Back to Normal

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Lot's of cooking, lot's of family and lot's of love.

The last three weeks of my being out of the foodie blogosphere have kept me pretty busy...and tired I might add. With the arrival of our newest addition to the Cordero family, Frida Isabella, the Cordero family gathered together to celebrate.

Being a "Twilight" fan, I've announced to the family that I will be calling her Bella. She's such a precious little thing.

We went though a lot of cooking, and yes, drinking, though I kept my consumption in moderation I'm happy to add. But when you have only half of the Cordero clan and they equal about 30 people, it adds up to alot of work. I'm no spring chicken anymore!!

I was overjoyed to have my nephew Joel (from Ohio) and his 4 year old son Chase stay with us. They were a joy and a tremendous help in everything from cooking to cleanup.

Here's Chase helping decorate our "Baby - Easter" cupcakes. This is Chase's first visit to El Paso and he tells me he wants to come back. He was an excellent help and tells me wants to be a cupcake baker when he grows up. Must be in the genes.

Here are Chase and Lily passing out Easter eggs on Sunday. Brian and Lily had made all those confetti eggs (cascarones) the week before and added a bunch of candy-filled plastic eggs to the basket. The kids loved it. So did the grown ups.

The last of the family left on Thursday, April 16th and early on Friday, the 17th, Lily had her surgery. It was a long day, a long day indeed.

A week went by and we returned to the doctor (yesterday) for her post-op appointment. He assures us that he has removed all abnormal cells and that she is healing quite well. Must have been that homemade chicken soup I posted about. Or was it the waffles? Or the meatloaf? Maybe it was the smoothies?

Speaking of my last post - the one about the chicken soup - I called my daughter the joy of my life; my son Mikey the light of my life; Bob the love of my life. Oops...I left out Jennifer, my wonderful daughter-in-law.

She called and asked,"What am I?" I must admit that I hadn't really quite thought of how I actually felt other than I love her just as much as my kids. I realized that she's become quite an inspiration to me. Jenn is smart (quite intelligent), creative (an avid knitter and cake decorator), a business woman, an excellent wife, daughter, sister, friend and cook. And more than anything, she knows how to be frugal. This particular attribute came in handy when she and Mikey first got married and they hadn't quite graduated from UTEP. Now, they both have their degrees and are doing very well in their chosen professions (which of course is in the computer sciences field). I'm very proud of my son and daughter. But I am also very proud of my daughter-in-law and Lily's better half Brian too. You can talk all you want about how "bad" the younger generation is, but in my experience, all they need is love, understanding, direction, support and knowing that you will always be there for them. Two out of the four have their degrees. Lily and Brian should have theirs within the next two years.

So Jenn, when you wonder where you fit in to my little pyramid of love within the family, please know that you have been an inspiration to me. You've always made yourself available when I need to rant or bounce an idea off of someone. You've always been there. THANK YOU. I love you too. (Thanks for picking out all of my B-day, Mother's Day and Christmas presents too!)

So folks, I hope I've brought you up to speed with everything that's gone on the last few weeks.

Next week will be devoted to Gloria Chadwick, an excellent author, foodie, and friend. I have a couple of her cookbooks, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio, that I will be giving away. So be sure and check back on Monday as I come up with an activity you all can participate in to earn a chance at acquiring a copy of this great cookbook.

Till next time, big hugs to all.