On the Road

We left Key West Saturday morning around 7 am. One night near Savannah, then two nights in Frederick, Maryland, our old home town. In a bit (as soon as my husband gets back from his run with my venti skim latte!) we will reload my Jeep and the box on the roof and head to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where I grew up. We haven't seen my family since this time last year, so we are all excited. It's been fun traveling, knowing that we will see family and friends and revisit some of our old haunts. But let's face it....traveling with two kids, an old dog, and the clothes, toys, books, snacks and everything else that goes with them is pretty exhausting. I am thankful for our great friend Barb Powell, who will take charge of our old dog while we head farther north. I am thankful for the friends who showed up at La Paz (our favorite hang out from days gone by) for the last two evenings to have a margarita and some chips and salsa with us. I am especially thankful for my dear friend Wendy Cox, who picked me up yesterday morning for breakfast at our fave Greek diner, and then took me to Wegman's, Dancing Bear, Nordstrom and Hanna Andersson, making me laugh the entire way. And Wendy gets special thanks for taking John to Bushwaller's for a beer while I took the girls back to the hotel. I don't miss the places here so much, but I sure do miss the people! Email and texts and Facebook updates and photos keep us connected, but I love dropping right back into that 'space' you go to with old friends, talking and laughing like you are just continuing the conversation from last time you saw each other. Alright, off this computer.....that latte should be arriving soon and I've got to get two grubby girls in the tub. We can't see Mom Mom and Pap looking like street urchins! Can't wait. :)

Recipe Cards as Memories

Stuck at home with two sick little girls....time to start organizing stuff. I went through a small file box I brought from Maryland and spent some time remembering people and food-related events from my foodie past. When I owned Someone's in the Kitchen, I did cooking classes and had a loyal following of Maryland cooks. We covered entertaining menus, making stocks, easy weeknight dinners, grilling, wine, holiday baking and much more. I would have guest chefs in to teach every month or so, which was always fun. I got to assist or actually sit in class as a student....drinking wine and laughing with people who grew to be longtime friends. Every so often we would have a potluck class. I would demonstrate just one or two recipes and ask everyone else to bring a signature dish along with the recipe to be copied and shared. I went through some of those cards this morning and it was like a little visit with people I haven't seen in years! And I need to make some of these things now that I found the recipes. Toby's Chocolate Nut Zucchini Cake, Gretchen's Greek Vinaigrette from a Greek church in Pittsburgh, and the best fruit salad drizzle I have ever tasted, Lara's Amaretto Fruit Dip. We don't have many family mementos here in Key West. All of that stuff is in storage in Maryland. So it was nice to find two cards hand written by my grandmothers, both of whom passed in the last two years.  I also found the recipe cards from a charity lunch event I attended in Baltimore where I actually MET Martha Stewart back in the day when she was all the rage. And the handwritten quantities for La Paz margaritas (I remember finally asking for that sitting at the bar upstairs at the old site) and the Maryland Fried Chicken that John used to love from...sadly I can't remember the name of the place, but I'll keep it since you never know when I may need to make fried chicken for 50.

Recipes from Martha's event.

Recipes from cooking classes.

One thing led to another...

My love of magazines and books got me interested in cooking. After college, I discovered that I loved having friends over for Sunday afternoon dinners....lasagna or chili, nothing fancy. That led to our annual parties - Kentucky Derby in May, Open House for Frederick's In the Street festival in October, and always something around Christmas. I loved having invitations printed, ordering flowers, planning menus, all of it! I went to culinary school in 1997, and by just being in the right place at the right time, I was able to turn my experience in publishing and marketing into a 15 year gig of food writing, food styling, running my own cooking school, revamping one restaurant and opening one from ground up. In 1999, a small publisher I worked for produced my cookbook. Very Frederick, MD focused, it featured menus tied to local events and recipes from local chefs. A really fun project and a fun time in my life. I rarely look at it, and I'm not sure if it's even in print anymore. I tend to haul it out when we have new friends over and I've had a drink or two....hey, wanna see my cookbook?! :)