Heroes

Here are Luis and Tina. Two very special people who do good things.

This past weekend, they walked 60 miles in support of the Avon 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer.

The walk began on Friday, early in the morning, in the rain. It didn't rain all day and the weather was otherwise pleasant. Saturday began in rain, this time heavier than Friday's showers. Regardless, they persevered, kept walking and kept smiling. It was a warmer day than Friday but they finished in record time. Sunday, they were up early and did their final round. Finally, a day without rain. Instead it was bright sunshine...and by 9 am it was already 85 degrees. This did not deter them. They walked their little butts off and finished by mid-afternoon.

The picture above was taken at the finish line. Are those smiles of pride or relief? Probably a bit of both. But the fact that they just finished walking 60 miles and can smile shows that they're pretty special.

Tina and Luis set out on this walk to pay tribute to those who suffer or have suffered from breast cancer. One of Tina's closest friends is facing a battle. Tina has been absolutely tireless in her efforts to be a supportive friend. She's amazing.

This cause holds a special place in my heart. I lost my Grandmother to breast cancer. Her story is unque. In the 1940's, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and received a clean bill of health. In 1988, the cancer returned. She fought a good fight but the cancer spread and in 1989, she died. She was a very cool woman, an "Auntie Mame" type of character with a lot of energy and a "can-do" spirit. She was born into a family who performed in Vaudeville acts and the family had a circus act. She did equestrian performances, doing acrobatics while on horseback. I just remember her always seeing to it that "the kids" (my sisters and I and our cousins) had a "cocktail" whenever the adults were having drinks (something bubbly with cherries in the glass). The adults were not allowed to have fun unless the kids were having fun.

If she were here today, I think she would be proud of me and I think she would love my friends. She would see a group of adults living a good life, being good people, having fun and doing great things. And, she would hug Tina and Luis and thank them for all of their hard work under such extreme conditions, for such a great cause.

Party Pictures

File Under: Food, Friends and Fun

Friday night a group of us assembled at Dan and Luis' home to bid farewell to our friend Khan who has decided to move back to England. As we have proven on past occasions, we're more than capable of throwing together a party. Here's a sampling of what we dined on throughout the evening:

Lemon cupcakes. I took a page out of Sandra Lee's book and used a boxed mix to create something special. Vanilla cupcakes became lemon cupcakes with some lemon zest and extract. The icing was home made, with some zest and extract and yellow food coloring to give it a punch. Some were covered in coconut to add some visual and textural distinction.



Denise and Tina were in charge of the meat, vegetable and cheese platters and put together these gorgeous arrangements. I labeled the cheeses, as envisioned by Tina.

Our friend Steve showed up with an appetizer of bacon wrapped breadsticks. You can't go wrong with bacon. These were DELICIOUS!

Another cheese and olive platter.

The gathering begins in the yard. Ariel, in the black sweater, arrived with Khan, the guest of honor. Chatting with them are Preston and the lovely Tina.

Night has fallen and the party is well under way. Here we see Khan, Polo, Steve, Dan and Preston. I'm not sure what they're watching, but Dan looks just a bit worried.

Here our are hosts for the evening, Luis and Dan. No, Dan did not pass out, Luis is not reviving him.

The table, covered with food and wine, along with the remainder of the grilled pizzas made by Luis.

It was a pretty amazing late spring Friday night with good friends.

Sunday Dinner

File Under: Fun with friends

At about 9:15 this morning, my cell phone rang. Well actually it vibrated on my night table and I glanced at it and in a blur I saw that it was Dan. I was barely awake. A few minutes later I was awake enough to listen to the voicemail message that Dan left, and it was an invitation to dinner. I promptly called and accepted.

This afternoon, Dan and Luis hosted an impromptu dinner party. In attendance were Denise, Tina, Polo and me.

The menu for this dinner party was quite the spread. Prime rib, chicken, roasted fingerling potatoes, simmered mushrooms and onions, macaroni and cheese, and salad. Luis, the chef, along with his sous chef Dan, presented everything beautifully.

Not one to show up empty handed, I made individual chocolate ganache tarts which finished us all off and sent us into a food coma.

The food was great, and as usual, the company was second to none. It was nice gathering and visiting with some of the greatest friends a guy could have. A perfect way to end the weekend.

A Little Birthday Party

File Under: Cupcakes and Friends

Luis' birthday was last Thursday. Dan took him to NYC for the weekend. Meanwhile, Denise, Tina, Polo and I were planning a little lunch for him when they returned on Sunday. Everybody cooked something. I baked cupcakes for dessert.



The plan was, I baked on Saturday and was going to wake up Sunday morning, have a bit of breakfast and some coffee, make some frosting and frost the cupcakes. Alarm was set for 8 am.



The first text message arrived at 7:51. It was Dan sending a frantic message. "We're on and earlier flight! Land at 10:30!"



The second and third text messages came from Polo, relaying Dan's message and saying "it's okay, get here at 10:45, they arrive at 11:15. No worries. The last message woke me up, it was 7:59. No sooner than I said the words "Shit! What the FUCK?!" my alarm went off.



I jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen and began pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator and cabinets. Mesauring cups were flying, I had the mixer but couldn't find the beaters. We have 2 sets, I kept finding both "left" beaters. Finally I found the left and right. Had I been making one kind of icing it would have been fine but I was making two kinds.




They got done, the cupcakes got frosted, I did my best not to lock my mom in a closet because she decided she wanted to make breakfast. Okay I get it, you need to eat...low blood sugar, yada yada. Fine. ;-)




Still I had less time to do things. That meant no coffee and no time to shave. I was clean, my teeth were brushed, I had on matching shoes and socks, I call that success.




We were a hasty little bunch at the house, getting stuff in the ovens, setting up dessert. Tina, bless her heart, she made coffee.




Dan and Luis arrived home, we had a fantastic lunch of ribs, chipotle mashed potatoes, butternut squash, a baked tomato dish, and loaded corn bread. Oh, and cupcakes.




Luis was surprised and happy and as usual it was another fantastic day with my wonderful friends.




No pictures of us, there are enough pictures of us in previous posts, but check out the cupcakes! :-)



The cupcake tree - coconut cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes.


The coconut cupcakes - Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa" boxed mix. I could have done them from scratch but decided to try the box. Delicious!!


Chocolate cupcakes with Luis' favorite chocolate frosting - Cake recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart's baking handbook, frosting recipe couretsy of Hershey's cocoa - it's on the back of the canister! So easy, and so yummy!


Tiny gold Buddha with intentions of maintaining his waistline, decides to try to sneak off with a cupcake.