I was raised with the belief that there is no greater love than cooking for someone or having someone cook for you. The traditions surrounding food and the experience of breaking bread have been ingrained in my soul since I was a young child. Looking through my childhood photo album I can’t tell you how many pictures were taken in the kitchen-me on the floor chewing on wooden spoons in diapers, me as a toddler with big eyes, big cheeks and a face smothered in pasta sauce and my family surrounded by food. And as I look at recent pictures all of the photos of my family are at a supper table and a lot of my pictures with my friends are usually at a restaurant or with a cocktail in hand.

I have committed to carrying on those traditions whether its eating seafood on Xmas Eve or just sharing a meal with family and friends. I have also found throughout the years I have started and participate in some of my own food traditions-fried turkey and Thanksgiving with the Murrays, always having a dinner date with my best friend for each of our birthdays, UFC parties at my house with some type of different food theme, Oktoberfest celebrations, wine tasting cocktail parties around harvest time (ummm not Humboldt harvest time) and cooking prime rib every Xmas from Green Acres and inviting everyone to Xmas dinner who doesn’t have a place to go.

So today I wanted to celebrate some amazing people who have shared their food experiences with me and cooked for me recently. On Thursday night I went to a Pampered Chef Party…love those things….because those catalogs are filled with random cooking utensils that you never knew you needed until you saw them and then all of a sudden you realized that you could NEVER use a knife to cut an avocado again you needed an avocado spatula spade thing. Yup mine is on order. However, one of the highlights of the party was Sharon’s Oreo Truffles! They were amazing and paired with a glass of syrah wine made the night absolutely perfect. I loved that she texted me earlier in the day teasing and enticing me through my work day with the thought of wine and truffles waiting for me at the other end. Thank you for a fun night!

Oreo Truffles and here is the wine I drank: 

During that party one of my co-workers, Carolyn, shared a picture of her 2 nieces and their hamburger cake they made…this recipe was featured in Food Network Magazine and I was so impressed with their handiwork. This is an amazing food family as it was Carolyn’s Mom who taught me how to make tamales last Xmas. And it was Carolyn’s Mom who also made enchiladas last Cinco de Mayo with homemade enchilada sauce and I still dream of that sauce. Rosie lost her battle with cancer last month however I am confident that her family will make her proud and carry on her food traditions. She was an amazing Mother, Grandmother and Wife and she was one of those people who truly just had a warm heart. Here is the recipe for the burger cake in case anyone wants to try it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/cheeseburger-cake-recipe/index.html

On Friday we celebrated a dear friends birthday by going out to sushi. I loved the laughter, bickering and random conversation around the dinner table and later around the fire pit. Thank you all for a fun time!

On Saturday night I had dinner with some dear friends that I picked up at a bar…yes not all of my friendships had classy beginnings. They made a wonderful summer meal and the meal was truly made with love from the homemade apple pie made with apples from their tree to the grilled steak that was so incredibly flavorful and tender. I also got some great cooking ideas from this meal. They added fresh rosemary from their garden to the mashed potatoes and OMG it gave them a great added flavor and they smelled delightful. They also roasted the corn on the cub on the grill in the husk….great idea and it was cooked perfectly. Finally, I love going to other peoples houses for dinner because they always think if doing things with food that just don’t cross my mind. The salad was perfect and they put dried cranberries and apples in the salad and they used a raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing which was perfect for the end of summer meal. Thank you Jeff, Staci and Rex!