How do I love thee? Let me count the ways . . .

My roasted red peppers have a supporting role in this personal favorite: Arroz con Pollo (Yellow Rice with Chicken) . . .

This is a very traditional Cuban dish, brought over to the New World from Spain. It's been called a poor man's paella, because there's no seafood in it. I call it sublime comfort food.

My version calls for adding golden raisins to the cooking liquid, and serving with sliced lemons or limes . . . and don't forget the red peppers. Must have red peppers . . .

Roasted Red Peppers

Tía Olga, my mother's oldest sister, taught me how to roast red peppers in her own unique way. I've tried other methods, but I keep going back to this one.

Start out with beautifully ripe, smooth red peppers . . .

Place them directly on the gas burners of your stove . . .

Use tongs to turn them every which way until the skin is uniformly burned on all sides . . .

This one is beginning to burn . . .

Oh, yes . . . You may need to disconnect your smoke detector . . .

By now the kitchen should be smelling heavenly. No kidding. The sweet pepper smell is wonderful . . .

Hmmm . . . I think this one is done . . .

Drop them in the sink with cold running water and start peeling them . . .

The skin comes right off . . . use your nail to scrape any little bit that gets stuck . . .

I drop them in the dish drainer as I finish peeling them . . .

A bit messy on the stove but so worth it . . .

Cut the tops off, remove the seeds and any hard ridges on the inside . . .

Cut into strips . . .

Place them in a glass or Corningware container. I don't like storing them in plastic . . .

Extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. That's it.

For a superb appetizer, very briefly sautée them in fresh crushed garlic and olive oil, long enough to heat the peppers and infuse them with the garlic. Serve with a crusty French bread.

I've tried roasting peppers on the grill and in the oven, but, in my opinion, this method yields the most flavorful peppers. Another of the simple little pleasures of summer . . .

Bathroom Update - Paint!

Hard to believe, I know. I'm still rather stunned, but, yes, yes, we've actually picked out paint for the bathroom!

So here are the samples: “Rye” on the walls to match the mosaic stripe around the shower walls, and “Swiss Coffee” for the trim, to match the crackle subway tile - both Behr paint from Home Depot (currently on sale, $5 rebate on each 1-gallon can of paint).

My accommodating husband, rolled a little of it on the wall, even though he still has a bit more sanding to do, just so I could see how the color would look once it dried.

My friend, Julie, as always, came to the rescue. I don't know what it is about color that totally intimidates me. I become paralyzed from my inability to narrow the choices. She picked the colors. Julie has the most wonderful - and natural - sense of aesthetics. She understands my taste better than I do myself. She listens to what I'm trying to accomplish and without any seeming effort, comes up with the perfect solutions!

It is so much fun to watch her in action. At Home Depot, Julie found the color match for the mosaic tile right away and once she saw that I was happy with it, set about finding the trim color from among hundreds of shades of white. A few times I thought she had found it, and I nodded in agreement, only she wasn't satisfied, nope, not my Jules, she kept searching (and playing) with the color chips until the perfect shade emerged, and indeed it became apparent that no other shade of white would do.

Thank you, Jules! Thank you for lending me your talent, and for your endless patience in putting up with this cantankerous friend.

Kevin's graduation

My nephew, Kevin, graduated from Flashpoint Academy here in Chicago. Kevin wants to make movies, and, as part of the program, he was able to direct and produce commercials and short films.

His mom scattered photos of Kevin on the Dining Room table, which became topics of conversation as we all recalled when the pictures were taken. Those stories, of course, led to others . . .

Here's the smiling graduate!

This month has felt like an emotional roller coaster, seeing two of the young 'uns reach important milestones. Kevin, especially, has been around us since he was born. I held him as a newborn, I changed his diaper, and now, I've seen him graduate. Just like that. It doesn't seem possible that there were other years in between.

I'm so proud of this young man! God bless him and protect him as he ventures out into the world of grown ups!

Happy Father's Day!

Lee's Father's Day began at the crack of dawn. My son had to go to San Diego to attend a seminar with some classmates, so Lee drove John to his friend's house, where a taxi would pick up the group and drive them to the airport.

To Lee, parenting has always been simply defined: “Son needs help, I provide help. Son needs love, I provide love.” That's it. It's always been that simple and that profound. He has been an amazing father to our two sons, and the three of them have such a wonderful relationship!

I wanted to post a recent portrait of Lee and to my dismay, I didn't have one, so I tried to create one in Photoshop. This is the original . . .

Here's what I ended up with . . .

And here's some "guy" food. Bratwurst cooked in beer, and then grilled.

He took it easy today, probably because his body clock was all messed up from getting up so early. So there was some weed pulling, a little playing with his new Bluetooth headset, and some TV watching. It's been a nice, quiet day.

Flatware, tornadoes and serendipity

An e-mail from Pottery Barn alerted me to some exciting news: The outdoor flatware that I had been eyeing for months had gone on sale! Pottery Barn sale items don't stick around very long, so I decided to take a detour on my way home and stop at the store.

When I got there, the weather suddenly changed. In the time it took me to get from my car to the Pottery Barn entrance, the sun disappeared, the temperature dropped at least 20 degrees, the sky turned ominously grey, and it started to rain really, really hard. The wind was so strong I needed both hands and a good yank to get the door opened. I got in, but had to hold on to the door so it wouldn't slam closed behind me.

Two ladies who watched my tussle with the door, were now staring at my hair. I can only imagine what I looked like. With all the dignity I could muster I said: “You may not want to leave just yet. It's rather windy out there.” That must have been the understatement of the year.

The rain would not abate, so I had a lot of fun poking around in the store. I sat on all the furniture, felt the fabrics, crushed the towels, smelled the candles, and still the rain kept coming.

Then the tornado sirens went off, and we were politely escorted to the store's basement for safety. To be sure, the tornado was scary, but, holy cow! I was standing in Pottery Barn's basement! I felt like freaking Ali Baba standing in the cave with the treasure of the 40 Thieves!!!!! I mean, there are worse things in life than getting stuck in Pottery Barn's basement during a tornado!

My flatware sat waiting at the register, and when we were cleared to return, the cashier rung up the sale as though nothing unusual had happened . . . and then she asked me for my e-mail address so I could be apprised of exciting happenings at their store.

With only one penny . . .

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.

—Chinese Proverb

Dianna's Graduation . . . continued . . .

The first three photos were taken at the Sunday brunch before graduation. Loved the dendrobium orchid centerpiece! This was one of three different arrangements displayed on the tables. Another one, with calla lilies, can be seen on the background. I still preferred the orchids . . .

We do love our pictures . . .

My husband says that in our family, nobody ever draws a gun - we just draw our cameras!

Sometimes, we break out in song . . .

The graduate with Aunt Barb and Uncle Bob . . . We have no idea where the trolls she's holding came from . . .

And here's one with Aunt Mary Ann, Uncle Bill, Andy and Joy . . .

And then, on our last night together . . .

I love Angela's new haircut!

Smile for the camera, Joy-Joy!

And here are her parents . . .

I'll end with this one of Lee and me . . .

That's all folks!

David's Birthday

We celebrated David's birthday in Minnesota, while attending our niece's college graduation festivities. This was a unique birthday celebration, reuniting relatives from three different states: Illinois, North Dakota and Texas!

David is such a joy! He is always happy and willing to go along with whatever life throws him. I remember when he and John were little, I'd announce that we were going to the park, and, while John's wheels were spinning trying to figure out if this was a good thing or not, David would be jumping for joy, as though I'd just given him the most wonderful of presents. And then, when I'd announce that it was time to go home, he went willingly, and would say: "It's a good thing we left, Mom, I was beginning to get tired."

If I tell him I'm making black beans and rice for dinner, one of his favorites, he's happy. If I tell him that I won't be cooking that night because I'm too tired, he'll remember a tasty frozen pizza that he was waiting to try out, and is equally happy . . . well, almost.

Grace, that's the word that comes to mind to describe my youngest son, who has grown into such a delightful young man.

Here's one of John, the older brother, with his wonderful smile . . .

David, John, Uncle Bob and Dad . . . The land of giants. My husband, Lee is the shrimp at a hair under 6'2".

More photos of Dianna's graduation to come . . .

Dianna's Graduation

We drove to Minnesota on Memorial Day Weekend to attend the college graduation of our niece, Dianna. Dianna is as smart as she is beautiful. She graduated magna cum laude. I couldn't be more proud if she were my own daughter. Here she is with her dad, Doug.

I love her smile . . .

Doug and Angela are Dianna's parents. Angela is, technically, my husband Lee's sister, but she and Doug are also mine. I love these people very, very much, and, I also happen to like them very, very much. They are a kind, thoughtful and loving couple. When we get together, which is not frequently enough to suit me, it seems we can pick up the conversation where we left off, as though we have never spent time apart.

Angela is one of the most talented and energetic women I know. In the midst of preparing for a hectic graduation weekend, far from her own home, she managed to carve out time to bake cupcakes for my son David's birthday. And not just any ol' cupcakes, but incredibly delicious chocolate cupcakes that oozed a silky chocolate ganache from its center. She even brought a cupcake tree to display them. I shamelessly lifted the photo below straight from her blog . . .

Then! . . . She also made biscotti . . . THREE DIFFERENT KINDS!!! I was in heaven.

We also got to spend a little time with Brian, Dianna's brother. He's such a handsome guy!

And this crazy aunt really tested his patience, what, with her sticking her camera in his face every time he turned around . . .

This family is seriously into photography, so picture-taking was definitely part of the entertainment. In the days to come I'll be posting more photos from this wonderful family event.