It's nearly that Magic Day

The magic day in December - for me - is the 15th. It is my personal deadline for sending Christmas cards to those lucky first few who might get them on time.
However, I have been looking all over and can't find my address book. Where, oh where, could it be?
......... Hello. It's now Friday morning, Dec. 16. This post has been sitting here all night. I haven't found the address book. I did address four cards and then I slumped into a "Pose of Denial" on the living room couch and caught up on some TV viewing.
I pity anyone anticipating a card and Christmas letter from me. And from not posting on this blog more often I think my writing skills have decreased vastly.
New Years resolution, anyone? Anyone? - femminismo

Journey of Tiramisu

There were so many memorable meals in Italy. Looking through my backlog of photos I chose a few that bring back one of the great dinners we had. There were sausages and sauteed grapes (these were delicious fried gently in olive oil - try them!) and for dessert we had a tiramisu - one of the fluffiest and tastiest ever.

Paola (left) made the dessert and Elizabeth fixed the sausages and grapes.

The people we were surrounded with proved to make the whole journey and every meal memorable. Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed as if everything was enchanted? Perfect accommodations, wonderful destinations, trouble-free arrangements on tours - everything just working out great? Well, this was my Italy trip. Sort of sets the gold standard.

Paola is whipping up the eggs for the dessert. Standing ready are the lady fingers and the super strong espresso to soak them in.

I am loving these memories and pictures because they take me back to that kitchen in Italy again. Back to that kitchen where Paola is layering the soaked lady fingers with the whipped egg and sugar mixture, which was just right: not too sweet so you could taste the other delicate flavors. (Elizabeth is in the background. She is writing a cookbook and I can't wait to see it.)

One of my favorite people on our trip was Anne (left). She is so sweet and kind and was always Johnny on the spot at helping make everyone super comfortable, even though she wasn't hired to help. She was on vacation too. She is just that sort of person, wanting everyone to enjoy themselves.

She had to leave our group early, after about a week together. She had a job interview in England. Pretty sure someone with her abilities was snapped up.

Here she is adding the chopped chocolate to the top of the tiramisu. Here's hoping for another trip one day to some place just as wonderful with such great folks and memories - femminismo

(I wish I understood why I can't "post" these from my laptop. So I write them on my laptop, save them as drafts and then use another computer to post. Any suggestions out there in blog land?)