A couple of New York Times articles that you might find interesting. I am a great talker, too bad I can't make $500,000 a year or more doing it.

Journeys; For Sleep-Deprived Shoppers, a Pilgrimage to QVC

The Biggest Sell is the Audition

Last night Tommy made the Rack of Lamb with Garlic, Rosemary, and Juniper that I suggested last week. It was really wonderful. Better than I would have ever dreamed. It really didn't take very long or seem too complicated, but he is getting so good at cooking that he tends to make things look easier than they are. At any rate, it was very, very good. My favorite meal to date.

 Here is a picture from his creation.

He also made the Yogurt Brulee with Drambuie Caramelized Apples. It was excellent as well. As I am not much of a desert fan and I don't have a sweet tooth, I couldn't appreciate it as much as I should have. To that end we invited Wanda over for desert, and she loved it.

More pictures of the dinner including desert.

So that Tommy can picture what he will need to do, I have posted this link to the Bon Appetit website Rack of Lamb page.

There is also a very good discussion about the trimming of a rack of lamb on page 421 of Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques. So we should be good to go. All we need is lamb and to figure out what to have with it.

Camilla's "single" son-in-law

All I can say is oy.

We went for a walk today. I was going to map out the route she took me on, but I can't figure out the maps.live.com thing. It isn't very intuitive. I am now in a bad mood, but that's okay.

Anyhow, my observation is that Maya does not view the world in any way similar to how I view it, and the map would be the best way to show that. Oh well. So, I took her to the park this morning. The first time we went, she was overwhelmed and couldn't decide where to go, so I led her from place to place. We would generally follow the path with minor detours to smell interesting spots. The next time we went, we did a similar thing. I led her in a general direction, but she had more ideas of the route.

This morning we went for the third time to Crossroads. She was happy because it is her favorite park. She nearly fell out of the car with happiness.  But as we figured out from other experiences, the third time Maya does anything, she has it figured out. Today was no exception.

It is kind of muggy today, so I was anticipating a nice stroll to the shady part of the park near the golf course. We parked in the 156th Avenue parking lot. She meandered around the playground area, keeping east of all the activity, and smelled every tree and pole in the area. She didn't look up into the distance for our entire walk. Her nose led her from tree to tree and spot to spot. She got on the path a bit and we went north to the area of concrete and we smelled the tile wall where all the flags on tiles are. Then we headed toward the hill leading to the shadier part of the park. She smelled along the fence where they are constructing the new Eastside Youth Center. She made a beeline for the Kindering Center and wanted to go inside. The door was closed, so she contented herself with smelling the shrubbery along the periphery of their play area. Then, instead of turning into the path that would take us further into the park, she led me to the area between the Elderly Care building and the firehouse. This was an interesting grassy alleyway. We spent quite a bit of time here.

We emerged onto NE 8th Street where she decided that she wanted to cross the road. I said no, we will stay on this side. So we walked along NE 8th smelling every bush and the bus stop. Then we went back into the park, checked the grass where she left her mark. Then we took the same route to the parking lot, but this was too good, so we smelled the grass between the 7-Eleven and the parking lot. Then we followed 164th Avenue and back into the parking lot where she finally looked up and realized that there was a whole big area to explore! By that time, I had had enough, so I dragged her to the car. I think, really, she was happy enough to go home too.

I love going to the park with Maya because I see things so differently when I see it with her. Maybe she feels the same about me. I hope so.

At Home with the Queen: Life through the keyhole of the Royal Household

I enjoyed watching Windsor Castle--A Royal Year, so much so that it is on my Christmas list. The documentary provided insight into the workings of Windsor Castle. The above book comes highly recommended by royal fans and is said to give similar information about the workings of Buckingham Palace. I looked to see if I could rent it from the library, but they don't hold the title. So it is on the Christmas list too.

Tommy took this picture of my new Soprano leather clutch handbags and my new vintage Kenneth Jay Lane pearl necklace. I think I will wear the pearls with the pewter clutch, my charcoal grey dress, and my python Bottega Veneta shoes. I just hope it cools down before we get to Tennessee because I don't have any ideas for a cooler outfit.

The clutches hold more than you might think. I can get keys, lipstick and gloss, Kleenex, my cell phone, ID, money, a small digital camera, and a key fob with plenty of room left for whatever I might need to fit in there.

I am so glad that I was able to get this necklace. I haven't seen anything like it from KJL before. The clasp is hidden as a petal on the three-dimensional flower. The flower has a grey pearl center that matches the clutch exactly.

I wonder if this necklace or something similar will appear in the new book about Kenneth Jay Lane's jewelry, Fabulous: Jewelry & Accessories from Kenneth Jay Lane, due out in September . I will hope that I get it for Christmas so that I can find out. I already have Kenneth Jay Lane: Faking It and Shamelessly, Jewelry from Kenneth Jay Lane, so I really need Fabulous.

If the outfit works out and I can fit into it, I will post a picture for you.

Bagehot | Carnival queen

Of course The Economist isn't a fan of royalty, but I think they have this one right.

Eating Royally by Darren McGrady

I found out about this book through one of the royalty message boards I read. It sounds really good. The chef was on Canada AM and he seems really interesting. The reviews for the book are all very positive, so this is one that definitely goes on the Christmas present list.

On the chef's website he has a really up-to-date blog and a lot of recipes. Enough of them are on there to evaluate if the book would be good. But given the nature of the information it promises--a glimpse into a typical royal meal, what the Queen likes, etc.--this makes it a much anticipated addition to my collection.

I can't wait until Tommy makes the Rack of Lamb with Garlic Rosemary and Juniper and maybe the Yogurt Brulee with Dambuie Caramelized Apples, at which point I will truly feel like a queen!!

I see a trip to PCC to get some pastured lamb from Umpqua Valley Lamb is in my not-too-distant future. (Please Tommy, can we make this this weekend???)