Tell an eight year old that he has to wait to open his presents. Yikes. Liam's birthday is the day after Sarah's on the 13th. Of course little kids think of presents, that's what makes birthdays so much fun. When he heard that the party was not starting until dinner at 4:00, he was a bit miffed hoping that Sarah would reconsider a birthday lunch party instead and invite people over at noon.

It did not take Liam too long Saturday morning to call his neighbor friend over. She came over right away and ended up staying about 10 hours enjoying the day with us. We had a tattoo parlor running, there were some Lego events, and something about playing post office before the guests started to arrive. The kids were having fun while Sarah and I napped. We did one of those half sleep half awake naps. I was on the recliner, Sarah on the couch. We promised to nap until 2   when I heard a clanking noise in the kitchen and told Sarah she promised we would nap until 2 and yelled that she should get back on the couch. Oops, it was not her but the kids trying to find something to drink. That was pretty funny. After fully I was

 awake, I actually felt 10 times worse than before that quasi-nap. I should have just put on my walking shoes and went outside for some exercise. Guess I was just too lazy.

It was a great party. The food was delicious even though Sarah makes what I now call "Lazy Lasagna".

What a great day in region as we celebrated Sarah's Birthday. She talked for weeks about wanting a white cake for her birthday but I only agreed to bringing a cake if she played Happy Birthday on her guitar.

I have not really found a bakery of choice in central Indiana that matches Calumet Bakery in the region so I did some research and found Encore in Fishers. The cake I ordered was called a Serendipity Cake; White cake with almond flavored icing, cheese cake and strawberry filling. It was only 6 inches in diameter but 4 layers high!

At guitar lessons during the last month, guess what she was learning? Happy Birthday of course. She did a good job with it too.

Next up was giving her the gift. Last weekend she was in Fishers visiting with Liam and we all went shopping. During the trip, Sarah made mention a couple times about wanting the Twilight Movie and Bella the Barbie. She has become a Twilight fan after watching the movie with my parents and then reading the books.

Funny how that book series was intended for teen-aged girls but has become the craze of 30 and 40 something women. Plus, I was told by my staff that knowing the details of the series was a must for good lunch conversations and something about being a Jacob or Edward fan. Don't know enough yet to decide. All was fun. Friday was Sarah's party, today is Liam's.

 Sarah and Liam came to visit me for the weekend. I cannot believe that I have not seen them since the first week of January. The weather has not been cooperating so getting back and forth on I65 was just not possible. She and Liam were treated to a gourmet meal as I continue to practice my cooking skills. Sarah loved my Chicken Marbella, Mushroom Risotto, and Roasted Root Veggies. Liam did not. He had some of the chicken and a roll. Funny thing was Mark was trying to get him to taste the veggies but he would not because he saw dill on them. Mark trying to get someone to eat veggies? Now that is a miracle.

And of course it being Sunday today was my day for a "fancy" meal. Juan was in the medical clinic for 4   hours waiting to confirm that he indeed has a hernia that needs immediate attention. I made a chicken dish that I honestly just made up while standing in the kitchen. I started to make Chicken Marsala. As I was getting my ingredients organized I realized that I used all the mushrooms and there were only canned mushrooms in the house. No way, no canned mushrooms in my Marsala. I decided to take a couple techniques I learned and created as I was prepping. I coated my chicken breasts with some seasonings and cornflake crumbs. I browned the chicken in some olive oil in a skillet and put them in the oven. While they were baking I was thinking about how boring that was so I took the skillet I was using and carmalized an onion, added some garlic, white wine, chicken stock, flour and lemon juice. As it reduced, I added a couple tablespoons of butter and created a lemon sauce for my chicken. Once the chicken was done, I plated the breasts in strips and poured some sauce on the strips. I steamed some snow peas and served potatoes. It sure was yummy! In the end my Marsala turned into lemon chicken giving me quite a bit of confidence that I do not always need a recipe to make a good meal.

Next week cooking Mexican! Give me a call and RSVP, the more the merrier!

 The tradition continues. I made a special meal again today. This time I decided to keep it fresh and make a Stir Fry. I started with a large assortment of veggies. Of course it gave me an opportunity to practice my knife skills. I cut some bok choy, red peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic, chicken breasts and put it all together with some udon noodles making a delicious dish. Mark took a pass. He felt there were too many veggies for him. I am thinking he did some snacking and was not hungry. Of course it does not help that Katie brought a box of Jimmy's from St. Louis- small square glazed yeast donuts with jelly filling. Yum!

To flavor my dish, I added some fresh ginger, soy sauce, and vinegar. I also decided to make a cold radish salad. I sliced up some radishes, cucumbers, and red peppers combining them into a cold salad with a vinaigrette dressing. When I was done with both I chose to place the cold salad on top of the stir fry. I like that technique of adding cold to hot. 

Had enough left overs for both me and John to take some to work. I bet it will taste even better tomorrow. I also took some time to slap on some spices and garlic to sit overnight on my pork tenderloin this week. I am going to roast it tomorrow after work and get a couple meals out of it for the week. It will be a quiet night. John and Liz have to work. Mark is in school. Think I will also make a brussel sprout dish for myself. Can't wait. 

I spent over an hour in Meijer this afternoon looking over all of the vegetable choices. As I stood in the produce department I was able to look with new eyes, the eyes of a cook. I spent 4 more hours today in my cooking class learning the basics of preparing a variety of veggies. And a couple pieces of fruit. I could not believe all that we learned in such a short amount of time.  We used fennel, parsnips, bok choy, swiss chard, brussel sprouts, spinach, jalepenos, yukon gold potatoes, all colors of peppers, red onions, radishes, cucumbers, mushrooms, carrots, rappini, and blood oranges.There was probably more but that I am just not remembering. I cannot wait to make some of these same dishes at home this week. I learned to cut and cook a variety ways. My favorite was roasting veggies. In the photo is baby bok choy that I was getting ready for a Japanese Noodle Stir Fry. 

 My mind is spinning with some new ideas. I think I might start a new tradition and make Sunday dinner. This way I have a chance to practice my skills while at the same time not feel pressured during the week to prepare anything beyond the basics. So, frozen pizza would still be ok.

I can't wait to start thinking about Sunday's dinner. Until then I have some work to do today. I have three chickens to cut apart. I need to make some chicken stock for the week. I figured that if I was going to do all that work for stock I would make two pots and freeze half. It is a lot of work and time to cook the stock. I chopped an awful lot of onions, carrots, and celery. I also ended up with 3 meals of chicken pieces. I am thinking about something with the dark meat for tomorrow.

Cooking classes began today. I was a pretty good student. I am taking classes this month at Frazier's Gourmet. Cooking 101 with Chef Rob from the Chef's Academy. We had a busy 4 hours of work today. We started with basic first aid and kitchen sanitation. I was excited but a couple people were a bit nervous. I am not sure why.

The class is made up of 8 students. Mostly men.  According to Chef Rob that is common. I really want an opportunity to become a better cook but it was apparent some were there to learn to cook. Needless to say, both are the perfect students for this class, foodies. This class is not meant for those wanting to go into the profession just those who like to cook and eat.

After learning about some basics about first aid and safety we started with knife skills. We practiced on carrots, onions, potatoes and celery. We also learned to cut a whole chicken in order to get bones for chicken stock. I even learned how to cut the chicken for boneless breasts. It sure would take a lot of chickens to made a dinner of chicken wings.

After practicing our knife skills we took our chicken bones and veggies and started a chicken stock. We also started talking about thickening agents and wet and dry cooking. It was very interesting. The class was divided into two teams. Thank goodness it was nothing like Hell's Kitchen. Our Chef was helpful and kind to us. My group made Chicken Velvet Soup. The other group Cream of Mushroom Soup. Of course class concluded with lunch. Yummy. Tomorrow I am cooking Valentine's Dinner. Check in to read the details later.

The third week has arrived and once again my blog entry was not chosen in the IMA blogging contest. I am really getting bummed out and starting to think that they didn't like my idea of not seeing the exhibits and blogging as a new visitor. So far each of the winning entries are from folks who have some writing background and are frequent IMA visitors. They also included pictures. When I was entering I didn't know they were going to post the entries along the way. This waiting time is killing me. There are now only two weeks left and I'm not feeling very confident about my entry now. But, don't dispair. If my blog isn't picked I'll post it here for all my friends to review and give me their honest feedback. Besides, I can delete you comments! Here's to the next two weeks. Keep your fingers crossed for me.