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| It started the night before with The Cake.... I took advise from the cake master.... aka: Chicago Joyce....aka: Betty Crocker... and I went with real whipped cream instead of cream cheese frosting on the strawberry cake... Mistake!! you can't work with a whole quart of fresh whipping cream and expect it...even with a stabilizer to hold it's shape... Not in the summer.... but it held up okay in the fridge overnight so then I moved on to baking the Madeline's that would the party favors..... It was Linda @ A La Carte blog.... and Necie....the previous next door neighbor and dear friend for 30 years...birthdays We celebrate every year and I host the luncheon... |
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| mini chocolate chip Madeline's By Ina.... I always try to bake a little something for the Peeps to take home... |
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| The Table was set weeks in advance.... I was going to go with a Paris theme for Miss Linda... But then I changed to Birds! color theme would be green and purple.... Using my mother in laws china...and silver... I used purple ball jars to hold votive candles.... |
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I found these cute little boxes at every bloggers favorite go to store.... The Dollar Tree... inside are the Madeline's.... |
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I love my little wooden bird....she travels all over the house...wherever needed... bird flower pots found at T.J. Maxx artificial plants from Ikea... |
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| If anybody can tell me how to easily get the now melted wax that is stuck at the bottom of the ball jars out...it would be greatly appreciated!! |
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| Green napkins....Ikea... paper place mats with a plate and silverware design Anthropology.... |
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| MIL Marge's lovely china and silver... |
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A nice spot to park birthday gifts for the Girls.... |
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Wondering how I was going to pull off having lunch ready for when the gals showed up...I realized it was impossible.. You will see why in a minute... So....I decided to feed them first...before lunch That's correct...we basically were going to eat twice! |
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| Food that could be ready when they arrived.... I filled the kitchen island with goodies to keep them busy while I prepared lunch.... We had Brie and peach jam baked in Phylo Cups... hummus and chips and crackers...Olives... Cheese...Tomato and Mozzarella.... And something I experimented with making... Lemon Pepper Orzo Salad...with shrimp... fresh corn...red pepper and basil in a lemon vinaigrette...... It turned out to be a big hit and everyone wanted the recipe... |
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| everybody loves tomato and mozzarella! Next time you have a party...forget that fresh veggie platter with dip...nobody really likes raw vegetables..... Try the tomato and mozzie on a skewer... Ask first before pouring on the Balsamic Vinegar... This crowd loved both the Olive Oil and Vinegar... |
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| This was lunch.... Croque MonsieurAnd Spring Salad with orange poppy seed dressing... |
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| Both the salad and the Croque Monsieur had to be made and eaten right away.... Hence the reason it could not be made ahead of time... What your looking at is a Croissant.... toasted then filled with Honey Ham...Gruyere Cheese.. Then topped with a Gruyere/Swiss cheese/Asiago/Parmesan sauce....then covered with grated Gruyere and put under the broiler.... |
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| I know....That is A Lot of Cheese.... And it got rave reviews... I think the last I heard Rose saying... "Oh I can't possibly eat that whole thing...I'll take half home..." The last thing I SAW was Rose finishing off her last bite... |
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Here are my favorite ladies....the "caring friends".... Everybody needs them.... But I happen to be lucky to have them.... That would be from left to right.... Sandie @ The Chatty Crone.... My new friend and neighbor and wonderful artist....Maureen Miss Linda...who drove all the way down from Athens... But she knows I always throw a good party!! And Necie....the old neighbor who I miss dearly... We missed our friend Cheri...she couldn't make it But we will be lunching with her soon... |
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| It's not a party if Rose doesn't show up.... One of my favorite Bloggers of All Times... This lady has more talent in her pinky then all of us ladies combined... And this is where the "consolation" comes in to play... Three years ago I had a party and I gave away "door prizes"... It was a large party...I think 28 ladies were in attendance.. I gave out slips of paper....7 of them had numbers on them and the rest were blank... Rose got a blank... And very loudly said.... "Mine doesn't have a number on it!!" To which I yelled back... "You Lost Rose".... We still laugh about that to this day..... Soooooooooo. with a much smaller group I had two door prizes to give out... Having a feeling that once again Rose would not win... I had the perfect gift waiting just for her... Of course she didn't get win... Looking disappointed I left and came back with Rose's Consolation Prize.... Martha Stewart's Entertaining Book... I know Rose will get a lot of use from this book... She throws better parties then I do... Enjoy the book Rose!! |
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| Here are the birthday girls.... I think I can speak for all of us and say we all look Forward to this yearly party.... and to finish off the day.... They all got to step outside in the horrible scorching heat.... |
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| To pose with the new car.... |
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| And here we all are in the picture Rose refers to as.... "The Sister Wives"..... The Boss looks forward to this party too! Happy Birthday Linda and Necie.... I hope you both have a wonderful year.... |
