LAST WEEKEND ~ ~ ~

We had the last of the dinners that we auctioned off for our Homebuilders charity! Our friends from home, Janet and Tom, were the lucky bidders and chose to have their dinner at our condo on Lake Erie. Of course, with all the hilarity, I didn't get any pictures of our guests ~ but maybe you would like to see pictures of the condo!! This is a corner of the living room ~ in the lower right of the photo is an extra table we set up so that all seven of us could dine together! The wicker chairs are old ones that have followed me around for many years ~ Sonny painted them a nice Martha Stewart color and I made the cushion covers ~ lots of things get re-painted in my life!! Over the mantel is one of my little hooked rugs ~ I had hooked it to sell but since the colors were just right, it came to the condo!

The dining table is set for dinner ~ kind of dining under the palms!! I love this tree and love using little pieces of antique fencing to accent artwork ~ this is a watercolor done by an area artist. Since we're at the table, I'll tell you the evening's menu ~ we started with Sonny's grilled shrimp marinated in garlic butter (yummy!) and bacon-wrapped chestnuts in a little barbecue sauce that I make ~ they're baked in the oven until the sauce is almost caramelized ~ also pretty darned yummy!
For dinner we did mushrooms that I saute in butter, then move to a broiler pan and cover with crumbled bleu cheese and crumbled bacon (real bacon!) and broil till the cheese is browned a bit! A zucchini dish with fire-roasted tomatoes, peppers and onions made into a sauce! And filet mignon that were out of this world!! My friend, Margo, gave us this recipe and it can't be beat!
Ask your butcher to cut 10 oz. filets for you ~ season them to your liking ~ and sear the filet on one side in butter in a very hot frying pan for 5 minutes ~ turn the filets over and then move the filets in that same pan to a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 8 minutes ~ and let them rest in that pan on top of the stove for another 5 minutes!!!!!! They were the best! Our guests raved about them and since one of the couples run the food service at a college, I was pretty concerned about cooking for them!! They were very complimentary!! You might want to experiment a bit ~ ovens will vary and the steaks will be rare to medium rare ~ adjust your times to suit your tastes ~ but give it a try!! For dessert, I made my Black Forest Cake ~ they loved every morsel!! Of course, the adult beverages flowed ~ maybe that's why they enjoyed dinner so much!! After being wined and dined, our guests had to leave to catch the ferry to Kelley's Island ~ we had a great time with them and so appreciated their generosity in donating to the children's fund ~ a good excuse to get together with friends!


These are just little vignettes that fill empty spaces around the condo ~ these are birdhouses that I'm shelling in stages ~ it keeps me off the streets!






This is at the top of the stairs ~ an old oar, more fencing, another birdhouse and an artist's photo of beach chairs! I hope you liked the condo pictures ~ I'll show more another time ~ it's vastly different from our home ~ lighter and more airy ~ relaxing and uplifting!

Another fun thing last weekend, was a wedding up here on Catawba Island! A fellow we built a home for several years ago and a sweet gal tied the knot in a little church ~ blue hydrangeas decorated each pew and she wore the more gorgeous classic wedding dress that was reminiscent of the 30's. The reception was held at a private club they belong to ~ the food was great and table decorations were more of the blue hydrangea and other gorgeous flowers surrounding cream colored lanterns! Then we were invited for cake and the after party at their new lake home that is on a little gated island just steps away from reception ~ it's on the channel to the lake ~ fabulous marina and lake views and their boat on the channel in their back yard!! It was a fun afternoon of mingling with their family and friends and we wish for them a very happy life together!!

Hope you enjoyed your visit here ~ come by any time!! As I looked at this post, I notice white blotches in some of the photos ~ don't know what they are ~ looks kind of weird ~ an entity, maybe? Diane will know what I'm talking about!!

We're getting ready to take a walk ~ with all this talk of food, I may have to eat some breakfast first!! I'm posting this on Sunday morning ~ but since I put the pictures up on Thursday, that's the date it shows ~ somehow I should be able to change that but haven't figured it out yet!! Have a good day!
Alice