Not moderate, Stephanie, not moderate at all! Oy. Just back from an amazing - indulgent! - trip to the sunny desert beauty of Palm Springs, all expenses paid, as my Badger girlfriend Michelle's guest. Thank you, Mich! (Yes, she is taller than me; sorry for the bad pic, it's the only one we bothered to take - too busy!) I've been on some pretty amazing trips with her over the years - award trips, thanks to all the hard work she does for her company. Puerto Rico, Puerto Vallarta, Arizona, and now Palm Springs, ahhhhh, it's more than NICE.

We both arrived at La Quinta Resort and Spa in Palm Springs by mid-afternoon this past Sunday. Immediately helped ourselves to turkey sandwiches smeared with freshly-made guacamole and washed down with icy cold Coronas. Welcome to California, yeah baby! After a quick unpack, we were by the pool, one of 42 (!) on the La Quinta property. What a place - it's a small city, truly. Several restaurants, all those pools, golf, shopping, fitness, hiking - you name it, they've got it. The landscaping is breath-taking - a riot of flowers in the desert. After spiffing up a bit we joined the group for cocktails and dinner on the lawn. Oooh, particularly yummy cocktails in fact, their signature drink called an Orange Blossom - gin, freshly squeezed OJ, splash of 7-Up. Heavenly.

Monday morning we were up and at 'em. Well, not exactly. I woke up relatively early because of the time change, had a lovely patio breakfast on my own, explored the enormous grounds and got in a nice walk, then hooked up with Michelle for...more pool. Yeah, pretty rough. Then, we busted our butts...shopping. Also rough. Back to the hacienda for more spiffing (I love these trips, I get to really put my wardrobe through its paces), then off for more cocktails and a lovely dinner, this time in Palm Desert at LG's Prime Steakhouse. After one of the more decadent steaks I've ever had - a sizzling, buttery Porterhouse - plus all the naughty fixin's, we rolled back to the resort and slept like stuffed little piggies in blankets.

Tuesday morning, where did the sun go? Yes, we experienced rain - sort of - in the desert. And wind, holy hell, the wind gusted up to 50-60 mph. Did we hunker down indoors for the day, head to the spa, or watch a movie? Oh no, we went horseback riding. Michelle's idea! Good one, Mich, I'll never let you forget it! I've done many, many, many trail rides in my day, in all sorts of weather, and this was hands down one of the most miserable experiences I have ever had. The dirt, it was beyond dirt. It blew at us constantly, and was sort of super-cemented to our beings by a combination of driving sleet and rain. I rode a jerk of a horse named Freeman, who bucked and kicked at the horse behind me for the entire ride. The wranglers helpfully pointed out that Freeman is "an asshole," and I could feel free to "ride his ass." (I am so over horses and all their interpersonal problems, I have zero patience for them.) Well, after two fun-filled hours of kicking horse butt, I was completely exhausted, cold, hungry, filthy, pissed off, and did I say filthy? As in, my mouth felt kinda gritty so I checked my teeth in the rear-view window of the bus that had brought us out to the Hell-Hole Corral and discovered dirt in between my teeth. Michelle and I eventually - very eventually - started to laugh. You know, that freakish, almost-hysterical kind of laugh that often pops out after a major adrenaline rush? Damn if we didn't each look 80 years old, with suddenly-gray, very matted hair, and every crevice (not wrinkle, not us!) in our faces highlighted with desert dust. NOT my kind of exfoliation. We stumbled off the bus, into one of the resort's lovely restaurants, and immediately ordered bowls of steaming hot bean soup (ahhh) and more ice-cold Coronas (double-ahhh).

Somewhat restored, we showered (long, long showers!), dozed, rallied for another spiff up, made our way to a quiet dinner at Azur restaurant on the resort, and had ourselves a heck of a fabulous meal. I had one of the more amazing salads I have ever had - it was serious. Arugula, perfectly ripe tomato, crispy lardons, and two tiny grilled goat cheese sandwiches, served gorgeously deconstructed but happily reassembled in my mouth, mmm. For a main course, I splurged on the seared foie gras appetizer, topped with a sweet and crispy fresh corn relish. And for dessert, we split one of the BEST chocolate souffles I've ever had - the real deal, not a chocolate-butter gut-bomb, but a light, lovely, eggy souffle, into which they ladled a bit of creme Anglaise. Lordy. Again, a stuffed good night's sleep...

...And a thankfully lovely day Wednesday, as in no more wind, a return of the blessed sun, and spaaaaaa, baby. An 80-minute (!) massage followed by a 60-minute facial. Little relaxing and the requisite cucumber-water sipping in the sunny garden, then off to a serious Mexican feast at Adobe Grill for lunch. More of that killer guacamole (I could kill myself eating guacamole, I'm serious), little crispy chicken taquitos, fish tacos, and more Coronas. After more pool action, and spiffing up for the last time, we were off to the Monroe Mansion for dinner. Yes, Monroe as in Marilyn (that's her lifting weights, how cool is that?), the home was hers and Joe Dimaggio's for three years, and it's a lovely place. A family owns and lives in it now - and has decorated it beautifully - yet luckily rents it out for events. We dined on the lawn, had cocktails by the pool, were serenaded by truly talented Rat Pack impersonators, and basically had a blast. Yeah, life was very, very good on Wednesday, especially in comparison to Tuesday. The beauty is in the contrast, yes indeed. Boop, boop-ee doop!

And now, home to rainy, cold, dreary Minnesota. To homework projects and not a speck of food in the house and lots of demands. Sigh. But also Friday Morning Coffee with Suz! That helps, fo sho! I AM glad to be home, as always. My goal is to cook up something fun over the weekend - fun and HEALTHY that is, after my NOT moderate vaca. I do fine at home, but I get some little party bug up my ass on vaca and it's all over. Damn me. So, yes, it is really good to be home, just ask my ass.

G'night!

Now this is more like it, people! Sunny and mid-60s - yeah, baby, we'll take it! And I have yet to get out there and really enjoy it, since I was kinda, er, toast today. Last night was our neighborhood women's association "meeting" - as in we "meet" to drink wine and gossip. If only every meeting were so fun, ha! Last night my neighbor Kasey hosted the event in her beautiful home. And even though host husbands usually (understandably!) disappear during this bi-monthly event, there was none of that for her husband Dan, aka the most gregarious person I've ever met. There is no way that Dan was going to hide upstairs while Kasey threw a party downstairs, just no way. So thanks to him, and Kasey's sister Kit, and several of my lovely neighbors, we sat around chatting until after 1:00 a.m. Um, so much for heading home a bit early - ouch! But totally worth it, since I had a fabulous time.

Luckily, it was a tres low-key day, I brought The Coopster over to Suz's for a modified Friday Morning Coffee with Suz - and Kim! Yay! Yes, The Maven was there too, and Suz's kids Vivian and Sullivan, and all four of them played with and showed Cooper a great time. He danced, and talked, and crawled all over the place, and played with Digby, and just plain had a blast. And so did I!

Tonight, no kids, just John and me. Did we head out for a lovely dinner? Did I cook something fabulous? Uh, no. I'm too damn tired! I did end up pulling together a very tasty entree salad, tasty enough in fact that I'll post the recipe (in comments, below). Romaine, spinach, scallions, avocado, green pepper, crispy roasted asparagus, tuna, and hard-cooked egg, tossed with a garlicky mustard vinaigrette. Purely a what's-in-the-fridge/pantry concoction that just happened to be absolutely delicious. I love it when that happens!

If you're looking for casual, healthy, tasty eats in St. Louis Park, the black-bean burger at good ol' McCoy's is pretty damn hard to beat. I met my dear friend Kathie for dinner there last night and we each chowed one down, topped with guacamole, tomato, lettuce, pickles, and onions. We skipped the cheese (unnecessary with all those other goodies) and the top bun (ditto, especially since it's toasted white bread) and agreed we enjoyed them as much if not more than a burger-burger. Like all of the best goodies, it's got it all - spicy, crunchy, creamy, salty, chewy. YUM! And with a side of broccolini (they do it nicely, tender-crisp) it's damn healthy too. Perfect in my book. Yeah, baby!

I was ready to return to healthier eating after my uber-indulgent weekend. After buttery veal, mashed potatoes, cheeses, white breads, pasta, birthday cake - holy hell, I was feeling rather sluggish on Sunday. Much better today after a few days of the usual veggies, veggies, and more veggies, raw and cooked, supplemented with fish, raw nuts, whole grains, legumes, and fruits. It is amazing what eating whole foods (as well as fresh air and lots of water) does for one's energy level and skin. Even after 24 hours I look and feel more like myself. Whew.

It's nice to have a spot of sunshine and warmer air as well. It's not exactly Spring-y, but it's in the air, I can feel it and smell it. Puts a little bounce in my step. Sweet.

Forgot to say yesterday that I FINALLY pulled off Friday Morning Coffee with Suz this week - woo hoo! With vacations and deaths and birthdays and what is generally known as life constantly intervening, we are far from our weekly groove lately. I was sooooo needing to laugh, and laugh we did, whew it was great. We had so much to talk about I had to send her a pre-coffee, warm-up email, ha. Next time I'll have to update her on...

...Cooper's birthday party today! My little red-haired nephew celebrated turning the Big 01 today, in his new home, in the presence of all five of his grandparents, a couple of aunts and uncles (including Mary & Bruce), his one and only cousin (Nathan!), lots and lots of friends, and his proud mommy and daddy. Stace and Bowen brought in a buffet of tasties from D'Amico & Sons - spaghetti with meatballs, ravioli, pizza, salads. Susanna made a lovely pot of Potage St. Germain soup (pureed peas, lettuces, and leeks, spring-in-a bowl, yum). Of course there was the must-have, butter-cream-iced cake from Wuollet Bakery. The Coopster was a Super-Star, the most chill one-year old birthday boy I've ever seen. As in, he actually calmly played with his gifts as he opened them, instead of frantically tossing them aside and playing with the boxes. He squished some birthday cake, happily let everyone hold him, talked on cue, and had a nice little mid-afternoon birthday nap. Turning 1 in style, that's our boy - Happy Birthday Cooper Cuteness!

Wouldn't you know, a damn snowstorm did us in yet again?! Unbelievable. This time on the east coast, preventing my brother David and sister Etta from coming out from NYC for the weekend, as well as Bowen's sister Sara and her husband Romero coming from Vermont. Damn! Boo! Damn! Luckily Bowen's parents Hal and Suzanne were able to make it from Palm Beach or we would have had a a bust of a dinner party tonight. As it was, we lucked into very nice, with Bowen's parents, my dad and Susanna, Stace, Bowen, and Coop, and the Best Helper Evar, aka Nathan. I borrowed a page from my father-in-law John and made Veal Scallops a la Danoise (with cucumbers), a lovely dish, made lovelier by the fact that you can prepare it ahead a bit and finish it off right before dinner; Deluxe Do-Ahead Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes, to which I added a generous amount of minced chives; and blanched asparagus with gremolata (minced lemon rind, parsely, shallots, and olive oil) to cut the richness of the veal and potatoes. A hearty-and-yet-almost-springy menu, it worked quite nicely, I think. Cheeses, cardamom bread from Turtle Bread, and sips of Sauterne and coffee for dessert. And now? Bedtime, fo sho!

It's all for you, Cooper Doo, One-Whole-Year Old! Tomorrow is his big party day...

Well, Hello Spring! My goodness, it's 64 degrees out there right now! How fabulous! (We could use the cheering up, frankly.)

I'm making Savory-Sweet Pork Tenderloin Stew for dinner. With couscous. And a big salad of some sort, haven't decided yet.

Friday we're having a big, big dinner party here at the hacienda, a pre-Cooper Birthday Party celebration. Cooper's paternal grandparents, Hal and Suzanne, will be visiting this weekend, as well as Bowen's sister Sara and her husband Romero. My brother David and sister Etta are coming in from NYC, their second flight out here in a week...

...since they were here last Thursday night, en route to Billings, Montana, along with Stacey, our dad, and myself, as we all made our way to their grandmother Shirley's memorial service. What with putting Sigmund down on Sunday (sigh), I haven't had a chance to say what a perfectly fitting service it was, last Friday, at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Sheridan, Wyoming. My brother wrote and read the most unbelievable send-off, he brought down the house, truly. Afterward my stepmom Susanna and her brothers and sister hosted the loveliest reception. Susanna's nieces Marett and Farley assembled photos from their grandmother's life for a slide show. Man, Shirley lived a lot of life in her 83 years, pretty inspirational. It was great fun to see her dancing on tables as a new wife and hostess, wrangling four kids in four years as a young mom, talking horses with her business partners, handing out polo trophies, hosting a couple of generations of weddings and christenings and graduations, reigning over ever larger family gatherings, and in her last days, visiting with her baby great-grandson. As is always strangely true at funerals, it was actually really fun to see everyone, especially Susanna's immediate family and long-time friends. Shirley would have been pleased to see the happy consumption of lots of ice-cold chardonnay, double-chocolate brownies, and powdered-sugar-dusted lemon bars. Cheers, Shirley.

Happy 1st Birthday Cooper!

My adorable nephew is a year old today - WOW! Nothing makes time go faster than a baby. Snap your fingers and a year is gone (and I'm 40!), sheesh. That's because they're so FUN, especially when they belong to your sister and you get the win-win of babysitting AND getting a good night's sleep, ha. If you can't tell by my many postings about him, Cooper is the light of our family right now, the only baby. I can't wait to see him tomorrow to lift my heavy heart. We are missing dear old Sigmund very, very much.

On a food note - yes, I will write about something other than Sigmund and Cooper - I walked up to the fish counter yesterday and said, I'll take what just came in. Happened to be whole trout, so I took two, and completely winged it when I got home to prepare them. They were gutted, and I had the heads taken off, but that's about it, so I did pause for a moment thinking hmmm, what the heck am I doing with you? I started with a smear of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt - can never go wrong there. Added a pinch of dried herbs de Provence. Opened them like a book and filled them with lemon and shallot slices. Baked them at 350 for 20 minutes and voila, the bones lifted right out and left behind tender, fragrant fillets. Absolutely delicious. So John and I dined on fresh fish, sipped a lovely pinot noir, shed a few tears, and toasted ol' Rufus. We sure miss you, Roo. Sigh...

Sigmund Louis Levy

3/29/92 - 3/11/07

A very sad day indeed - I had to put down our beloved dog, Sigmund. He's been quite frail for the last several months, so we've known that each day he's felt good was a little gift. Not many Gordon setters get to be almost 15 years old. I returned from Shirley Taylor's funeral yesterday morning - Sigs had stayed with our friend Marty while I was gone, since John is skiing in Colorado, not due back until tomorrow. Marty said that Sigs had had a rough night Thursday night, unable to stand for parts of the night. He was pretty perky yesterday morning when I picked him up, however, and seemed fine all day. Then all of a sudden last night he was completely unable to walk or stand. Nathan and I got him settled for the night, but this morning he was even worse, very disoriented and unable to eat or drink. I called the Golden Valley Emergency Vet and took him in early this afternoon. They were wonderful and so respectful. They gave me all the time I needed to talk to him and say goodbye. I held him while he passed away and I have to say, having never before witnessed a death, I was honored to be there with him and so grateful for how gentle and peaceful his passing was. Sigmund could not have been a kinder animal. He was as purely sweet as they come and we are sadly aware of the loss of such a gentle soul from our lives. Rest in peace, Roo.

Cooper Time! I'm babysitting my almost-one-year-old (!) nephew Cooper today (he's napping as I write this). Little slice of heaven, that Cooper-Doo. He chatted through our trip to Target, lots of "wow" and "uh oh," charming the pants off anyone who walked by us. No one can resist baby talk, especially when the words are recognizable. It's such an accomplishment, everyone wants to celebrate! Including Coop! Very sweet.

He and Sigs had a little moment together gazing out at the deck. They're both thinking they're ready for spring, I can tell. (OK, maybe I'm projecting my thoughts onto them. But probably not.)

So tonight we'll have Mommy Stace here for dinner (when she comes to pick up Cooper), as well as both of our own children, ha. The plan is classic beef stroganoff - pretty hard to top steak and egg pasta as universal favorites in this household. And inspired by the yummy French salad I had at Lucia's last week, I bought a head of butter lettuce to make a simple, tender salad to accompany. Mustard vinaigrette, minced chives, sea salt, cracked fresh pepper, done. NICE!

In the mood for something a bit spring-y, I made roasted asparagus and sauteed lamb chops for dinner (nothing fancy - just seasoned with a little coarse salt and dried thyme before I tossed them into a smoking hot skillet). Oooh, all I needed were morels to make the perfect spring dinner, mmm... And perfectly ripe strawberries with creme fraiche for dessert... Oh, my, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, slow down, Stephanie, slow down. OK. Just asparagus and lamb chops, and they were mighty fine. (Sigh...)

Oh, speaking of lamb...if you're looking for a fabulous recipe for any of the upcoming spring holidays, here you go - Carol Mack's Grilled Leg of Lamb. Garlicky with a browned, crispy exterior, it's easy and absolutely delicious. (Recipe posted in comments, below.) Nothing beats a perfect leg of lamb for a dinner party. With rich (do ahead!) mashed potatoes and a simple vegetable like sauteed pea pods with mint, you really can't miss. Lemon buttermilk tart for dessert? Oooh, yum!

Do you drink enough water? I know, I know, supposedly the 8-glasses-a-day requirement has been somewhat overstated (and of course it can be positively deadly to really over-consume water), but I have to state - I definitely lose weight faster, and just look and feel better, when I drink plenty of water. More like 10-12 glasses a day, if I include the decaf tea and coffee I sip. And here's something interesting that I read recently - drinking no-calorie beverages other than water (i.e. diet sodas, coffee, teas) does not help you lose weight the way drinking plain ol' water does. Hmmm - I'll bet many of us kinda already knew that, right? So drink up! (Er, is that glass half full or half empty?)

You know, sometimes I get a hankering for good old fashioned spaghetti with meat sauce. Reminds me of the Kraft spaghetti-in-a-box we used to eat when I was kid, you know the one, with the packet of herbs to stir into tomato paste with water? My mom used to make that sauce with ground beef for a quick, filling dinner and Stacey and I LOVED it. With lots of Kraft Parmesan cheese. And lots of bread toasted with butter and garlic salt and cut into small squares - aka garlic toast. YUM. I'm of course not using that mix (does it still exist?), but the end result is pretty similar. At least I think it is - maybe these days I couldn't even choke down the mix, who knows? And who cares? As long as it tastes like I remember, that's all that really matters. Ah, Food Reminiscing, two of my favorite pasttimes combined... Noshtalgia...

After our tres gourmet feast, I'm heading over to Suz's for yep, Feminine Hijinxing with My Minxes. How perfect and adorable is this Cartoon Suz, created by Kim's brother Pat for Susie's podcast music-writing venture, Mod Pod Music? When I can't pull off Friday Morning Coffee with Suz, I'll just pop this cutie up on my screen and play the latest Feminine Hijinx! Sometimes Susie's laugh is just what the doctor ordered - in person, or via podcast.

And so. Allow me another moment of noshtalgia. I've had plenty the past few days, remembering time spent with my stepmom Susanna's unforgettable mother, Shirley Hopkins Taylor. Shirley passed away on Tuesday, at age 83, in Billings, MT, after what can only be said was a life lived well and fully. I was 12 when I met Shirley - always hungry (already 5'7" with four inches yet to grow) yet picky is how I would describe my food self at that age. I was a little terrified of her, as was everyone, I think, because she was no wallflower, Mrs. Taylor. No. Clever, very charming, funny, opinionated, industrious, and yes, quite bossy, Shirley was a master entertainer and their beautiful ranch home in Kirby, MT, saw a steady stream of visitors from all over the world. Happily well-fed visitors, I might add. Raised as a privileged Chicago city girl who, with her New Yorker husband Walt ended up improbably yet succesfully running a Montana cattle ranch as well as her own thoroughbred horse-racing business, she created this unbelievably cool (my word, not hers, ha) East-Meets-West setting, at once rustic as well as refined. Shirley was a famous eater - she loved great food. Oh, the amount and variety of food the W Lazy T Ranch has cranked out over the years, for ranch hands and family and guests alike, I can hardly imagine it. Lots of rare beef (of course!), buttered veggies, and deep, dark chocolate, her favorite dessert. Privileged or no, Shirley was a daughter of the Depression and nothing - nothing - went to waste in her kitchen. Sunday's glazed ham showed up as Monday's ham sandwiches, Tuesday's ham casserole, Wednesday's ham salad, and Thursday's ham soup. Ditto the Thanksgiving turkey (which resulted in my first taste of both turkey salad with grapes and turkey tettrazini, yum).

Shirley would never have thought about it, but she had a big, big impact on my interest in food and cooking - in my adolescent exposure to food at her elegant table (I was scared of half of it, but boy I learned alot, from what to eat and how to politely eat whatever was served to me, to how to properly clear away the dishes - no stacking! - when all was done) and of course via her daughter, my stepmom Susanna, who taught me how to cook everything from Asparagus to Zabligione (literally A-Z). Shirley will rest in peace next to her husband Walt, at a beautiful site on their lovely W Lazy T ranch. And that will sadly be the end of an era.

No, I'm not saluting, I'm shielding my eyes from the intensely bright, snow-reflected light pouring into the house today. Blindingly (ouch!) gorgeous.

After all of yesterday's soup raves, I went in the direction of tortilla soup this evening and damn it was good, if I do say so myself. So simple too, and not overly caloric at all if you go easy on the condiments; in fact, I used one tostada shell per bowl (40 calories), 2 Tbsp. of cheese (40 calories), and 2 slices of heavenly avocahhhdo (20 calories). All told, a meal-in-a-bowl for around 300 calories - not bad at all, and filling and delicious to boot. Ole!

And oh, my snowshoeing adventure yesterday - whoa, not particularly fun. Beautiful, but so difficult in such soft, deep snow that my heart damn near exploded out my chest, and since I had optimistically hiked far into the golf course, I had no choice but to slog back out, ack. Great workout, but too brutal - tomorrow I'll definitely cross-country ski instead. (But darn; I usually enjoy snowshoeing more, although I'm not complaining - we finally have some snow to enjoy!)

Snow Day! Woo hoo! No school, so Nathan's home with his dad (playing outside, I'm quite sure) and John's working here at home. My plan is to snowshoe - of course! - then head out with John for a La La Lucia's Lunch. How fabulous!

It feels like a baking day, although I admit I won't achieve it. But what a nice day to bake foccacia or challah, huh? I love the idea of sitting in front of the fire with a book while waiting for the dough to rise. And to smell baking bread mingled with woodsmoke? Heavenly! Freshly-baked bread with a steaming bowl of garlicky cabbage soup, sprinkled generously with melty gruyere, yeeeaah. Or even a quick version of simple tomato-garlic soup or black bean soup. Wow, any of those sound damn good. (Bonus: toasted challah, or French-toasted challah, The Kill, for breakfast tomorrow... Or warm foccacia sandwiches for lunch...) Have a cozy day!

Hey, me again, just have to report on our romantic Lucia's luncheon feast, groan. We each opened with plenty of fresh, warm bread and perfect French salads. Then tucked in to hearty walleye gratins - pieces of tender walleye and diced potatoes napped in a decadent sauce and run under the broiler until crispy and browned. To finish? The best damned piece of truly evil devil's food cake I've had in years - check out the guilty resignation on John's face as he's forced to dig in, ha. And then...yes, there's more...we stepped next door to grab some items from Lucia's To-Go. Uh, yeah, that should do us for the day. Enjoy yours!