growin up too fast!

so lil miss ruby has just been growin too fast for me lately! they say it goes by so quickly but that could not be more true. the minute you get used to them as they are it all changes. so just the other night i came home after work and she was a wild woman! it was as if she discovered she had legs and they could move very fast. she perfected the one leg slightly straight and one leg bent crawl to mover quicker i guess and also easily sit here and there to break and smile.

she is definitely on the move. she is into everthing...opening all the cupboards and pulling everything out. wakes up smiling and laughing everyday...a very happy lady with shiny teeth. while christmas shopping she insists on getting down and crawling around to discover anything she can get her hands on. her favortie things still continue to be crinkly paper and boxes rather than toys. and her new obsession is this elf 'guy' on top of our mantle i put up for christmas. everytime i walk by him she starts swinging her legs (thats her happy thing) and smiling hugely and flailing her arms. funny lady.

here's some random pics to share since i havent blogged in forever.

i should like...

to adopt this delicious kid and... find out where i can buy a dress like this for work. woweee.

busy busy...makin dinner

so i have been quite the slacker on updating the blog. i guess its b/c i essentially created a new restaurant last week, and tonight we are opening to the public for dinner. oh, i shall not even begin on the challenges of creating a new menu, organizing vendors, staff, etc, learning new recepies, training your chef to cook dinner instead of eggs, and all the while attempting to plate up pastries while holding or entertaining Ruby. interesting life...perhaps it will calm down eventually.
well, i sure can not wait for monday...glourious monday when we are closed and can spend the day at the park having good old family time. so thats me for now; and here is a look at the menu i put together.

::evening menu::

:begin:

warm apple galettes. black pepper honey
caramel. sea salt. brillant savarin.

heirloom tomato confit. cypress grove purple
haze melted chevre.
fine herbs. baguette toasts.

pomme pailles. organic house made ketchup.
roasted garlic aioli.

cheese and charcouterie. st.pete‘s artisan blue. aged manchego.
fleur des alpes. truffle tremor. olives. proscuitto. fruit and nuts. toasts.


:salad:
simple french. radicchio. endive. boston lettuce.
classic dijon vinaigrette.

marinated feta. citrus fennel essence. spinach
and arugula. pink lady apples. thinly sliced radish.
white balsamic vinaigrette.

roasted grape. organic greens and frisee lettuces.
chevre and herb toasts. roasted walnuts.
champagne honey vinaigrette.






:soup:
golden bell pepper. smoked paprika
crème fraiche. arugula and bacon
lardons.



:entrees:
local meat shoppe pork chop. slow roasted wilcox apple. honey
sage cream. green beans. yukon gold mash.

peppered cedar river farms ribeye.
pomme pailles. brandy jus.
sunflower sprout salad.

spicy seared sesame ahi tuna. mango and avocado
salsa. pineapple jasmine rice. ginger scallion sauce.

spice rubbed rack of lamb. creamy parmesan polenta.
fresh sautéed spinach. roasted organic baby carrots.

butternut squash ravioli. toasted pine nut and goat
cheese cream. pan fried squash blossom
and baby arugula.



dessert
floating islands. delicate meringue.
classic crème anglaise. Fresh berries.
pistachio praline.

sweet potato tarte. marshmallow brulee.
pecan oat crumble. caramel crème.

chocolate and peanut butter napoleon.
layers of chocolate mousse and peanut butter
perfection amidst delicate pastry flakes.

i wish i knew about this before...

lets all get pregnant and look this cute!

while ruby's napping...

so besides ever exciting house work, and pondering over how people have time to blog as much as they do and come up with all these amazing things (for example www.designmom.com and her blog....while she has five kids she takes care of)...i try to also get work in as much as i can for the restaurant. i'd definitely rather be swinging in a hammock enjoying this rediculously gorgeous weather reading a page turner novel....but that doesnt happen too often.

so here are some pics i tried to take for postcards i was trying to make for palatte. we'll see how the sample turns out. i thought it would be fun for people to send their friends a breakfast invitation or just send someone a piece of mail for fun.

pumpkin patch

courtesy of my Dad making a trip to scnepf (sp?) farms for some wonderful pumpkins, Palatte is now graced with a lovely pumpkind patch that Ruby seemed to find quite fun rumbling in....as did the kitchen crew, who claim they are to make some pumpkin candy with the one that cracked! lots of festivities ahead tomorrow for first friday ....games and all for the fun festivale de octobre! ed and i found ourselves deep in crafting making masks for the masquerade contest; now i just have to make a tiny one for Ruby who loves a good party!

fun wedding website pics....no i dont know these people

http://snippetandink.blogspot.com

good news for Palatte!

so i just wanted to share the good news that the New Times gave us 'Best Downtown Breakfast'!! we were pretty excited seeing as how times have been trying lately so we are hoping this pumps up business for us a bit. and of course...some fun pics of Ruby that I love, b/c she always makes me smile!
Ed and I were just saying how funny she is...She is always looking for something to smile about or laugh about...such a happy lady!! She keeps life light and wonderful when it can seem rather daunting.
Oh, to be a tiny girl full of giggles!

another fun site

totally outa my league as far as pricing, but so fun to look at for ideas...inspiration, or just for fun. this sounds to me like a name that pete came up with.....possibly for luke burch...
'tiny mc small'.
anyhow, the website is www.tinymcsmall.com

legwarmers...a must for babies:)

found this cute website where you can buy cozy legwarmers for kids...or alternately used as arm warmers for older kids..........www.babylegs.com
Just thought they were fun!

fashionistas

is it just me or do these ladies look like they are in pain? im glad i do not have to try that hard to look as good as i do.

dreams...

so emily (pete's wife) and i were talking the other day about how wonderful it would be if we all lived near eachother and possibly if we all lived in the same neighborhood. this turned into a more serious conversation about how we really would be all for it if it was a possibility. the funny thing is that i used to find it so strange, wanting to live near all your family so close. now that i am in my current situation i can definitely see the advantages.

so ed and i live in a neighborhood that we could afford that is close to work, even though we really wanted to live downtown. we are always saying that pete and emily's neighborhood is so nice b/c they have all these great fun, young neighbors and they can just let their kids play in the yard with the other kids, etc. It looks magical to us. Then we go home to a house we love, but would honestly rather live in a much uglier 'whatever' house if we could have fun family and friends near by.

so now i can not stop dreaming of the life that could be....one where we could see our kids off to school and meet out front for coffee in the park to discuss the world happenings, or the latest book we're reading, or a really great recepie we found. if i was out of something while baking i could just walk down the way and borrow. our kids could play together! ok, i could go on and on and im sure im boring people, but its just on my mind. i just keep thinking we only get this one life to live, so why do we make the odd decisions that we do, such as living far away when we could be near, and therefore could maybe spend a little less time in the car and more quality time with the ones we love. why dont we create communities where we are surrounded by strong supports in the faith, and all that we hold dear?

im just going to keep dreaming...

goof ball has her first try at a banana...not much success going in

fancy red hat

the other day my mom came in to work and had just met with this lady who makes amazing velvet pumpkins for her store. she apparantly makes these fantastic hats too, so Ruby was so lucky as to acquire one! I cant wait for chilly weather so we can put this fabulous hat on and go on a walk downtown! would definitely be more appropriate for life in nyc but alas we live in phoenix.

awesome photography website!!!...claire kramer photography

pictures i like from 'paulpaper'

found a pic of me when i grow up

aunt emily came over to play....bath time....dress up...dance party...and then ruby passed out:)

visit to the art museum

i decided to take ruby on her first museum visit...and dad met us up there. the fireflies (a dark room full of mirrors and hanging lights...so you feel like your in space/eternity of lights) were the favorite. i personally got stuck on the fashion exhibit and kept wondering why i didnt go into fashion as a profession. i guesss too many skinnys and too may gays for me to handle.
New art museum is pretty fancy though. I cant wait to make it to the Science and Childrens Museum next.

our first fruit! our little pear tree actually sprouted this! so proud:)

rather content checking out the garden

Just watching mom and dad garden (ie. pull grass and weeds out of our planter) in the hot hot sun. Her little Guatemalan hat from her favorite buddy Ray (a regular customer of ours who loves to travel and bring back presents) finally fits! I thought it was so big but I guess her head is growing faster than I realized. Man time flies!

flashback...for friends who never saw me huge!

i got somethin to say

so hey guys whats happenin? its me Ruby, you know the cute lady in all the pics!

my mom said now that im a whole 4 months it would be ok for me to start blogging when im up for it.

so life sure is good and pretty busy sometimes. my days usually start with dad waking me up and singing me songs; my favorite being 'alloutte'. can you believe he sings me a song about a bird and plucking it's feathers! what a silly guy, but golly gee i sure love that song...it makes me smile no matter how mad i decide to be...works like a charm everytime.

after picking out some clothes for me (usually jeans and a t-shirt cuz thats his fav) we hop in the car to work. when i get there its always crazy! Everyone cooking, talking, laughing and being goofy. Dolores is my favorite with her big smiles and super happy greetings; im still not sure why she always calls me 'gordita'...I think these jeans make me look good.

While daddy puts me in the bijorn and makes his coffee i do a check up on all the employees and take mental notes of who isnt doing their job properly and ways to improve the business for our evening meetings. mom always gives me kisses and smells like muffins and scones, yum OH ....i can't wait for my chance to chomp on those!

so we hang out at work sometimes for a bit and then mom and i get to go home and play...eat...sleep. i try to eat about everything i can get my hands on and im always havin fun. thats about it. until next time, a bientot, a dios!

ps. isnt touching your toes the coolest! its my new favorite passtime!

ruby sandwich

caught on camera having a delicious ruby sandwich over the fourth of july weekend. mighty tasty i might say. poor kid...puts up with her crazy parents:)

summertime blues...

so the title of this blog sound sad but really it is not my current sentiment. i was just thinking lately how summertime is such a dull, quiet, blasted hot time...when not one eats at Palatte, and all can seem low but in reality lately I have just been overwhelmed with thanks for the wonderful family of three that I am in right now. everyday it never ceases to excite me and make me smile from ear to ear when i see Ruby's bobbly, smiley, sleeply little head pop in in Ed's arms to the restaurant as Im putting pastries in the case. sometimes she hasnt made it out of her pj's or sometimes Ed may have spent his entire morning plotting out her cute outfit for the day....meanwhile forgetting to perhaps comb his own hair...:) anyhow, no matter how challenging it all is, wondering why we put so much effort into our food and Matt's Big B still gets the best of everything; ultimately I really just feel blessed to have been given what I have. so in the midst of summertime blues, I stay focused on the next cutest thing Ruby might do to make me giggle (such as screaming loudly and smiling before off to bed now at night), or whatever it is that God has given. thats all for now; i am terrible at keeping up with this blog thing...i'll have to get better.

dress up

so i came to the realization the other day at ed's brother's house (b-day party for the kids) that all parents don't play dress up with their new babies. i just love those awkward moments when i am fully aware that our weirdness is coming out in public, ed is oblivious and still on the subject which may or may not be freaking out those listening, and i am silently observing while giggling inside. so we somehow got on the topic of how fun it is to dress up Ruby...in her cute bathing suit with matching sunglasses...as an old bag lady with pearls and all...and recently in a white onesie/leapord print bikini on top of that/socks up to her knees/ and hat and necklaces.....this outfit had no name but resulted in such an intense amount of laughter that Ruby pulled out the sad lip; you know the one...the lower lip comes out and you cant help but laugh. so no pics of that last outfit b/c I felt so bad about it i had to remove it quickly and give Ruby some squeezes since we were gettin out of hand. we just like to keep it real. peace out.