Corrie sent me a box of homemade chocolates and I’m the happiest girl in town. I had to laugh when I saw “Happy Snapping” on the package too because that’s exactly what I wanted to do—and she probably knew I would. :) Talk about eye candy, they were delicious!

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Here are some pics I took a couple weeks ago. The top and bottom left pics are of trifle. In these images I experimented with using less or no contrast. When I first started out in the darkroom I was very heavy with the contrast button, then over time began using less and less. Sometimes though, I will use more contrast if I feel the image needs it.

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A couple years ago when we were still homeschooling, I decided the children and I would spend a day cleaning the deteriorating stain from off our back deck in readiness for Olivier to put down another fresh layer. My plan was to hand out brooms and buckets of water and to scrub together like one happy family. The children weren’t the most enthusiastic about the project but with a little coaxing and vision they took a leap of faith and ploughed with me. Which unfortunately didn’t last very long.

The more work one child did than another, the more that child complained about another child doing less. Then came the “but you’re older so you SHOULD be doing more work!” comments from the younger children, which then turned into a ping pong tournament of words thrown back and forth between three players. If my children were old enough to reason like this they were sure as heck old enough to scrub that deck too. But the bickering continued and my attempts to stop it grew louder so that by the end of the day zilch got accomplished.

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I bet you’ve never heard of a Mormon buying espresso glasses before. Let me tell you, the glasses are not only useful for adults who like having fairy tea parties (but without the pink plastic cups), they come in handy for other purposes too. They’re the perfect size for such rich desserts as these: Chocolate Pots de Crème. (The other glass in the pic is the yoghurt glass I bought back from France.)

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I’ve joined a dinner group using recipes from the Bon Appetit magazine. Once a month we meet at someone’s home (adults only); the couple hosting the dinner prepares the main dish while the other couples choose a side dish or dessert. I chose dessert: Cherry-Apricot Cobbler (pg 127 in the February edition of Bon Appetit). I’ve never made a cobbler before so I got a head start today to test it before next week’s dinner (see pics above). The only changes I would make in the recipe is the amount of sugar used in the filling. It calls for 3/4 cup. Too sweet. And I guess the bourbon which I didn’t have anyway. I also used a can of diced apricots (drained) but will try using the recommended dried apricots. I think it will add a punch of colour to the dish.