Cherries

Monday, September 2, 2013

Holiday Weekend Bliss

This long holiday weekend has been complete bliss! I got 3 days at the river where I painted several new rocks and posted some new RiverLights Originals images. I attached one that I am particularly fond of, what do you think? In addition to my time at the river, I enjoyed a much needed visit with friends from high school. Julie and Lauren and I have stayed in touch through the years but with Facebook making our worlds so much bigger, I've reconnected with several friends and it has been fun to catch up and be connected again. Add to that a chat on the phone with Lisa A. and you get the idea how really rich I am in friends!

Another something from this weekend is that I entered my burger recipe for the Sutter Home Build a Better Burger recipe contest. This is one of those high cash prize contests , $100,000, so I am sure they get hundreds, if not thousands of entries. I'm not sure I worked hard enough to come up with something that might qualify, but I had nothing to lose in entering. The hardest part was writing out the recipe correctly and completely. Seriously, I read it, re-read it, and read it 10 more times to make sure everything matched up. I made the mistake of not noting when to add a specific ingredient on one of Mason's recipes for the State Fair and he was disqualified when it was pretty clear he would he took the blue ribbon. I will not let that happen again, and I bet he won't either! My burger is called, "Why Eve Ate the Apple! Burger." It is a beautifully seasoned burger with bacon, a tablespoon of bacon fat and bourbon cooked in the patty topped with an apple-red onion slaw on a toasted French roll with a spread of apple aioli. The biblical reference to Eve and the apple indirectly ties into the sins of bacon, bacon fat, and bourbon. Even if my burger doesn't qualify or win, my name is incredibly thoughtful and creative. I won't know anything until December, but rest assured, if I get picked as a finalist I will send out a big Whoo-Hoo e-mail!

I got my act together for the coming week with laundry, dishes, some meal planning for the coming week, and I made summer galettes in both sweet and savory. I am doing a cooking demo at the TomatoFest at the end of the month on Friday and Mason's demo will be on Sunday. I am making a tomato galette with my secret being adding a bit of fresh black pepper to my crust. They are a super easy meal that is just different enough that you feel like it's a special occasion. If you are a tomato lover, you will love this recipe.

Dave and Mason are on their way home from the game convention today and Spencer and I woke up to pounding thunder and lots of rain. The rain today is just a cherry on my weekend cake, well, maybe not cake, how about raw sugar sprinkled on a peach galette! I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend and are looking forward to a productive week. Happy Labor Day!

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