Dinner with Nana & Papaw

My parents came for dinner on Wed. evening. Dad has been gone for 10 days, Mom had worked the weekend and we hadn't got to see them or for them to see Emma in awhile, so dinner at our house.

Mom got Emma up from her nap and brought her out to the living room. She was a bit fussy and cried some. I waited till she mostly calmed down and then went into the living room with the camera. The big ham! She saw the flash flicker and she cheesed a big ol' grin! Tears? Me?? No way!!

This was dessert: Peanut Butter-Cream Cheese Swirled Brownies. Yummy!

Dinner was Lovejoy Eggplant Parmesan, pasta, Salad, fresh bread w/ dipping oil & herbs. We make our own sauce when we do eggplant parm now. It happened once as a forgetful type mistake. I had planned to make Eggplant Parm but forgot to buy the sauce. I had a can of tomato puree and went from there. I also had dried sun-dried tomatoes and they added so much flavor to it. A little basil, oregano, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, sugar, paprika, black pepper, garlic, onion...... and we had a winner. We've made it 3 times now and just love it! SO much flavor! We don't bread the eggplant either. Sliced thin, layered along with onion, mushrooms and then sauce and cheese. I could eat it every week!

The roses are the napkin rings I used. I made them the first year we were married. Don't use them often enough. (Bought the table cloth that 1st year also) Dinner with my parents gave me a reason to use a tablecloth, cloth napkins, and napkin rings. :)

Pretty, voluptuous roses (not skimpy cheap ones) snipped off close to the blossom, and 2 sections of leaves and then stitch it onto a thick black pony tail holder!! How easy was that??? I paid about $5 for the rose bouquet and maybe $1 for the pack of rubber bands.