Grace Before Meals - Fr. Leo vs.Bobby Flay!

Last night, I had the pleasure of having dinner with my good friend MFF at Amicci's in Baltimore's Little Italy. After a delicious meal of house salad with calamari (MFF had a Caesar salad with shrimp), garlic bread and a glass of red wine (full-bodied Chianti), we walked across the street to the parking lot of Da Mimmo's to watch a big screen presentation of "Throw Down with Bobby Flay" featuring one of Baltimore's own Catholic priests, Fr. Leo Patalinghug. Bobby and Fr. Leo were in a contest to create the best fajita and Fr. Leo won. You may be familiar with Fr. Leo - he is a cookbook author, creator and host of "Grace Before Meals." His message is pretty simple -- the act of creating and sharing a meal can strengthen all kinds of relationships -- Check out his website at www.gracebeforemeals.com

Now that our children, K & J, are out of the house, I realize just how important it was to gather together nightly for a meal. At the time, J didn't think so -- Here is a sample scenario circa 2004-05:

Dad: (with a smile) "How was your day"? J: (without a smile) Fine. (then dead silence..) Dad: (still smiling) "What did you do at school today"? J: (still not smiling) Nothing.....(silence continues throughout the rest of the meal)
Mom tries to make small talk to break the silence, but to no avail.

And so it went. Now that D and I eat alone (don't get me wrong, every night is a date night when your children are gone), I do miss a crowded table and the "stimulating conversation" we shared with the angst filled teenaged boy (who has turned in to a fine young man BTW!).

If you don't know about GBM, visit the website. Here is a recipe that I have tried that is just delish -

Mushrooms Stuffed with Honey Sausages

Ingredients: Olive oil, Mushrooms, Sausage, Honey, Blue Cheese, Fresh Spinach

How to make it: Add olive oil to Pan. Cut stems off large mushrooms and place cap-up in the pan. Carmelize for a few minutes. Remove casing from sausage. Form meat into mini meatballs and cook in a second pan. Add ½ cup water and allow meat to cook in the steam. Add a few tablespoons of honey and blue cheese to the pan. Fill mushrooms with meatballs and pour honey sauce over top. Add Spinach to the pan and sauté for a few minutes. Plate spinach, place mushrooms around it in a circle.

Simple Meal!

A Great Swap!

I follow the blog "Monograms and Manicures." You may already be familiar with Hopsy -- she is the super cute style maven who posts daily -- like I should -- and offers her readers chances to sign up for her give-aways and swaps. Last month, she hosted a "swap" and had over 125 blog followers sign up, including moi. She paired me with a Texan named Desiree who, other than being a Duke Blue Devil Fan, was the perfect swap partner. Here is a photo of the "loot" I received from this extremely generous blogger friend. I must say, for someone who has never met me in person, she was pretty spot on with my likes and style. She sent me a gorgeous moc-croc GREEN journal and a beautiful crystal turkey that will hold the Godiva after dinner chocolates on Thanksgiving Day! Thank you Desiree!! If I am ever lucky enough to have a bevy of followers I would love to host a swap. I guess if I posted more than once very few weeks I would get more followers!

Farmer's Market

It was a good morning to hit the Waverly Farmer's Market. It wasn't too hot, it was overcast and I think that helped in keeping some people away. It was very easy to maneuver the midway, I remembered to bring my reusable shopping bags (Go Green!) and the fruits and vegetables were ripe for the picking! A few weeks ago, I made it a goal to buy something new every week. Two weeks ago, I bought a green called Purslane and last week I bought cute little Twilight Eggplants and Asian Stir-fry Greens. Husband D was not impressed with the greens selection ("Too Bitter"! he exclaimed), so today I asked him to come along with me and my good friend (and fellow gourmand) E to help me make my selections and, of course, carry the bags! After purchasing the "regular" weekly summer staples: peaches, peppers and coffee beans, we went searching for new goodies. We settled on Green and Red Zebra Tomatoes and fresh red beets. Now, I have always eaten pickled red beets, but it is my hope to grill them tomorrow as a side dish with dinner, so I am classifying them as a new find. If things turn out as delicious as I hope they do, I promise to post the recipe! Yum!

I Need to Add More Photos to my Blog...

Here is a photo of my husband D and me on our most recent vacation. We went to Alaska in July and, as a East Coast gal who loves to head anywhere "up the Atlantic" but particularly to Jamestown/Newport, Rhode Island, I was a little leery about spending my precious downtime in the damp and chilly Northwest. It turned out to be a terrific trip and I will post more about it later, but in the meantime, here is a photo of us sporting our "Lilly" during cocktail hour on the ship.

SWAP!

I follow the cutest blog - Monograms and Manicures. The author, Hopsy, has almost 900 followers and her daily posts are quite amusing and sometimes informative (I got a great cakeball recipe, found a cute website, "Not Soap Radio," etc.). Last month, she posted a opportunity to participate in a "swap" and I eagerly signed up. It is my first one. There were 128 other followers who also signed up and she did a great job of randomly pairing us up. The theme was "Fall into Prep." My "Swap Partner" lives in White Oak, Texas. She is a fellow blogger but unfortunately she is a Duke Basketball fan (ugh! I am a Maryland fan and Duke is our biggest rival). I had lots of fun shopping for her and even added a little something for her daughter and her dog. We mailed our packages to each other the beginning of this week. I can't wait for the mailman to come!

Talbot's Outlet

Do you have a Talbot's Outlet where you live? There is one near me, on the outskirts of Baltimore, about 35 miles from my house, and if I hit it in on the right day...it can be PAY DIRT! I visit the outlet about three or four times a year -- and last week I got $721 retail of Spring and Summer duds for $140! 80% off the original prices! Checkout the Talbot's website at www.talbots.com and click on the outlet link. You won't be sorry!

Book Thing!!

I took a trip the the Baltimore Book Thing in the Waverly section of Baltimore City this morning with my niece, L. L is a freshly minted high school graduate who is starting at the University of Baltimore in a few weeks (on a full four-year scholarship). The "Book Thing" is a unique book store of sorts -- all of its books are donated by individuals, groups and even libraries, and the best part -- ALL OF THE BOOKS AT THE BOOK THING ARE FREE! In fact, the volunteers encourage you to take as many books as you can carry, or haul in my case, as many times as you want! The Book Thing is a Baltimore treasure and something that should not be missed. I donated a box and left with a box, so I am not sure how that helps me weed out my book collection, but...... Today's catch was 16 books, ranging from a 1958 Mary Margaret McBride cookbook to a 2006 copy of The Devil in the Junior League, a book that many of my gal pals have read. I almost bought it on Amazon last week for $24, so I think my morning at the Book Thing was one well spent.
Right after the Book Thing, I headed over to the Waverly Farmer's Market to check out all the goodies. I bought purslane, a salad green, that was featured in one of my health magazines last month...full of lots of anti-oxidants, so I'll give it at try. I also got three little twilight eggplants and some homemade ginger chutney. Looks like tonight's dinner is going to be a pretty yummy experiment!