Another person in the house turns 35!

Happy Birthday, Me! I turned 35 last Friday. Here's a family shot before Otto and I headed out to a dinner theater with some people from Dow. The boys stayed home with a babysitter, Rebecca. It was a fun evening for all of us, as the next morning Sam sighed and said, "I love babysitting." Andy agreed.


We fixed buttermilk blueberry pancakes that morning. Plain 'ole pancakes I can pass up, no problem. But add bananas, blueberries, or sweet potatoes (and probably several other things we haven't tried yet), and I'm THERE! (Do I talk about pancakes too much?)


Here's my birthday present! With some Swiss chard added for additional beauty.

When I told Otto what I wanted, he came back after a couple days of research and asked, "Do you know how much one of those costs?!" I didn't know exactly, but I did know I was asking for one of the most expensive birthday presents I have ever requested. Well, besides the diamond earrings I asked for one year. In college. He laughed at that one. FINE! The genuine faux diamonds that I wear from JCPenny's work well enough. At least I don't have a heart attack when I lose one.

Anyway, back to the beautiful flamin' orange Le Creuset pot that I now own. It cooks things nicely so far. I christened it by boiling ravioli - not very exciting. Then came some chili, then chard the other night. It's larger than my dutch oven, but smaller than the REALLY big pot that we have. I think it will be perfect for the double recipes of various dishes that I make that come just up the rim of my other pot. Especially as the boys grow. (I hear eventually they will eat me out of house and home.) And it's HEAVY. I can feel my arm muscles growing whenever I wash and dry it. Presently it's a pretty addition in the kitchen because the few cabinets we have are full. It may very well have a home on the stove top permanently. And I'm even getting ANOTHER present, which has yet to arrive. The sound track to Vicki Christina Barcelona. I can't wait to hear those beautiful Spanish guitar pieces again.

I'm one lucky girl to have those three handsome boys to wrap my arms around, blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and a pretty pot in which to cook dinner, while pleasant music waifs through the air. Very blessed, indeed.