It was a very sad, but also a very wonderful weekend as we celebrated the well-lived life of a dad and grandpa who was always there for his family. We were all proud of him and we'll all miss him.

Lori took this picture of all of us on Saturday in front of Maw-Maw's garage, looking very casual after changing out of memorial service attire. Below is a picture of Bob's mom, Darlene, with great-grandson, Sullivan.

We didn't get back into Kendallville until about 2:00 AM, and we were not very productive today, although Bob did water the flowers and he found this little bunny hiding deep in the black-eyed Susan's. Look. There's an acorn hat right beside him. How cute is that?








Recipe of the Week: I hadn't prepared this dessert in a long time and I'd forgotten how delicious it is. In fact, I became alarmed after eating a big piece of it, because I realized I might be capable of eating the whole thing, so I quickly cut it in half and ran to the neighbors, pounding on their door and screaming "Take this! Take this!" They took it. They were just getting ready to watch Big Brother. This gateau ganache is a sugary, nutty meringue cake, and the chocolate hardens when it's mixed with the whipping cream. Delicious. Dangerously delicious. The recipe came from one of my favorite collections, San Francisco a la Carte, put out by the Junior League of San Francisco.

Gateau Ganache

6 egg whites, room temperature

2 cups of sugar

6 ounces ground pecans or walnuts

1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Filling and Icing:

3 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

Grated semisweet chocolate for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut 2 rounds of parchment paper to fit the bottoms of two 8-inch cake pans. Spray the parchment paper and the pans with Baker's Joy. Place a paper round in each pan. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff. Add sugar and nuts, all at once, and fold in, gently. Add vinegar and vanilla and spoon mixture equally into the cake pans. Bake meringue for 35 to 40 minutes or until crusty to the touch. Remove from the oven, run a knife around the edges, and quickly turn upside down on cake racks to cool. Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly. Whip cream until stiff. Place half of the cream in a separate bowl and add half of the chocolate. Place one meringue round on a serving platter and cover with this mixture. Top with second meringue and cover the top with the balance of the whipped cream. With a spatula, dip into remaining chocolate and make swirls on the cream to give it a marbled effect. Grate chocolate on top for garnish. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason." Jack Handey