Pies and Puppies!

Parents new puppy, Pugsley

Tivel

Mulan

Pugsley again

Steve's first Apple pie

Steve's second Apple pie

My Pizza Pie

Steve's (questionable) Peach pie

Last week Steve and I headed to P'Town for Rosh Hashana. The weather was beautiful and the services were wonderful. I am not sure we could have fit anymore into the fun filled weekend. Friday my Dad and Kitty had an amazing pre-temple dinner attended by many of our favorite members of the congregation. There was fantastic food including beef bourguignon, Yorkshire pudding, velvety mashed potatoes, perfectly roasted vegetables, colorful salad, soft fresh challah and of course the traditional apples with many different flavors of honey. Kitty and Pop also set up a full bar and on the table they sprinkled many different drink recipes all containing pomegranate juice still keeping with the Rush Hashanah theme.

Later that evening my Dad gave one of his best sermons ever. I could write an entire blog post just on that.

Saturday it was back to services and then an after party at the always elegant Bonk/Rivens, where we feasted and sipped champagne on the banks of the Elisabeth river - Steve even spent some time at their beautiful grand piano. After that we headed to the beach to spend some time with My sister Gretchen, her husband and my wonderful niece and nephew.

As luck would have it, one of her neighbors had just made a bunch of jello shooters so we thought it would be rude not to have a few. After the beach we headed back to Portsmouth to have a bite at one of my favorite restaurants, Stove. I have mentioned this place in past posts but I still must say again - if you happen to find yourself in Portsmouth for any reason - go eat here! Sydney the owner/chef is famous in Hampton Rhodes for excellent, fresh food using ingredients from local farms and gardens. The small place is always full but eating at the elegant bar where you can order anything off the menu is just as enjoyable.
The next morning we had a great brunch with this view:


The restaurant is called the Flagship.
The food here was amazing too - my parents friend, Alen, is the chef.
Steve's burger

My shrimp and grits

By this time the Redskins game had already started so we headed back to my Dad and Kitty's house to watch the game. We made it back home later that afternoon - full and tired and happy.
My Dad and Kitty have a new dog to join their brood. His name is Pugsly and he is so cute I had to share his pics with all (5) of you. I didn't want the other dogs to get jealous so their pics are on here too. Trixie was also with us but looked rather annoyed at the small dogs around her. I think she wasn't sure what they were. What I am sure of is if my parents get one more dog they are officially a lesbian couple.

I am taking the time to catch up on a lot here as I recover from my second tooth implant surgery. All went well but recovery is a bit slow. I can't wait until a few months from now when I will have 4 new teeth and be able to smile all the time! I just got a phone call from my Periodontist this morning to check up on me. Not the Nurse - the actual Doctor! This has never happened to me before -

A couple weeks ago - in an effort to save money I got a great pizza crust recipe from my friend Naomi - since then I have made a few very good pizza's (if I do say so myself) the dough is easy to make and by making it myself it has much less salt and fat than delivery. It is also a lot of fun!!

Steve has been on this pie kick. I think I mentioned he made a homemade apple pie - since then he has made another one and then just a couple days ago he made a peach pie. I have not been able to taste it yet due to my surgery but Steve P had a piece last night and gave it a thumbs up. As I was puttering around early this morning I noticed a piece of fruit that hadn't made it into the pie. It looked like a peach until I picked it up and realized it wasn't fuzzy - I think Steve made a nectarine pie by accident. I am so embarrassed for him...I am sure it is still good. He tells me his next pie will be pecan. I sure hope I can chew by then.

I believe I have bored you all long enough - time to take some pain killers and lie back down.