Goings-on Around Here

I have a bunch of random tidbits to share....so here we go!

We have spring fever!  In anticipation of a camping trip (still far away), we set up the tent to test out some gear inside....in the living room!

This is as close as Fanny will ever get to camping.  Although, who knows what she was up to before she was brought to the shelter.  Maybe she is a pro.

Dreaming of plants and gardens and dirt!  I attended a class about designing beautiful vegetable gardens last week and am inspired to keep working on transitioning our front yard from grass to edibles and other useful plants/bushes.

We've been able to take walks with Tchazo pretty regularly, but he still prefers to take his sunbaths inside when the temps are this low.

This week Paul hosted a somewhat impromptu beer tasting at our house with some friends.  I contributed a Gingerbread cake (I included the optional black pepper and apricots) and sampled all of these delicious brews with Paul, Tuyen and Doug.  One of these beers (Old Rasputin) tasted like a liquid version of the cake!

One of the reasons I baked that cake was to use up leftover buttermilk from Paul's most recent Meat Meet.  He is getting quite skilled at hosting these big parties by himself.  This time around, as a part of his elaborate menu, he made creme fraiche and he baked a complicated cake recipe that included candied bacon and chocolate ganache.  Thankfully I was around during the cake making to teach him the important lesson about volume vs weight measurements when it comes to baking recipes.  I think his 9 guests were quite pleased with the meal and I hear there were groans of pleasure when the cake was consumed.

I have been feeling drawn towards sewing lately and recently bought a pattern and fabric for making a dress.  I am excited about the prospect of being able to make more of my own clothes.  It is much more fun to shop for fabric than it is to shop for clothes!  I haven't started the dress yet, but I did sew some patches recently.  The front entryway rug was damaged by the rustic legs on our bench.  Hopefully these patches do the job!