happy valentine's day

here are a few recent photos i've taken 

now and then, in and out, here and there

around the house..........

1. i've been working on learning about and creating french desserts because....well....the french are the masters. i recently made a successful chocolate mousse using julia child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and made this beauty using sur la table's recipe for a classic french fruit tart.

2. margo, andrew and nigel on their way from houston to midland, texas for their second of four six-month postings with chevron. they are liking this low-key, cowboy hat donned texan town.

3. gabi, paul and i bike together when the weather is nice. this ride was a fun 17-miler on a warm saturday.

4. on my way upstairs, i was taken by this beautiful snowfall scene out the window.

5. a christmas gift from nicole, thom mayne's book, 100 Most Important Buildings of the 20th Century, a project she was heavily involved in creating at morphosis architectural firm.

6. returning from a frosty morning walk with my pup.

7. & 8. the calves are here! these frisky, adorable babes arrive daily at our friend's ranch down the road. it's one of the winter highlights around here.

9. BYU rugby came to boulder to play university of colorado so paul went to watch the game and meet up with his teammate and now head coach davey smyth from his own BYU rugby days. decades later, BYU rugby continues to be one of the best in the country.....the final score was 100 and something to single digits. um, so sorry CU.

10. we just had a very, very cold, snowy, hovering gray weekend.

11. fresh flowers and an orange/peppermint essential oil blend in the diffuser keep us feeling bright and cheerful in weather like this.

12. - 15. gabi invited girlfriends over for a galentines lunch party this afternoon.

16. excalibur, fairview high school's jazz show choir, featured each choir member in an evening showcase of solo performances. wow, these kids can sing! gabi opened the show with her performance (below) of - all about that bass.....you go girl!

garden to table - strawberry pie

last weekend, we invited friends over for our first summer barbeque outside on the deck.

summer is feeling so good.

with our strawberry patch brightly doing its thing, for dessert i made no-bake summer strawberry pie with cream cheese filling. highly recommended by all in attendance.

*real life: i did supplement the pie with store-bought strawberries piling them 6 inches high!

each day, i keep an eye on the strawberries to beat our squirrel and wild rabbit rivals to the sweet, scarlet feast. to find half nibbled red berries here and there in the patch.........grrrrrr!

the menu also included hamburgers, cuban pork sandwiches with pork expertly smoked by our friend clay, spring greens salad and cauliflower salad - just like potato salad but without the carbs. winner.

blue skies, hot sun, picnic table, shade, friends, strawberries, summer.

have a lovely weekend.

Insanely Moist Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake with Vanilla Icing

how about a sunny and bright yellow post for a cold and gray winter's day.......

today's weather report from boulder 

a few birthdays ago, my sister presented me with a meyer lemon tree.

our family tree's namesake tree.

i love this bright citrus beauty with its dangling golden orbs and

make a point of baking something meyer lemon delicious when they are ripe for the picking.

last weekend, we invited friends over for sunday lunch so for dessert inspiration i headed on over to pinterest to peruse and choose a recipe from my cake board. its important to have a pinterest cake board, y'know.

i picked white on rice couple's insanely moist lemon bundt cake with vanilla icing recipe

amping it up to an insanely moist meyer lemon bundt cake with vanilla icing. oh yea!

after paul's delectable meal of chicken cordon bleu with parmesan cheese sauce, green beans, mashed butternut squash with fresh corn and a kale salad.......it was perfect!

have a lovely weekend.

sunday's cake

it has been beautiful spring weather with snow melting all around.

over last weekend, it was perfect weather to have friends over for a pizza afternoon with wood fired pizza from the brick oven. paul fired it up hot!

then we put our friend clay straight to work taking pizza topping orders.

paul cooked the pizzas to perfection.

the pizza smorgasbord was a success.  truly, there's just nothing like it.

for dessert, i made chocolate chip layer cake 

 featuring chocolate chip polka dots inside and out, it was beautiful.

(but unfortunately, a little over done)

have a lovely weekend.

sunday's cake - skinny vanilla bean donuts

sunday lunch has been a family tradition for years.  with the gift of sunday afternoon's relaxed atmosphere, we love to gather family and friends around the table to share a meal and friendship.  it is also tradition for paul to take charge of the main meal. when here, the kids pitch in by contributing their favorite side dishes, tidying the house, vacuuming and setting the table.  me?  i get to make the salads and dessert or sunday's cake.  i would like to start sharing sunday's cake with you too starting with yesterday's sunday cake or skinny vanilla bean donuts.  

i love donuts.  if you ask me what my absolute favorite food is or give me the if you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring one thing with you, what would it be? scenario, my answer to both would be.....donuts.  so, this first sunday's cake post is for skinny vanilla bean donuts. yum.  

you can find this recipe along with many mouth watering photos and other sweet baking recipes on my cakes pinterest board.  you may even like to follow along.

and yes, since you asked, my second favorite food is cake.