Cherries

Monday, October 29, 2012

"The Date"

Happy Halloween!
 
I love, love, love this time of year. Pumpkins that make me feel like they are the gateway to the holidays; Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then the New Year celebration. Our family has seen some big changes this year and it feels so good to be in a new home making new dreams come true.

Dave and I celebrated our 11th anniversary a little bit early this year enjoying a lovely New England Prix-Fixe dinner at a local restaurant. We talked about a dinner we had in 2001in Mariposa. We had just started dating and spent a fun day tootling the little shops, buying unique gifts (some snowflake Christmas ornaments that we still have), and just being in love with each other. We went to Charles Street Dinner House for dinner an we talked about the day we just spent together, making plans for the coming weeks and months, and it became very clear during dinner that we were planning our lives together, not just dating, but married life. I can't say for sure what we looked like to the other diners in the restaurant, but here's what makes this story so significant; everyone in the restaurant came and went while we sat engrossed in our new love and the restaurant literally closed around us. As we looked at our check and mentally came back to the real world, all the staff working that night were sitting together at a table looking our way. We immediately hurried and apologized for keeping them and we were told with smiles that they didn't want to disturb us and they all chose to stay and wait as seeing two people so in love was magical. We giggled about it as we left holding hands, but 11 years later, it's amazing that a handful of people didn't rush us out so they could go home and let us live in that magic for who knows how long. We decided last week that this would forever be referred to as "the date" because it really was a prelude to the happiness we still feel together. Our anniversary isn't until November 9, but the fact of the matter is, we celebrate our marriage and family most every day.

Mason went to a Halloween Sweet Treats cooking class this weekend and made caramel for apples, and popcorn balls, well, the recipe is popcorn balls, but Mason made popcorn animals! He is also working on his recipes for the Mandarin Festival. He has one and is still deciding on a second one. His criteria is that it has to be something a kids would like, have mandarins in it, and have several skills he can show. My criteria is that is has to be relatively simple because as the sous chef, I have to do ALL the prep work, keep him working smoothly, have samples prepared and ready, and clean up. Ultimately, I love that he is so interested in cooking and baking, it's fun for all of us. For those of you who want to come see him do his cooking demo on 11/17, let me know and I will give you tickets.

Do you have a story that is epic for you like "the date" is for us? I would love to hear it. What an amazing gift those people gave us that night...all these years later, it still brings us so much joy. Enjoy all the little ghouls and goblins on Wednesday and Happy Monday!

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