Was It Good For You?

I hope you had as lovely an Easter as I did. Soccer Son and his Lovely Wife to be Someday came for brunch, and the weather was nice enough to allow us to sit outside on the patio eating while we watched the Drooling Dog and his dog daughter, Izzy, running around cavorting until they were so tired they were ready to drop. Hubby took some photos of them and promised to email them to me, but he hasn't done that yet; when he does, I want to share a few with you--they're so darn cute together!

In the meantime, I did take a photo of the brunch spread--

This was the first time I made many of the dishes I served, and they all were a hit. I'll tell you what some of them were and give you links in case you'd like to try them out (just click on the name of the dish).

The rolls on the blue plate at the bottom of the photo are Prosciutto and Carrot Bundles, courtesy of Giada De Laurentis--vinagrette marinaded shredded carrots and a basil leaf wrapped in prosciutto. In the large casserole dish, Hash Brown Casserole, courtesy of The Neelys. On the cake stand, Petite Nutella Pochettes from Melissa d'Arabian's show, Ten Dollar Dinners. These are made with a cream cheese dough and filled with Nutella--fairly simple to make. Finally, in the smaller casserole dish, Egg Casserole by Robert Irvine. What makes this casserole a little different is the addition of Italian sausage and sun dried tomatoes--yum! Can you tell I like to watch the Food Network and the Cooking Channel while I quilt?!

After we finished brunch, we all talked to the Wild Child in New York--she had to work at the restaurant all day. She's talked with us a few times lately about her future plans, and we were happy to learn that she's decided to move back to California and go to school up in Humboldt--the "big city" just isn't her cup of tea. Of course, for us the drive to Humboldt to visit her will be almost as long and nearly as costly as it would have been to visit her in New York, especially with gas prices what they are, but Hubby and I DO enjoy heading north on vacation, so we think we'll be able to see a little more of her than we would if she stayed in New York. AND we expect that the Drooling Dog will be much happier living with her in Humboldt than he would have been in New York.

In the afternoon, after the kids left and I took a little nap, I got back into the Sweat Shop and worked a bit on the Thimbleberries project. I said I'd show you how far I'd gotten by the end of the weekend and this is it--

I now have the blocks finished and sewn together into larger blocks, set in nine-patch formation. Visions of various sashing ideas are playing in my head although I haven't decided what I'll do yet. When I asked a few weeks ago, many of you said you'd like green as a third color, and I'm leaning in that direction too. I'll let you know what develops.

My vacation is over and I head back to work tomorrow. It sure seems like the week flew by, but I've had a nice time. It's time, now, to head toward bed. Goodnight!