something's cooking

Sometimes things come easily to you and you might not even notice it. Take last night's impromptu dinner. I cook dinner for the 3 of us most nights, now I had two extra guests, old friends, so it was really no big deal. It gave me a reason to take it up a notch, but I didn't have a lot of time to make anything way out of my repertoire. I picked up a few groceries I needed anyway and then threw it all together with what was in the pantry and what was left growing by the driveway. Et voila, as Julia would say, just enough time to light the candles and set the table. Judging by the comments that were still coming this afternoon, it was more special than I thought. I've had a lot of cooking experience which helps, but my friend Jackie, co-owner Avalon International Breads, says so do a lot of people and it doesn't mean the food is good. Cooking just comes naturally to me, like breathing or talking. I might think it's good, but that's just my opinion. The other thing that comes easily to me is beautiful things. Partly from having done it so long, lots of people know where to find me and partly I know where to find it. The recession has put a serious restraint on my checkbook, but that doesn't keep me from bringing in new treasures for the store. This week my dealer pal Rick http://www.blogger.com/www.architecturalantiquesandgarden.com had a fantastic collection of tiles he'd had in his collection for 15 years, gathering dust in the basement. Rather than put them on ebay, he gave them to me to sell at the store. He had just sold a frame for me at a show and I am only too happy to return the favor. No money changes hands until it sells and we both benefit. Just when I needed it most, and boom, in comes something good that gives me reason to say, come on in and see what's new this week.