Well, I have just survived another year of dragging the Christmas boxes out of the attic and getting the Moravian star hung with my husband!  This weekend is the first Sunday in Advent and that feeling, the one you can’t really describe with one word, is everywhere.  What a beautiful season, no matter your religious preference, to be able to celebrate with family and friends life and the joys of living.  As you decorate, shop and entertain, I hope you feel the fun and joy of doing this and not the burden of “getting it done”.

For me, I am so excited to be in the kitchen this December sharing what I love so dearly with many of you, the true joy of food.  I have put together a “Santa’s Little Helper” page in case you need extra help in the kitchen this year.  With a different schedule this month of parties and catering, next week will be my only traditional style “Dinner Pick Up” as I normally do them.  What I will be doing some of instead, is posting fun and different offerings that I might have available in smaller quantities throughout the next weeks.  I will do this through my face book page and blog, so be sure to “follow” to get your updates.  The New Year will bring me back to a regular schedule again of weekly dinners and more, what a great way to start the year!

Until I see you soon, enjoy the best of food and life, and all the joy of a beautiful Holiday season!

PS…If you arent’ sure what to get someone this year, I have the perfect idea…a gift certificate from Julia’s Take Away Gourmet!  Available in any amount, please email to order!  bluemoose@triad.rr.com

It is the day before Thanksgiving and before I head to the kitchen early this morning, I find myself awake and unable to sleep with anticipation and a thankfulness that I can’t describe.  I love the hustling around, the smells, seeing friends, leaves all over the drive and so many other things Thankgiving brings.  Feeling grateful is truly a blessing in itself.

I hope you have a wonderful Thankgiving, too.  Remember this tomorrow, as one of my favorite authors and food quotes says:

“Every recipe is just a story that ends with a good meal.”  -Pat Conroy  (“Recipes of My Life”).

Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy!

If you’re like me, and many others, you’re working on your Thanksgiving menu and thinking about the Holidays more each day.  What a wonderful and fun time, for some of us!  For some it isn’t fun and is quite a stressful chore (hint: let me help you).  Regardless of which category you fall into, we all share many things in common on days like Thanksgiving.  Whether your Holiday table is small and surrounded with just a few, or maybe you have people crowded in different rooms at different tables, we all gather to give thanks for the blessings we have over a meal.  For me, this is one of the things I love most about food, how it draws people together.  So, as you scurry around this week and next getting ready, take time to slow down and remember all you have to be thankful for.  Not that you need me to tell you this, but I know sometimes when I am busy I sure can use the reminder!   So enjoy getting ready and I will leave you with some fun quotes I found that relate to the holiday, I hope you enjoy.

“Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.”

Edward Sandford Martin

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.” -Erma Bombeck

  “An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.” Irv Kupcine

I have been waiting and thinking about being back in business for years, literally.  Isn’t it interesting the paths our lives take us on, sometimes detours, that get us where we should be?  It is hard to sum up how lucky I feel to enjoy what I do, and to share it with so many people.  For me, cooking isn’t just my passion, it is an art and a way of life.  I invite you to join me, and I hope you too will enjoy it, too!

I hope to share in this blog not only what I might be cooking this week or the next, but fun facts and thoughts, too.  Especially as the Holidays approach, we should all take the time to sit down, slow down, and enjoy the Holiday season.  And if cooking stresses you out and bogs you down, check out the link on the side bar called “For the Holiday dinner table…” to see pricing and menu’s.  Quantities will be limited on these so get your order in soon!

Until I see you again, enjoy the best of food and life!