The Yellow Table Recipes and Good Friends

I started following The Yellow Table after hearing about it from my friend, Megan Hartford, a local photographer and blogger. The Yellow Table is written by Anna Watson Carl and has captured the hearts of many all over! Anna invites us into her small New York City apartment for dinner parties with her friends around The Yellow Table. Each time I visit her blog, I instantly feel taken away and inspired to write, cook, and share the experience of good food with friends and family. Anna recently began a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to self publish her first cookbook.  You can read about her journey here. The cookbook did get fully funded which brings me to some terrific news!!! Anna asked several cooks to test recipes for the upcoming book and I'm happy to say I am one of them! YAY!!

I was given two complete menus, a summer menu and a winter menu.  It was a challenge to complete with a busy schedule getting kids ready for school and college and a weekend out of town, but I did it!
After reading over the recipes, I decided I wanted to find as many local ingredients as possible.
Naturally, my first stop was our local Farmers Market.  I picked up some beautiful grape tomatoes from
A & H Farms, heirloom Purple Cherokee Tomatoes from Derek Haug, and lucky for me, I found kale, garlic, and cherry tomatoes from Weiche Farms.  The most difficult to find was skirt steak. Finally, I found it from a local rancher - (even better) -The Picolet Family's farm, Oatie Beef. Some of the produce was donated to me for this project! Thank you Andrea and Derek!

SHOPPING SUCCESS!!! I put together my list and it was go time!

I prepared the Summer Menu first and invited some good friends over to share it with us.  The evening was perfect for a dinner outside.  The weather in Kansas can be miserable in July but this year it has been unusually cool and rather beautiful.
Outdoor patio lights across our deck made it especially inviting on a summer evening. We all enjoyed the delicious food with some wine and good conversation.
Thank you Sean and Eileen for spending the evening with us!

Just two short days later, I prepared the Winter Menu and invited my wonderful and lovely writer friend, Allie, to partake in our next food adventure.  She is a trooper!  She was called to duty when it became clear extra hands were needed to get the timing just right! Bacon and chocolate were involved!
The weather had returned to typical Kansas...hot, muggy, and lots of biting creatures hanging around so we moved inside to the big table. Allie arrived bearing gifts...a bottle of some very (insert sarcasm) expensive red wine that we drank down like Kool-Aid as we enjoyed our desserts.

It was a wonderful and challenging experience.  As a cook, I have a difficult time following recipes.  It was important to follow procedure and take notes, no straying off the path for this girl.  The recipes took me on a new journey discovering some flavors I had never tried, but I was open to try some new things...Detox Kale Salad? Yep! And sooo good!!
Sharing these meals with friends was by far the highlight.  Cooking for and with friends is really a gift to my soul.  My recommendation...don't let too much time pass between meals with friends! Gathering around a table sharing food and conversation is never a bad idea and should happen often.
My door is open...invite yourself in!

lotsaluv!
Christie

A little lifetime...

Today after posting on Facebook, a little note about the memory of my little Jack, who we lost at 9 days old 14 years ago, I was met with some of the kindest words from some of the kindest women I know. 
I am so humbled by the women I have met in my life...so much strength and love and perseverance and fortitude.  We have to support one another. 
But a thought came to mind of what I was going through back then... I had this immediate need to 'fix' it ... We weren't getting a new brother in the family....how was I going to 'fix' this? 

We want to fix things...as women, we hate to see our loved ones suffer, so we will go to whatever means necessary to 'fix' it .... who hasn't taken the forgotten permission slip to school?  Or the forgotten lunch?  Those are the simple things...but how was I going to find a brother? 
I know, it sounds nuts...but it's how I felt. I didn't want to let them down. But he was gone...this was out of my control. 
Acceptance for a mother who likes to 'fix' and 'rescue' and 'make it all better' was difficult. 
And then after a year of numb, another 6 months of grief that eventually made an appearance, and finally getting an unexpected job as a hostess in a nearby bistro, I realized that I needed to quit looking in and begin looking out.  I couldn't live 'inside' myself anymore. Because honestly, it just wasn't about me.  Jack's death among other very difficult events that took place at that time were, in fact, more about finding the life outside of me. 

I only had Jack for 9 short days....not 9 months, not 9 years.  Jack lived his full life in 9 days.  His life was never a promise to me.  And I learned that none of my children were born with promises...
There is no guarantee that our loved ones will live long lives, be without disease, make all kinds of money, go to college....no...we get them for moments. We just have to embrace these moments. But we also have to let them go...take risks...fly airplanes...yes...so while we embrace their moments on earth, we also have to set them free. 

How much time do I spend planning for the future?  It's an odd thought when I really dig into it.  It shows me how little I embrace each day... rather I have been looking at everything BUT today! 

Obviously, we can't live without some planning...money for college, a vacation, when I'm getting my next cup of coffee....  But what about the people?  Do we really look into the eyes of our kids or our spouses when we have a conversation?  Really...just look right into your little boy's eyes when he speaks to you...he's talking to YOU...He wants YOU to hear him....He picked YOUR ears for his important words. Now stop what you're doing and look at him!

What can we 'fix' BECAUSE we are here...because we are alive and breathing...because we have second chances....
I realized that there is no time to sit idle....I need to be looking for all the things I can fix within my power.
I will run the lunch money to the school, I will get those homecoming clothes, I will go 10 miles out of my way while in KC to get a hug and a short visit, I will bring you Gatorade when you're sick and its way out of my way, and I will sit with you and listen, really listen to you...since you chose me to hear your big idea. 

I know these words of mine are the ideal and I fall short big time! I know on many occasions I have not engaged while being spoken to. But it's in my heart to do better. It's in my big {future} picture to take better care of myself so I can be at the ready when I'm needed.  Kids, family, friends...I'll go where you need me because I don't have any promises that I will have you for even one more day.

I love you
xo
me