What I did last night instead of go to KOL

My cousin Karen is in town for my wedding (10 days! 10!) and we are trying to get in as much visit as possible before she heads back to Saulte Ste Marie the week after my big day. As a result, she's taken me away from 2 nights with my sisters with sticks at Knitting Out Loud. Next week I care not how much she pleads, I am going to knitting. Because, quite simply, I need a night away from the incessant planning we are doing.
At any rate, last night's activity also involved her brother Richard, who is, as it happens, also my cousin. Richard is a chef for Atlantic Superstore, and he gives gourmet cooking classes in their Upstairs community rooms. I highly recommend the classes, they are highly entertaining and informative, plus you get some fantastic food to eat. This fall they are having hands on classes, where the attendees actually make the food instead of watch and eat (although the eat is the best part!).
This is Chef Richard:

And this is him preparing some Grilled Tomato and Garlic Bruschetta with Ciabatta Crostini:

The theme of the evening was Italian Grill. We began with a very tasty Sangria, then ate the bruschetta. Our next course was Grilled Sweet Peppers and Italian Sausage Penne (oh my gosh good!). Then we had a lovely Grilled Chicken with Toasted Almond Florentine Sauce (the sauce was an alarming shade of bright green, but incredibly tasty!) which he served up with some Carmelized Onion Risotto (heaven!). Finally for dessert we had PC Panna Cotta (gotta plug the superstore brands too!) topped with fresh strawberries and a bit of balsamic vinegar. All in all, an absolute delight for the mouth! Hungry yet?
However, I did really miss my knitting time, especially since I missed out last week for Karen's daughter's b-day (Bug is 8 and one of my most favourite people, I had to go!). So I snuck my knitting in and worked on the sleeve to a baby sweater under the table:

So, that's what I was up to last night. Again, I urge all of you to go to a class, look for ones taught by Chef Richard Julien, tell him Lesley sent ya!

I also wanted to point this out to anyone who might be interested. I found an ad on MotherDotCommune looking for pregnancy stories from this woman, Camille. I submitted my story, and I'm featured on her side bar of her blog, Maternal Digressions. In the picture I sent, I'm pretty close to my due date, so I'm HUGE! If anyone is interested, I recommend submitting your own story. -Lesley