Time flies when you're ...

Exactly one year ago today, at Sumika in Los Altos (thank you Kuniko), surrounded by a group of amazing kinder-parents, new friends and old, I was saying both Thank You and Goodbye - my how time flies. So today, here's my theme song 'Forever Young'. And thank you friends for being the 'presents' in my life.

humbly,
Paula

Wow, it's windy today

Apparently, we're having a bit of a Nor'Easter - wind like you see in movies. I guess it's all over the news. I like the sound of the wind, it's like music. As long as the trees stay upright, we're good. Thankfully, it's not too cold yet and the leaves are still so beautiful. We're in good hands, so don't worry. Being a small town, when the weather becomes an issue, the local police and fire departments activate their automated phone trees to keep people informed in the event of a Coastal Evacuation (holy crap!). There's also the local alert system, kind of like a town-wide intercom, that broadcasts in the event of an emergency (sometimes I think they play it just to mess with us). You just need to know which alerts mean what - we haven't mastered that one yet. It's especially helpful on snow days - "ding dong, ding dong - Rumson Schools are Closed' - this morning the kids asked if it was a "Wind Day" - ha, good try guys -NO, go get ready for school.

In keeping with the theme, do you remember this song - The Wind, such a beautiful song. I will never forget hearing Teaser and the Firecat for the first time. Elementary school, at Suzy Gebers house, listenting to the LP, (yes, I said LP, it was a long time ago, ok) Cat Stevens, dreamy eyes, cool voice, amazing lyrics. I still know the words to all of those songs - WHY??? I have one of those brains. Lyrics stay in my head, ask my family, it's a little scary. When I got my first record player (yep, even before 8 tracks) my favorite group was The Carpenters, (a far cry from Cat Stevens, but they were 'good clean kids'). Go ahead, ask me to sing any of their songs and chances are I'll know all the words. I used to sit in my room with my headphones on singing away. My sister would open my door and all I could see was her mouthing the words, "you can't really sing, you know" - oh well. I have no idea if I can sing, but it feels good and I know all the words! I always wonder how much more cranial capacity I'd have if I could do a lyric data dump. Man, the stuff I could remember.

Anyhow, stay warm and dry.

xoxo,

P

I Love Butter

There is nothing more comforting than a lightly toasted piece of bread smothered in butter. No question, I exceed the half-pat serving size - on just half of the bread. If I can't see it soaking in, there isn't enough. You know that saying 'everything's better with a little butter' - I say 'no, not really' but you better make sure my toast is drowning in it. I know, you're thinking I'm a huge fan of that Paula Dean, actually nope, she kind of nauseates me: A) that hair and B) that voice - gak! 

So, not that I'm a butter connoiseur or anything, but there are different 'specials' for different occasions. After taking a few cooking classes at Home Chef in Palo Alto (remember that place, it rocked!) I learned about Plugra; now that's some butta! It's a splurge, no question, but so worth it. Then, there's Kerrygold, Pure Irish Butter (whatever that means) perhaps reminiscent of a crock you'd find in a Pub in Ireland. Probably not, but it's definitely different. And then, of course, there's the last minute standby, tried and true and pretty darn good if I do say so myself - Land O Lakes - Sweet Cream Salted please.

Kudos to all of you who use the 'alternative butter-like spreads', you probably have great arteries, but even Fabio couldn't get me to believe it was or wasn't butter. And no matter how you whip it, Canola Oil does not taste like butter - geez. I say have your fat and make it real. It's the moderation part I need to work on!

As I'm writing this, I think I've uncovered my obsession with butter. When I was a kid, my mom mostly used margarine (WTF is that stuff anyhow). We only broke out the butter for holidays or really special company. So there must be something about using real butter that makes me feel special, that's kind of warped, but oh well.

So I'll leave you now to enjoy your day (oh and by the way we're hitting a high of 51 brrr!) because I've got a piece of yummy gluten-free, bazillion grain bread toasted that I need to smother!

xoxo, P