Meet my new friend...

the half-moon edger!




Here is the driveway before edger came to live with us.








And here it is after! Wow...what a woman! I did it all by myself.

Tinna and William are sick today. Tinna's coughing up a storm so no school for the twinkies. I still have to drag them out after Laney goes to school so we can get some groceries.

Steve got all of the shelving and flooring up in the attic yesterday so I'll post a few photos of that below. Now we just have the final few boxes to unpack and everything should have a place of it's own (hopefully!).






I didn't get much time to sit down yesterday. I finally got off my fat butt and took the twins out for a walk (it helped that they were begging for it). We walked up to a new neighborhood where I got lots of ideas for the front of my yard. The hubby and I are planning to get rid of the sidewalk leading from the car to the house. I'd like to put flagstones there and also through the front yard leading from the street up to the house. It's a project for next summer. I wasn't sure if it was something that would work for us but I saw a house up the road that has it and it really looks a lot friendlier than concrete! I think we'll go for it when the time is right.

So...in the pot yesterday...

JULIE'S FRENCH ONION SOUP FOR TWO
From: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 tsp flavorful olive oil
1 large or 2 medium-size onions
1/4 tsp sugarr
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp dry white wine
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth (or 2 cups homemade beef broth)
One or two 3/4-inch-thick slices French, Italian, sourdough, or another rustic white bread, small enough to fit inside the rim of the soup bowl, for each serving
2 tsp Cognac (I omitted this simply because I do not have it)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
About 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese for each serving

1. Combine the butter and oil in the slow cooker and cover. Turn on the cooker and allow the butter to melt and the oil to heat while you slice the onion.

2. Peel the onion, slice it in half lengthwise, then slice it thinly into half-moons. You should have about 2 heaping cups of onion slices. Add them to the cooker. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the onions. Use 2 forks to toss the onion slices with the oil, butter, sugar, and salt to coat them. Cover and cook on LOW until the onions are dark brown and caramelized, but not burned, 10 to 11 hours. They will have cooked down to a fraction of their former volume and most of the liquid will be evaporated. If you are home, stir the onions once or twice during the cooking period to help them cook evenly. (If you stir them more often, you will need to increase the cooking time.)

3. When the onions are done, add the wine and broth. Cover and continue to cook on LOW until hot and aromatic, 1 to 2 hours longer.

4. Meanwhile, toast the bread. Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the bread slices on a baking sheet and bake until dry and toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400F.

5. When you are ready to serve the soup, stir in the Cognac, pepper, and more salt, if needed. Pour the soup into 1 or 2 ovenproof soup bowls; place on a baking sheet to prevent spills. Drop a bit of the shredded cheese into the soup. Top each bowl with a piece of bread, or two if they are small. Pile the rest of the cheese on top of the bread. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and browned, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

**Of course I did not follow these directions exactly. I didn't have the french bread or Gruyere or Cognac. It literally takes ALL day to make this soup so we had ours for snack around 8:30 last night. YUMMM. It was worth the wait. I plan to make this again and see how well it freezes.