end of summer

Summer is over, right? Around here, the weather hasn't quite figured that out yet. I'm waiting for anything even closely resembling Fall.

The end of Summer was particularly significant in this house because it marked the start of Kindergarten. Now that we're several weeks into the rhythm of waking up early, rushing off to school and finishing homework before going to bed at a decent hour, I'm thinking that the undeclared break I took from blog posts should come to an end. I don't know if ANYONE out there even notices (friends and husband excluded)... but this little blog is also a scrapbook for me. It helps me feel like I've accomplished something when I have a photo and a story to post. So I'll try to get back on the blogging wagon. I think it will be good for me - get me out of my funk.

Last weekend I planned a big birthday feast for the husband. We started with a breakfast of Migas (Chilaquiles) followed by a lunch of Currywurst. The Chilaquiles was in memory of the incredible breakfast we had on a trip up to Washington state a few years ago at a long-since-gone cafe in White Salmon. For years I've tried to recreate this scrambled egg with bacon, tomatoes, peppers and tortillas concoction. When I was browsing through The Gourmet Cookbook, I came across the recipe! (the recipe on Epicurious.com looks pretty close to the Gourmet recipe) It was right there on my shelf all this time. Go figure. The Currywurst was on the day's menu because I do believe it is quite possibly the husband's favorite meal. I was happy to stumble across this recipe on Saveur.com. I've tried several recipes for curry sauce and I believe this one actually tasted pretty close to the Currywurst stands we've been to in Germany. And for the piece de la resistance, for dinner I prepared Beef Wellington, grilled shrimp and homemade spinach pasta with heirloom tomatoes. I didn't quite get enough prep done in the days leading up to the birthday dinner - so I looked like I was in an episode of Top Chef with the clock ticking, things bubbling over and me dashing back and forth from stovetop to cutting board. In my haste to get dinner served, pictures of the final product didn't get taken. So use your imagination. But this photo of the cake is much more telling without the chocolate glaze. This was a recipe for a layer cake from a German cookbook we have. This was a very time-consuming cake - but worth it. For each layer, a few tablespoons of batter were spread in the pan and then cooked for a couple minutes until the top was golden. Then another layer of batter was added and cooked before adding the next layer, and so on. Pretty.

So that's what's been cooking in the kitchen. Aside from that, I've been busy clocking hours for paycheck work. When I haven't been doing that, I've been crocheting. I crocheted my very first pair of socks and am working on another. One of my bad habits is to go out and buy tons of supplies when I start a new project. So now I've got a huge bag of yarn waiting to be crocheted up into socks, amigurumi critters and toys for Christmas. Speaking of Christmas...

I've decided to start early. I always hate to find myself on Christmas Eve with tons of ideas left untouched. So I'm starting on those handmade gifts, decorations and a baking plan. Going to make this the best Christmas yet! Last year was SO much fun with the boys - I'm really looking forward to another magical holiday season. Now if only the weather would cooperate.