Holy Pizzeria Batman!

Happy Monday and welcome to summer 2013! We are looking at all kinds of triple digits this week topping out at an estimated 106 on Saturday! Yowza! I like it hot, it somehow makes me feel a bit like I am on vacation even when I am doing my normal work and family life activities. I may need to reach out to my landlord and see when the last time the AC was serviced though because yesterday the house didn't seem to cool down in a very timely fashion at all.








My first official week of no school and working at the real estate office was great. Even though I don't like being the novice in the office, the knowledge is coming quickly and I'm sure in no time I will be up to speed. Over the weekend, Mason and I took a pizza making class at the school where Mason will be spending plenty of time this summer. What fun we had! We learned so many little tips and tricks to making Pizzeria style pizza at home, and yes, we both learned to throw dough! Mason had so much fun, he is planning to make Dave a pizza dinner for Father's Day and he will be making pizza at his demo coming up in Petaluma on June 19. Hey, when you are a 9 year old boy who can throw pizza dough, you want to show that off every chance you get! Speaking of Father's Day, Mason made a few videos this weekend with some easy and tasty ideas kids can make for dad in the kitchen, check them out here, but don't tell Dave, he can't see them until after Father's Day.

 

Mason has just four more days of School and summer will officially begin, although the sleeping outside started this weekend. Sleeping under the stars at home is bliss! All the comforts of running water, flush toilets, and the cool night air all in one happy place. Mason's summer plans include raising money for his school kitchen, a handful of cooking demos, and yes, he will be attending culinary school! It is blowing my mind that he is so enthused about this program, I shake my head at the idea of having a full formal education that can take you into the working world before the age of 13, and even more so at a 9 year old boy who wants to take this on! This is going to be a very interesting summer indeed!

 

I hope you are well and doing something you love, if not, find something that makes you smile and get it on your calendar this week - you'll be glad you did!

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Monday and Happy Memorial Day!

 

Friday was my big day, I graduated with my AA-T degree in Communication Studies and I graduated with honors. Dave and Mason cheered me on and then headed out of town to a game convention. I had big plans to clean house, go to the river, attend a pool party with friends, and so much more. Instead, I hit a wall and was simply exhausted! I canceled most of my weekend plans and ended up staying in my pajamas for more than half of my long weekend. With Dave and Mason away, I didn't have any need to feel guilty and Spencer loved it! I did manage to get out of the house on Sunday and visited with friends around the pool. Today, I am enjoying the easy rain and getting ready for the week ahead. I start working at the Real Estate office providing support for our top producing agent. She is paying me to assist her all while I am learning the paperwork and successful processes.  This affords me the flexibility to work with Mason in the kitchen and do his live cooking demos with him.

 

Speaking of Mason, we have a meeting tomorrow with a culinary academy that takes kids. If this is something that looks like a good fit for Mason, he will be able to go through the program over the summer and even when he starts back to school and when he graduates, he will have earned a Jr. Culinary Degree. They have two programs, so he has an opportunity to have a real life education and skill-set before he even finishes the 4th grade! We'll know more tomorrow, but he is really excited to go check it out. Mason is also ramping up his campaign to raise money for his school kitchen. I am attaching the link to donate (if you feel so inclined), but we would love it if you could share the link and your personal connection to Mason so we an hopefully reach more people. Remember, there is no donation too small and thank you, thank you, thank you! DONATE HERE

 

Dave is busy with work and school, too. He is still working toward his Bachelors Degree in Military History online and it is not an easy task to take on while working full time. He also learned that he will be traveling quite a bit more in the coming months so that will add to his challenge of juggling school with work. Mason and I have our systems in place, but Dave traveling two weeks at a time will make it hard for me to do the corporate training I was expecting to be doing this summer. What is it we know for sure? The only constant is change. We just need to do our best to go with the flow and keep making progress toward our goals.

 

Now it's up to me to figure out how to complete my education and get my Bachelors Degree. I will meet with a counselor at Sac State this summer and see what my options are. I'm sure there is a way, even if I don't know how. I'm pretty tenacious that way! I hope you had a lovely long weekend and are working toward making your dreams come true. Trust me when I say, reaching a meaningful goal feels sweeter than words can express!

Last Week Of College

Mason's Gardenia Ice Cream

Happy Monday! Today is a significant Monday for me as it is my last Monday of school - yep, I graduate on Friday! I'm excited to get back to work and I can't honestly say I will miss homework. I will miss my classes, professors, and of course, the amazing people I've met in the last 2 1/2 years. I'm most excited about Mason seeing me in my cap and gown receiving my diploma.

 

Speaking of Mason, his demo on Saturday went well and as usual, he had a blast! The theme for the cooking stage at the home show was "Edible Flowers." Mason and I looked on line to find some recipes and he selected Gardenia Ice Cream. The recipe we found was a cooked-custard ice cream recipe and we didn't have time to make that for a demo, so we modified it to a recipe that he could make right there, on the spot for the audience. He infused the heavy cream the week before the event with fresh gardenia petals. To find the complete recipe with a picture, go to www.masonpartak.com and you will find it right on his homepage. For now, the local demos are done and his next appearance will be at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma in June. After that, he has two days at the State Fair in July. If you want to come to either of these events, let me know and I bet I can get tickets.

 

Now I am off to study for finals. I have a geology lab final tomorrow, a geology lecture final and a comm final on Wednesday, and my last final in Public Speaking on Thursday. It's looking real good that I will graduate with honors. Have a great week, I know I will!

 

Mason the Cooking Machine!

What a wild week it's been! Mr. Mason did 5 cooking demos in 4 days, yes, he is a machine. He started on Thursday with a spot on Good Day Sacramento to promote his two weekend performances at BerryFest in Roseville. He did an amazing job, so much so, he was invited back on Sunday to do a special Mother's Day show. Saturday he did his first appearance at Berryfest, only this time, he had an emcee, local Produce Guy Michael Marks. Sunday morning, we were both up early to be back at the television studio where Mason showed kids how to make "egg in a hole" and then in the next hour, French toast. Finally, we wrapped up the weekend with his final day at BerryFest. You can see his video on his web site at www.Masonpartak.com. Needless to say, we were all pretty tired by Sunday evening. Now that we have rested up, Mason is prepping for another demo this weekend at the spring home show here in Auburn

 

Mother's Day was lovely, even though Mason worked all weekend, he still washed my car. Dave made a lovely dinner of fish tacos and we all went to be early. Laughing! Now I'm immersed in finals, preparing for graduation and gearing up to get back to work. I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Love, Kathy

In the Final Stretch!

With only three weeks left of school, it's hard to imagine that I will actually get a degree. I keep calling it my "starter degree" or "just" an AA when in fact, I really need to acknowledge what an accomplishment this is for me. I have loved being in school and I hope one day I will get my BA, but for now, I am taking the win that I've come this far.

This is going to be a busy week, I have two major speeches and countless other written assignments coming due. Additionally, Mason has a television appearance on Thursday, and live cooking demos on both Saturday and Sunday at the Strawberry Festival.

I hope you have a great week!

Back From the Big Apple

Mason and I made it home safely after a whirlwind trip to The Big Apple, New York City! We arrived early Wednesday morning and planned out a few days mixed with friends, family, work, and fun. Mason was invited to tape a segment for the new Lisa Oz (Dr. Oz's wife) Show airing sometime this summer on the Veria cable network. Since we were in NYC for that, we decided to also accept an offer from Connecticut Style and took the train to New Haven where Mason taped a segment with them as well. That one will air on May 1st so as soon as I get the on line link, I'll be sure to send it to you all to watch.

 

 

Mason did a great job and learned a ton! He had to deal with major changes to what he had rehearsed, the swapping of ingredients that, in this case, work the same, but he didn't understand what was there for him to use (they put Tamari - dark soy sauce - out in place of his soy sauce, that would have been okay if it were in a clear glass bowl, but they left it in the bottle and the label Tamari threw him.), and he couldn't use his frying pan that we brought with us so he could do his fancy flipping of the crepe. I'm not sure the Lisa Oz show is going to shine him in his best light with all the changes they made, but if nothing else, it is these early experiences that will help him do better, stronger cooking demos for television in the future. The production team at Connecticut Style treated him wonderfully and even let him sit in the control room to see how the "other" side works.

 

 

While we were in CT, we met up with Jim and JK (Dave's sister and her husband) for lunch and then took the train back to Grand Central Station. WOW! What a place that is! There are just too many things to share in one e-mail but suffice it to say, we had a ball! We went to FAO Schwartz, Times Square, Central Park (where I had a lovely chat with Don Cheadle), we rode the subway, went to China Town, Chelsea Market, had dinner at the famous Jekyll & Hyde Restaurant, and we were given tickets to see Spiderman on Broadway...orchestra seats, it was amazing! Mason made sure to eat plenty of New York street food, check out this two minute video of him eating his way through NYC!

 

Now we are back to school and work...in addition to getting ready for Mason's many upcoming appearances; channel 31 on May 9, The Strawberry Festival on May 11 & 12, the Spring Home Show on May 18, and then the Sonoma Fair in June and the State Fair in July. It's busy, but we have plenty of fun, too! If you want to come to one of these events, we usually get a few freebies (tickets), let me know. Happy Monday, with lots of love.

Look Out NYC, Here We Come!

Mason and I are off to New York City! There is not much more to share about this adventure just yet, but on another similar note, Ellen is looking for schools that need a hand and Mason made a video asking Ellen to help him raise the money to update his school kitchen. We are looking to get as many people as we can to submit the form through Ellen's website to hopefully get her to take notice of Mason and help him out with his fund-raising efforts.

 

For now, I have to finish packing because when we leave for school tomorrow, Mason and I are not coming home - it's straight to the airport we go. Mason is planning to do some fun "Man on the Street" videos for his website about different foods he has on his list to try; a hot dog from a street vendor, a slice of real NY pizza, and a Gyro from a food truck. If nothing else, Mason and I will have a ball! Stay tuned and if we are friends on Facebook, you'll get a little sneak peek at our adventures. Have a great week!