Just a Trifle

I cannot believe that I missed such a perfect opportunity. Last Thursday, N/M/E had 3 of her bestest NC friends over for their first bridge day since she's been back "home." And, all I got a picture of was the dessert! Yep, I snapped some shots of the Berry Trifle that I'd made for their special dessert (left)...and then I headed out the door without taking any photos of the ladies. Drat. I don't know where my head was, but it certainly wasn't on the business at hand.

Anyway, the Berry Trifle was really easy to make...actually, a better word would be to "assemble." I bought an Angel Food Cake Loaf at Harris Teeter's and sliced it into thirds lengthwise, then sixths widthwise...making nice, even-sized cubes of cake. I capped most of the strawberries in the quart container, leaving four of the prettiest with their caps on. These I dipped into sugar to "frost" and saved for later; the rest I sliced into bite-size chunks into a mixing bowl. After washing a pint of blueberries and a pint of blackberries, I mixed half of each together with the strawberries (save the rest of the berries for the top layer, added last); added a couple of tablespoons of Apricot Brandy; and tossed with 1/2 cup of sugar. In another bowl, I beat a pint of whipping cream until fluffy, adding a teaspoon of vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar at the very end for flavor. Lastly, in still another bowl, I mixed up a large box of instant vanilla pudding mix with 3 cups of cold, whole milk.

Time to assemble! I put a layer of cake cubes in the bottom of my trifle bowl, then a layer of the sugared berries, followed by a layer of pudding. Repeat. Cover with the whipped cream, all the way to the edge of the bowl. Seal with Saran Wrap and let rest in the refrigerator overnight. Then, before serving, I topped the trifle with the rest of the berries, and sprinkled with some sugar. Pretty to look at...tasty to eat!

N/M/E said they all had a fun time, and that they plan on making the get-together a regular thing. They are hoping to find a restaurant where they can play bridge and eat lunch and play bridge and drink coffee and play bridge...well, you get the picture.

So, where did I dash off to while the ladies were playing bridge? I said that I needed to go be with my own kind...so, I headed out to the yarn shop. On the way, I ran an errand and snapped this shot of the Big Bureau in downtown High Point (right)...they've added the socks hanging out of the drawer since we were here in '97. I had hoped that they were actually knitted, but no such luck. Too bad. I also noticed that the building that this giant furniture facade hides is for sale...wonder what it will become? We'll see...

Speaking of furniture (were we?)...Mr. T and I did some rearranging of bookcases and unpacking of some more boxes this weekend. We found the boxes with the curtains and the drapery hardware inside, so I spent most of Sunday starching and ironing the creases out of the long-packed material, and he spent most of Sunday getting our windows adorned. My goodness, it's amazing how much curtains make windows look finished.

Speaking of knitting (were we??)...I'm slowly getting all my knitting projects rounded up and organized. I found a pair of socks I was knitting...only, I couldn't locate the pattern. Fortunately, I'd made a note of the pattern name on the yarn wrapper, and I traced the book back to Missy M's house...so she was able to read me the pattern over the phone. I also have another pair of socks on the needles, but that particular pattern is beastly...I cannot use it to sit and relax after a day of unpacking, etc. As a matter of fact, I can only tolerate 2-3 rounds at a time on this pattern...I'll write more about it when I've finished it. I will eventually get everything back in order so that I can just pick up a project when I sit down to watch some television...but I'm not there yet. And, I'm not ready to start reporting on my Finished Objects just yet, either. Later.