Ice

I pulled this layer of ice off of the pond the other day. I thought it was beautiful how the leaves were captured in this glassy sculpture.

Seed Saving

Remember these from a couple of months ago? They are called Oscar Milkweed and I got them at the Farmers' Market. I really want to grow them in our yard so I let them dry out and saved some of the seeds. They were so fine and fluffy that they ended up floating all over the house. The way that seeds are perfectly designed for floating on the wind is incredible. One of nature's spectacular miracles.

Foodie Club Round 2

Last Thursday was our second Foodie Club dinner party and it was so much fun!

Leah and I were in charge of the wine. She brought Prosecco and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and I randomly chose 3 different Spanish wines. They turned out to be a good match for the meal.

One of the wines was called Pinocchio.

Sean ordered this gorgeous farmstead cheese from The Merc and we were lucky enough that he shared it will all of us. The Rush Creek Reserve is made at Uplands Cheese Company in Wisconsin and is a young, creamy, earthy cheese. We all swooned over this cheese and its story. Thank you Sean for sharing!

Josh and Leah enjoying some wine.

Louis made these gnocchi from scratch!

The gnocchi dish was the first course.

A lovely, simple green salad.

Louis the chef.

Baked golden trout served over a bed of carrots and mushrooms.

Our dinner mate was so distinguished.

Sean made this delicious cake with corn flour, a wash consisting of coffee, Moscato & amaretto; and the cream was a mixture of the wash, crème fraiche, ricotta and sugar. It was a fabulous way to wrap up the meal!

Here's the group: Me, Nick, Josh, Leah, Chris, Sean and Louis (not pictured)

What a fun night!

Gearin' up.

Man, I love to decorate. Just give me a reason. As soon as we get back from Thanksgiving I pull out the boxes of Christmas decorations and go to town.

The truck made it much easier to get the tree this year.

Fa la la la! Our tree topper!

This little mouse is one of my favorite ornaments and is made by a lady here in town.

My centerpiece on the dining room table has a couple of rabbit furs that I bought in Wichita over Thanksgiving.

This is above the dining room table.

This is our 6th year to throw a holiday party and Chris always does a great job making the invitations. I love how simple these are.

Foodie Club!

Five of my friends and I started a "foodie club" because we LOVE GOOD FOOD! We're planning on getting together once a month, at a designated person's house, for a dinner party. That person prepares the main dinner and everyone else is assigned another part of the dinner, whether it be hors d'oeuvres, drinks or dessert. I held the first dinner party. I gave Josh the assignment of buying a bottle of Domaine de Canton Ginger Liquer and coming up with fun pre-dinner drinks. He made an incredible assortment of drinks with vanilla vodka, grapefruit sparkling water, pears and mango lemonade. For the first course, I made Pecan Crusted Scallops with a Chimichurri sauce, which was quite delicious. For the main course I made Mussels in a White Wine Pesto Sauce, Garlic French Fries and Sauteed Spinach with Basil Leaves. I made this meal a few months ago for some friends and it was so fabulous that I had to make it again. Louis (of Blackbird Bakery) brought a tasty Lemon Custard Tart for dessert. It was one fantastic evening! I'm really looking forward to the next one on Thursday and I hope that we continue to have these dinner parties!

Giving thanks for the country life in Wichita.

Chris and I went to his folks' house in Wichita, Kansas for Thanksgiving. It's fun to see Chris switch gears so quickly to his old country boy self. He immediately pulls on his overalls and sets out to cut a tree down or work on the truck. He spent all day on Friday in the garage, so I took out on my own to the city. I drove around, took some pictures and did a little shopping. Wichita is a pretty cool town with a lot of interesting old buildings, museums and antique shops. On Saturday we drove to Newton, which is only 30 minutes away. We always stop at Good Old Days Antiques where there is a cat that rides around on your shoulder while you shop. We also checked out our friend, Dave Loewenstein's mural that he completed this fall. It was a great Thanksgiving!

Good Old Days Antiques.

Cutting a tree down with Grandpa Earl.