My First Date with Julia Childs

I didn't make any New Year's resolutions this year, but one thing I want to do is try a new recipe every month from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook. I mentioned it to Gordon, and he told me my first effort should be her Boeuf Bourguignon. Bring it!

These photos don't make the meal look very appetizing, but here's what I did:I browned the pearl onions with beef broth and thyme and they were delicious!!!!Then, I browened a pound of mushrooms in a healthy serving of butter.I set the two vegetables aside and browned bacon, beef chunks, carrots and more onions. There were a series of other steps - cooking for two hours, reducing the beef broth, adding all of the ingredients together - and when it all came together it was delicious! This photo doesn't make it look really yummy, but it was! While the recipe took a while, it was well worth the effort. I'll have to make this again on a cold winter weekend!

Pie in a Jar

I saw this cute idea and thought I'd give it a whirl for the XOXO dinner. They're little pies in a jar..cute, huh?I made a filing of raspberries and blueberries and then filled the jars with homemade pie crust. You just stick the jars in the oven for an hour and out pops an individual sized pie. Delish!

Bread Baking Success

After Gordon's bread class, I put my bread baking talent to work. Here's the result of my efforts!

MLK Weekend in Scotsdale

For MLK weekend, I did a quick trip to Scotsdale, AZ to celebrate Cherstyn’s 40th birthday. It was a quick, but oh-so-fun weekend with good friends, many of whom I hadn’t seen in several years. Joining in the festivities were Liz Browning, Holly Bowers, Michelle Bentley, Tiffany Weaver, Caroline Marriott, Jill Jackson, Cher and myself. All we did was shop, eat, get massages and catch up – the ingredients for a perfect girls’ weekend!

Kate Spade Splurges

I headed out to the Leesburg Outlets with Amber and Jill last night and scored! We went to the Kate Spade outlet store and discovered that all of the purses were marked down 40% and then the store took another 40% off your total purchase, and because she was nice, the manager gave us another 20% off! Waa-hoo!

I scored both of these bags for nothing (at least nothing in Kate Spade terms).One was $65 and the other $78. Not bad for two bags that were originally (and ridiculously) priced at $315 and $355, respectively!

Bread Baking Class

After months of delicious bread from Gordon, we finally cajoled him into giving us a bread baking class! Well, he's a PhD who takes academics seriously! He spent all week preparing by making a vat of bread starter and detailing a seven hour schedule, complete with an hour of "theory." Love it!The class consisted of each of us making a loaf of white, wheat, sourdough and rye.We each took turns getting a feel for how the dough is supposed to look and feel, and while each loaf was rising, we made another loaf...we had quite the assembly line going! In the midst of "class," Gordon pulled out a cast-iron pan and made us a lunch of roast chicken and potatoes!I love a man who can cook! These are my absolute favorite! Gordon taught us how to make pretzel bread, which is rather involved, but the results are unbelievable!After seven hours, here are the fruits of our labors!! Pretty impressive if you ask me! We made loaves of white, wheat, rye and sourdough, plus pretzel rolls and two challahs! Talk about a carbo load!