My lovely daughter-in-law missed out on the celebration of her birth on her birthday weekend as we were all away in Minneapolis and she was not feeling well.  My son and husband thought that it might be nice to combine events and recognize both birthdays with a special lunch.

So what was on the menu?  We had a stash of beautiful strip loins in the freezer and while at The Keg Friday night for after work beverages-was inspired to do steak toppers.  D concocted three luscious choices:

mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter and garlic

roasted pecans, chevre and a basil & balsamic salsa

pan fried shrimp and bernaise sauce

Over mojitoes, made the authentic way by mashing the mint and sugar, we amused our mouths (amuse bouche) with a baked brie smothered in bubbling blueberries.

Mounds of roasted sweet potatoes and spring asparagus accompanied the topped steaks along with a family tradition: herb pull-apart loaf just out of the oven.

D wanted to honour two favourites by purchasing me a Jeanne’s cake and making hot fudge sundaes for Daughter #3. The recipe for D’s family recipe is included in the recipe archives.  Years ago we knew that Daughter #3 would fit into our family perfectly when D made hot fudge at the cottage and #3 asked for a spoon to clean out the sauce pan.

Red wine was poured all around and I savoured mine in my new ceramic wine goblet made by my favourite potter Kathryne Koop, with whom I share an unusual name spelling.  D remarked with dismay that now he won’t be able to keep track of how much is in my glass (to refill it of course).

The number of birthdays that we celebrate is not infinite, so make each one special and use the day to celebrate family and its unique bonds.

Kath’s quote:  “The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet.”-Judith Martin

Thank you my sweet babe.

Are you familiar with the expression “Well it must not take much to make you happy” usually said with a sneer and a sarcastic tone?  How could receiving happiness from the little things in life, possibly be a bad thing?  Today  I have chosen to be alone. I got a few urgencies taken care of this morning in the city and arrived at our little cottage about noon. 

This is how I have spent the time since I got here: I immediately took my Granddog for a walk down to the beach to see how high the water level was and to see what damage that it has done over the winter.  I returned to the cottage and had a lovely lunch of delicious leftovers.  I then ventured out again, this time with a spade and a bucket to dig up marsh marigolds from a flat/wet stretch by the beach.  

The plan for the rest of the day is to write and mark papers from my perch on the wicker love-seat  on the deck.  I may make a cup of David’s tea that was a recent gift from Daughter #1 and tonight if the weather is not too wild I will head down for sunset with a lovely glass of Merlot -a gift from daughter #2.  As an extra special treat, I will have an end piece of Jeanne’s banana cake.   You see, today is my birthday. 

So why would I choose to be all alone on my birthday?  Well, for one I had a wonderful day of celebrations yesterday and for two, I love being alone.  It is one of the things on my list of simple things that make me happy.  It goes together with eating only when I am hungry and eating exactly what I want.  Because I am alone I could have cracked pepper sunflower seeds and an iced coffee for breakfast today. 

I am getting older but not too old that I couldn’t stand and dance for two hours at the U2 concert last night.  Not too old that I can’t take a spin on my turquoise Road King bicycle that I brought from the city with me today.  Not too old that I can’t hear and identify the individual sounds of the birds that live in the forest around the cottage.  Not too old that I can’t smell and savour the rich scent of the lush underbrush and wild flowers that are abundant because of this wet spring.  Not too old that I can’t get on line and enjoy all the best wishes of my Facebook friends.  Not too old and pre-occupied with aches and pains instead of the well-being of good health and vitality that I enjoy.

I have a puppy dog curled up and snoozing beside me; I have work that I love that can be accomplished from any location; I have a family and a circle of friends whom I adore; I have a good book waiting for me when my work is done; it is the little things.  I am content-happy birthday to me.

Kath’s quote: “Cooks are in some ways very much like actors; they must be fit and strong, since acting and cooking are two of the most exacting professions. They must be blessed – or cursed, whichever way you care to look at it – with what is called the artistic temperament, which means that if they are to act or cook at all well, it cannot be for duds or dummies.”
Andre Simon

In keeping with the laid back nature of my favourite destination-many businesses are known for the “relational” name rather than an actual business name.  I think that this particular place has the word Taco in its official name but I simply know it as being two doors down from Alexa & Giovanni’s.  There is a row of loncherias that look like a row of garage doors when closed but bustle with people, coloured table cloths and amazing aromas when open. 

 The food is prepared and priced for the locals but the Islanders are such a friendly lot that they’ll always make room for one more.  On this day, we were with Isla friends that we see once a year while on vacation.  We were getting together for a birthday party around our hotel pool that night but because we were hosting the event, we were concerned that we might not get enough of a visit in.

Amidst the chatter I ordered Soupa de Pollo with Lima.

D dug into the platter of fresh fish.

One of the guys sampled the Mole Chicken.

J loved the pork chops and another J, the chicken enchiladas (except that the photo did not do the dish justice).  

All were plentiful portions of freshly prepared, delicious food.  I think that the le quenta including beer was about $7 each!  We love Isla Mujeres for so many reasons, not least of which is the fabulous food. 

Kath’s quote:  “Food responds to our soul’s dream as to our stomach’s appetite.”-Joseph Delteil

I’ll start with the conclusion-Eating Guidelines:

“1. Eat when you are hungry

2. Eat sitting down in a calm environment.  This does not include the car.

3.  Eat without distractions which may include: radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or anxiety-producing conversations or music.

4.  Eat what your body wants.

5.  Eat until you are satisfied.

6.  Eat (with the intention of being full) in full view of others.

7.  Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.”

I took particular note that the list did not include eating when you are sad, stressed, tired or bored but “Eat when you are hungry”.  A simple and basic concept that I would love to really embrace.  

I review these guidelines and I think about my previous day: I consumed breakfast and lunch at my desk while grading student’s papers (a stressful task in itself).  I did sit down in the dining room to eat a well balanced supper with my husband.  But we had a short dining window because he was going to spend the evening doing laundry and already had his laptop set up to work at home for the evening.  I thought that I had to be somewhere at 7 in order to get some assistance for a writing deadline that is looming.   We did have a pleasant chat but we did not pause to make eye contact, take a sip of anything or savour the wholesome fare.  And I write a blog about celebrating life with food!  I wasn’t celebrating my husband or our time together or my blessed life-I was going through the motions so that I could get onto the next task on my to-do list!

Geneen Roth’s New York Times bestseller also revealed some other thought provoking notions for me based on her premise that “the way that you eat is based on your core beliefs about being alive.”  “Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation and yes even God.”  I would beg to differ with this last premise but won’t go into it here.

If you have a healthy relationship with food, if you don’t despise any part of your body, if you don’t obsess about getting on and off the scale, if you don’t exercise obsessively, this book is not for you.  But if you said yes to any of the “don’t” items above, this book will help you look at what’s “eating” you.

We only have one life and one body-we are precious and lovely.  Celebrate that!

D is originally from the Minneapolis area and we love to head down for a variety of reasons, typically Viking match ups.  But this particular trip was  for a very special celebration-the marriage of a beautiful niece.  We had a bit of a window before we all had to get gussied up for the ceremony and #1 son had found Joe Senser’s Sports Theater the night before.  I am often skeptical when a place’s main claim to fame is that it is owned by a football player.  But Joe was a Viking and since I acquired purple blood through marriage I was willing to give it a try.

I didn’t get much conversation out of my family of diners because their eyes were fixed on various screens -the start of the French open, baseball updates and one devoted to video bloopers.

But when the food came it was just what the doctor ordered and so I was content.

D enjoyed this Cobb Salad which took him forever to eat.

The Frenchman: this combo special of a burger, waffle fries AND boneless chicken wings.

Daughter #2 went with the chicken wrap that was so huge, Daughter #1 ate the second half on the car ride home the next day.

For me?  They had me at artichokes….artichoke and chicken flat-bread.

Kath’s quote:“The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite.”-A. J. Liebling

Purple blood in my veins but a true blue heart….