Hi,

I am settled on making date nut cake. Usually a Christmas treat, though I have this 10-pound box of dates my sister bought sitting in my kitchen.

Might be one or two mystery guests tomorrow, who will come for dinner and berry picking, but not for the dessert exchange.

Regards,

I'll be there for dinner and berries

I am bringing my cake whole as it will travel better. I can bring baggies to distribute if people aren't bringing containers.

jeffs wrote:I'll be there for dinner and berries

Yay! Will be solo or with someone? We don;t want to save one seat too little!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

jeffs wrote:I'll be there for dinner and berries

Yay! Will be solo or with someone? We don;t want to save one seat too little!

Regards,

I'll be coming with Toria. Tried to talk my sister into it, but she's having back problems and can't sit in the car that long. She was tempted as she had wanted to visit the farm for berries, but not this time. I am supposed to gave lunch with Gohan Lover, perhaps I can convince her to come.

Cathy2 wrote:

jeffs wrote:I'll be there for dinner and berries

Yay! Will be solo or with someone? We don;t want to save one seat too little!

Regards,

It'll just be me.

Oops, misread the post meant for Jeff.

Ms. Ingie wrote:Oops, misread the post meant for Jeff.

No problem.

Both mystery guests pooped out, so sad.

See everyone tomorrow! Anyone else who is inspired, just show up.

Regards,

Oh poo, I love a mystery guest. However, I am truly excited about hosting this event and seeing old friends and making new friends! Who wants to guess what will be in my dessert.

Oo! Raspberries?

I made a Pecan Wine Cake. The batter was delicious. Now all I need to do is get it out of the pan.

I think that was one of the bestest exchanges. Thanks to razbry for the tour and delightful chat!

I thought it was a grand time. Food, desserts, conversation...the sweet things in life!

Yes very nice. Loved the raspberry farm. Love being out where food grows.

Thanks go out to Razbry for a very different and unique dessert exchange. What a lovely evening we had visiting Razbry in her community of Kingston. We the visitors enjoyed celebrity status at the church supper as we were from "east of Sycamore." At least three people stopped by our table and asked if we were the table of "folks from Chicago." Being LTHers, we inquired about the recipes of a couple of the dishes served.

After supper we drove a couple of miles outside of town, down a gravel road and arrived at Razbry's home and "You Pick Berry" farmette. You can't miss the more than 100 year old barn featuring a hand-made "barn quilt."



The starting point is inside the garage where you will find everything you need for picking your berries, including baskets, cartons, bug spray, handwashing area and cold bottled water for 50 cents. The You Pick structure is laid out on the wall of instructions. The operation is completely self-serve and payment is on the honor system.



The raspberries are just starting. Blackberries and blueberries were not ready quite yet.



After a few off us picked berries, we retired to Razbry's beautiful home and enjoyed Cathy2's mom's wonderful stories. We also shared our desserts.

Cathy2's Date Bread Toria's Coconut Bars

Ms. Ingie's Polenta Cake w/Black Apricots

Razbry's Peach/Raspberry Cobbler
Pie Lady's Pecan Wine Cake

great post Ingrid. I really enjoyed the dessert exchange. Everything was good.

This looks wonderful-
wish I could have joined everyone, but my day was just too hectic!
maybe next month.

^^^^^^^^. Completely agree with irisarbor's sentiments.

pairs4life wrote:^^^^^^^^. Completely agree with irisarbor's sentiments.

I read your FB post where you went off your sabbatical while at Next. Will you be rejoining us at some point?

Ms. Ingie wrote:

pairs4life wrote:^^^^^^^^. Completely agree with irisarbor's sentiments.

I read your FB post where you went off your sabbatical while at Next. Will you be rejoining us at some point?

Yes.

Wonderful post Ingrid. Loved the photos. Loved the company!

It all looks like fun. Sorry I couldn't make it. Maybe next month.

I met a young man today who is a recent transplant from Tennesee. He said the one thing he misses from back home is the food - so tasty, but also so bad for you. He aslo mentioned dessert so my sister invited him to come to the August exchange. He lives in Wheaton, so it will be concenient. Hope he makes it.

Good.