Valentine's Heart Swap

The mailman brought love to my door yesterday - my Victorian Paper Heart Swap arrived very nearly the moment after I finished my post from yesterday! I was so excited!!!! I sat on the couch admiring the lovely heart that Heidi Meyer made for me for the longest time. Then I very carefully opened and oohed and aahed over each of the little packets of goodness that accompanied the heart. I even used some of the lovely little pieces of ribbon and lace already in a wrist cuff I'm making!!!!

The big heart was quickly hung in the center of our fireplace mantel and will probably stay up loooooooooong past Valentine's Day as it is so beautiful! You can see all of the beautiful hearts crafted by this bunch of amazing women over at the Vintage Dragonfly and see more about Danielle Muller, the lovely woman who organized it all!

I also realized that this is my 100th post!!!! What a milestone!!!! I wasn't sure how I would like this blogging thing but I am addicted - it is thrilling for me to see where it is that people are stopping by from, all over the world, places I can only dream of traveling to at this point, all 50 states - I am amazed!!!! To celebrate this momentous occasion, I'm having a little giveaway. I made up an extra little packet of vintage-y goodness for the heart swap. If you want a chance to win the packet, become a follower of my blog and leave a comment here answering the question, "What is your favorite Valentine's Day food to make or eat?"

As for me, I have many and have tried many over the years including chocolate-filled croissants, chocolate raspberry cheesecake, and this year I attempted chocolate macarons. They didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, hence no pictures, but I will persevere and keep perfecting my technique. Even though they don't loo perfect, they taste super yummy! You'll also see there is a common denominator here - clearly I am a chocolate addict and so happy to be able to eat chocolate again again after my surgery!!!!

Happy Valentine's all and have a wonderful weekend - romantic for those of you with a partner and filled with so much love no matter who you are!!!! And don't forget to enter the contest by 10:00 pm EST on February 14 - Valentine's Day!

Burgers, fries and a big surprise!

Okay, not really a surprise as any trip back home means at least one visit (and usually more) to our iconic Big Boy drive-thru! It may be surprising to others that you eat your fries with their fantastic gravy and a pizza burger flying style. Big Boy has many other items on their menu, but for most people in our family (and anyone who marries into it) those are the only items ever ordered. There might be one more item - a Hot N' Tot (Coke with cinnamon syrup).

It's not just the food that makes the Big Boy experience so memorable, it's the shared event of eating your food in your car in the parking lot next to the restaurant as there is no eat-in option. Some folks choose to take their food out to one of the picnic tables under the trees but then you're a much easier target for the squirrels begging for your lunch. On our second visit to Big Boy on our trip home, we were treated to a show of a half dozen turkeys chasing one of their own around the trees trying to establish their pecking order.

Big Boy is also part of most Bismarck and Mandan high school students experience. Dragging Main in Bismarck included the Big Boy as one of the turn-around spots is the Big Boy parking lot!

A more elegant part of our culinary experience on this trip was a little visit to the Patisserie on Fourth. They hosted a Night at the Opera event which featured cakes all inspired by and named for elements or characters of the Phantom of the Opera. We sampled the Phantom and Opera cakes which were both beyond wonderful! We bought a box of truffles to take home with us for good measure and bought mom and dad a dessert as they didn't join us. Roses graced each table and art from area artists decorated the walls. I was particularly enamored with the artwork of Julie Neidlinger. I was also very tempted by the gorgeous silent auction cakes that were created for the event!

I only wish there had been more in attendance to support this fantastic and unique event. It's frustrating to find that people are so reluctant to step out of their comfort zone and try something new and really frustrating to realize the lack of support for artists and their creations.