Ramos Girl’s Gourmet

I realize that some of the people who read this blog might not have any idea that I am actually a Ramos.  My blog identity is solidly as a(n Amazing) Moore, but for the greater part of my life I was a Ramos. Still am.  Always will be.  In fact, my resume says “Alexsis Ramos de Moore” and I occasionally still pause before signing my name Moore.  Forget the fact that I don’t need a resume as a stay at home mom and haven’t used my “professional” name in over a year.

But, yes, I am a Ramos.

I’ll come back to that…

So, my Dad (the original Ramos) recently retired from the Air Force after a lifetime of service.  Specifically MY life time.  His service is the reason that I was born in Honolulu and has been a part of his identity for my whole life.  Since we moved to New York he has been in the Air National Guard and served one weekend a month at Stewart Air Force Base.

That’s my Daddy, the one with the shiniest shoes.

His retirement was a bittersweet affair for all of us, but most especially for him.  So, my sister and I put our heads together to come up with the best possible gift to commemorate his years of service.  Tasha suggested we get him a membership to a meal of the month club “or something like that”. And I said, “why don’t we just make the meals ourselves!”  We agreed to switch off being Head Chef to make one meal a month at my parent’s house.  We picked the first weekend of each month since that was the weekend Daddy was usually at Drill.

When we tried to come up with a name for this endeavor… well, The Ramos Girl’s Gourmet had a nice ring to it.  So, despite the fact that neither of us signs the name Ramos too often anymore, we are Ramos Girls where it counts.  For that matter, Miss Margot is a Ramos girl, too.  There’s no denying it. One look at those chubby cheeks of hers.  Or her “expressive” eyebrows, and it’s clear that girl has Ramos blood!

This weekend was the first official Ramos Girl’s Gourmet and since Big Sister was just returning from her Honeymoon, I took the first shift as Head Chef. I made sweet potato stuffed shells with a carmelized onion gravy and served it with Tuscan White Bean soup and a nice big salad.  It was good.  And vegan!  Tasha also got on the good and healthy bandwagon by making a vegan chocolate mousse for dessert!

But, the best part of it was not the healthy and delicious food (if I do say so myself…) but the company we had while eating it.

Can you spot the non-Ramos in the photo??

The other interesting aspect of this first RGG dinner was that Natasha’s challenge for the week was to get dressed up and have dinner by candlelight.  So, it turned out to be a very fancy kick-off to our year of dinners.

This little Ramos Girl slept right through dinner.

Next up for the RGG: Cinco de Mayo and trying to convince Tasha that we can ALL eat vegan enchiladas!