A Trip to Silver Spring

This past week, I was in DC for work. My best friend moved to Silver Spring from DC after she got married. I stopped by Friday evening to spend some quality time with the two of them. They have a nice backyard full of flowers and yummy treats like tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, strawberries, gourds and blackberries. HUGE blackberries. We went out back to pick whatever was ripe. We were outside for 15 minutes and I ended up with 54 total bug bites on my arms and legs. I guess the Maryland mosquitoes missed me or something. Thanks for making me look like I have a communicable disease, buggies.

Some pretty blooms from the front and side of the yard

 

I was so in love with their garden. It goes all the way around the yard - along the fence line. A lot of the vegetables like the gourds and cucumbers actually grabbed onto the fence to climb up away from the ground.

Watermelon. This baby was hiding from them. They just noticed it and look at it's size!

Baby cucumber

Gourd Strings grabbing onto the fence

 Melon

Not Shrute Beets

I didn't get any pictures of their blackberries because they are hidden below a mesh tarp that keeps out birds, creepy crawlies, deer and anything else that might want a taste. It's a genius idea and seems to be working out well. 

After dinner, we came back to Lauren's house and I watched as she made a super easy Tiramasu-type dessert for her family reunion the next day.

 Mmmmm it uses Amaretto...

 The recipe.

 Dip the cookies in a cup that has  amaretto and coffee in it. Place a layer on your display plate

 Add a layer of Marscapone, which has been combined with powdered sugar.

 

Spread it all out and repeat the two layers again.

 Bash the leftover cookies into oblivion.

 Take pictures of your bestie bashing cookies and giggle. A lot.

 

Sprinkle the bashed cookies on top and...

 

Finished product! I couldn't get a slice of this, unfortunately. Once you are done, freeze it until ready to serve. Mmmmm. 

Yeah, that was fun and looked delicious. Since I didn't get a slice of the deliciousness, I took a couple of cookies, dipped them in the amaretto and coffee and then added a dollop of sugar/marscapone on top. Yum. I will have to recreate this at home for a special occasion sometime. Maybe I'll make it for my parents anniversary later this month.

Coming up later this week - Saturday morning at the Wheaton Botanical Gardens.