December 2014 – Yes, this is real life.

Gaels Take Yountville

Yesterday, I drove up to Yountville, California, the home of the world-renowned restaurant The French Laundry and equally famous Bouchon Bakery. One of my good friends from Saint Mary’s, Megan, lives in Napa so both of these eateries are pretty close to her! I first heard of The French Laundry in high school. At that time, my Junior Year AP English teacher, Melinda Sousa, had the opportunity to dine at the world class restaurant. I’ve always wanted to eat there; however, for the prix fixe menu, the cost is around $270 per person. The restaurant has also received 3 Michelin stars. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the ranking system of the food industry, it is quite a deal to be granted even 1 Michelin star, with 3 being the highest and the best of the best. I kid you not. These stars mean EVERYTHING to these eating establishments, trust me. Although we didn’t actually dine at the restaurant (for those of you who were confused about my check-in on Facebook), we were able to munch on some delicious baked treats from Bouchon Bakery. It was like a dream come true. I have purchased many of Thomas Keller’s cookbooks, so I have become quite familiar with this recipes (Keller is the chef proprietor of The French Laundry, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery, ad hoc, and per se.

Once we picked up our treats, we headed over to the Napa Riverfront, which has to be one of the nicest downtown promenade areas that I have ever been to. Shout out to our friend Lauren who also played residential photographer for the day.

There’s also this bridge near the Napa Wine Train where everyone “in love” places a lock with their initials alongside the chain link siding. Apparently the three of us (Megan, Lauren, and I) are all in love with one another. Needless to say, there’s now a lock with our initials on it in Napa. Once the lock is ‘locked,’ you toss the only set of keys in a wine barrel down below.

I won’t even tell you the words we came up with for the acronym ‘MLP.’ I’ll save you the embarrassment!

After the love-lock bridge, Megan wanted to show us this building with several different shops and eateries in it! Although I can’t remember the name today, it is very similar to the Eastern Market that I visited in Washington, D.C. but much more upscale of course!

I had to purchase a flat-edge spoon for the times I am deglazing the bottom of my Le Creuset pans, usually with a little bit of red wine! YUM! Now we walked through the building fairly quickly, as I believe some of us were pretty hungry. A local eatery known as Gott’s was our choice! Delicious diner food with an upscale twist and gourmet ketchup–you can’t beat it!

These neon letters are above the grill at Gott’s–something that I would love to have in my own kitchen someday!

On our walk home, I happened to catch this beautiful photo of the downtown Riverfront!We ended the day back at Megan’s house where I finally got to meet the rest of her family! I think it’s so crazy when you are friends with someone for quite a while and have yet to meet their family! I have to include this picture of Lauren (if you can’t tell, she took some selfies) and a shot of Megan’s dog, Max, who definitely became my little buddy last night.

I have really come to enjoy these little day trips that I’ve made to go visit friends from SMC. The places I’ve been are great, but the people I’ve been with are even better. I have always wanted to go to Bouchon Bakery, but just never made the trip out there. Since Megan lives in the area, I am so glad she played tour guide for the little day excursion out there. I am extremely grateful for the friendship that we share, and as I grow up in life, I have become more and more appreciative for the type of people like Megan who are willing to put up with me on a regular basis. She’s one of a kind. That’s for sure! Yesterday, as we were perusing one of the local shops, Megan happened to glance over at a pencil case with these words by E.B. White:

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.

Ironically enough, I thought that this quote was the epitome of yesterday. So oftentimes we go places with our friends, and do not take a second to realize this exact moment in time. Yesterday, as I was walking down the street with Megan and Lauren, snapping photographs, I had this feeling that quickly overcame me. What an amazing day I had already had with a great group of people. It’s such a weird feeling to have but is one that is unlike any other. I can only explain it as one that is completely aware of the surroundings while enjoying even the smallest parts of the day. I do realize that that is such an awkward placement of words to explain one’s feelings, but I cannot think of a better way to write them.

What a day. Full of memories, great laughs, and wonderful company. Cheers to a day that I will forever remember (and I really mean it, I’m not just saying that!)

And that is today’s thought.

–pg

Let Go, Let God

Last night was the last mid-week Advent service at our church for the holiday season. I have really begun to appreciate these mid-week services, as I feel like they are always a good reminder of exactly what I need to hear when I have seem to gone astray. My mom and I have also made a tradition by making an effort at going to the soup suppers beforehand too! We made German Chili for the supper, a recipe that we got from a fellow church member a couple of soup suppers before. Ironically enough, she also made the same exact soup tonight! Although we had used the same recipe, we both came out with different results. Nonetheless, both soups were equally delicious!

After the seven stanzas of ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ (yes, our church sings all seven verses), Pastor Tim presented us with his weekly message. This week was the third part of a three part series: Preparation, Visitation, and Incarnation. While I often find myself fixating on a particular part of his message, I also tend to completely forget there rest of the message because I just can’t set to focus on anything else once I hear something I really like. Although Pastor Tim only used this phrase during the last part of his sermon, I have often heard this phrase, only this time, he added a couple other words to the end:

Let go, let God, and let it be.

If you’ve ever heard the Beatles’ song, “Let It Be,” then you will know exactly where he stole the phrase from. Nevertheless, let’s unpack this for a second. So oftentimes I worry about things that I truly have no control over. It will be something that is bothering me, and I slowly begin to let it consume me. When I finally grow a pair, and let God take care of it for me, I almost immediately witness a complete transformation in my attitude. I usually need my mom’s assistance to remind me that I need to let someone else take care of things for me, a.k.a. The Big Man Upstairs so-to-speak. Not only do I feel much better, but I am able to see a change in the way I interact with others when I am no longer ‘freaking out.’ I’m usually fine for a couple of days, but then sometimes, it seems to come right back at me. Back to square one. It always seems to happen.

Now, let’s add the Beatles to the situation.

Let it be.

Let go, let God, let it be.

You’ve got to leave it alone. You have to fuhgetaboutit. If you think about it, whatever it may be, you’ll fall back into the hole, the one that God just helped you climb out of. Now when I say God, I mean my God yes; however, I’m talking about whatever God you believe in: Allah, Muhammad, Oprah. It doesn’t really matter necessarily. I’ll still love you just the same. But once we let it be, we no longer have to revisit the situation in which we were ‘freaking out.’ We can simply let it go. You may believe that this is a kind of ignorant way to go about the world. I, however, will disagree with you. I have never had someone come to my rescue so many times, especially when I have been anything but perfect. I know that I have sinned more times than anything, but I have to admit that I am forgiven every single time. Why? Because God loves you whether you believe it or not. And he is willing to take all of your troubles, fears, and worries, and put them on His shoulders instead of yours. Forever and always.

If you can let go, let God, and let it be, I am sure that you will be happy, content, and stressless. I am not even too sure if that is word, but I know that’s exactly what you’ll be. My challenge to you for this week. Try it. Let God worry about it for you so that you can be more focused when trying to determine the best way to spread Christmas cheer.

The answer? Singing loud for all to hear.

And that is today’s thought.

–pg

What A SUCCESS!

Well I must admit that the team duo of my mother and I really paid off las night! We were asked to be the caterers for a dinner of 12 this evening. Although I wouldn’t necessarily call ourselves caterers, they could not have chosen a better team than the two of us. My mom and I tend to clash a variety of things, but I must say that we are some damn good cooks and bakers (if I do say so myself). And now we both know that we can at least plan, prep, serve, and clean for at least 12 people, if not more! Now many of you are probably more concerned about the place settings and the meal itself. Do not worry, and fear no longer! The hostess (family friend of ours) and one of her friends did all of the decorations and place settings of las night’s party! Check out the photos below! I was quite IMPRESSED! The table was especially festive for the holidays!

Now onto the meal! My mom and I have become quite fond of this particular meal, so we just knew exactly what we’d be serving tonight! The full meal, three courses, is as follows:

Un
mandarin orange salad
homemade dinner rolls
onion & poppy seed bialy

Deux
baked parmesan crusted chicken
lemon chardonnay cream sauce
white cheddar mashed potatoes
roasted broccoli with lemon & parmesan

Trois
homemade raspberry cheesecake
fresh apple crisp
vanilla bean ice cream

And here is the menu that I made just to prove it! The picture below is also a great action shot of my mom hard at work! Haha I sure hope she doesn’t kill me after that one!

Everything just went so smoothly tonight (I don’t know if smoothly is even a word, but at this point, I could care less!) I am absolutely exhausted, but nevertheless, I had a great time. And the guests enjoyed every single bite of our dinner! When you are able to witness clean plates and happy people, that is when you know that you have succeeded.

Last night, as always, I thought about Julia. How I would’ve loved for her to be sitting there in the kitchen, giving us advice and pointers. She will always be my inspiration, no matter where I am or what I’m doing, Julia will be the fire within me to keep going, to keep trying something different, and not giving a damn as to what anyone else says. She’s my hero (other than my mom and grandma of course). I definitely inherited the good cooking skills from my mom’s side of the family, as I am constantly finding myself more and more like my grandmother. I will have to have a post dedicated to her one of these days, especially since she reads every single one on here!

I want to end my post a little differently than I have before. More often than not, I tend to take things for granted (as I believe we all do). I truly want to thank God for this ability to cook and bake and kick ass. While the third description is really just for humor’s sake to make y’alls laugh, I am remaining quite serious on the first two. I am more and more grateful of this gift that I have been given. I love food. Lordy Lord, I love food. It never fails to let you down (unless you burn something). And food always makes people happy. If you’ve gotten to a certain point like me, you’ll even start dreaming about food. You’ll even wake up in the middle of the night after having dreamt about food and be starving! Believe me, it has happened to me plenty of times before! In all honesty, I will be thanking the Lord every day from now on for this generous gift of being able to cook. It is something so versatile, so great that there are oftentimes no words to even describe how I feel when I cook. And I know the women in my life love it when I cook for them too!

So thank you God for this ability to work some magic with ingredients tonight (and every single day) because we might have served McDonald’s otherwise.

And that is today’s thought.

–pg

God’s Gift to the World

Now if you read this title, and since it is also around Christmastime, you will think that I am most certainly going to talk about the birth of Jesus Christ. As the Grinch says while he waves his finger, “Wrongo!” Although I undoubtedly believe that JC is God’s gift to the world, I must say that Yosemite National Park was, you could say, a baby shower favor (one that was given to every human being alive I might add)! Moving on, yesterday, I took a much needed trip to YNP with Vicki (I think y’all remember her! If not, Vicki and I go to SMC together, and we were also able to spend a month in South Africa together this past January).

Vicki has never been to Yosemite before, as she’s from out of state. Her 21st birthday was in October, and you could call this my gift to her! We left from Moraga at, what I like to refer to as the ‘ass crack of dawn.’ I apologize for my profanity as I do not use it often unless it is truly needed. This was just one of those said moments. Now it’s a 4 hour drive from Yosemite which is just part of the reason as to why we needed to leave so early! We made it right before noon and had the rest of the day to enjoy the beauty of the park. I forgot to add that Vicki brought her GoPro with her yesterday too, and we quickly began our hunt for what is known as a ‘selfie-stick’ (a handheld stick to take pictures of yourself with for those that are new to the term ‘selfie’). Well Walmart was unsuccessful, but I don’t think Vicki thought so. Our Walmart has a built-in McDonald’s, and you could say Vicki was hungry. She will probably kill me for showing the world this photo of her, but she was just so excited to get her McGriddle and smoothie.

It was a beautiful day in Yosemite–only 55 degrees throughout our entire journey! I easily could’ve worn shorts and a t-shirt and had been just fine! And that’s exactly what ‘Vick’ did. Clearly, I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was! Once I showed her the Lower Falls, we both decided that we had to make the trek to the Upper Falls as well. Although we were twenty or so minutes away from the very top, we decided to turn around as the sun was supposed to set pretty quickly! I was so exhausted from the hike. It definitely kicked my butt, and I just knew I would be sore in the morning (as I was)!

Needless to say, I am glad that we took the trip yesterday. It was amazing to see someone’s reaction when they witness the beauty of Yosemite for the first time. Truly remarkable. I kept saying to Vicki, “If people don’t believe in God before they come here, I don’t know how they can leave without believing in Him after!” Although I am saying this out of jest, I find myself in utter awe every single time I come to one of California’s treasures. I am blessed to have something so beautiful exist so close to me! I couldn’t have had a better day in Yosemite than I did yesterday with the best of company. Love ya Vicki!

Check out some random photos of the day below!