Sweet Caroline

Our Kindergarten Girl


I can't believe our Sweet Caroline is six years old.  It seems like yesterday she came home in a suitcase!  She is so happy in her new home and school.  Caroline is very artistic.  She loves art projects and is a very beautiful dancer.  Happy Birthday little sweetheart!

Sunday Supper

Menu

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter 

French Dip Sandwiches

Pear and Balsamic Salad

Fresh Green Beans with Pearl Onions

Sweet Potato Wedges

Pumpkin Chocolate Birthday Cake

Queen Bee and Her Keeper

Last week, at the Mathisons, I enjoyed Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter.  Holly learned about this great recipe at her friend Ann's Halloween Party. So quick and easy and delicious!   She bought the pumpkin ravioli at Fairway Market - wish we had one here - so fabulous! For a good substitute, Costco sells Sweet Butternut Squash Ravioli. 


Ann cooks without a recipe, so here is Holly's version.

Pumpkin or
Sweet Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter

1 1/2 -2 pounds store-bought ravioli

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup fresh sage, chopped

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the ravioli and cook 4-5 minutes, until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally.  Drain ravioli onto a large serving platter.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan cook the butter and sage over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  When the foam subsides, and the butter begins to turn a golden brown, about 3 minutes, turn off the heat.  Let cool for about 1 minute.  Sitr in the salt and pepper.

Drizzle butter over ravioli.  Sprinkle with pine nuts and parmesan.  Serve immediately.

Serve as an appetizer or main course.

Jessica Marguerite

Happy Birthday - my sweet Jessica Marguerite.

I'm so proud of her and the wonderful woman she has become.
Jessica is happy and lighthearted, fun and energetic, strong and athletic, organized and hard-working.

I'm proud that she completed her nursing degree and is now an R.N. at Primary Children's Hospital.

She choose a wonderful husband and little Lucy is the light of her life.

Jessica is kind and tender-hearted.
She is an expectionally loving wife and mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

Love You!

Spooktacular

Jessica and Anne hosted a fabulous "Spooktacular".  We had delicious food, a pinata, a Monster Mash, and costume awards. Thanks for the fabulous party!

If I Can Make it There-I'll Make it Anywhere!

Happy Birthday!

Kindergarten in the Big City

Economy Candy 

Out on the Town

Francesca's Birthday - Central Park

Birthday Lunch

Cousins in Central Park

Start Spreading the news
I am leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York

These vagabond shoes
They are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York New York

I want to wake up in that  city
That doesn't sleep
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap

My little town blues
They are melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it
In old New York

If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere 

   It's up to you

New York, New York
                                            Songwriters: John Kander and Fred Ebb 

I made my traditional "Birthday Visit" last week and enjoyed being with my sweet little Mathisons.  The are all thriving in the big city and I'm so proud of them for embracing this great opportunity and adventure.  They have made New York their own with faith, confidence and chutzpah.

 My cousin, Jill,  took the train from New Jersey to meet us for lunch at Sarabeth's.  She has been so sweet to the Mathisons, inviting them to Sunday dinner and sending them home with homemade jam and fresh apple cider.  It's so nice to have family in the area.  

LeConte Stewart

 "Painting is more than expressing the appearance of things;

it is expressing the spirit of things."

--LeConte Stewart

"Especially in his painting from the Depression years,

Stewart achieved a a bleak clairty of vision that has been compared to Hopper's."

  - Wallace Stegner

Jodi and I enjoyed a great day visiting the two LeConte Stewart Exhibits - 

 The Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah - "Depression Era Art"

  The Church History Museum - "The Soul of Rural Utah"

The exhibit shows until January 15, 2012 - It is a must see!

As an added unique experience, Jodi arranged for us to visit LeConte Stewart's House and Artist Studio.  He truly was an extraordinarily talented and interesting man and an exceptionally gifted artist. We had a wonderful day and I'm grateful for Jodi  - her energy - knowledge - friendship.  She makes every outing an adventure. 

  

LeConte Stewart Home

The Yankee Spirit

The Yankee Spirit is a great exhibit - Highlights from the New Britain Museum of American Art - now showing until October 29 at Brigham Young University Museum of Art.  I was particularly interested because New Britain was David's first area in Connecticut.  The collection includes works by Winslow Homer, James McNeil Whistler, Norman Rockwell, Georgia O'Keefe and John Singer Sargent.  I was lucky to see it with David and enjoy lunch at the Museum Cafe.

Glory Days

Sundance

Alpine Loop

Aspens and Timp

Morning Run - Emigration Canyon

City Creek 

In Their Glory

Lately, I have been making it a priority to savor the fabulous weather and scenery.  

Unfortunately, I got hit by a cold last week and was feeling like just staying home.
 Rather than sit on the couch, or lie in bed,

I decided to drive the Alpine Loop before the leaves were gone.

  It was a wonderful day.
 I rode the lift at Sundance and remembered many happy times - 

Skiing during college, First Date, Sunday Brunch,
Celebrating Jessica and Stewart's Birthdays,
Entertaining various daughters' boyfriends,
Checking in with our BYU students: Holly, Melissa, and David,

Sitting next to Robert Redford while he entertained his table with animal calls, 

Seeing Melissa after she cut her hair,
Holly and Matt's Engagement,

 The Utah Symphony, 

Hiking Timpanogas with Camille.  

I will always have a special place in my heart for these magnificent mountains.  

They are one of the most beautiful places on earth.

  This week I have loved running Emigration Canyon with Anne E. and walking City Creek with the Hardy's.  These truly have been "Glory Days"! 

Best of all he loved the Fall

The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods

Leaves floating on the trout streams

And above the hills 

The high, blue, windless skies.

Now he will be a part of them forever.

                  Ernest Hemingway          

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

              Robert Frost

1993

Visiting - Crafting - Creating

This morning I was lucky to visit the sweet, happy little Brinton's at their beautiful casa.  They are all decked out for Halloween!

Later, Jessica, Lucy and Anne came to my house for a little crafting.  Lately, I haven't been into crafts, but it's fun to get together and satisfying to "create."  Jessica did most of the work with a little help from Lucy.  Anne added the boa and the result is so much fun. 


I'm grateful for the people who make my world a wonderful place.





You can design and create and build
the most wonderful place in the world -
But it takes people to make the dream a reality.
Walt Disney

Sunday Supper

Menu

Fresh Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Appetizer

Pork Tenderloin Dinner

Jeanne's Orange Rolls

Roasted Butternut Squash

Autumn Salad

Fruit

Bavarian Apple Tart

Special Guests:  David and roommates (just for appetizers),

 Uncle Bill, Mom and Dad, Menlove Family, Hardy Family

Pork Tenderloin Dinner

2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins

1 cup butter

1 pound fresh mushrooms

2 onions sliced

4 chicken bouillon cubes

2 cups water

1/4 cup flour

In a skillet, brown the pork on all sides in the butter and remove to a baking dish.

Saute the mushrooms and onions in the drippings in the skillet.

Dissolve the bouillon cubes in the water in a bowl.  Blend

 in the flour.  Add to the skillet.  Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.  Pour over the pork.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Serves Eight to Ten

Cut the pork into thin slices and serve over Uncle Ben's rice with the cooking juices. 

Always in Season, Salt Lake City Junior League (modified)

Oh Delicious Autumn!

Oh Delicious Autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it,

and if I were a bird

I would fly about the earth 

Seeking the successive Autumns.

George Eliot - Middlemarch

I love autumn and was not ready to see snow in the mountains this week.  Frost hasn't come to my garden yet - we are still enjoying tomatoes, basil, corn, concord grapes and apples.  Nights are cool and crisp and cozy.  I love the garden now, the heat is gone; roses are blooming one last time.  It's almost time to plant bulbs and put the garden to bed for the winter - but for now - I savor.


Red Apple - Black Grape Salad
(My Autumn Favorite)
1 pomegranate, seeded (optional)
Concord or Black Grapes
1 red onion, thinly sliced rings
12 cup crumbled blue cheese
4 apples (pears are also good)
Zest of 2 oranges
Red Leaf Lettuce and/or Spinach


Dressing:  
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
12 cup olive oil
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
In a small saucepan, blend dressing ingredients, stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.

Sugared Pecans
2 cups pecan halves
1/4 cup brown sugar,
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 350.  Line cookie sheet with parchment.  Mix all ingredients and spread on pan in one layer.  Bake 10 minutes until lightly toasted.  Cool.


Toss, lettuce, dressing, apples, grapes, cheese, onion, and pecans with dressing.  Top with orange zest.