at the same time and have them both look happy.

The awesome water and sand table I mentioned earlier.  Carson is showing HB how it's done.  Don't they look like two little old men?

HB is now getting his hands dirty along with throwing sand into Katie's beautiful lawn.  Sorry Katie!