Happy 2nd Birthday Moderate Epicurean Blog!

And hey, it's a very Happy 41st Birthday for me as well - very happy. As I celebrate, I can't help but be incredibly grateful for a pretty awesome year. Oh, plenty of ups and downs of course, of the usual variety...but for now, the gratitude abounds. In leaps and bounds! Sniff. I'm living my life's current passion - cooking, sharing food with friends and family, and writing about it all. I'm making exactly zero money doing it, but hopefully that won't be true forever. Right here, right now, It's All Good. Thanks for sharing this little adventure with me!

My first official birthday present was this stunning portrait (above) from - who else? - my sister Stacey. A Stacified Stephanie, YESSS, I love it! I brought it home New Year's Eve and waited until today to post a pic. How many of us actually have our portrait painted? And so beautifully! It's so, so...WASP-y, which as Suz would point out, is totally metal! And of course it makes me look much more fabulous than I actually am, bless my sister's heart. I told Nathan that when he's an old man, and I'm long gone, he can point it out to his grandkids and say, that's your great-grandma Stephanie, back in the day. A little slice of immortality. Now that's a birthday gift!

As was brunch at Lucia's this morning, with Nathan, John, Cooper, and Stacey, a sunny, quiet celebration. Which, given this holiday season, is all I was up for, truly. Nathan and Coop played superheroes while I played poached eggs over sausage hash alongside salad greens. I do love warm eggs with crisp salad, delicious. Oh, and I scored more bling (YES!), and flowers from Nathan, and had just the loveliest time.