I thought, “I can’t do this. Things are just too crazy right now. I’ve moved. I’m dealing with the imminent death of a family member myself…” every excuse in the book came up. Then I remembered how hard it was for my mom (and for us) when my dad passed away.
My mother, like Jennie Perillo, a fellow food writer who just lost her husband, was strong, and loved her family passionately, but she couldn’t go it alone. The support of friends and family was essential; people gathered round and made us feel so loved.
The food community, first with #apieformikey and now with #afundforjennie has come together to make Jennie and her girls feel loved and safe at the time when they need it most.
So, compassion, memory, and common sense rules, and of course I can, I can offer something for Jennie and her girls. It’s the thing that meant most to me as a girl, A Sunday Lunch.
I’m offering a Sunday Lunch for up to six at your home anywhere in the local bay area (unless you want to arrange for travel expenses. We can plan the menu together, any dietary restrictions are welcome. You know I love my vegans, vegetarians, and gluten free friends, and as a bonus, if you like, I’ll teach you how to make a fabulous tart with seasonal fruits or veggies.
Bidding starts at $150, just leave a comment a comment on this blog with the amount of your bid.
You … get the recipe
Well, life is starting to have a little semblance of order again. We are settling into the little yellow house on the hill, nicely. I promise I’ll have some more photos soon. The kitchen is set up pretty nicely, and I’ve even cooked a few meals here and there.
Joshua bought me a portable dishwasher for my birthday. Life is funny; I remember, when I was a girl, thinking that my mother was mad for loving a gift of new pots and pans. Even ten years ago, I suggested, gently to my husband (then boyfriend) “Never buy me anything utilitarian as a gift, it might make me cry. Girls love frivolous things, things that sparkle, and catch the light” Now, I’m cooing over my dishwasher; it feels like such a luxury.
Life has also been incredibly busy. Our move definitely took a lot of time and energy; since Joshua and I work opposite hours during the week and only have one car, it seemed like our one month of prep time was compressed into a couple of days. Coupled with all of that, I abandoned him more than once. I was busy with SF Chefs events, and went to an amazing preview dinner for La Cocina’s SF Street Food Fest. Recaps of both events are coming, soon.
I think we are happy here, and both of us see so much potential in every room, every bit of moulding, every square inch of weed covered soil. Joshua is thrilled to have … get the recipe
Monday morning I read a tweet that stopped me in my tracks from Jennifer Perillo from In Jennie’s Kitchen. “He’s gone. Any [sic] my heart is shattered in a million pieces.” Then I saw a link to a post entitled One Last Dance, that was when I learned that Mikey, Jennifer’s husband, had suddenly died from a heart attack.
I don’t know Jennie in “real life”, just through tweets exchanged and a blog thoroughly enjoyed. I have thought of Jennie and her girls all week- have stopped and taken a little moment each day to send them a little love each time they’ve popped into my head. Losing my parents was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to navigate and I just can’t imagine what it’s like for those little girls, so young. The thought of losing a partner is gut-wrenching and my heart is filled with tenderness for Jennie. Her gorgeous and courageous post about her last date with Mikey is such a reminder to cherish the ones we love.
Earlier this week, Jennie asked that everyone who could, make Mikey’s favorite, Peanut Butter Cream Pie, today—the day of his memorial service. As many of you know, I am moving house, pie making can’t really happen right now, but here are some links to those who made pies.
This post is dedicated with love and compassion to Jennie Perillo and her family and to my husband, Joshua, who I love with my entire being. I … get the recipe
How modern am I? I crowd-sourced my birthday cake. It’s true, it’s my birthday and I’m celebrating with a tiny layer cake and a killer giveaway courtesy of Foodzie!
Earlier this week, I asked people on my Facebook page and on Twitter what their favorite birthday cake was. It was a lively discussion for sure, so I decided to put it to a vote. The suggestions ranged from black forest and German chocolate (two of my least favorites-sorry kids) to white cake with buttercream (yum) and the winner at Flour Girl’s suggestion Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache. I think it had something like 35 votes!
Of course, it’s my birthday, so I get to switch things up a bit, I’ve gone with a light vanilla sponge cake, layers of salted caramel, one thin layer of rich chocolate ganache, and lots of salty sweet Swiss meringue buttercream.
I woke up this morning and ate a piece of my little cakelet for breakfast. Hey, I’m the birthday girl, and that’s how I roll. This cake was a lot of work, and if I want it at 6am, I shall have it at 6am! It’s a lot of effort, but I would say it’s well worth it. And speaking of effort, the recipes were not my own, so I’ll give credit where credit is due and link to the folks who created them below.
Recipes.
The sponge cake came from this recipe from epicurious:
(it’s only the cake portion)I … get the recipe
I know I promised part four of Design and Branding 101 for food bloggers today, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to punt for a few days. As many of you may know, we are moving into our beautiful new rental home. While it’s only two miles down the road, it seems like an epic journey. Packing has taken up almost every ounce of energy I have, and while I do tend to think I can do just about everything in the course of a week, sometimes that’s just not true.
I promise to bring you an awesome post based on the presentation that Irvin and I did at Blog Her Food in the coming days. Also, this Thursday is my birthday. I’ll be making myself a birthday cake- the flavor of which has been crowd-sourced. You can still weigh in here! Oh, and in honor of the big 3-8, Foodzie will be giving away a tasting box! How cool is that?
Until then, enjoy some recent photos.
SF Chefs Food and Wine is this is coming up this weekend. Have you gotten your tickets?
Here are some photos from the salumi and beer pairing preview event where I had an absolutely blast. Talk about unprecedented access to chefs: I learned more about Paul Canales and Staffan Terje than you can possibly imagine. I’ll never tell, but I can say, the SF Chefs is the perfect place to gain behind the scenes knowledge of some of your favorite … get the recipe
