Food and friends, friends and food

Marie of ZQuilts asked what kind of camera my new one is...it's a Panasonic Lumix FZ18. It's an 8 megapixel "SLR-like" digital camera with a Leica lens. It's in the category the camera folks call "ultra zoom" or "bridge" cameras...It's not an SLR ("single lens reflex"), but it has a really great zoom lens and does far more than the typical point-and-shoot camera. But you can't change lenses (the way you can on a true SLR) and it's not big and heavy. You can read about it here. I'm able to take basic pictures so far, but it has all sorts of setting programmed for different situations (snow! bright backgrounds! night skies! moving subjects! multiple faces!) and I suspect it'll be awhile before I figure that all out.

Meanwhile, I did take it with me to my holiday lunch at Pat's house. Pat -- a very talented cook -- made a lovely lunch of butternut squash soup with cornmeal bread and an assortment of cheeses. And Rita supplied champagne, so we were in fine celebration form.

Here's Pat, demonstrating the hand-held GPS unit she adores.

And Rita, fondling the GPS unit because she covets it.

And Janet, looking on with amusement.

For dessert, Pat presented her annual Italian fig cookies and pizelles. Yummers.

Which makes a nice segue into what I'm doing today -- baking, baking, and baking. Tommy has inspired me to make a few batches of chocolate bark, too. Can you smell the chocolate?!