Thanksgiving

What I'm Thankful For 2010:

• My great and supportive family
• My incredibly Awesome Fiance
• That I have a job
• My three cats
• That my cat Talmadge's heart disease has not gotten worse
• All of my wonderful friends
• Strangers that have turned into good friends
• Food on the table
• Roof over my head
• Gas in my car

I Hope that Everyone has a Wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

7 Course Dinner

Okay, I have never ever had a 7 course dinner in my life and let me tell you that now that I have, i'm going to have to do them more often. For those of you who don't know, my little brother, Jamie, is in Culinary school at USC. For his exam this year, he has to make a 7 course dinner. So tonight he did a trial run and me and Jeremy were invited to help "taste" his creations before the actual test. OMG! it was Fantastic!! I'm so impressed by his culinary skills! I feel so lucky that he is my brother! I'm going to run down the menu for you so you can also see how awesome he is.

1. Appetizer: It was a shrimp/cream cheese/ yellow and red bell pepper dip with French Bread rounds.
2. Salad: Waldorf Salad on lettice leaves. (i've never had waldorf salad before and I loved it! It's sliced apples in this white sauce and cheese over lettice. yummy)
3. Soup: Butternut Squash soup with lentils with a spoon full of sour cream and parsley. (again, OMG! sooo good! I was very suprised when i took the first spoonful becuase it was sweet! not super sweet, but still sweet but then it turned very savory at the end. Mom informed me that there was also pureed apple in the soup as well. I got to take home some leftovers so i'm very excited)
4. Fish Dish: A salmon fillet with lemon, arugula, and white wine. (Melt in your mouth. very very good)
5. Sorbet: lime sorbet to clense the pallet before the main course.
6. Main Dish: Stuffed Beef Tenderloin (stuffed with mushrooms, onion, and spinach), grilled asparagus with balsalmic vinegar, and sweet potato rounds with blackened sage. ( i think this was one of everyone's favorite parts. The conversation stopped so you know it was good. The steak was so tender you could cut it with a butter knife. LOVED IT!)
7. Dessert: Banana's Foster. (O, M, G. this was my second favorite! First of all, I LOVE banana's foster. it's one of my favorite desserts. The way Jamie did his up in a glass was: bottom - vanilla icecream, middle - the bananas which he did over the stove with banana rum and regular rum, above that - choclate sauce (!!!!!), and then he topped it off with whip cream and a strawberry. just wow people, just wow)

So if you can imagine I am totally STUFFED! but it was sooo worth it! And if he doesn't pass with flying colors on this exam, i'm gonna go give the judge's a piece of my mind. I just can't wait for him to cook up something else. And i already told him that if he needs anyone to taste-test again to call us up immediately ! :D

My New List

I've been worrying and stressing out about alot of things lately for no good reason. And it's time for a change. So I wrote a list that I'm going to read every morning before I leave the house to help me get through the day. I'm really trying to do this with out drugs or doctors this time. I thought i'd share my list and hopefully it might help someone else out there that is feeling the same as i do.

• Leave Work at Work
• Family and Home take precedence over Career
• More Flies are caught w/ Honey than w/ Vinegar
• You are a Smart and Beautiful Person
• Positive, Optimistic Attitudes are a necessity of life
• Choose your Battles Carefully
• Laugh at Life's upsets and turn them to your advantage
• Learn from your mistakes
• Kindness and Compassion are enver out of date or out of style
• Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
• If it won't matter in 3-5 years, don't worry about it