Stash Report and How the Food Turned Out

used this week	-9
used in july	-9
added this week	0
Add in July	0
Used YTD	-113.25
Added YTD	108.18
Stash reduction	-5.07

YES!!!!!! Finally back in the RED!  It was those duffel bags and the Paint Chip Challenge Quilt that made the difference this week.  Let's see if I can finish that Paint Chip Challenge this week and get the Lizard BQ quilt off the frame and the Paint Chip Challenge Loaded up so I can get that finished for the August meeting.

The dinner last night was an incredible success:


First we started off with a beautiful antipasto tray.  I used black olives wrapped in provolone, calabasso and steamed asparagus with some pearl buffalo mozzarella.




I roasted a green and an orange bell pepper over my fire and lightly sauteed them in a nice olive oil.  The whole kitchen smelled like sweet peppers.  The roasting made the peppers caramelize their sugars and they had none of the bitterness I don't like.  They totally were transformed by the fire.  The peppers joined the rest of the stuff on the antipasto dish for serving.  I also added a portabello mushroom that has been soaking in some nice balsamic vinegar for a couple of hours.  The mushroom head was large and I saved the second one for tomorrow's lunch!








 DiNozzo slept.

I cooked the Marinara Sauce earlier and put it into the ice box to cool.  Cooling the sauce allows the flavors to mix.  The pasta was thick and freshly made.  They look like tiny Lasagna noodles!

 And the wine was a nice blend of 5 different wines.  I don't like dry wines, which is why I don't like most reds.  But this had an incredibly wonderful taste.  I would recommend it.  It was not sweet like an Argentinean Malbec, but it was not dry either.  I really liked it.

The bottle was called Colby Red.  And the cherries were perfect with it as we talked.

The dessert was made by none other than aspiring baker, Margaret.  She spent the week choosing and making the beautiful cupcakes that melted in our mouths as we paired them with Caramel Macchiatos from my expresso machine.

Oh, yes.  Talk about being in high cotton!  Good company, good friends and good food.

glen