Sunday, February 22nd - a day earlier than usual

Conditions at 6:20 pm: -3' and overcast. It's been a strange day. New snow on the ground when we woke up, then changing to rain part way through the day, and then back below freezing once more. The temperature is going to remain around the -3 mark tomorrow with just a chance of a few flurries.

It was a great weekend. Brenda came over on Friday evening and we sat and drank tea (yes, tea, on a Friday night) and chatted about our week. It had been quite a ride but it's over. We're hopeful that maybe the weather will start improving, but we're not holding our breath on that one. She assisted with the preparation of the dessert for Saturday and we pondered whether or not it would actually set as the recipe stated. (it did)

I was off on Saturday so had all day to prepare for our dinner guests. I did some prep first then spent the middle part of the day cleaning up and setting the table. Our guests arrived, bringing with them a little taste of Spring, thanks to Will, in the form of some lovely tulips. After a tour of the garage, as Ray and Marlene hadn't been inside for quite some time, we settled in to a pleasant evening.

We began with some artichoke crostini and bruscetta, before the main meal. Both couples very thoughtfully brought wine and we had some here as well. I was anxious to try

the wine that Patti had brought from Paris. They were both very good but one was absolutely fabulous ( Cotes du Rhone Villages). We all tried it and loved it. I'll have to see if we can get that one here.

Our meal turned out rather well.  The first course was a Chick Pea and Tomato Soup. We served it in little cups and saucers so the joke was we had cup-a-soup for our starter. The main meal was a crown roast of pork, with mini parisienne potatoes, green beans with pancetta and panko, and bourbon glazed carrots.  The pork was a little underdone but was juicy and delicious.  Our dessert was something I'd come across online and it was a hit. It was very easy, layers of chocolate chip cookies with a cream
mixture. The in between layer was whipping cream, mascarpone cheese, tia maria, espresso powder, and vanilla all whipped together until stiff peaks formed. The cookies were placed in the bottom of the pan, then a  layer of cream, then a layer of cookies, etc until the pan was full.  After sitting in the fridge for 24 hours, the spring form pan was removed to reveal a delectable treat that everyone enjoyed.

All in all, a really great evening with good friends.

Sunday was full on cupcake production. I brought the un-iced cupcakes in from the freezer and set about icing them. They turned out not too bad and hopefully we'll sell some tomorrow.  Brenda came over just in time to help wash dishes.  A lucky break for me, not so much for her. When that was done, we poured ourselves a glass of wine and headed out to the craft room to make some decorative items for the sale tomorrow.  Then back into the house for final assembly. We had earned a cup of tea and a small piece of the left over dessert from last night.

So now, I have everything all packed up and ready
to go in the morning. The tricky part is always the transporting but hopefully all will go well.

Wish me luck!   Or better yet visit my personal bakery page for more info. Although it lists Ontario, all proceeds will go to the PEI Humane Society.

http://ospca.convio.net/site/TR/CupcakeDay/Cupcake15?px=1359780&pg=personal&fr_id=1468