No one but John is cool enough to bake the famous Aunt Aggie’s Nut (Butt) cake and travel it on the plane from Asheville to Seattle! We have been eating this cake since we were kids, added the “Butt” part to the name because that’s what we did as kids and now continue to bake this baby cuz it is so delicious! We also continue to add the word “butt” to lots of things too. Apparently immature humor runs in the family. Slice anyone? This family recipe is upon demand only!

The boys introduced me to Seward Park which is almost like an island unto itself. Surrounded almost entirely by water it is a beautiful 2.4 mile walk with calm still waters every inch of the way. A must see in Seattle and I would love to go kayaking there, the water is so calm!

The chocolate Bundino on the desert menu at Serious Pie (where they have the most amazing pizza!). Seriously decadent chocolate mousse/pudding comes in a little glass jar – unbelievably delicious! I also know that you can buy a version of these already made at Theo Chocolate in Fremont! They have them in a tiny refridgerator in their chocolate showroom!

Dinner at Mark and Frank’s house was just what Sunday dinner should be – an amazing spread of appetizers with an antipasti including amazing salami from Mario Batali’s father’s Salumi, simmering Osso Bucco on the stove and a bar to end all bars – how elegant is this?!!

That Bundino may have made us 3 siblings very happy but were now on our way for birthday cupcakes courtesy of Wink, champagne and presents – the birthday fun continued for several more days ending with that fabulous helicopter ride. Good news is that John has a new birthday iPad and blog to talk about and remember and recount to us the whole wonderful thing – can’t wait!

Well, you know how they say dogs and their owners look like?

Check out LuAnn’s cute rescue pooch Molly. This is a whole new take on that saying!
Molly likes to go by the alias “Molly Dogonavitch” when she is in this attire!!!!! Has anyone seen her sunglasses???

We love self-timers! And that is coffee with Bailey’s in our cups (starting early? why not, it’s Christmas!)
The order of events: breakfast, presents, collapse!

Champagne is a MUST for Christmas morning!

John gets a BIG surprise! We had to coordinate big time with Vinnie on sneaking this new mountain bike into the basement and then hiding it! It all worked out and looks like when the snow clears they will have some great rides in their future!

John has been collecting Christopher Radko ornaments
for over 10 years and has amassed quite a collection! They are all so unique and I love to look at them and discover new ones I hadn’t seen before.

During the day we went and saw Nine, we all loved it, a perfect Christmas day movie!

Forgot to mention after Christmas Eve dinner we went for a drink at the beautiful and super decorated
Grove Park Inn. The fireplaces are huge and there are tons of Christmas trees and Gingerbread houses. This place really says Tis the Season!

Is that LuAnn or Svetlana? A fur hat immediately transforms LuAnn into a Russian glamorama!

And to all a good night!
Thanks again to John and Vinnie who are PERFECT hosts and LuAnn for always being so much fun!
See you next year!

Marc and I spent Christmas in Asheville, North Carolina with my sister LuAnn, brother John and his partner Vinnie and their 4 wiener dogs and 6 cats. Needless to say, we have a wonderful wonderful time!

The following 3 posts will be all about Christmas. What we Did. What we Ate. And how we spent Christmas! But first, some images that just make me feel Cozy and I hope you too!

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The perfect snowman created by the neighbor girl. The next day she added a snow dog complete with leash but then temps raised and it melted before I had time to take a picture!

What a gorgeous holiday mantel! Marc, an expert fire maker, kept the logs glowing.

A beautiful front door is just a hint of things to come!

The view from their large kitchen overlooking the neighborhood blanketed on that first day with 13 inches of snow!

We took the 30 minute train to Winterthur to visit Marc’s Godmother Christina, Ursula and a bunch of cousins and nieces and nephews.

Christina and Ursula have the house in Tuscany Marc and I visited after we first met. We baked pizzas in the outdoor pizza oven using vegetables from the crazy overrun garden. We have an outstanding invitation to go back. What is taking us so long?!!!

They even gave us a bottle of olive oil from the press of their own trees. What a treasure!!! Can’t wait to taste it but need good summer tomatoes!!!!

Marc’s cousin Martin and his wife Daniela adopted to babies from Ethiopia. They are now toddlers and are totally adorable and completely well adjusted, maybe just a little shy. Martin and Daniela are really really cool!

Kid’s tables are too cute! Marc’s other cousin Christian’s son (who is 1/2 Brazilian) mans the little ones.

Coffee is served in tiny beautiful cups as Lydia signals it’s bedtime!

It was so great to finally meet the kids and see Christina, Ursula, Martin, Daniela and Christian. Next time let’s do it in Tuscany!

These gorgeous Fall trees are on the side yard of John and Vinnie’s house in Asheville, North Carolina. A stone’s throw from the Blue Ridge Mountains I can hardly imagine what the entire area is going to look like in about a week. I will beg John to send more pictures.

I’m a Fall freak, always have been, always will be. Not sure why then I live in Southern California…but as soon as the weather turns (which, miraculously it has!) here are the things I do to honor Autumn!

1. Buy pumpkins as soon as it’s appropriate!
2. Start lighting candles inside and out
3. Start wishing I had better sweaters
4. Realize I do not need a new coat but sure would like one
5. Look through my recipes to see what new stews and soups I can make
6. Thank God I can actually have the oven on without making the house feel like an inferno. Bake a crumble.
7. Cross my fingers, eyes and toes that the hot hot hot weather doesn’t come back cuz I am loving this!

A new stew I am trying this week:

Poulet Grand Mere (Grandmother’s Chicken)

adapted from a French recipe
Makes 4-6 servings
Leave the garlic unpeeled, in keeping with the rustic spirit of this dish. Once cooked, the cloves can be squeezed and spread out of their skins and spread on bread or mixed into the stew.

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 chicken cut into pieces (I’ll be using chicken breasts I already have)
1 sp. each Salt and pepper
1 cup frozen pearl onions
6 large cloves garlic
2 springs fresh thyme
1 lb. baby Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and halved
3 slices thick cut bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/4 in. wide pieces
1 lb. button mushrooms, cut into quarters
2 cups chicken broth

1. Preheat over to 375. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed 4-5 quart pot over med/high heat.
Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown on both sides. Remove chicken and set aside.

2. Pour off all but 2 tbsp. fat and reduce heat to medium-low. Add onions, garlic and thyme. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes then add potatoes and bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally until mixture is well browned about 8 minutes. Pour off all but a thin layer of fat.

3. Add mushrooms and chicken stock, bring liquid to a boil and cook until liquid is reduced by one-quarter. Arrange chicken on top of vegetables.

4. Transfer pot to the over and bake uncovered until chicken is cooked through about 20 mins.

As you-know-who would say, bon appetit! I’ll let you know how it turns out!

I am soooo jealous! John and Vinnie, along with friends Ken and Joe headed up from North Carolina to Virginia to go cycling on the Virginia Creeper trail.

All in all, it’s a 35 mile trail of what used to be railroad track and now is just for hiking, biking and camping.
You cross over lots of roaring creeks (really roaring due to lots of current rain!) and cool bridges.

Here’s John and Vinnie with a Christmas Tree farm in the background. We usually get our tree from the lot at Home Depot. Hmmmmm…..

Imagine this when the leaves turn (probably in a matter of days/weeks!) I would be so crying!!!

And then there’s the barns. That is if you like that kind of thing…I know I do!!!!!!!

John said this one belonged to Jed Clampett apparently before he struck oil…! Where’s Granny?

Lastly, they discovered a house for rent (next time) sleeps 8 and rents for about $140/night. Nothing creepy about that deal!

I would imagine no matter what the time of year, the Virginia Creep Trail would be just gorgeous!

THERE’S NO SIBLING RIVALRY HERE! THE UPPER TOMATOES ARE BEING IN GROWN BY MY BROTHER JOHN IN ASHEVILLE, NC AND THESE LOWER SLICED BEAUTIES ARE COURTESY OF SISTER LISA IN THOUSAND OAKS, CA!

HOW GORGEOUS ARE THESE? AND I BET THEY TASTED JUST AS DELICIOUS. WE ALL KNOW SOME SALT, PEPPER AND A LITTLE EXTRA VIRGIN AND VOILA, THE TASTE OF SUMMER!

ANYONE ELSE GROWING? SEND ME YOUR PICS, WE ALL WANT TO SEE! AND JOHN AND SOON AS YOU SLICE YOURS UP, SEND US A PHOTO!

These babies are growing in my brother John’s garden in Asheville, North Carolina. Can’t wait to see them in a week or so and to hear how they taste! And then of course what he’s gonna do with them aside from vine to plate with olive oil, salt and pepper!

Meanwhile, lets see some more tomatoes! I know Lisa is harvesting left and right, would love to see the pear shaped yellow ones!

Meet Mighty. His name needs no explanation. I thought my cat Al was substantial but just look at those paws! Mighty has just moved from Florida to Asheville, North Carolina with his parents, John and Vinnie and a ton of brothers and sisters: Oscar, Gigi, Stretch, Majic and Willy (dogs) and Lily, Debbie, Sassy, Esmerelda, Sparky and of course Felix (all cats). Hope I didn’t forget anyone!

Mighty’s new favorite hangout seems to be the compost pile in the side of the yard. It is shaded by a bunch of 50ft pine trees. Wonder if there’s vermin in there? Well, happily he has not delivered any gifts to J and V yet…

And now we know that Mighty will be sleeping indoors only as the neighborhood Bear (how many people can say that?) did quite a number on the garbage the other night. Wild turkeys he can deal with but big bears certainly not!

Mighty has an amazing personality and is a real survivor and we love him! Was very tempted to cat-nap him but gotta give Al and Gio a break. They’re still recooping from the arrival of Chloe (and so are we!)