Apparently, finishing one quilt can lead to the immediate start of a new one. I guess that shelf that's piled with things to do will never really get smaller.

Sam called me up and asked if I wanted to make some dessert. Never one to turn down a pastry chef's invitation to bake, I said okay. So over he came and we (mostly he) whipped up a great little dessert experiment. We have called it "Broken Chocolate Cake with Pear Compote, Cardamom Whipped Cream and Caramelized Almonds". Kind of a long name but suitably descriptive.

We tried two different methods of plating and decided that we preferred the one with the messier whipped cream. It was super tasty. The chocolate cake was airy, yet rich and the pear and whipped cream was a nice combo. And we both agreed that it was better with crushed nuts rather than whole ones.

Overall it was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. Much more pleasant than studying.

Last night I was showing one of my unfinished quilts to Trish when I realized that the only thing left to do was the binding. Crazy! This project started back in April and it spent the whole summer sitting up on a shelf waiting to be finished. I was sure that there was way more work to be done but apparently not. Now it's finished and sitting on the couch.

That's right! It was plum dumpling weekend! Trish made about 6 batches of perogy dough and supplied us with 60 plums. Ron wasn't sure that was enough fruit so made an extra trip out to get some strawberries. We wrapped them in dough and then Emma & Ron cooked them up. You boil them until they float and then put them in a frying pan with some butter and breadcrumbs. Check out the video to find out how to eat them. Delicious!

In my efforts to avoid studying Spanish I am now surrounded by stuffed, but not sewn together, sock monkeys. They're everywhere!