Pears, Proscuitto, & Arugula

Had some wonderful friends over for the weekend and what better way to greet them after one had a (6 hour!) drive and the other a 3 hour bus ride. With some cold beer (courtesy of my favorite Stella Artois) and some hot appetizers (courtesy of Rachel Ray) mini tuna melts, portabella mushroom pizzas, arugula and pear wrapped in,  we were ready to quieten those rumbling bellies and give some much needed rest to our traveling nomads. This was of course, only a snack to tide us over- as we were to hit the town later in the evening for a sushi e proscuitto xtravaganza! Enjoy! XoxO <3>Üdo

Pears, Proscuitto, & Arugla
Ingredients

• 
  
  1 bundle arugula leaves
• 
  
  1 ripe bosc pear
• 
  
  1 lemon
• 
  
  1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
• 
  
  Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 
  
  Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 
  
  8 slices prosciutto

Directions
Place arugula in bowl. Quarter the pear lengthwise and remove the core. Cut into quarters and then in half again. Dress the pear with the juice of 1/2 lemon, thyme leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place a few leaves of dressed greens on each slice of prosciutto with a slice of pear and roll up into a tight bundle. Cut each bundle in half, to make 16 pieces. Recipe from Rachel Ray

Enjoy! XoxoX <3>Udo

Portabella Mushroom Pizzas

Had some wonderful friends over for the weekend and what better way to greet them after one had a (6 hour!) drive and the other a 3 hour bus ride. With some cold beer (courtesy of my favorite Stella Artois) and some hot appetizers (courtesy of Rachel Ray) mini tuna melts, portabella mushroom pizzas, arugula and pear wrapped in proscuitto we were ready to quieten those rumbling bellies and give some much needed rest to our traveling nomads. This was of course, only a snack to tide us over- as we were to hit the town later in the evening for a sushi extravaganza! Enjoy! XoxO <3>Üdo

Portabella Mushroom Pizzas

Ingredients

• 6 large portobello mushroom tops, stems removed and gills scraped
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling plus 1 tablespoon
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound Italian sweet sausage
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded or torn
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano

Directions

Preheat broiler.

Dress the mushroom caps with liberal drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil the portobello mushrooms 5 minutes on each side until tender.

While caps are broiling heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, add sausage and brown and crumble the meat, then add tomatoes to skillet and cook another few minutes until they burst. Add cream to skillet and reduce 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the sausage from heat and fold in basil. Fill mushroom caps and top with cheese, place under broiler to brown 2 to 3 minutes then quarter caps and serve. Rachel Rays recipe.

Enjoy!

xOXox <3>Udo

Mini Tuna Melts with Rosemary

Had some wonderful friends over for the weekend and what better way to greet them after one had a (6 hour!) drive and the other a 3 hour bus ride. With some cold beer (courtesy of my favorite Stella Artois) and some hot appetizers (courtesy of Rachel Ray) mini tuna melts, portabella mushroom pizzas, arugula and pear wrapped in proscuitto we were ready to quieten those rumbling bellies and give some much needed rest to our traveling nomads. This was of course, only a snack to tide us over- as we were to hit the town later in the evening for a sushi extravaganza! Enjoy! XoxO <3>Üdo

Mini Tuna Melts

Ingredients

• Italian tuna in olive oil, lightly drained
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1 large sprig rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
• Black pepper
• 4 slices provolone cheese, deli sliced
• 16 rounds sliced sesame baguette
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Mash tuna with finely chopped shallot, rosemary and black pepper. Quarter the sliced cheese. Build mini sammies of bread, cheese, tuna, cheese, bread. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Grill sandwiches on both sides until golden. Remove from skillet and serve. Rachel Ray's recipe.

Enjoy!

XoXo <3>Udo

Breakfast Brushetta

Bruschetta in the morning?! You betcha! Especially if it is a breakfast bruschetta. Take some cherry tomato slice in half and saute in olive oil with diced garlic. Set aside. In a small bowl combine a diced avocado with the sauteed tomato and garlic. Add a little olive oil and lemon juice. Toss gently in a festive looking bowl and set aside to mingle. Take a baguette that you've sliced on the bias (cut diagonally to make for a larger surface) toast in a toaster oven and dab with country fresh cream buttah. Top with the bruschetta mixture, garnish with sweet sea salt and enjoy! XOXO <3>Udo

Wild Boar Bacon

Wow! In the mood for a "LOST" breakfast? Want to eat what John Locke, James Ford, and Kate Austen eat? Chow down on this Sayid special! Guaranteed to be caught at the bare hands of Ben Linus himself! This delicious breakfast treat is made from free-range wild boar... yields a lean, richly-flavored meat because of the boar's unique diet of grasses, roots, acorns and heather.

Serve it for breakfast or use it as a substitute for traditional pork bacon whenever you want an added dimension of flavor. This meat from feral swine is bred using all vegetarian feed, no antibiotics ever, no growth hormones, no animal by-products, no preservatives, nitrates or nitrites added. Learn more about D'Artagnan Wild Boar Bacon here.

Soooo good you'll go hog wild! ::snickers::
Enjoy!
XoOXxO <3>Udo

Awesome Holiday Gifts on a Budget!

Know what this is?? I bet you don't! It's an old cassette tape case that was made into a business card holder!! How cool and budget friendly is that?! Neato! Check out this awesome link to Better Homes and Gardens where there's a plethora of fun, fabulous, frugal gift ideas for you to make and share with friends and family over the holidays!

Enjoy!
XOxoxo <3>Udo

Udo's Bangers and Ravs

Fall fun continues! We took a nice long drive today in search of a new home and on the way stopped at the most delightful pizza place. To say the pizza was a VICTORY is an understatement. Oh goodness... nobody does pizza like NEPA that's for sure! Dinner time is near and what to make with what we have on hand? Whipped up some sausages and ravioli with a glass of pinot grigio... can't beat that!

Udo's Bangers and Ravs

• 1lb of sweet italian sausuage
• 1 bag of frozen chopped onions and green peppers
• 1 bag of frozen ravioli
• garlic
• olive oil
• all spice
• sweet sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• white wine
• country fresh cream butter

Sautee the onions and peppers in the olive oil. Meanwhile boil the salted water for the ravs. In a separate pan cook up the sausage as you like (whole, cut up, shredded) and while it is cooking in its own olive oil add some all spice and dried tarragon to season the sausage. The all spice is quite lovely and really adds a hint of autumn to the sausage. Tarragon is a must IMHO when cooking sausage... it really brings out the umami. Add the cooked ravs, and the onions and peppers and garlic to the pan with the sausages. Add a drop or two of white wine to bring it all together and shred some pecorrino on top if you desire.

Enjoy!

Xoxoxo <3>Udo

And an homage to Bang Bang (bangers) from Brothers Bloom

"Grown Up" Hot Chocolate...

Oh yeahhhh. Hot chocolate never tasted so good, nor was it EVER this relaxing... weeee! Enjoy! XoxoOX <3>Udo

Nigella's Grown Up Hot Cocoa

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole organic milk
• 3 1/2 ounces best-quality semisweet morsels
• 1 shake of cinnamon
• 2 squirts of honey
• 1 teaspoon or so of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons dark rum or more to taste.. hehee

Directions

Put the milk into a saucepan with the chocolate and add to the milk along with a cinnamon, honey, and sugar and heat gently until the chocolate is melted. Stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add the vanilla and mix with a small hand whisk and still whisking, add a spoonful of the rum first and taste to see if you want more. Add more sugar if you want this sweeter, too. Take out the cinnamon stick and pour into 2 cappuccino or caffe latte cups.

For more great recipes like this, visit the Food Network online!

XoxoXo <3>Udo

Pasta with Walnut Sauce...

Ahhhh! Soooo good!

Nigella's Pasta with Walnut Sauce

Ingredients

• 6 ounces shelled walnuts
• 1/2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 slice bread, crusts removed
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1 ounce grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
• 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil (preferably Ligurian)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 pounds any flat short pasta
• 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley, for garnish

Directions

Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, and toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan until they begin to make a nutty aroma. Put the bread in a bowl and cover with the milk. Put most of the toasted walnuts (reserving about 1 ounce for garnish) into a blender along with the garlic, bread soaked in milk, and Parmesan. Blend until it turns smooth and creamy, then pour in the oil and season well with salt and pepper before blending again.

Pour into a bowl, and set aside.

Add pasta to boiling water with salt and cook for the required amount of time. When pasta is al dente, reserve a cup of the pasta cooking liquid and then drain the pasta, but put it in to a large bowl while it's still dripping slightly with water. Sprinkle a little olive oil over the pasta to prevent it sticking together, and then add the walnut sauce, mixing it into the pasta (splash in a little pasta cooking liquid to make the sauce less thick if needed).

Roughly chop the remaining walnuts and toss them over the top along with some more Parmesan and the chopped parsley.

For more great recipes visit the Food Network Online!

Enjoy!

XoOXox <3>Udo

Piping Hot Shepard's Pie

So warm and delicious on a crisp fall day!
Start off with your mashed potato layer...

Then add your seasoned veggies...

Add your beef that was browned and mixed with sauteed mushrooms

Top it off with a layer of biscuit mix (or use your pancake mix instead!)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the top turns golden brown... serve warm!

Paul Deen's Shepard's Pie

Ingredients

• 1 small onion
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups mixed vegetables or niblet corn, prepared
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 to 10 medium red new potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 12 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups instant biscuit mix

Directions

Beef Layer: Saute onions in 2 tablespoons butter. Add ground beef. After beef is browned, add tomato sauce; Mix in vegetables. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Potato Layer: Peel and slice potatoes 1/4-inch thick. Cook in boiling water for approximately 15 minutes or until fork-tender. Whip potatoes with electric mixer; mix until moderately smooth. Don't over beat them; a few lumps are nice. Add 1/2 cup heated milk, 1/2 cup butter, and sour cream. Salt and pepper, to taste. Whip until mixed. Adjust thickness by adding more milk, if desired.

Biscuit Layer: Combine biscuit mix and 1 cup milk. The mix should be thinner than normal biscuit mix but not runny.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 9 by 2-inch pan, or any similar casserole dish. Layer half way up with the mashed potatoes. Next, spread a layer of mixed vegetables or niblet corn on top of potatoes. Then add a layer of the meat. Pour biscuit mix over meat. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over top. Bake for approximately 35 to 45 minutes until top is golden brown.

Visit the foodnetwork online for more great recipes!

Enjoy!

XXoxoXOo <3>Udo

Cornish Hens with Apples and Shallots

Sunday dinner is always fun to make because I start cooking at around 8am and keep going until noon. Usually I'm able to whip up a loaf of bread or two for the week, maybe some muffins and brownies for lunches and whatever the dinner of the day is.

I like to keep Sunday a big pasta day and draw out the process of making the sauce from scratch using Grandma P.'s recipe (which includes homemade briciolli and meatball) Oh so good. But today I went the way of autumn and decided to get all medieval with a cornish hen or two (which we will wash down later with some stines of grog (or some pinot grigio) ::imitates a pirate wench at a Rennasiance Faire:: Arrrrrrrr!

Now I have to tell you, I totally winged this one (get it, winged?) and changed up a recipe I found from an old Martha cookbook. I think her recipe called for grapes and shallots but I'm fresh out of grapes and heavy on the apples so I subsituted the fruit. I also found this recipe online and thought...hmmm this is a fun take on spicing up that little cornish devil so let's give this a whirl too! Right. So here's my take on it:

Udo's Cornish Hen with Apple and Shallot

• 2 cornish game hens
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Rosemary bits
• country fresh cream butter
• the juice of half a lemon
• dried cranberries
• chopped walnuts
• 3 or 4 apples cored and cut up into pieces
• 4 shallots halved and quartered

All of the following spices to taste (tt)

• Paprika
• Cinnamon
• All Spice
• Nutmeg
  

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stuff the hens with the cranberries and walnuts. Season both sides of the hens with olive oil, some lemon juice, and all of the seasoning and spices. Tie the legs together and nestle the birds into a cookie sheet where you have spread out your chopped shallots and apples. Drizzle olive oil over the apples and shallots. Season all with a few grinds of salt and pepper. Cook the birds until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (avoiding the bone) reads 160 degrees. Continue to occasionally baste the hens with the juices in the pan. Serve with smashed baby red potatoes. Yum!

Enjoy!
XOoXoxO <3>Udo

Ok- so it's not a cornish hen, but it's about as big as one!

Pancakes and Penelope

Ok ok. So it was a strange, strange Saturday- that's for sure. Between a crazy bout of house hunting and then jaunting around a bit with my mommah to do some errands I managed to come home to greet a sleepy hubby who went in to work for some overtime earlier this morning. About 5pm we both collapsed on the couch only to wake at 8:30pm with growling tummies. What to do? What to eat? Lucky for us it is indeed Saturday night and that means we can stay up as late as we want...fun!

Speaking of fun... there's a blu-ray copy of Volver that's been camping out on our coffee table for the past week... can't quite seem to hit the right mood to watch it... and luckily Netflix is in no hurry to get it back from us. I have no idea what its about.... except that I know the director is incredibly talented and it's supposed to be good and Penelope Cruz was nominated for an Oscar because of this film.

Hungry too, the both of us are, but not so much for regular food... so it's time to make some home made pancakes (yes from scratch!) oh my goodness did they come out great! I used a teeny bit of country fresh cream butter on each cake and topped them off with some sliced bananas, sparkly sugar crystals (diamond jimmies) and powdered sugar... AHHHH!!! One could lose control while eating these- they are THAT good. Sooo now, we are eating our pancakes, drinking ice cold glasses of organic whole milk, and watching the Volver. Gracias!

Here's the recipe... update on pretty Penelope later... enjoy!
XOxoXoXOXo <3>Udo

Homemade Pancake Mix

• 7 cups flour
• 1/3 cup baking powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• 8 tsp. sugar
• 1 c. Crisco

Using a wire whisk or pastry cutter, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Store sealed in pantry or refrigerator. To make pancakes add 3/4 cup of milk to 1 cup of mix.

For you Volver fans out there...


PS: The movie was FANTASTIC!

Flounder with New Potato

Sunday night and we kept it light. Flounder tonight with new potatoes and asparagus (yes I am on an asparagus kick this weekend). Mr. Udo flipped out over this dish tonight stating it was indeed a "restaurant quality" dinner. He's so good. I'm so pleased that he liked it. I think it all has to do with how you season the fish and of course not over cooking it. Anyway, here is my secret recipe for restaraunt quality flounder. Yum!

Udo's Flounder and New Potato

• 3-4 defrosted wild-caught flounder fillets
• 1/2 of one lemon
• 1-2 cubes of country fresh cream butter
• sweet sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Old Bay seasoning
• Lemon pepper seasoning

Directions
Easy. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

• Now you want to get those new potatoes roasting well ahead of time because they take foreverrrrr to roast (around 45 minutes). All you're doing here is cutting up your cleaned potatoes and tossing them into a ceramic baking dish (or on a cookie sheet) with some balsamic vinegar, adobo seasoning, olive oil, and sea salt. Roast them until they can easily be pierced with a fork and the outside is crispy.

• So when you are entering the last 10 minutes of potatoe cooking time, that's when you want to start your fish and your greens (you can use broc or greenbeans or spinach or whatever you have on hand, I used up the rest of my asparagus).

• Rinse the fish in cold water and pat dry. Lay the fish down on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Season each side of the fish with Old Bay seasoning and a little bit of lemmon pepper seasoning, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

• Slice 2-3 lemon slices from 1/2 a lemon and then take the other half of the lemon and squeeze the juice onto the fish. Cover with a little bit of olive oil. Place a dollop of fresh cream butter on top of each fish and lay a lemon slice over each one as well. Broil uncovered for about 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Plate with new poatoes and asparagus.

Enjoy!

xXoXOXo <3>Udo

Bacon wrapped Mahi Mahi and Asparagus

Bacon Wrapped Mahi Mahi and Asparagus
We had some Mahi Mahi that I defrosted the other night but I wanted to perk it up a bit so I googled some recipes that used Mahi Mahi and wanted to see if any of them also used bacon (had some left that I didn't cook for breakfast and wanted to use up). Found a lot of recipes out there for Mahi Mahi wrapped in bacon and each pretty much sounded like the other. So here's my variation of one that I found while cooking and internetting...

• 2 defrosted mahi mahi filets that have been cut into bite size pieces
• Some dry rosemary
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Lemon juice to taste
• 3-4 slices bacon cut in half (one for each bite sized piece of mahi mahi)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper
• Lemon pepper seasoning

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F

• Season both sides of the fish fillets with salt and pepper, the lemon pepper seasoning, rosemary, lemon juice, olive oil, and Old Bay seasoning.
• Wrap two pieces of bacon around each fillet. I found out the hard way that wrapping 1 long piece of bacon around the fish sounds like a great idea- but its not. If you wrap a whole piece of bacon around the fish then half of it won't be cooked properly. Ew.
• Warm a non-stick skillet over medium heat, and dazzle a bit of olive oil. When it is hot, set the filets in, browning each side of the bacon for about a minute each.
• Once the filets (bacon) are browned, place in a shallow baking dish (covered) and bake at 400 for about 10 minutes or until fish flakes.
• Meanwhile, mix together some lemon juice and mayonnaise (to taste) varying the amount of lemon so that its not too tart.
• Once the fish is done plate it with asparagus and rice and drizzle with lemon mayo. Yum.

Enjoy!

XoXoXOX <3>Udo

Udo's Pork and Crab Sandwich...

Udo's Pork and Crab Sandwich

(aka the Best Sandwich Ever!)

Simple and delicious. Using the leftovers from the pork tenderloin (recipe in the post below), create delicious pork sandwiches using endive, mayo, pork, mustard sauce, and add a handful of Herr's Old Bay seasoned crab chips. Pile into a soft, fluffy sesame seed bun, or a soft Portuguese roll. Here's the trick... you actually put the chips inside the sandwich. Oh my goodness. It's amazing. The Old Bay taste with the crunch of the chips and the soft & doughy sandwich roll. Oh so good.

Enjoy!

XOxooXO <3>Üdo

Pork tenderloin, strawberries & endive...

Tried my hand at a simple pork tenderloin the other day. I know, I know... who doesn't know how to make pork tenderloin? It's so easy it practically makes itself; but I want to share the trick I used to make it moist and juicy. It was quite possibly the best piece of meat we've ever eaten.

• Take your pork tenderloin and season it with salt, pepper, and Goya Adobo seasoning.
• Place a tablespoon of butter and a dazzle of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Get it nice and hot.
• Place the pork tenderloin in the pan and brown each and every side of it.

Searing every side of the pork will seal in the juices when you cook it in the oven. I used tongs to hold the pork upright while I seared the ends too. It really makes a difference in the tenderness of the meat.

• When searing is complete place the pork into a roasting pan, cover, and bake at 375 for about 20-30 minutes...you need a meat or candy thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat. There's no getting around this. Don't second guess the internal temp. It's the only way to make sure you get a perfectly cooked dish.
  


• Check the pork at 15 mintues and again at 20 and 25 minutes. You want to check the internal temperature of the meat to see when it reaches 150 degrees. Once it hits 150 turn the oven off and take the pork out and let it rest on top of the oven (in its pan).

Let the pork rest. This allows the juices from the pork to retreat into the center of the meat. So don't cut it right away. Let it rest. You can serve it warm or let it cool and serve it that way too. I served this pork tenderloin with a mustard sauce that I concocted from ingredients on hand. You can use sour cream instead of yogurt but I like the sweetness of the yogurt so that's what I used. I also plated it with a bed of endive and fresh strawberries. You can't believe how well all of these flavoürs work together! The bitterness of the endive is cut nicely by the sweetness of the strawberries; both make for a cool and refreshing chaser when eaten with the pork/mustard sauce.

Udo's Mustard Sauce

• 1-2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard
• 1-2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
• 2-3 tablespoons of vanilla flavoured pro-biotic yogurt
• 1/2 tablespoon of light mayo
• water or chicken stock or pork juices to thin out the sauce

Just add all ingredients into the pan you used to sear the pork and stir with a wooden spoon until a sauce forms. All measurements are to taste- so experiment with your own. Also, it smells really strong when you make it but when you drip a teeny bit over the pork and endive it's very subtle and not at all overpowering. The sweetness of the yogurt balances the tartness of the mustard just like the strawberries and the endive work together to create the same effect. It's a really clean and palatable dish.

Enjoy! XoxoOX <3>Üdo

Better than syrup? Oh yeah...

Out of syrup but you already made the waffles? Grab some fresh fruit and powdered sugar to top off your baked building of batter. Or make a honey sauce with a little melted butter and honey mixed together and drizzled on each waffle. Still need some sweet? Take some left over cake icing (had some strawberry handy here) nuke it and drip it onto your tower of waffley goodness. Still want some sauce? Ice cream never fails. Yum!

XoXoXo <3>Udo

The Scoopeth on GOOPeth...

I love Gwenyth Paltrow. Love, love, love her. No I don't know her personally, but you can just tell she is so down to earth, and gorgeous, and I really like the way she carries herself. I am also a HUGE fan of her super cool mommah- Blythe Danner. Two really cool people. Love em. I've been subscribing to Gwen's GOOP website's newsletter ever since it came out... but realized that maybe you haven't heard of it? GOOP is an awesome site run by Gwen and friends covering all things that you can make, do, bake, see, etc... nourishing the inner aspect. Love it! This week on GOOP Gwen and a friend make the dish BiBimBop... so cute and fun! I'm going to give it a whirl this weekend and let you know how it comes out.... in the meantime- check out Ms. Paltrow whipping up a mean chicken and boogeying down with some bibimbop to boot! FUN!!!

Gwen's super easy chicken dinner...


And Gwen making Bibimbop...

Enjoy!

XoXoxo <3>Üdo

A Pocketbook Full of Posies!

This pretty little ditty is from Ivory Ink Calligraphy!

One of my favorite things in the world (besides my husband, little animals, tiny babies, and tiny little baby animals, down comforters, hugs, hot tea, and filet mignon) is Etsy - where you can buy all things handmade! Etsy is also a wonderful find for female (and male) entrepreneurs and artists! If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page you will see a gallery of my favorites things on Etsy. My favorite artist Vusova, my favorite soaps and candles from Breath of French Air, and some favorite photos and paperwork from Pocketbook Full of Posies, Ivory Ink Calligraphy, and Royal Buffet!!

I especially want to take a moment to introduce you to a good friend and coworker of mine- the resident artist at Ivory Ink Calligraphy. She also owns and operates Pocketbook Full of Posies.

If you have a special upcoming event and want to add a whimsical, elegant touch - you can commission Ivory Ink Calligraphy to do your invites. Reasonably priced and simply gorgeous paper perfection! Every item is meticulously hand-crafted by a super jazzy Gemini who has a background in marketing and studio art. Check out Ivory Ink and Pocketbook Full of Posies today!

XoxoOX <3>Udo

... should you fancy a sip of tea with a tasty snack or two... stop by Udo Umami ... and opening November 2009 - my Bubble Stick Soap and Bubble Shoppe!

The Circle of Life...

What a whirlwind of a week it's been. Has it been a week or two? It's been about a week or two I think... well... to start the week, our families lost a dear, dear friend, our loving grandfather (my husband's Grandpa McG). We were so very fortunate to have been able to spend some time with him these last few weeks. What a brave and kind man. Grandpa McG was a brilliant conversationalist who enjoyed American and World history. He sired seven beautiful children into this world and they in turn produced 10 amazing grandkids.

I was very blessed to have met and married his eldest grandchild, my husband Patrick; who in turn was raised by grandpa's eldest daughter (and can I just say what a fine job she did in raising the most amazing man in the universe!!!) I am forever grateful to my special friend and second mom, not only for the gift of a lifetime in her son, but also for the years of blood, sweat, and tears, the years of boo boos, and playtime, and reading stories, the years of rebellion and crushes, and college, the years of creating a man who became an admirable husband and... are you ready for this? The father of our soon to be born child! Now that I am about to become a mom myself, it really has become so much more apparent how much our own mothers have done for us.

The circle of life...
My father had mentioned the timing of grandpa's passing and the baby's arrival was not a coincidence; and that maybe, perhaps, grandpa and baby high-fived on the way by... I love that image. I so wish that Grandpa McG had known that he was not only a great grandpa... but was also a... great-grandpa. But I like to think he knows now. Yes, he knows.

I have always felt that "The Universe is unfolding as it should...." which is to say try not to worry about or pray for what is or isn't to come your way but do pray for the grace to accept what does. Hence our standard reply to curious do-gooders on the question of kids: "If it happens great! If it doesn't, that's cool too." I think that attitude has served us very well through good times and through uncertain times. As a wise friend told us, things always have a way of working out for the best.

So... where do babies come from... Thailand?
No. Infact, we had actually discussed starting a family much earlier this year, but decided to hold off trying until late this summer once we found out the trip to Thailand was a go. So no, Virgina, babies do not come from Thailand, but something magical did happen on that trip. It was something in the saffron scented air, or the softly singing shores of Hua Hin that lulled us into the dreamy bliss of marriage and family. We couldn't have asked for finer hosts than our aunts and cousins and their families. Every need was attended to, every comfort accounted for. And somewhere within the chats, the laughter, the road trips, the exhaustion, the stories, the frustrations, the sun, the love, the great food, the sand... something happened... something that called to my husband and I on a spiritual and emotional level... reaffirming to us the calling to start a family of our very own.

Sure enough a few weeks later, holy smokes - we're expecting!!! Just like that. I didn't think it would be that easy or happen that quickly. But it did! Who knew?! And how miraculous! We never thought this would happen to us. Not because we had any reason to think that it wouldn't... it's just with regards to natural family planning we never went out of our way to try to have a family... and wow! I mean you just think this is something that happens to other people! And here it is happening to us! Unreal! Our lives will be forever changed! Wait a second, our lives are forever changed! We now have our very own little friend on the way! Half me, half hubby and all awesome!

And so the next generation has begun... I sit here looking at the old photographs of our grandparents who have gone on before us, pictues of my Grandpa and Grandma P., my Grandpa G, and hubby's Grandpa McG and Grandma McG (whom I sadly never got to meet)... but I wonder - how proud they must all be... and how affirming to know they are watching over us all. Wow. So exciting! So here we are, stay tuned for updates on all things maternal, poppa, and bebe related... this blog is going to get real interesting real soon!

Mwah!

XOxoOXox <3>Ze Üdos