Gourmet At My House

Yesterday was Gourmet at my house.  Our group was smaller than usual because 2 members couldn't make it.  The deal is, if it is at your house, you plan the menu and purchase the ingredients.  When everyone arrives, they prepare the meal.  And then we eat, of course.

We had mushroom Wellingtons, Orange/Almond Salad, Maple glazed autumn vegetables, and poached pears with cinnamon ice cream  and chocolate ganache.  It was quite tasty, if I do say so myself! Check the recipe page for the Orange-Almond salad.

This last Friday I went to Dubuque with Miss Jackie for a quilt retreat at the Shalom Center.  It used to be a Catholic girls school many years ago and then the nuns convent.  The nuns still live there but it is also available for people to rent the rooms for events.  Its a charming setting in Dubuque (between the Catholic cemetery on one side and the Lutheran on the other). I didn't get a lot of quilting done, but I got started on a project and took my knitting and worked on that, also. On Saturday I met Lauren and her friend Julia in Monroe Wi.( about an hour from Dubuque ). We had lunch and roamed around.  It was a lovely town with THE BEST CHOCOLATE SHOP!  Chocolate Temptations was the name...absolutely worth the trip!!
Jackie and I came home on Sunday afternoon.

Saying 'good-bye' to Lauren and Julia...:- (  But, we'll see her next week for Thanksgiving!: -)