Monday Night Snow
Brrr...
It's supposed to snow some more tonight, but then warm up and change to rain. (It'll be nice for the temperature to be above freezing again.)

 

More Sweets
Here are some more pictures of Eve. Taken Saturday morning.

















Check out Eve's luxe lashes: 

Thanksgiving's Sweetest Treat:
(By far!) Eve, Eve, Eve and more Eve! She provided hours of entertainment and amusement. Thanks to Mark and Cory for sharing her with the rest of us!


 

Thanksgiving (The Day After):
We went on a tour of the Theo Chocolate factory. The only organic bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer in the United States. And it just so happens to be located Fremont.

Big burlap bag o' beans:















Close-up of cocoa nibs:











Trays of naked confections in the kitchen, waiting to be dressed in chocolate:















The enrobing machine. Sweet mother of God. What a great invention. Move over wheel, automobile and computer. The enrobing machine is where it's at! 

Thanksgiving (Intermission):
After the salad and cioppino, but before Becky's two tartes tatin (one pear and one apple), we had some delicious pizza.


Becky assembles the pizza:















Our ode to Oregon: Pear, hazelnut and gorgonzola pizza:










Finished product:










This was delicious, especially with a little bit of lavender honey drizzled over the top. I plan on recommending this assemblage of ingredients to the Serious Pie people. (Not that they need my help.)

Thanksgiving (Setting the Scene):


Plates of salty almonds:










Makeshift bar set up in dining room:










Big orange pot for cioppino: (No turkey at our house. Just plenty of seafood: clams, scallops, crab, halibut and shrimp.)









At home on the range: 

Jury Duty

It's over! From November 15th through the 22nd, I performed my civic duty. Hopefully I will not have to do that again anytime soon. It was very stressful.  

Before and After
It didn't rain today. So I gave myself deck sweeping duty. There are still a few soggy stragglers left behind, but nothing compared to the bounty that was there before. Dave vacuumed and cleaned the downstairs carpet. (But I didn't take before and after pictures of that.)
 

Just Around The Corner
Christmas isn't too far away. And I've been trying to figure out what to get everyone. I've recently discovered a website that has lots of cool handmade/crafted items: www.etsy.com Now, of course, not everything's a winner, but it's worth checking out and I think it's nice to give (and get) things that are fairly unique and not mass-produced. (Although that being said, I'd have to say that the camera that Dave gave me for Christmas last year is one of the best presents I've ever received...and it's not unique and it IS mass-produced.) Hooray for Dave (and Konica Minolta)!

The Hangers On
There aren't too many leaves left on the trees, so the ones that are still hanging on really command your attention. I especially like the golden maple leaf against the dark grey bark of the tree.

Squirrely

Look who I found on my walk. He didn't really like me taking his picture, but he wasn't willing to drop whatever he was munching on to run from me either...so we had a staring contest. I won!


 

Maple Leaves As Big As Plates
I took this shot only for informational purposes. (I'm not really dining outside.) But this is an example of the size of some of the larger leaves that are falling. They actually make quite a bit of noise if they happen to hit a window on the way down. 

Rain and Wind

This is what happens. This is what the deck looks like. Yes. There's a deck under there. And really, this time of year, I'm especially glad that we chose decking that is 100% plastic. The only thing rotting here is the leaves.















However, the gutters are another matter. There will be plenty of leaves waiting for Dave when he gets home. 

Fall Is Falling
There are many giant wet maple leaves on my deck. (All of which have fallen since Sunday night, which is the last time I swept them off.)

















It's enough to make me want to make a very mushroomy (and a little pancetta-y) pasta for dinner. And that's what's going to happen!