Thanks you guys! First thing Sunday morning my mom called to wish me happy birthday. My dad in the background, wanted to let me know that in 5 years I would be 50 and in 10 years I could take early retirement. (Guess I would have to work somewhere where that would apply first). I spent time taking pictures of new irises that just opened and cleaned the house a little since I knew that there were people coming for supper (but I didn't know who). My DH made supper while others who came brought salads and cake. Physically, I felt the best and coughed the least for the first time in 3 weeks. Pneumonia is not fun. I had been sleeping for hours each day and coughing a lot. I had never had pneumonia before and hopefully will never have it again. My DH and daughter and her husband went together and bought me a HP Photosmart printer. But, we can't install it yet because my computer only has 500mb of space left (because of all the GBs of pictures that are on it) and the printer installation uses 425 of memory. Think we need to burn some DVD's of pictures! Does anyone else have this printer? What do you think of it? But my best birthday present came yesterday. Laurie, 2 other friends of ours and myself drove to St. Anne's and visited Eleanor Hutchison who has a Canadian iris display garden in her yard. Over the past few weeks, Eleanor saw irises in my photobucket that she didn't have and I saw irises that she posted on Can-West Iris Society website, that I didn't have, so we traded. Then while we were there I bought some more. So, all in all, I came home with another 20 different kinds of MDBs and SDBs. Eleanor also took us to 4 nurseries in the area and we went to one on our own. Laurie's car was full of plants on the way home. We only arrived home at 9:30 just in time to bring in all the annual pots off the deck and cover the tomatoes and peppers in the garden because of the chance of frost last night.(It didn't freeze here last night, thank goodness) So, some new irises to my collection, that I can remember the names for, are... Pippi Longstocking Ditto Flight Director Flea Circus Blueberry Tart Cee Jay Lemon on Ice Eramosa Miss Forever Violet Chimera Cherry Web Sea Urchin Bugsy Grapelet Brenda

Riesling Poached Pear Frangipane Pie Directions: Crust 1 9-inch Hannaford pie crust Poached Pears 4 cups water 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 6 pears, ripe but not soft 2 1/2 cups late Riesling wine 1 1/2 cups Hannaford sugar 1 lemon slice Frangipane Filling 1 cup blanched almonds 1/2 cup Hannaford sugar, divided 1/4 cup Hannaford flour 6 Tbsp. Hannaford unsalted butter, softened 2 large Hannaford eggs 1 tsp. Hannaford vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. Hannaford imitation almond extract 1 Tbsp. reduced poaching syrup 1. Bake pie crust according to package instructions for pre-baking an empty crust. Cool. 2. Prepare poached pears. In a large bowl, combine water and lemon juice. Peel, core, and halve pears, and place halves in lemon water. Set aside. 3. Combine wine, sugar, and lemon slice in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Once this syrup mixture boils, reduce heat and keep it simmering. 4. Drain pears and discard lemon water. Add pears to syrup. Poach for 5 minutes, turn pears over, and continue poaching for an additional 5 minutes, or until pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Remove pears from syrup and place on paper towels to drain. Continue simmering syrup until reduced to 1 cup, about 20 minutes. 5. While syrup simmers, prepare frangipane. Combine almonds with 1/4 cup of the sugar in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add flour and pulse until combined. 6. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium high to beat butter and remaining 1/4 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well incorporated after each one. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts and poaching syrup. Reduce speed to low, add ground nut mixture, and mix until just combined. 7. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread frangipane in pre-baked pie shell. 8. Slice 1 pear half into slices 3/8 to 1/4 inch wide without separating slices. Slide a spatula under pears to transfer without separating. Fan pear half by pressing on stem end. Slide fanned pear half on to frangipane slowly so you can place it correctly. Repeat with additional pear halves until frangipane has pear fans evenly spaced over it, with space in between. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes, until frangipane is puffed, golden, and solid to the touch. If crust edges start to brown too much, cover them with foil. Cool on a wire rack. 9. To serve, slice remaining pear halves in half. Place a quarter pear on a plate, drizzle with poaching syrup, and place a slice of pie beside pear. Extra poached pears may be refrigerated in an airtight container for three to four days, covered with any remaining poaching syrup. APPROXIMATE NUTRITIONAL VALUES PER SERVING: 450 CALORIES, 62G CARBOHYDRATES, 6G PROTEIN, 19G FAT (7G SATURATED), 60MG CHOLESTEROL, 100MG SODIUM, 6G FIBER

I hope all your birthday dreams and wishes come true. Happy Birthday Shirley

Wait...Little G, Jase, MamaP and me are all April or (Aries) babies? Anyone else? Mine was April 4. When is yours Little G and Jase. Sorry didn't mean to hijack Alex's Birthday wishes thread.