Happy 2nd Birthday La Bonne Vie!

So I guess I took a sabbatical. I traveled a bit, cooked a little, tried a lot of different foods, wines and cocktails. It was good. I needed some time to rest and reflect.

I love that today is La Bonne Vie 2nd Birthday...and that this is the first blog back from a short break.

Today, I just want to take time to remember.
I want to remember Mason. I want to remember why I began cooking and logging it all into this diary in the first place. I want to remember my favorite pictures and foods. 

And I want to celebrate it!

Mason & How It All began...

Mason...

I lost my dear friend, Linda H. Mason in May 2014. You will see me refer to her throughout this blog as Mason. 

The loss is tremendous.

And Thus It Began...

So what did I do...I began to cook! 

Mason and I loved food! Mason had a few standby recipes...a cheese ball, cornbread...oh- and a fudge recipe that was out of this world!!! Other than that, she really didn't enjoy cooking. But we loved eating what I cooked. I thought: I should begin cooking, creating, and exploring as a way to heal through the loss of my friend.

She always encouraged me in my writing too. I would often take my work to her home and read my manuscripts to her.
Why not combine these two things...the cooking and the writing?

Mason also loved anything French. I love French food. One of my favorite movies is Ratatouille- a movie (set in France) about a rat who becomes a chef. (I named my cat after the main character, "Remy"!)

It was coming together: Mason lived "the good life"- "la bonne vie". She had many friendships, cooked, ate, enjoyed the company of others...enjoyed French stuff...

Yes- that's what I would do! I would begin a blog to diary recipes, tastes, smells, and adventures that remind me that:

life is good. 

It doesn't have to be stuffy food, or expensive food, or require super-skills in the kitchen...just easy, creative, fun, "catching up over a good meal" kinds of dishes. We humans often connect over a good meal. Mason and I always did our best "catching up" over a lunch or dinner.

So join me, won't you? Join me on an eating, drinking, cooking journey to explore the good life...the way Mason would- over a good meal!

Favorite Pictures and Food...

One of my first pics and one of my first food blogs!

The famous fig tarts from Christmas! Also the cover of my Facebook page.

You know I love Halloween!!! This one was especially fun!!!

Probably my most favorite blog I have ever written, and it had almost nothing to do with food.
If you haven't read it, it is called We Are Stewards. This picture was featured in that blog post.

Awesome Asparagus Tart!

Loved my Kitchen Decor this past Christmas.

Naughty Nog with Peppermint Rim.

Food and Wine Festival in Disney World this year!

Merry Mice!

Dennis' favorite meal from this year: Pumpkin Risotto!!!

Savory pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream.

The most adorable Turkey Cheese Ball Ever!!!

It's been a good year! 

As I look back and remember, I'm filled with joy all over again.

I remember the verse that has given me so much hope:  "What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!" 

Ps. 27:13 AMP

So now, I invite you to celebrate with me! What goodness have you seen in your life over the past year? 

Now- Celebrate it!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!

Blueberry Blintz Bake with a Farmhouse Scramble- Easy & Fancy!

I trust Ina Garten. 

Really. Everything I have made from her recipes...perfection!'

I remember the first time I saw her show on the Food Network: The Barefoot Contessa. 

I loved the name. It really seemed to fit me. I love being barefoot. I will wear flip fops or sandles, but I do not like having to wear closed-toed shoes (or the cold that usually accompanies them). 

And Contessa...I think I'm a Disney Princess at heart. 

It just seems to fit!

Blueberry Blintz Bake- Ina Garten...Farmhouse Scramble- something of Tracy's own creation.

There is an ease about Ina. She moves with such grace around her kitchen; and when she is finished cooking, and is ready to enjoy her beautiful meal with her guests...they have her undivided attention.

She has never let me down either.

When I need a good recipe...one that will impress, but that is easy enough for me to handle...one that will taste really, really, really great...that's when I turn to Ina...The Barefoot Contessa!

Love this Ninja food processor/blender!!!

My grandmother's birthday is on February 8th and my mom's is February 9th.

This year, I wanted to do a very nice brunch to honor them. So, of course, I looked at an Ina Garten recipe...Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce!

I mixed 1 1/4 cups milk, 2 Tbsp sour cream, 4 Tbsp melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 4 large eggs, 1 1/3 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp of sugar, and 1 Tbsp of baking powder in my Ninja blender.

I poured 1/2 of the batter in a 13 x 9 pan and baked at 250 degrees for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, I mixed the cheese filling, whisking together: 3 cups of ricotta cheese, 8  oz mascarpone cheese, 2 large eggs, 1/3 cups sugar, 1 Tbsp grated lemon zest (I used 2 lemons), 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp kosher salt.

I spread the cheese mixture over the top of the baked batter, then I covered the filling with the remaining batter.

I finished baking it at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.
(Ina suggests letting it set for 10 to 15 minutes after baking.)

Now for the sauce!
I combined: 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (I used 3 oranges), 2/3 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch. I Brought this mix to a boil and allowed it to thicken.
Then, I added 4 half-pints of  blueberries!

I let it simmer for about 4 minutes, until some of the blueberries burst, but most remained whole.
I added 1 tsp of lemon zest and 1 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice, and then allowed it to cool.

Now to the Scramble...

I browned and drained 1 lb of hot turkey sausage.

I sauteed shallots and mushrooms in the turkey grease and 1 Tbsp of butter until tender.
I added halved cherry tomatoes and cooked until they softened.

I whisked 10 large eggs and about 1/2 cup milk with 1 Tbsp of Herbs De Provence.

I poured the egg mix over the veggies and scrambled the eggs.

I then poured the scrambled mixture over the drained sausage in a bowl and stirred in 1/3 cup cheddar cheese.

Baked Blintz and Farmhouse Scramble!

It went over so well that everyone had seconds and my grandmother asked me for recipe!

This would be a great Valentines brunch! It really is no-fail!!!

I pray you all enjoy Valentines Day. Sweethearts come in so many ways...moms, dads, children, spouses, old friends...

Love comes to me from my family, dear friends, the Hubs, my cats...but it comes to me daily in Jesus!

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you." Jeremiah 31:3b AMP

I'm thankful that: "He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]" Hebrews 13: 5b AMP

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3: 16-19 NIV

Je te aime, mes amis! 

(I love you, my friends!)

La Bonne Vie Y'all!!!

To Mason, On Her Birthday.

In the past, I have never been particularly mindful of dates. 

Truthfully, I'm not very good at remembering most dates...but since Mason's passing, July 31st has been branded into my brain.

I think I have wanted to hurry the grief cycle- to just get through it quickly and some how everything would be ok. But I've been crying all week knowing that this day was coming. I even took the day off from work because I thought the crushing sadness would just overtake me.

Last night, I laid in bed and began to journal, writing Mason a letter. Of course, I told her that I missed her terribly. I also told her that I was scared. 

The last few months have been crappy. After Mason's passing, life has not exactly been smooth sailing. 

I've never been one of those people who ever wanted to go back in time and do something over again. I've always been the "keep moving forward" type of person. But in moving forward more crap kept happening.

So, as I'm writing this letter to Mason, telling her all of this, I remembered the time we went to Pigeon Forge.

Trace and Mase in Pigeon Forge.

I really hate haunted houses, but (for who knows why) we went to the scariest haunted house I've ever been to.

It was completely dark and we had to put our hand on the shoulder of the person in front of us. The person at the front of the line had to put their hand against the side of the wall and kind of feel their way out. Guess who was at the front of the line?

There were 3 men in the back...really?!

So, terrified, I keep moving forward. We stopped at one point and I couldn't tell the direction. It was like the room was curved or something and I froze in fear.

***Now, many of you who are not terrified of haunted houses would say: Tracy, you know that nothing in there is real, right? So there is nothing to be afraid of. Nevertheless...I was terrified.***

I remember hearing Mason ask, "Do you want one of these guys to come up here?" I said yes. She asked behind her...and no one bit. Either they were chickens...or this really was terrifying. 

It was at this moment I thought: This is terrifying and I can either stay right here and continue to be terrified by what is around me, or I can take one step in front of the other and get the hell out of here.

I chose to get the hell out of there.

I choose the word hell on purpose, because it felt like I was in hell. Demons and goblins screeching, something hairy to the right (I still have no idea what that was)...

I prayed, was given an extra dose of bravery, and got the hell out of hell.

When we finally got out, I sat in Mason's car and shook...and continued shaking for a good half hour.

Back to the letter...

I told Mason that I was stuck again. It felt like hell (or the haunted house) all over again. She was gone and there was a lot of scary life happening all around me.

I could almost hear her say: "You can't get stuck here Trace."

A rush of anger knowing that she was gone ignited me, and in an instant of sudden reality, I realized something I thought I already knew.

God- no amount of me being angry, stomping my feet, screaming at You, is going to bring Mason back. She will not walk up my sidewalk and if I call her phone she will not answer.

I wept.

I talked with friend last week who told me that Mason would stay with me. She didn't mean it in the weird mystical way people often mean things like that. She went on to explain that what Mason poured into me would be there. She said, "so when you are in those moments of needing to hear her voice you can just think...what did Mason say...or what would she say?"

I thought: I would meet her and tell her about my life right now, and she would listen. Then she would look me straight in the eye and hold my hand and say, "You can't get stuck here Trace."

So here I am in the haunted house of life, and I don't want to go back and relive the last few months, and I don't want to step into the unknown future...but moving forward is the only way out.

So I pray. I am given an extra dose of bravery, and the reminder that the Lord is with me, even in the midst of this loss, grief and pain, and I take one step in front of the other.

I think it was John Wayne who said, "Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway." Interestingly, one meaning of my name is 'courage'. I always thought that meant- never afraid, ever ready to rush headlong into the fray...no, the longer I'm on this earth, the more I realize that it is often exactly as John said. My personal belief is that the courage I receive comes from God and that His Presence is with me. He is the extra dose of bravery...plus, its so nice to know that I don't have to go it alone.

Well, John...and Mase, here I go.

I would like to wish my great friend a Happy Birthday today.

She did pour life into me, as any of us are capable of doing. Discovering how to pass along life instead of strife to those around us...hmmm, now there's a thought...

So, if you will indulge me...I must wish my friend a Happy Birthday.

Dear Mason,

It's your birthday! Happy Birthday Mase!

I was remembering the other day how Bran and I would meet you for dinner (not on your birthday) and then tell our waiter or waitress how happy we were to take our friend out for her birthday...and then we would get that huge peanut butter ice cream cake brought to the table! I remember Bran saying, "Thanks for having a birthday today Mase...and well, every other day we take you out!" You just shook your head and laughed...and then, of course, helped us eat the cake.

We used to celebrate the days leading up to your birthday. I remember when the Pirate movies were coming out so we decided your birthday should be pirate themed for a few years.

We decorated your lawn: notice Christmas lights, the boat we borrowed from someone, and a Jack Sparrow cut-out that is still in our house to this day!

This is one of my favorites! You came out laughing hysterically and even posed for this pic!

Then there was that time we had a guy deliver geriatric supplies to you at work...or the time we helped to throw your surprise 60th birthday party.

I have so enjoyed celebrating you! 

Throughout the years, our relationship has been filled with celebrations!

The Houston Rodeo.

Cruise to the Bahamas.

Convertible drive through TX.

You assisting me and the bridesmaids at my wedding.

I love you Mase!

You are a forever friend.

In honor of you today, I'm distributing one of your celebratory staples...

Yes- paper napkins with funny sayings on them. 

Your 'go-to' party supply for any celebration.

In spite of how stressful life has been lately, I think of this verse, which reminds me of you:

"What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living!" Ps. 27:13 AMP

Love,

Tracy

The way Mason lived and this verse are the inspiration for the name of this blog...

La Bonne Vie Y'all!