What a wonderful Mother's Day! Thank you to all my children for making it special. Thanks to Richard for all the hard work he put into the pizza making. And thanks to Patti, Steve, Michael, and Clare for bringing my mom, the gem of the family, to our house. These are all my favorites that I received on Mother's day: Clematis, my favorite climbing vine; cupcakes from Pronto (where Chelsea works); patchouli soap; dark chocolate truffles; a jar of dark chocolate peanut butter; whoopi bars; a beautiful glass sea urchin vase; and the best cheese in the world, French Chaource. Richard gave me the fun solar lantern to hang either from the table umbrella or in our weeping cherry tree in the back yard when we entertain. It has small LCD lights inside that charge with the sun. I can't wait to see it glow!
We had a small houseful over for brick oven pizza and yummy desserts. The process of pizza-making is shown here for all of you who have not been over to witness it firsthand. Richard makes the pizza crust dough ahead of time from scratch. He has a pretty dog-gone good recipe figured out. We start by rolling out enough dough for a small pizza, transferring it over to a wooden pizza peel covered in corn meal. The corn meal prevents it from sticking to the peel and allows a smooth transfer over to the metal, long-handled peel used to place the pizza in the oven. The oven is nice and hot, ready for cooking. First, Richard must make way for the pizza by brushing out the ashes.
In goes the pizza!
The pizza must be turned half-way through the quick, 2-minute cooking process. Today the temperature of the oven averaged 750 degrees. Checking to see if it is done... ...nope, needs a minute longer with a turn. A view of the inside. Voila! It's done and ready for hungry, anticipating bellies and salivating mouths! Good job, Richard. It's not burnt; Sarah will be happy. As if pigging out on pizza wasn't enough, everyone finished with dessert. Hannah's homemade brownies were a big hit; the whole pan was gobbled up (thanks to Jonah!). From the left: My mom, Elsie; my sister-in-law, Patti; my brother, Steve; Jonah; Steve's and Patti's oldest son, Michael; and his girlfriend, Clare.Ha! I caught Chelsea with a real smile on her face instead of a silly face. Oh, and Hannah helped out with the brownies, too.
Jonah trying to hide his second brownie by shoving it in his mouth. A very sweet shot of Sarah and Courtney. Just for fun I am including this time-release movie of Richard making a pizza. I thought I was making a video; I didn't know the camera was set on time-lapse. It's fun if you keep clicking on the pause button.
Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there in my blogosphere! And an especially warm wish goes out to my mom, the best mom in the world!
Richard and I visited our friends Lori and Dan this weekend in South Haven. Dan owns a house just about 1/2 mile from Lake Michigan and about 4 miles from downtown South Haven. We had a very relaxing and enjoyable time kicking back with them. Saturday night we ate dinner at the Thirsty Perch then shot a little pool on their short tables. Although I did sink a great side-pocket shot right before sinking the 8-ball to win the first game, I couldn't quite get the feel of the way the balls stay scattered so close together on the abbreviated surface. I didn't shoot very well overall but Richard was doing great. And Dan is very good at the game.
Sunday was a beautiful, blue sky treat with just a slight hint of coolness in the air that found Richard getting golf lessons from Dan. Dan's home is on 10 acres and he set himself up with a driving range complete with a wooden statue of a golfer at about 200 yards. After lessons, Dan and Richard headed off to the golf course for 9 holes while Lori and I lallygagged into the city. We enjoyed our walk along the water and had lunch at a small place that overlooked the river in town. It was a perfect way to spend a gorgeous day. Thanks to Lori and Dan for their hospitality!
My good friend Rose Randall Warner is performing in a production of 'A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum' and it is wonderful! It is composed by Stephen Sondheim. If you aren't familiar with the production you should rent the Zero Mostel 1966 production. It's playing at The Barn in Farmington Hills.
Here are some videos of Rose singing in the production. In the third one at the very end where they are singing '...comedy tooooniiiiiiiiiight!' you can really hear Rose's great voice standing out through the others.
For those of you who don't know, I'm one of two coaches of my daughter Hannah's softball team this year. The five teams in her league are comprised of girls from 6th to 8th grade, Hannah being in 6th. There is a new softball/baseball training center that opened up in our area this year and we are taking advantage of it. There is a softball coach there, Tiffany Worthy, who Hannah meets with about once a week.
Tiffany is wonderful. While in high school in Yorba Linda, California, she had a .700 batting average as a catcher. She had numerous colleges offering scholarships and she ended up at the University of Michigan. She jokes about how she visited the university in the summer and was told that 'it doesn't snow much here.' Lucky for Hannah she met and fell in love with a Michigan guy and is now engaged to be married. So she's sticking around! Hannah has decided that she wants to be a catcher; Tiffany is having fun teaching her the ropes.
Here is a video of Hannah warming up at the training center. You can see Tiffany in the background with the blonde hair.
He's made his decision and we are very proud of him. Jonah (my step-son, Richard's middle child) has decided to attend Michigan Tech in the fall. I personally think it was the perfect choice. He had to pick between University of Michigan and Michigan Tech.
Jonah is a budding 'hands-on' engineer. From all I have heard, Michigan Tech is far more hands-on than theory-based U of M. I think he will be much more satisfied with his education at Michigan Tech. It's far, yes, way up in Houghton, MI, in the upper peninsula but Jonah likes the cold and he loves to be outdoors doing stuff. It will be fun to visit him and sidetrack to Pictured Rocks.
Have a great 4 years up there, Jonah. We know you will shine academically and be a hit socially, too. We love you!
These are all my favorites that I received on Mother's day: Clematis, my favorite climbing vine; cupcakes from Pronto (where Chelsea works); patchouli soap; dark chocolate truffles; a jar of dark chocolate peanut butter; whoopi bars; a beautiful glass sea urchin vase; and the best cheese in the world, French Chaource. Richard gave me the fun solar lantern to hang either from the table umbrella or in our weeping cherry tree in the back yard when we entertain. It has small LCD lights inside that charge with the sun. I can't wait to see it glow!
The oven is nice and hot, ready for cooking.
First, Richard must make way for the pizza by brushing out the ashes.
Checking to see if it is done...
...nope, needs a minute longer with a turn.
A view of the inside.
Voila! It's done and ready for hungry, anticipating bellies and salivating mouths! Good job, Richard. It's not burnt; Sarah will be happy.
Ha! I caught Chelsea with a real smile on her face instead of a silly face. Oh, and Hannah helped out with the brownies, too.
Jonah trying to hide his second brownie by shoving it in his mouth. 
A very sweet shot of Sarah and Courtney.
Just for fun I am including this time-release movie of Richard making a pizza. I thought I was making a video; I didn't know the camera was set on time-lapse. It's fun if you keep clicking on the pause button.
