Clara's Visit

We had a really fun President's Day weekend! Our good friend Clara flew in from Columbus on Saturday night and the theme of her visit was: CHEESE. 

On Sunday, we made Risotto with Mascarpone & Prosciutto from the latest Food Network Magazine. This particular part of the magazine featured "light" recipes or "rich" recipes...we chose the "rich." :) Along with the mascarpone, the recipe also called for gruyere. The prosciutto that topped it off was baked in the oven and turned into delicious crispy shards of saltiness. 

If you're in need of a meal that's rich and comforting and not-so-great for your health, here's the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/risotto-with-mascarpone-and-prosciutto-recipe/index.html

Clara and I also stopped by Cheese Please, a locally owned business right around the corner that hosts wine and cheese parties. The employees in the store are always very nice and friendly and we ended up sampling 6 different kinds of cheese. Each cheese was also paired with different flavors of pepper jellies, making them even tastier. Our favorites ended up being 2 different kinds of goat's milk cheese from Holland...one with marigold (yep, the flower) and one with potato "chips." Not potato chips that come from a bag, but slices of potato? Something like that. We also bought a jar of pomegranate pepper jelly that paired with both of the cheeses beautifully...er, deliciously.

Robert was off work on Monday and we had yet more cheese for dinner: a salad topped with slices of baguette with warmed goat cheese, herbs de provence, and honey served alongside goat cheese & pistachio ravioli. Good. Ness.

After dinner, Clara and I had a date at Bern's (a fancy steakhouse here in Tampa) Dessert Room. We ordered the Bern's dessert sampler and a trio of molten chocolate cakes. Yum.

This post wouldn't be complete without a few cute pictures of Abigail. She warmed up to Clara right away and loved giving her big smiles.

2 beautiful girls!

This afternoon, we girls drove out to Clearwater Beach. This was Abigail's first trip to the ocean! She is not a fan of either 1. bright sun or 2. wind so she didn't seem very happy; however, once we got close to the water she seemed to really like the sound of the waves. Here she is buried in the Ergo carrier. She's still too young to wear sunscreen so I made sure to keep her safely shaded in her sun hat. Hopefully next time we visit the beach she can splash around a little in the water!