Classic Summer's Eve Decoupage

Wednesdays confession...

 I stood in the middle of the parking lot, in near darkness. I just stood there. Taking a deeper breathe, now listening to the mixture of night sounds and the muted conversations and laughing of the people just over the other side of  the dune. I took a panoramic scan of the scenery that surrounded me, and then closed my eyes like a shutter of a camera, quickly burning the image into my memory. What I captured was my paradise, the farwell traces of a gorgeous lake michigan sunset, the timed arrival of a glowing moon and my children 20 steps ahead of me whispering plans of how to catch fireflies and put them in a jar. A classic summer's eve.....


 A sweet musical melody of a voice beckoned me away from my trance, "Mama, did you forget where the car was parked?" came Lauren's giggling concern. She had obviously turned around and noticed I had stopped forward motion.  Her natural instincts to question my interesting stance, her curiosity is  rooted in the fact that she will be an outstanding mother someday. She's always very alert to what is happening and her caring attention to everyone's well being around her is endearing.


I waited a quiet moment to answer her which peeked her interest even more...  and now her brother wanted to know what was up too.  The shuffling of sandy flip flop feet began to make there way back to me and I answered while they were in route in a whisper only they could hear.  I said "look all around us, this is like a dream come true don't you think".  I love Lauren's reply... "Mama, do you want me to pinch you?  You know, to make sure it is really real?"


Everyone snickered and then I think we all spent the car ride home really thinking about what I had said.  It was a really wonderful day for us, full to the brim and flowing over with all our favorite things. The kids let me get my work done on the computer and the phone early since it was a rainy morning. At lunchtime I closed my computer up and declared the rest of the day would be all about us!  This announcement was accepted with lots of cheering and an out loud tally of all the wonderful things we could accomplish in a day.  We were bound and determined to take advantage of a beautiful summer's day.

The coolest part of the day for me I confess was the opportunity to spend some time in the kitchen and over our new weber charcoal grill.  For me it is a complete step back down memory lane to when I was their age and would watch my mom make our family's Armenian traditional dinner favorite. Its a meal that is truly the best when done in the hottest days of summer and after a full day of family together time. I have written about it before


Lauren and Riley's enthusiasm to learn and be apart of something culinary that is special to me is another reason why I am so thankful to have chosen my career as a chef.  Some of my favorite life memories have been centered around food.  Its these certain moments that have defined my adoring passion for food and this particular one I am going to share with you is in the top 10 for sure:


~Whether the beautiful woman knew I was watching or not, I'm not sure, but I picked up quickly on her organized process.  I noticed how she had not done any food prep until she was sure the grill charcoals were lit and heating up, except to make sure she had all the ingredients beforehand.  This preparedness is what I now lovingly refer to as "mise en place" since finishing culinary school.  My sister and I laughed while she got the fire going because the cat always came by to try and lick the grill grate she had propped up on the ground.  He never got much satisfaction since she wasn't about to let him contaminate the food cooking surface.  He would retreat quickly, his tail up in the air and obviously ticked off about her swift rescue of the grate as she lay it over the black briquets.

This meal my mom was preparing usually equaled our Grandma Rose to be sitting on the white deck chairs outside too.  She was a full blooded Armenian beauty and I was always so proud to tell people so since I had inherited her olive skin tone and dark hair and eyes features.

Its easy for me to imagine and remember Grandma's big black purse on the ground next to her feet, full of all kinds of things including a novel type book and her cigarettes.  She had on a comfy blue and white striped tank top and white linen slacks with her ballet flat type slippers and seemed so relaxed.  Grandma would come to stay with us every summer and I always looked forward to sitting outside with her and chatting... especially when I was still young enough that I didn't have to help with dinner- we would watch my mom seemingly float between the house and the patio... looking like she could use a cold glass of lemonade.  Our only job at the time was to set the picnic table while my mom got the shish kabobs on the grill, made the rice pilaf on the stove inside and put the freshly shucked corn in the water pot to boil.

When we all sat down to eat the food.... it was amazing, delicious, satisfying and yet so simple.  That's really all I have to say about it.

Yet more than the food it was the scenery I think.  All the sensations including the aromas of lighter fluid, sun screen and my mom's Le aire du temps perfume.  The evening sunlight filtering through the aspen tree shadows.  The sound of a neighbor mowing their lawn two doors down, and my friend Janelle's dog Shasta barking across the back alley.  The humidity in the air creating little sweat droplets on the sides of our noses and under our eyes as we ate our armenian feast.  Dinner wasn't even finished and my sister Jen was already asking when we would get to roast marshmallows on the last of the hot charcoal.  My mom would excuse her once she had cleared her whole plate to go find a branch to use as a marshmallow poker.  This was a classic summer's eve....

I love how some of my experiences new and old overlap from different decades and create a unique and beautiful decoupage of love and happiness. 

These are the bountiful memories of my life when I have truly just stopped to pay attention.  Wonderfully its what I am still doing more than I probably realize.  I've gotten much better at slowing down to purposefully take in my atmosphere, my life experience.  I have noticed whatever it is that makes me so completely aware of the "right now" is always followed by a silent command to take inventory of every thing happening around me.  In these moments a peaceful internal narrator speaks my story.  A story about a girl who is deeply thankful for so much in her life, everyday, all the time

check out an older story if you like

Blog Post on February 3, 2010:

My Armenian roots.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Foods

We all have to eat to live- it is essential to our survival. When we are younger we rely on our parents to provide the ingredients to sustain our lives. It is usually at this time when we discover some of our most favorite foods- you know the ones that even to this day when you sense them- an instant memory of happiness blossoms and you just have to find it and eat it. What I also find interesting though is that heir are new tastes we develop as we get older too. My example of this is tomatoes. I could never understand how anyone could enjoy the taste of a juicy tomato unless it was in a spaghetti sauce, ketchup or salsa- but now- Ah yes- heaven has more recently become a vine ripened ruby red sphere, and I can’t believe I never appreciated a tomatoes delicious flavor until later in my life. 

So what I would love to know is what are your absolute favorite foods. If you could have any food in the world what would you choose? One benefit to being an adult is we have the ability to eat whatever we want- or make what we want- and savor it to our hearts content. I am a self-proclaimed, foodie, food-a-holic, food lover- and I don’t plan on changing this status anytime soon. As I learn and prepare myself to become a Registered Dietitian I am curious to learn what other people love and take pleasure in eating. 

So please share with me and post your top ten most favorite foods or drinks-(yes I’ll let coffee count as food I guess) There are no rules to this thing and if you even have time to tell me why I would love to know that too. At the end of the list I think it would be fun to name the single food or drink that you think is disgusting, or maybe you tried it and know you can live without it. When you are done- if you want to post the note to other friends and learn about their favorites too then go for it. I know not everyone is as passionate about food as I am but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have favorites- and maybe we will discover some new favorite cuisine as we read each others list. 

Eat well and prosper my friends!

Here is my top ten - which only will scratch the surface of my favorites:
1. Sweet potatoes. They can be in any form and I am in love. Baked, oven fries, in bread, in soup, even sweet potato burgers. As a treat sometimes I can hardly resist ordering sweet potato fries at Firefly Restaurant- sooo yummy!

2. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I am not aloud to make them anymore because I will consume more batter than should ever be allowed. This is the only food that can strip me of all my willpower. (Don’t worry I make then eggless and they are AWESOME!)

3. Blueberries. My mom used to call me the Blueberry kid since my birthday is in August when blueberries are ripe for picking. I love to freeze blueberries and then eat them like candy!  And the health properties are endless which makes them even more awesome!

4. Smoothies. Frozen Fruit, vegetable, soy milk, the icier the better. I love to concoct new and exciting flavor combinations all the time. My newest favorite is a strawberry banana carrot smoothie, or peach, flax, vanilla and cinnamon. I put things like bok choy and kale in there too, the kids never notice and it is another great way to get your greens!

5. Celery with Peanutbutter. I could seriously eat this every day and be happy. Apples with peanutbutter is a close second in this category for sure. This would be my go to snack everytime.

6. Avocados are amazing and I love them. I just love them.

7. Ginger. Used to not be so fond of this flavor- or maybe I just didn’t understand it- Now I wish I could put ginger in everything- As a treat I love Ginger spice cookies!

8. Rice Pilaf. This is a family tradition and no one makes it better than my Mom. I love the smell of it cooking- I love it reheated with a little pepper on top. I love that my kids love it just as much as I did when I was their age.

9. Ice Cream. I used to work at Wares Brothers for anyone that didn’t know and loved being able to create my own mixtures of sundaes and flurries.  I don’t eat dairy anymore- so I have started to make my own great alternative ice cream at home with the ice cream maker that Tod and the kids got me for Christmas. It is a ton of fun and our favorite so far was a chocolate rice ice cream that was out of this world! I always challenge myself to come up with healthier versions of everything we eat and this category has been the most fun to experiment with.

10. I am sorry but for me ten is not enough so for this last one I am going to say this: If it is a green and growing, a sun loving plant that is safe to eat then I am most likely in love- In its fresh unprocessed whole form though- this includes especially peppers, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, swiss chard, kale, bok choy, zucchini, raspberries, blackberries, pears, cherries and then list goes on into infinity…..  Oh and Quinoa!!!!  I can't leave that one out because I just think it is the coolest grain ever and so healthy as an added bonus! 

The Food I could live without:
The one food that I can live without most obviously for anyone that knows me is any animal/animal byproduct.  The more I learn about being a compassionate eater, it only makes sense to me. I have lived more happily and healthily this past year since I made the choice to eliminate this source of what I don't even consider food anymore.  While I understand that this choice might not seem to be for everyone, I challenge people to take a deeper look at what animal food sources really are and where most of them come from.  Having such a deep love for animals as I have had my entire life, and then stripping away the desensitization of many years of just eating what I was taught was OK- well it comes down once again to how I cannot ignore what I know.  What I know is that my new truth says it seems completely unfair that someone should suffer for my own eating pleasure.  Just watch any wildlife show or right out your back window if you have a yard and you will see that animals have the same capacity as we humans do with a will to want to live.  In nature they only take what they need to survive, and they only produce as much as is needed to nurture their own babies.  I don't believe that God put animals on this earth for our own pleasure, other than the happiness they bring when witnessing their own curiosities and silly frolicking. I mean isn't that why we have pets, the simple joy that they bring to our families and lives?  Farm animals only exist because humans chose to put them there, and I think if they had a choice most of them would not choose the type of service they have been forced into doing or dying for.  Please understand that I have been on the other side of the coin and that I didn't always think this way.  There was a point  in my life when I would have proudly called myself a "meatatarian."  The thought makes me shutter just a little now, but that is OK because it is a part of who I am and what helps me understand why people make the choices that they do.  I am in no way perfect either, but I only try my best to live my truth and share my truth with anyone who asks.  

A Stellar life includes standing up for what you believe in and not being afraid to be a shining beacon of love and compassion.  Be Bold, Be strong, and smile- and in the words of Ghandi: Be the change you want to see in the world.

xoxo- Stephie