I know its been a long year, and difficult to get thru all those "firsts". Its so good to know you are looking ahead and 'up'. The pavillion will be a wonderful tribute, please take photos for us. Thru times shared here with you, I think you and Bill became woven in the fabric of many of our lives. Thank you for letting us be part of yours. hugs, Karen

Update: The Shaker Lemon Pie was to die for! I took it to a church potluck on Sunday and thought some of those "good-Christians" were going to battle for the last piece. It's VERY easy. Slice 2 lemons very, very thinly (I kind of let them get too soft and the mandoline didn't like that...grin). Add 2 cups of sugar and macerate overnight in the fridge. The next day, add 4 beaten eggs and mix well. Pour into pie crust, top with second crust and bake at 350 degrees for ~45 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Delicious. I made lemon curd from 2 more lemons. Served with angel food and fresh strawberries. No pics……..we gobbled it up! Maybe this weekend I’ll try a recipe from the cookbook. Of course I'll be taking party pictures, Annie..... Whether or not I post them is a whole 'nother question. :) Deanna

What else is needed? ;-) Light lunch munchies: shrimp cocktail, orange chicken nuggets w/teriyaki dip (forget the actual name; bought them in the freezer section at TJs, they were good), fresh fruit tray with vanilla yogurt dip (with cinnamon, orange zest and orange juice), and Multi-grain pita chips w/ sesame seeds (Trader Joe's), and cashew macadamia dried fruit mix (also from TJs). In between: virgin pina coladas Dinner: Grilled burgers and corn on the cob (big hit), cabbage salad, green salad. Dessert: Vanilla bean and chocolate ice creams (homemade) with cake

I have a customer that will only buy my fudge if made with milk chocolate (the sweetened condensed milk recipe). Personally I like the mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate for mine. To each his own. I have made chocolate chip cookies with milk chocolate but put extra walnuts in it because it is not chocolate-y enough for my buds. Using milk chocolate for blondies' topping is really good though, since the blondies have their own rich butter flavor and the other chocolates would over power that. And > I know what you mean about sending DH grocery shopping. Mine does it because I decided that he could do it just as well and we're both retired. He brings home EXACTLY what is on the list, no comparison shopping or grabbing of specials for him, so I have to be explicit, down to the size or weight of everything, and read the weekly ads for deals. I did convince him to look in the "past prime" meat section where everything is marked down at least 50%. Beef more than a few days over the "sell by" date" is perfectly fine, same with lamb, but not other stuff. I've also told him that he should buy one thing that he is hungry for, on his own. Sometimes it is broccoli rabe, leeks, Stilton, peppered ham, wasabe peas, or hot chocolate mix, or other stuff, not normal things I'd put on a list. Interesting, and rather fun. So, don't be too down on him. Laugh about it with him or he'll NEVER go shopping again,'cause he, purposely or not, "did it wrong". You know that is why a lot of men don't do laundry? They don't WANT to know how and do it wrong to prove they can't. Nancy