Vacation Vérité

I just returned from a vacation at the behest of good friends who rented two separate cottages by the lake in Michigan. Visually speaking, aside from the endless stretches of pristine beach and lush, bucolic landscapes - this was my favorite image from the entire trip.

This was the breakfast plate of my friend Mhairi's child, created by Mhairi, herself. I woke up to the smells of bacon and batter coming from an adjacent room (not a bad way to start the day, btw) and arrived only to find this little fella staring me down at the table. With his blueberry bindi, bloody nose and shifty-eyed resemblance to Fozzie Bear - he totally won me over.

It occurred to me instead to upload a photo of a vintage steamer trunk with this post because that's exactly what I'm going to look like after all the sun exposure I got on this trip. But then I thought better than to ruin your good appetites. This is a food blog after all.

My last night was a summer dream: I took an outdoor shower at our cabin in the woods after a long day at the beach, drank a rum and Mexican Coke and watched as our friend Miklos prepared a traditional Hungarian rabbit stew and pan fried pork chops along with local potatoes, vegetables and bread. I heard the Talking Heads song, This Must Be the Place playing on the iPod during dinner and was moved to hear my friend Brian tell me he chose that song as my ring tone - the song that plays whenever I call his phone. Considering how much importance I place on home - both literally and metaphorically, I consider it a beautiful compliment.

And now I'm back. And while there's no place like home, this trip was definitely one for the books.