Hola! Hola! Back from Mexico, in fact since Thursday night, but I've been having too much fun hanging with the Bryt family, visiting from New York, to scratch a post together! It's been a fast blast of weekend, with Bartley arriving Wednesday for work, and Maud and their daughters Catherine and Natalie joining him (us!) Friday night. We just had dinner here at the hacienda, simple pasta and roasted vegetables.

Yesterday Maud and I stole over to Stacey's to see Cooper Cuteness, Stacey's amazing Stacified house, as well Stacey's studio/new work. Thanks Pooh!

Then back here to cook and cook, with Harry Cunliffe and Suz et al coming for dinner to join all of us. For a little appy I made shrimp paste, a recipe from The Gift of Southern Cooking, basically sauteed shrimps pureed with lots of sweet butter, with a hint of cayenne pepper, sherry, and lemon. We spread it on toasts, but I'm dying to try it stirred into some hot grits, oooh... I'm a little obsessed with it in fact. (Recipe posted in comments, below.) For dinner, I grilled an insane amount of beef tenderloin (lots of tasty leftovers, more than enough to put Bartley & Maud on the plane with thick roast beef, tomato, lettuce, and horseradish sandwiches!), whipped up my new favorite saute of okra, onions, and tomatoes with bacon, and made a pile o' popovers. Ahhh, popovers. Nothing is better alongside beef, especially with pan juices to soak them in. Just kill me. It was a pretty magical evening - literally, since Harry is a sometimes magician and was gracious enough to show off a few of his tricks for the kids. (And adults!) Great, great fun!

And now, the Bryts are gone, sniff. House is very empty feeling, although not for long. Nathan is home from Florida soon (yay!) and then we're heading out for Cooper's 2nd Birthday Party! Happy Birthday Cooper Cuteness!

Many, many highlights from Mexico to share, a little later today, so stay tuned...

An even better treat than going to a restaurant for dinner is heading to someone's home for dinner. Granted, I'm shockingly blessed with friends and family who are not just good cooks, but great cooks. (Thank you, Food Gods!) Seriously - some of the best tastes I've ever savored have been courtesy of none other than my parents, grandma, and aunts, not to mention in-laws and friends. Veal scallops a la danoise (my father-in-law), roasted goose with cabbage, lardons, and whipped potatoes (Dad & Susanna), fresh lemon-coconut cake (Suz), grilled tuna on Georgica Beach (Bartley), guacamole on Georgica Beach (Maud), grilled leg of lamb (Carol), Christmas prime rib roast (aunt Mary), apple pie (aunt Marge), crispy homemade pizzas (Kathie), Greek salad (Mary P), spanikopita (Mary P's mother-in-law), almond puff pastry (Mom), braised lamb (Stu & Debbie), heirloom tomato salad (Rudy & Ana), oyster stew (Andrew), fried fresh walleye with garden green beans (Grandma & Grandpa Meyer), Schaum torte (Polly), oven-roasted potatoes (Harry)... Oh my goodness, I could go on and on and on. It's unbelievable, really. From the simplest to the most involved, all completely memorable. So there you go, proof that I remember fondly damn near everything I've ever eaten. (Curse or blessing? Not sure...) Hey, if I am what I eat, I'm so jamming! As well as French, Greek, Mexican, Italian, Danish, German, British... NICE!

Also nice? In fact, where I'm going with all of this? (Sorry, I tend to get a little carried away with my reminiscing...) We're going to Suz & Cory's for dinner tonight - yays! For raclette - melted cheese served with all sorts of tasty Frenchy/Swissy accoutrements: potatoes, ham, pickles, vegetables. Little wine, little chat, little checking out Planet Earth in high def (The Coreman, like The Batman, has all the best toys). Aaaaahhh, Total Tasty Relaxation. Thank you in advance Shuberts! Wheee!

I'll hope for you that you're lucky enough to be heading to someone's home for dinner tonight too. If not, whip up a little somethin' somethin' for yourself (perhaps a simple pasta with broccolini with a nice glass of red) and...well...pretend? (Actually, it works, I do it all the time!)

Alrighty then. (Deep sigh.) Another night for soup, my friends, it's that special-kind-of-hell cold again. I'm doing my best to plumb the depths of warm, cozy, rib-stickin' recipes, what with the recent heat of chicken gumbo and shrimp curry (both quick, weeknight, healthy dishes), and the long-baked (kitchen warming!) Gallic drama of cheese souffle and pissaladiere (savory French tart) to lift my spirits.

But tonight, I'm going back to the basics, my friends, plain ol' (steaming hot!) soup. Simple, comforting avgolemono (Greek egg-lemon soup), in fact, on the table in thirty and just so unbelievably yummy. Warming and filling, yet light. Delicious with grilled pita, perhaps a Greek salad. Basically, that perfect winter food that takes your mind away to a warmer spot while warming one's oh-so-stuck-here body. I don't know about you, but that's exactly what I need. Practical Fantasizing. Soooo Minnesotan, yah. And, as such, rather moderate to boot! You betcha, baby!

(And before you leave, pause to bask in the sunshine Maud drew in Facebook and kindly shone around a few days ago - thanks Maud! It's so cheerful it almost makes me forgive her for kicking my butt up, down, and all around in Facebook Scrabulous!)

Hey! Almost the end of Thursday, thought I'd sneak in a quick post. Fun, fun dinner tonight with Bill & Karla, Joe & Genie, and Stu (The Wine Genius) & Debbie here a the hacienda. Summer casual, as in very, sticking to the menu I outlined yesterday except I baked a Summer Fruit Upside Down Cake instead of a tart. Eh, just a whim sort of thing. A marriage of Suz's Quick Cherry Dessert with the fruits I had on hand. With a bit of lightly sweetened whip, gooood stuff. Creamy Polenta (polentaaaaah) was nice too, I could eat the whole pan but since I had to share, you know, with my guests, I reigned myself in. A bit. Ha. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

On a non-food note (no!)...check out this Plum TV interview of our friend Maud Bryt, regarding her current show of paintings inspired by her childhood summers on Nantucket. Maud is a photographer as well as a painter and many of her photographs of our children - luckily! - fill our home.