Birthdays Bring Our Family Together

[pameladlloyd]

Life is busy. I'm applying for jobs, juggling multiple projects (if only a few of them paid!), trying to squeeze some writing in, dealing with car repairs, and trying to keep from falling too far behind on housework. (I'm very bad at meeting that last goal. Do you think this might have anything to do with the fact that it's the last thing on my list?) On top of that, today was my youngest stepson's birthday. He is now seventeen.

We had a wonderful family get-together, with all our sons hanging out and talking computer games and such like. Franz' choices for dinner were Ten Thousand Golden Dragons of Happiness Mushroom Soup (which is what our family now calls Karl's attempt at a vegetarian bouillabaisse: three kinds of mushrooms, tofu, leeks, several different types of sea vegetables, tomato, saffron, grated orange peel, onion, and garlic), souffle, asparagus with hollandaise, fresh baked bread (we cheated by baking pre-made dough this time), and for desert a gingerbread and orange marmalade trifle.



None of my pictures turned out well, so I decided a little artistic cropping was in order.

Comments

[core-opsis.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lovely birthday--and what a great meal choice for a seventeen year old boy! I love it when those lunking big boys hang out together, and so much the better, because it's on family time.

And housework.....can't talk about housework. It's sortof last on my list too; haven't done a lick of it all week (except to wash dishes a couple times), and my house is a complete disaster. I can hardly stand to be in it.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

It was a lovely birthday. Franz has been homeschooled all his life, so he's never had the kind of peer pressure that makes kids feel the need to turn up their noses at the things he likes. He has, however, experienced growing up in a household with a father who loves food and loves cooking, so he's had the opportunity to experience a lot of different kinds of foods.

Dishes? Yes, keeping the kitchen from descending into the chaos of the rest of the house is a relatively high priority. Since I rarely have to lift a finger during the food prep, which can take hours and the participation of all or most of the guys, I've taken on that task. The price I paid for that meal was two loads of dishes, but it was totally worth it. :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

What an auspicious food name! I'm going to have to draw you my impression of that :D

Loved your photo. Glad to see this update--thanks for posting.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

:D

What fun! I look forward to seeing it.

Re: Great post

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your kind comments. The page you directed me to looks like a phishing site, so I'm screening this to avoid having anyone get trapped by it.

10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

On Deviant Art here, where, I believe, you can get it at a bigger size.

^_^

Re: 10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful! I love it.

We must have been on the same wavelength today, because I just finished "painting" the dragon I scanned in ages ago:

(http://pics.livejournal.com/pdlloyd/pic/0009h8hb/)

Re: 10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

This looks gorgeous--love what you did with his tail.

Re: 10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

As one of the cooks, Karl asks that I thank you from him, also.

Re: 10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wakanomori looked at the picture and said, "So are we eating the dragons?" I suggested that perhaps they were in there to keep it warm.

Re: 10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Lol. Please let wakanomori know that as my husband and his sons are vegetarians, they wouldn't think of eating the dragons. I think they were combining a desire to frolic (they look so happy!) with a helpful nature; keeping it warm was only a part of what they bring to the soup. Since they are spirit beings, to the extent that only those with a true artist's eye can see them *nods to asakiyme*, they were not visible nor tangible when we were eating the soup. Even so, we were able to sense their blessing.

P.S. The soup in your icon is very pretty. What kind is it?

Re: 10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The soup is actually tea--it's green tea with a flower in it :-)

Re: 10,000 golden dragons of happiness mushroom soup :-)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Tea? *likes tea* Do I see whole leaves in it, then? I thought the green looked a bit like rosemary, but too large, and I was completely mystified by the red, which must be the flower.