The lining is in; the trim on the button side is sewn on. Both sleeves are on. The trim on the button hold side is tacked in place and waiting for button holes to be sewn under the trim, which couldn't happen until the lining was sewn in.

Once I had the fronts and backs attached together, the work seemed to go easier. The collar is in two sections, each comprised of two pieces seamed together. The sections are stitched together and turned inside out, then the entire collar is stitched to the coat. It was quite possibly one of the easiest parts of this project. The cuffs are put together similarly; once finished, they are attached to the sleeves. In this picture, the cuff on the left has been slipped over the appropriate sleeve, and the two are stitched together at the wrist opening.

OOooh, I'm getting soooo excited! It seemed to take forever to baste the fashion fabric to the interlining, but once that was done, getting into the details was really fun! First, I sewed the two back pieces together, and pressed the seam open. I set that aside, and moved on to the front pieces, to which the pockets would be added before they could be attached to the back pieces.

From the right-side-out front piece, the pocket lining, unfolded, is attached.

There is nothing more heavenly than a light, flaky pastry filled with a rich vanilla cream sauce, topped off with a silky chocolate ganache.  Ironically, even though they seem so challenging to make, they are really quite simple - a custard, a pastry, and a two ingredient ganache.

For the cream sauce, first milk is simmered with a vanilla bean that has been cut open and the seeds scraped out (and also added to the milk).

Thanks to several pizza episodes in one night on Food Network, I had a wicked craving for deep dish pizza. I debated ordering a regular pizza from the local pizza place, but I knew it wouldn't be the same.  So, off to the store I went.  I went with traditional toppings; onion, green pepper, black olives, pepperoni, hot Italian sausage, mozzeralla cheese, and tomato sauce.  First, I made the dough.