A shout-out to Elena and Rene'e

Now you can see why the belly is so big this week!

So, Elena and Renee, don't be jealous but this is what you think it is... homemade ice cream. You're familiar with Grammie Fraser's stellar down-home cooking, since most of the popular dishes I make originate from her, so you can just imagine what her homemade ice cream tastes like: pure heaven. And that's not all. The flavor, you ask? Coffee. Yes, coffee. This is the creamiest ice cream you've ever tasted and traditionally the whole family gathers 'round to "lick the paddle" when it's done. Marc is definitely enjoying many of our Fraser/Brackley traditions this week.

Not only have we indulged in homemade coffee ice cream, we've had homemade brownies, tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, ginger cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, homemade MAINE blueberry pie (Maine blueberries are the small wild ones that are far sweeter in taste than those big Michigan blueberries), blueberry muffins, homemade cinnamon rolls, the list seems to go on and on. Now, for fear of creating jealousy I pause to contemplate whether or not I should even mention the rest. I'll just say lobster rolls. That's it. We've had much more than that, but I don't want to cause a brother to stumble.

And tomorrow is the day that this sweet vacation is ending. It's been great to be with the family, especially seeing Marc my Aunt Valerie, Uncle Scott, and cousins Heather and Cody since Marc hadn't met them yet. We've had a lot of fun together and it'll be sad to leave, not knowing the next time we'll return. But next time will be very different!