Weekend At Patty’s

Its been a few days since I’ve been here. We have had a busy couple of weeks and I’m so behind on all the gorgeousness I want to share with you! But lets start with this:

Last weekend, Jon and I left our little mountain town and made the two hour drive into Orange County in order to stay at our friend Patty’s house while we attended the first ever OC Wordcamp. For those of you who don’t know, a wordcamp is for those who use, love and preach the wonders of WordPress as a platform for both blogs and websites.  I will be writing more about this in my other blog when its finally built and in my newsletter, which I will be telling you about soon!  I promise.

In any case, our friend Patty took care of us as we settled into her place for two and a half days while attending this event.  Now here is the thing:  Patty is not only the most amazing mother to her 3 children that I have ever met, but her cooking is truly an art.  She is so busy and is constantly running around with her three amazing children, and somewhere in all that she always manages to whip up entire gourmet spreads.  Jon likes to say, “Patty just talk a little bit and then all of a sudden there is all this food!”  And its almost true.  We will all be gathering around her kitchen and as she socializes, parents and moves around a bit, out of no where she conjures the most amazing meals.  At some point in the future I would love to interview her.  She’s amazing.

So…  throughout the time we stayed there, Patty spoiled us, only what she did for us is what she does everyday for her and her family.  So here are a few pictures of what we ate while at Patty’s:

These brownies were not only soft, gooey and filled with chunks of soft dark chocolate, but they were gluten free for me!  I. love. her.

The first evening she made a white fish cooked in a broth with lemon, sliced fennel, tomatoes and peppers in it.  She then took the fish and placed it over a creamy mashed potato and then poured the broth over the whole thing.

Ok this was ridiculously good.  A gluten free mac and cheese made with smoked Gouda.  Then she took gluten free waffles, toasted them, put them in the food processor with fresh herbs, sprinkled that on top with a smattering of sliced cherry tomatoes and then placed the whole thing in the oven.  I swear to you that I swooned.

On both Saturday and Sunday, Jon and I woke up to an amazing breakfast spread and these love note menus that let us know what was available.  Seriously?

I asked her if she did this all the time and she said no, but that there was always a love not of some kind.  So if she didn’t do a menu like this then the kids would at least get a love note everyday in their lunches.

This was the Sunday breakfast listed above.

And then on Sunday afternoon, using the left overs of the last couple of days, we had fish and steak tacos with a delicious cilantro dressing, and greens outside in the gorgeous California sun.

There was more of course, but there were times when quite frankly, I was too busy eating to really take pictures.  It was lovely and we felt so taken care of.  But I think that this is what well cooked food does for people.  Fresh, delicious food that is varied, creative and made with love.  She loves cooking and it translates into every bite of her food we take.  She is truly an inspiration to me.

Thanks Patty!  It was a wonderful weekend.