Storms

There have been some pretty incredible scenes in the sky tonight. We have had some major storms all around us. This is a shot of the sky as I was grilling out, pretty awesome! Right now, we have a great view of the gas tank fire in KCK, lots of black smoke lit by explosions and lightning.

Grannie's Iris

These iris are from my Grandmother's old iris terrace. She had some of the most incredible flowers. After she died, I was visiting with my Grandpa and I asked him about the old flowers. He said he mowed them down because he could not take care of them any more. I went out back to her old garden and was amazed that some of the iris were still there, tiny and struggling to grow. I used a kitchen soon and dug some of them up in the pouring rain and transplanted them at my new home. I think of Granny when they bloom and took some of them to her grave site this year with my Mom. Granny was a great gardener, cook and she inspires me today.

Back Up And Running

Wow, it's been awhile since I've sat down at the computer! My new job is keeping me very busy and very tired. We've also been busy getting Mom set up in her new apartment and busy working on the yard so that it will look perfect for the Northland Garden Club's tour on June 22. Then we had the tornado come through and we were without Internet for a week. A tree came down in the backyard bringing down the electric, phone and cable lines and the Time Warner people were having some serious communication issues on how to handle their lines. I also lost my camera with all of the recent recipes that I prepared, so some posts will be picture free. For now, I will be using my old camera.

I Miss Cooking

Three weeks ago I started a new job and I have not had the time to cook , let alone sit at the computer and post about it. I am working for a retail store and we are setting it up and getting it ready to open. I have been working 10 hour days or more, which does not leave much time to post. Thank goodness for takeout and Lean Cuisine! One big plus was that my mother was staying at my sister's while she looked for a place to live and there were some very good mom cooked meals with plenty of leftovers. Things will start to settle down and I will be able to catch up, I even plan on cooking tonight since I am off!! Now the question is , "what will I cook?"!!

Kansas City Wine Opener

On Friday night, Dan and I headed downtown to one of our favorite places, The Mango Room . On the table were cards advertising the Kansas City Wine Opener. This is a fundraiser benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and looks pretty good to me. For $60 a person, you get to try 120 different wines and food from The American Restaurant, The Mango Room, JJ's, Trezo Mare, Genghis Khan just to name a few. There will also be an art gallery and fine wine auction.

The event takes place on Thursday, March 6 2008 from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Town Pavilion 1100 Walnut KCMO. They say that the tickets are limited and ask that you order them by March 5. You can go online to www.cff.org/chapters/heartofamerica. There should be plenty of great wine and wonderful food from some of KC's best and the money goes to a great cause.

Back Home

We returned home from Bucerias, Mexico yesterday and we had a great trip! We stayed in a beautiful house on the beach, with a great infinity edge pool. Dan and Larry have been in the house for a month and our friend Lisa R. joined us this time. We also got to meet Helga and Frank, who were down for a visit. We had lots of great food and and conversation and it was very hard to return home. From our great vantage point we could watch pelicans diving for fish and whales playing in the bay, it was awesome!

Northland Garden Club

For some strange reason, this year our yard will be on the Northland Garden Club's tour. Gardening is another one of my passions and I can't wait to start getting my hands dirty. My gardens are a long way from comparing to some of the outstanding gardens that are usually featured on this tour, but I will do my best to make my yard as perfect as possible. You can view the web page here http://www.northlandgardenclub.com/editor/HTMLFiles/08tosatto.htm.

Kansas City Made the Top 20!!

Cooking Light magazine just named the top 20 cities that best fit their philosophy and Kansas City, MO made the list. You can read the article here http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/20/cl.best.cities/index.html

Good News From Florida

Thursday night, when my Mom went to bed, she laid there and could not get to sleep. She was worried that she would never sale her house and did not know how she would continue to pay for it and the ever increasing Florida property taxes. She asked "George, what have you done to me?"(George being my late father), and finally fell asleep.
The next morning she decided to go through her jewelry box. I did not ask her if she was contemplating trying to get money for some of it, knowing that she loves her jewelry and not wanting to step on her pride. While going through her jewelry box, she came across a small box at the bottom that she did not remember being there before. She took it out and opened the box and there was my father's St. Christopher medal. She had not seen that medal in 40 years and decided to take it up to my Aunt Betty's house to show her. Betty helped her clean the medal and they both marvelled at the fact that it was even in her jewelry box.
When Mom returned home, she had a message from her real estate agent that someone had made a very nice offer on her home. Needless to say, by Sunday the paperwork was all finished and my mother will be moving back to Kansas City on April 15th.

New Port Richey, FL Home For Sale

The following link is for my Mom's house which is for sale: http://www.homes.com/Content/ListingDetail.cfm?ZipCode=34655&FirstRec=19&OrderBy=PRICE%3AA&RelatingTo=properties&Bedrooms=&FullBaths=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&PriceRange=&AmenitiesList=&PropType=P&RecsPerPage=9&TotalRecs=174&PropIdList=3_49105428,3_56414650,3_59787706,3_57405367,3_51960789,3_59414849,3_56339412,3_53841614,3_56350097&PropId=57405367&NHC=1&searchorig=main#

The house is priced well and is in great condition, believe me, it's as if nobody even lives there. She is "Mommie Dearest" clean, you won't find a speck of dust anywhere in that house. The furniture comes with the purchase and it is all in perfect condition as well. If you don't want the furniture, she will take care of the removal.
New Port Richey, FL is 30 miles northwest of Tampa. The Gulf of Mexico is very close and there is plenty of shopping and dining in the vicinity. The community is not age restricted, which is a plus in Florida.

Packages on the Porch

When I got home yesterday and took Gabby out for her walk, there was a package on the front porch. I was both excited and confused, thinking the only thing I had ordered recently were some plants and it was way too soon for those to be delivered. I figured I must have ordered something and just forgotten about it.

When we got back to the house, I realized that the package was from my friend Larry, who now lives in San Antonio, Texas. I tore into the box and found two books, Baking 9-1-1 by Sarah Phillips and Plank Cooking The Essence of Natural Wood by Scott and Tiffany Haugen. I almost bought a plank book this weekend, so the timing was perfect. I did however buy some wine soaked white oak grilling planks, so I'm hoping to find just the right recipe for it.

He also sent this beautiful art glass watering ball for one of my gardens. Larry knows that my passion for gardening is just as strong as my passion for food. So thank you again Larry for the gifts, I will be putting them all to good use.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!

Back From Utah

Well, I am back from Utah and will post more on my trip there. The state is beautiful and at times it is quite magnificent. It was so good to see Ryan, but more on that later. For the most part, the food I ate was pretty bad, except for one bright spot. Stay tuned and I will post more tomorrow.

Volpi Chianti Red Wine Salami

Our friend Alicia sent us some wonderful salami that she purchased at Trader Joe's. They are both from Volpi Foods, one was a Chianti Red Wine Salami and the other was a Pinot Grigio White Wine Salami. Both of them are 8 ounces and are all natural with no nitrates. They are actually made in St. Louis, MO, which is another bonus.
You can check out Volpi foods at http://www.volpifoods.com/ and you can purchase the salamis at http://www.amazon.com/ or another great site, http://www.ditalia.com/.

Dining Out in Kansas City

This was a very busy weekend for us. Our friend, Alicia, came to visit from Phoenix with her new boyfriend, Sherrod (we call him Shazam!). We had a great time with them and really enjoyed getting to know Shazam. They also got to enjoy our crazy weather and some great Kansas City food.


On Thursday night we went to PizzaBella. This was like my 3rd visit there in the last 2 weeks, but I have a slight addiction to the Brussels sprouts. We ran into our friend Stacey, who had just finished dining with a friend and while we were leaving, we ran into Paul and Chris.


Alicia and Shazam ordered the crispy Brussels sprouts, fingerling potatoes and the calamari salad, all of which they loved. I had the sprouts and the mushroom pizza, while Dan ordered the green salad and the biancoverde pizza. Both of us were happy with our meals, too.


On Friday afternoon, we headed over to JP Wine Bar to meet up with Lisa and Karen. The place was much different than it was last Saturday. This time it was packed and noisy, which ruined the atmosphere for me. They had the music turned up way too loud to compensate for the human noise and that only added to the problem. We found a booth in the back and settled in for some great conversation, drink and food. We ordered the bruschetta , hummus and antipasto and enjoyed them all.


From there, we headed over to The Mango Room for dinner. They were also busy and there was live music. We had an excellent server and really had a great meal. Alicia ordered the fried chicken with mac and cheese and the fried green bean bundles. Shazam had the ox tails with the cheddar peppa' grits and fried green bean bundles. Dan ordered the salmon along with the grits and the green bean bundles and I had the pork chop with Brussels sprouts and the grits. All of the food was good and the company was excellent.



On Sunday morning we went to The Cafe at Briarcliff Village. While the food was good, the service is still a little questionable. Our server did not know the menu as well as she should have and that caused some problems with the ticket in the end. Dan and Alicia ordered the farmers breakfast and Shazam and I had the skillets. This place could be really good if they could just train the servers. We find ourselves opting for other places to eat, even though they are so close to home.

One Year and Still Going

Yesterday marked one year of blogging for me and it's been quite a year. Thanks for reading and I will see if I can make it another year!

The Mango Room, Garth Brooks & The Sprint Center

Last night, Dan and I were fortunate enough to see Garth Brooks at the Sprint Center. The morning the tickets went on sale, Dan sat down at the computer and within 4 minutes he had purchased two tickets for the original concert. The fact that Garth was able to sale out 9 concerts after being away for 10 years still amazes me, but seeing him live makes me understand. The concert was incredible, one of the best I have ever seen. Dan and I are not country music fans, but thought that it would be a great way to experience the new arena and spending only $30 for the tickets.



Garth Brooks is truly one of the greatest entertainers around. He really puts himself out there and does not rely on special effects prop himself up. The audience was great , also. They knew the words to every song and sang them all. Garth seemed to be truly touched by that fact and by his fans reactions. The only bad thing was not seeing Trisha Yearwood perform. They had travel problems and got the show started a little late.



The Sprint Center is pretty spectacular, too. The lighting and the sound in the arena were great, making for a good concert experience.



We had dinner before the show at The Mango Room . It was great seeing the place packed! I hope that people enjoyed it as much as we do and will continue to support Thelma's restaurant. I had the fried chicken with mashed potatoes and some pretty tasty Brussels sprouts. They were sauteed in olive oil with garlic and seasoned with nutmeg. I would never have thought of that combo, but enjoyed them immensely.



It was a perfect way to spend an evening in Kansas City! Thanks Garth!

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix

Our best girlfriend, Alicia, sent us another Trader Joe's care package. This box contained baking their Matcha Green Tea and Chocolate Truffle as well as 2 new flavors, Cranberry Orange and Pumpkin. Dan made the Pumpkin Bread the other night and it awesome. As far as boxed mixes go, the people at Trader Joe's really know what they are doing. I can't wait to try the Cranberry Orange, maybe we'll hold off until Thanksgiving.Or maybe we can wait until Alicia comes at the end of the month. Anyway thanks Alicia, you're the best.

Happy 23rd Birthday, Ryan!!

Today is my son Ryan's 23rd birthday!! Wow, it's hard to believe that he's that old or maybe it's harder to believe that I'm that old. Happy Birthday Ryan, I love you dearly and am very proud of you.

This picture is of the two of us in Rome at the Forum right after he graduated from high school.

Happy Halloween!!

This wonderful sculpture is from the restaurant, Tio Lucas in San Miguel and is perfect for wishing everyone a happy Halloween! I will post on this restaurant later.