This weekend Cheryl and I have traveled back east to Hyde Park, NY for a family visit. So far so good! I haven’t been back in a couple of years, since before we moved to Chicago, so I’ve been looking forward to it. My Dad’s got a big retirement birthday this month so it’s a celebratory trip as well. Today we went up to my mom’s in Rhinebeck for lunch and tonight we’re going out to dinner with my dad at Le Petit Bistro, also in Rhinebeck. Not bad.
As you’ve no doubt read, my mom can make some good stuff. For lunch today we had a fennel/onion soup, a salad, and a panettone bread pudding (Cheryl has already requested this for Christmas dinner). She has not made many Christmas cookies yet and said I made my porlos testas too early. “They’ll be gone by Christmas.” So true. While I was there I discovered she’s been holding out on me with some of her recipes. I mentioned these other nut and cheese ones my cousin Dee reminded me about and said to my mom it was too bad she didn’t have the recipe, since it wasn’t in the books I have. Sure it is she says, and proceeds to pull it out. So I left there with another cookie recipe, a cake recipe (some chocolate, cherry, walnut, Christmas Tree form cake), the cake pans for said recipe, my great-grandmother’s strudel recipe (holding out more!) which is on really old yellowed paper, and the bread pudding one. She also made something for the blog which will make an appearance at a later date (stay tuned).
Tomorrow we’re having a little reunion/get-together with some of my cousins I haven’t seen in a while at my dad’s house. Should be a lot of fun! I am curious as what he’s going to be serving for Sunday dinner. One thing I know there will be plenty of…beer!
The Roaming GastroGnome 