Rear view mirror

It was a delicious weekend.

Dinner on Saturday night. 


fabulous homemade dressing


served with magnificent wine.


We did some painting, worked in the basement, fought with Comcast, Verizon, bought a new modem, and almost gave up on technology. 

Almost but not quite.  In better news, spring is coming, despite our current frozen tundra.  Soon. 

Saturday

We were supposed to be checking on the cottage this weekend.  We had to hang back, taking care of His Handsomeness.  We don't mind.

He is improving every day.  The cone is quite becoming. 



Not ideal but it doesn't hold him back either.


We had a weekend and a meal we didn't plan on having here ... so we decided to make a few favorites. 

My favorite chicken meal is +Paul Kratochwill 's chicken piccata.


served over pasta.


We also make our own salad dressing; tonight was a delicious Caesar dressing.


mustand, anchovy paste, fresh garlic, yum!


and a fabulous wine from friends at +Amy Ruis and Art of the Table!


I love take pictures of wine.  Perhaps there is a profession somewhere at the intersection of wine and photography.  :)  

While the snow continues to fall, we look forward to the promise of spring and our little man's improving health! 

Prime Rib dinner

Last night,  Paul made us a wonderful meal.  The full recipe is over on the foodies blog.  But I needed to take a few pictures for posterity.

In case you are wondering, it's a recipe adapted from How to Cook Meat.  It's a great book.



We skipped the pudding part.



We made my friend Karen's potatoes.







Of course, we had to have something elegant in the glass.



With au jus, it was simply magnificent.



As we head into the New Year, we have much for which to be thankful.  Last night, it was a wonderful meal with great friends.  Cheers to the weekend.

(mostly) Delight and (a little) Disappointment

We have had a glorious weekend EOTE.  While the weather has been a tad wild, it hasn't prevented us from doing everything we love.   We have watched the sun rise and set, grilled breakfast and dinner, walked the beach, watched freighters float by, and watched the moon rise.

From Fall in the O

From Fall in the O

From Fall in the O

From Fall in the O

From October Moon

Saturday, we had lunch at our very favorite restaurant, The Old Place Inn. I always write about their soups. This visit is no exception.  We were smarter this time (well Paul was); he called ahead.  Don made sure to have TWO of my favorite soups ... wild mushroom and Carolina seafood chowder.  I had a new one - greens and beans.  Every kind of fabulous green along with beans - it was a home run.

From Fall in the O

From Fall in the O

Then they told us the news ... we were hoping to see them over Thanksgiving but Don and Sharon are closing for the winter.  We were crushed.  Sad for us but happy for them. They will be closing from daylight savings to daylight savings each year.  Don said that it is the first time in 45 years that he will get to spend a Thanksgiving with his family - not cooking for others. 

We will certainly miss them for our last few visits of the year and we are happy for their time off.  It's been a rough year for them.  They deserve it. 

As a send off, Don had a quart of his masterful butternut squash bisque.  I bought what was left and will have it for lunches this next week.  Lucky me. 

Cheers from the most beautiful place on earth. 

Life is better

at the Lake.  At least that is what my glass says.

Where else to spend our long weekend but at our favorite home-away-from-home.  To watch the sun rise, to listen to the waves crash, and to watch the stars sparkle.

We always stop two places while hanging in Oscoda.  We shop at Klenows, a small market in Tawas;  then correspondingly, we stop in at Brew Krew to buy wine to accompany our purchase.   This trip was no different.  I always look forward to these adventures. 

We popped in on our early morning shop hoping to find some stuffed pork chops.  The place is hopping busy.  I looked around and didn't see any stuffed chops but knowing that they have a great selection asked.  The butcher said, "no we don't." Bummer I thought.  And then he said, "but we can make you some."

For real? For real.  He asked for 15 minutes to make the stuffing and stuff the chops.  I was floored.  But we were thrilled.  What service.  I LOVE that place.  So we have stuffed pork chops on tonight's menu. 

A storm rolled through late Sunday morning and stayed for the day. It brought drenching rain, rolling white caps, and strong winds.  Perfect weather for good books and naps.

From Memorial Day weekend 2012

From Memorial Day weekend 2012

From Memorial Day weekend 2012

Other than a small plumbing problem that will be fixed later this week, it's been close to perfect.  Oh, and the glass is right.  It's better up here.  At the Lake.

Anatomy of a meal

Round these parts, we have a cooking philosophy called Basement Cooking. We have committed to cooking, "what's in the basement."   We have half a cow and a whole pig, sliced, diced, sealed and frozen.  We approach each meal as it's a puzzle waiting to be assembled.

We set the table.  We always need a little color during the winter.



Friday night, we cooked steaks on the barbie.  While it snowed, we may have been better to reverse the meals (Saturday was indoor cooking) but it turned out beautifully.  The steaks were simply seasoned with Mickey & T's All American seasoning.  Simple.  Delicious.  We had a little Sinister Hand to prop up the steaks.





Saturday night, we opted for chicken.  My very favorite dish EVER.  (well at it was least last night).  We swung by Art of the Table and Andrea helped us pick out a wine.  We choose a (GASP) inexpensive white table wine, Hook and Ladder.





Heavenly.

The salad was fabulous as always.  It's our favorite complete with homemade dressing.  You should try it.



And dinner?  Magnifique!





Cheers to the weekend.

Our new year

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was 'thank you' that would suffice.
~Meister Eckhart

Our goal was to make it to midnight.  That's WAY past my bedtime and with the help of a nap, I did it.  :) We had a lovely dinner, marinated ribeyes, rice, and a pear-blue cheese-walnut-Boston bibb salad.  Spectacular. 

From 2011-12-31

From 2011-12-31

The evening started with the most beautiful sunset.  Here we are, January, and not  a flake of the fluffy white stuff on the ground.  [that is all supposed to change by this afternoon].

From 2011-12-31

We enjoyed a few pints of our favorite oat pops while watching the Red Wings pummel the St. Louis Blues.  I love that the Wings play on New Year's Eve. 

From 2011-12-31

A magnificent fire.

From 2011-12-31

And most lovely, the dinner wine.

From 2011-12-31

Thank you.  For everything.  Welcome 2012. 

Friday night dinner

Paul made my very favorite dinner of all time, Tenderloin Deluxe. 

From 2011-12-30

We invited Samson's bff, Aunt Deb, over for dinner.  He loves her.

From 2011-12-30

The secret to the recipe is butter, soy sauce, and scallions.  And medium rare at 125 degrees.

From 2011-12-30

We had a wonderful, post-Christmas gathering around good food, good fire, and great hockey.

From 2011-12-30

We can't wait to do it again.

Dinner

Paul makes some of the most amazing meals.  My very favorite shrimp recipe is shrimp soaked in tomato-basil-cayenne pepper-olive oil-goodness.  Along with blanched garlic it is one of my favorite meals ever.

We would be remiss without an amazing bottle of wine. Yum.

Weekend in review

Well, it's way more than the weekend.  We have been busy - shopping, doing, cooking, getting ready.  You know, it's cottage season.    But that's in the future;  the fun, food and friends are in the week's past.

Thursday night, we had a friend of Paul's over.  He brought some beautiful flowers, just perfect to pick us up when the temperatures dropped.




Paul made a fantastic chicken picata.  So fantastic.



I have also ordered Paul an iPad 2.  Until then, I have to share mine.  And my PvZ.  (Plants vs Zombies).



And no weekend is complete with our Handsome boy, @thedogsamson.  Love.


Summer is coming.  Which means wind, water, sand and East of the Equator.  I can't wait.  #winning.