Just Visiting

Friday night we arrived in West Lafayette. Here's what we've been eating as we visit our relatives.
My sister Elaine had made a splendid Julia Child ragout with potatoes and greenbeans to
start our entertaining weekend.

After a day of birdwatching at the rather cold Celery Bog and near the Wabash,
we went to dinner at a nicely decorated Thai restaurant with Elaine, Larry,
and their friends David, and Jenny.

The appetizers were quite delicate. All the dishes were spiced deliciously.

I asked to see a kaffir lime leaf, which was listed as the spice in one or two dishes.
They brought this one. It smells citrusy and tastes like lemon and citronella.
I don't think the flavor was in anything we ordered,
but we loved the duck, mango fried rice, several other dishes, and the dessert of mango mousse. 

We arrived in St.Louis Sunday afternoon, and went to the famous "Hill" Italian
neighborhood for dinner with Len's sister Ruby and brother-in-law Jay.
Finally as we were leaving Indiana we found beautiful sunshine, warm temperatures,
and fields with tiny green plants! It is beautiful here.

The famous St.Louis Italian signature dish: toasted ravioli!

A muskrat in the celery bog. I'll leave all the bird photos to Lenny.

We'll be in St.Louis a couple of days, then head onward towards Santa Barbara. We are so glad to be finished with winter at least for the moment, and hope to avoid bad weather as we continue across the country.