All right....all right...nothing to do with food ....but this is Kiko's evaluation with a world famous judge, Fred Lanting....and he did really well....

now this is a work of art....not that anyone could fit another morsel of food in them!

the turkey....when it was finally COOKED!...was delicious. We brined it in an apple cider based brine...I'll try this again next year...Please note that some thermometers are meant to be inserted when the bird is COLD and some are "instant read" that can be inserted at any time....lesson learned

the beginning of an incredible dish.....and the end...a microwave gone wild!

this is some of the lunacy that I truly miss....

You would think that Kiko did the cooking!

I loved this presentation...gazpacho in a shot glass with a lime poached shrimp...delicious....healthy...and low cal! go figure....

Aimie's famous and absolutely delicious butternut squash bread!

Sauteed halibut on a cucumber sauce with a spicy tomato salsa....first time I have had halibut....liked it but wasn't my favorite fish...

One of my favorite pizza places in Chicago, D'Agostino's, thin crust, giardinairre (spelling) pizzas....very spicy and very good. We have concluded that it is the Chicago water that makes this pie sooooo good!

we decided to grill the pineapple next time to carmelize the sugar and give the sweetness more depth....

leave the shrimp coated in the seasoning for awhile...it will deepen the flavor....

this recipe is a keeper!...sweet pineapple, creamy avocado and very spicy shrimp......

I'm into sandwiches lately...grilled cheese with bacon and tomato....real comfort food!

Panini dinner

we had roast beef panini and chicken panini sandwiches with a wonderful corn soup....good wine, good friends and good food!

the Aimster and I...

...wanted to keep it simple...yeah right....ciabatta bread with fresh roasted turkey breast, fontina, arugula, bacon and avocado...and mayo, of course...the recipe had us grill the sandwich...we shouldn't have. Without the grilling it was a great sandwich!

Kiko...

...at six months...isn't he handsome??

...this is half of the Saturday morning swimming club....so manyclubs...so little time!

these tasted better than the photo....endive filled with apple, apricot stilton, celery, light mayo, a bit of fresh ginger sprinkled with toasted pine nuts and almonds....sort of healthy

These horns...

were pretty impressive looking and all we did was wrap sugar ice cream cones in tin foil and wrap strips of pasty dough around them and bake and fill...please don't tell anyone how easy this was!

..Kari, very carefully surrounds the flan with water, a bain marie....they would not cook evenly without this addition.