http://startcookin.com Ruminating about cooking, travel, realtionships and other life trivia Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:39:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_231" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Keith, Pam, Lynn, Bobbie, Patrick, Jim"][/caption] We couldn't have ordered up a more beautiful Thanksgiving Day if we had tried.  LJ and I had 6 friends to the lake with us for dinner.  The sun was shining, it was about 68 crisp degrees, and the wind was ... http://startcookin.com/thanksgiving-with-friends/ This past weekend we celebrated LJ's Aunt Deedy's 90th birthday.  Think about it - 90, n i n e t y YEARS old.  And I assure you, she is a pistol.  She still drives to Westminster Presbyterian Church every Sunday morning.  It was a lovely celebration, with all four of ... http://startcookin.com/happy-90th-birthday-deedy/ For LJ's birthday, we did the coolest thing.  We took the Texas Heartland Flyer (Amtrak) from Ft. Worth to Oklahoma City for the weekend.  We met our friends in Ft. Worth on Friday afternoon and had late lunch at the Flying Saucer.   Then we boarded the train at the station ... http://startcookin.com/friends-on-a-train/ I had friends for dinner again Saturday night, and wanted to do something simple.  Simple for me translates to one-dish meals (or at least one dish main courses).  So, Saturday night we had a big, green salad, Mario Batali's Ragu Bolognese (with a couple of slight alterations), and a dessert I made ... http://startcookin.com/one-dish-meals-rock/ It's my birthday, and once again LJ has pulled off an event weekend that made it so special.  We had a mini staycation in Dallas.  The best way to describe it would be to say we ate our way through the weekend. It started with lunch on Saturday at Jasper's, Kent ... http://startcookin.com/its-my-birthday/ I had another dinner party that I thought went really well.  It was lots of fun and the menu was quite easy. Insalata Caprese Pork Medallions with Mustard Caper Sauce Soft Polenta Asparagus with Lemon Butter Red Wine & Pear Sorbet Pecan Wafers I varied the Insalata Caprese just a little by fanning out the beautiful ... http://startcookin.com/easy-summer-dinner-party/ We slept in this morning after last night's wonderful anniversay experience.  We went to the Botonist for Brunch around 10:30.  LJ had blueberry pancakes and I had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.  I've certainly had my yearly requirement for salmon since I've been here. [caption id="attachment_184" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Outside the Botonist"][/caption]   [caption id="attachment_183" ... http://startcookin.com/london-2009-day-6-last-full-day/ We started the day with breakfast at the Abbey Hotel in Bath.  LJ finally got his traditional English breakfast, eggs, wiggly bacon (as opposed the the American streaky kind), broiled tomato and baked beans.  Ugh!  The we took off to tour the Roman baths.  How amazing!  They were beautifully preserved ... http://startcookin.com/london-2009-day-5/ We got up very early and had a toasted crumpet at the flat and were on our way to the tube station by 7:30.  We caught the train to Bath at Paddington Station and were in Bath Spa (that's what they call it) by 10:00AM.  We had hotel reservations at ... http://startcookin.com/london-2009-day-4/ We slept in today (for us) until 8:00, and I cooked breakfast at the flat.  We ate leisurely and had coffee, then we dressed and readied for some retail therapy. Shopping off Sloane Square and down King's Road is some fun!  I scored two pairs of shoes and some leggings and ... http://startcookin.com/london-2009-day-3/