Oh Happy Day!

Monday, May 09, 2011

10:41 PM

Oh what a happy day (Saturday & Sunday) it was (they were)...quiet, restful, and enjoyable.

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all Mom's near and far.

Actually, the "day" began the night before with dinner at Il Castello,

(845) 557-6400

130 Rt-97, Barryville, NY 12719 Get directions

Back to that in a few...

Saturday morning began with a fresh batch of PJ signatures and an Orange Dream Sickle-stuffed with creme & topped with Fresh Orange Butter-creme.  First order of business is to collect all the necessary items for baking, my butter-cremes, and toppers--off to the Jav, I go.   As I hit the kitchen I start to help clean up and get the catering job on the road so I can start to mix and frost the yummy delights.  After mixing up the Orange Dream Frosting, I hollowed & filled the Orange BabyCakes then topped them with the same.  Oh man, did I tell you how nice and fresh they smell?  Well they did.

Next I mixed the signature white chocolate butter-creme frosting adding the "magic" pink for the Port Java look.

About noon I began to wonder how my boy was doing--It was SAT day.  Yuck, I have a panic attack just thinking about the test.  He was going to stop to see me when he was finished.  About 1ish, 2 girls (classmates of his) who also took the test, stopped in to have lunch and relax for a time.  Lex asked me what kind of BabyCakes we had.  I told her both flavors but that the Port Java BabyCakes weren't done yet. I told her the frosting was mixing and they'd be done soon.  "I'll wait", she said.  Needless to say they ate one standing up at the counter and took another along with them to go.

                                                        Good deal.....I Love you girls!
And finally--my boy arrived to let me know he lives and what his plan for the rest of the day would be.

And now for the Il Castello details...

All cleaned up and heading home to clean up for a nice day early Mom's Day dinner with Papa Bear, G-Ma, and of course my boy.  The specials were awesome, fried green beans with marinara sauce, heart shaped mozzarella, then Lasagna a la Nonna (Mmmm! for G-ma & me), Surf & Turf (for Boy), and Stuffed Shrimp (for PB).  Then we went whole hog with Coppa Cafe, a Cannolli, & homemade Almond Ice Cream.

Needless to say half of my dinner is in a container in the fridge waiting for one of us (Monday nights supper for Papa Bear).  It was so good.  The only down side is that the Hawk's Nest has one lane closed due to wall repairs.  Expect to see and be held up by this through October (is what I heard is the estimated date of completion--yeah sure it is.)

Oh, the ride up 97 was, as usual, breathtaking and so nice.  The river is running pretty fast from all the rain. but not to any level that would be upsetting and is welcome this time of year.  August and drought season will be here all too soon.  And, I lied, Nick was not so happy in the back seat from the curves (or my driving is what he'll say).

When we got back to the house I finished my batch of Banana (1/2 with walnuts) BabyCakes.  I topped them off with Maple Buttercreme, a sprinkling of nut dust, and a chocolate covered banana slice.  Yum, the kitchen smelled sooooooo good.

Then off to a well deserved soak and to christen the "New" hot tub...at 55K.  As our nice little trio began to relax and chat under the star lit sky, we were joined by another couple and then a sixth friend came over after her night working at Golden Pond.

Now---the tub will comfortably seat eight, but when one decides to do laps or snorkel, it does become a bit unruly.  And of course being new and all it was like an Olympic event of musical chairs.  We all wanted to try out the different seats to claim what would be in our comfort zone.  I however, stayed put do to my height and depth of seat ratio.  And then there is also the occasional runner for hydration and some needed elimination. After what could have been 4 1/2 maybe 5 hours in the thing, I was so tired (yet extremely sober) and water logged, I headed home to sleep.

Apparently not everyone took my lead.  It would seem 2 additional friends decided to "dive" themselves into the "party"---and literally dove in on the fun.

I suppose if there were ever a poll taken on how long a person has stayed in the hot tub or how many hot tubs a group of friends can break in record time, hands down---we got it.  First tub--installed November, bit the dust in March.  New tub installed and filled--first soak--BOOM!  Something about water levels and flooded back yards not being a good combination.  On the other hand, moving to a new neighborhood, having a hot tub, fire pit, and music somehow leads to meeting your neighbors (whether you want to or not).  Over comes Jean--who as crazy as it sounds--thoroughly enjoys the "kids" and finds having a get together a great thing.  She thinks it should happen every weekend.  I have always hear "with age, comes wisdom"---Jean's 90---so get together we shall! (Always be careful what you wish for.)  Just not sure if the tub can handle us.

Happy Mother's Day!
We (the 2 of us) did spend some time (about 20 minutes) in it on Sunday after Sweet Carolyn flushed the lines and filled it up with water.  So for the time being the problem seems to have been taken care of--let's pray.

Sunday evening was simply the best!  It topped dinner Saturday; It far out shined the hot tub (sorry friends); It even beat out BabyCakes.
My boy asked me to go to dinner with him, his treat.  What a nice son, my son is.  Papa Bear joined us and so did Dee.  I was in Mommy Heaven.  The only thing that could have been better would have been if my girl had been with us too.  And a beautiful card with a lovely message from him to say...."Happy Mother's Day, I love you".  Ahhhh--I am a happy mommy.

So until next time Mrs. Little...to all my friends and loved ones who mother others, even if they aren't your own, Happy Mom's Day!!!!!

Until the next episode, TTFN.
Love Jeanmarie