Elsie

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Bon Appétit.

Last night Keith and I hosted three couples for a Friday Night Dinner night.













Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the fabulous food that everyone shared, but I did take photos of the fabulous people in attendance. I made French Pork and White Bean Cassoulet and Creme Brulee. I also had two loaves of Tribeca Oven French Baguette and some fabulous cheese from http://www.zzestmarket.com/ (my new favorite store in Rochester MN-more about this later). Scott and Susan brought The Barefoot Contessas own Potato-Fennel Gratin

(Keith was sure he had died and gone straight to heaven) and a nummy spinach appetizer. Donna Domino and Pete
brought Greek Salad and English Trifle (or was it Truffle?).
Galen and Sara

brought two pork roasts, one with a savory garlic rosemary flavoring and the other with Sauerkraut.














Charlotte joined us for dessert!
(okay, I am still frustrated with using this blog and know that my fonts are matched up..... HELP!)

More Photos

Here is a photo of Keith and I taken at Caleb Johnson's grooms dinner the night before he married Kristy!















Here is an updated photo of what's happening in the basement. We actually have some walls going up! This is a photo of what will become the bedroom closet.










Lastly, here is a photo of my first attempt at making Creme Brulee! I don't have a torch yet, so it doesn't have the caramelized sugar on top. But it was nummy and made for a nice afternoon treat on a snow day!

A Snow Day Photo

So, I am still learning how to use this blog. Now, here's the photo.

A Snow Day

It's rare that a grown up gets to experience a snow day. Today I had that experience. I was up and all ready for work and Keith was driving me to the bus stop for the 7 a.m. bus. He cleared the sidewalk and drive way, but our road was pretty messy and drifted in. So we turned around and came home. Here's a photo of what it looks like outside our back door today at 5:30.

Remodeling Down Under

No we aren't going to Australia, rather we are finally turning our basement into some expanded and comfortable living space. With a growing family that includes one spouse, one significant other and two dogs, Keith and I have decided to finish the basement and be more accommodating to their visits. It took some convincing on my part, but he is totally on 'board' now with the project. Our friend Denny Schultz is the expert and is working side by side with Keith as he has done in the past. I am in charge of the best part- making it pretty and comfortable. Here are some of the before photos I took. Despite my love of color (with my Cocina as proof) I promise the Pink Panther Pink walls are temporary. Right now we are deciding where the big windows will go as well as the general layout. We know there will be one big room finished into 'family room' space and we will have another bedroom of about 12X13 feet. Yes, it will have an 'egress' window. We are looking at flooring options too.

There is a first time for everything!

Tonight I started my first blog! I guess we will have to see if I have anything to say that is worth blogging about.