birthday party and a truly incredible gift

Happy Birthday to me!!!  Saturday (7/23) was all about golfing for Michael…and hanging out in the kitchen for me.  I started out to make chocolate mousse.  I have a new easy recipe from a friend that I wanted to try and she told me it made 6 servings.  Well, since I had 35 people scheduled to come for desserts on Sunday night, I thought I’d double the recipe.  She must have meant 6 servings for the Jolly Green Giant and his friends, because it made 28 servings for me :~):  

here they are, ready for the fridge

and decorated for the party

After that it was an oreo bundt cake (and the cake came out of the pan like a pro!!!):  

 Then I started in on my chocolate tarts.  I wanted a crumb crust, so I started with that…but it didn’t work out AT ALL the way I wanted…so that became a topping for the mousse and I dropped back to a chocolate pie crust.  By the time I got the dough made, it was dinner time and I was pooped.  Michael made hot dogs and corn on the cob for dinner, then we settled in to watch A MIGHTY WIND (one of my favorite movies….wish they would put the sound track on a disk  :~(.  By the time we watched all of the special features, I had finished tying another fleece blanket, 

and it was 11 PM and we headed for bed.

******************

We were up early Sunday morning (7/24).  Michael picked 3 bouquets for the party 

 and I got my chocolate dough rolled out.  They had to be blind baked, 

ready for the oven

finished baking

then I put in a layer of caramel 

 and then a layer of ganache….YUM!    

After that I moved on to chocolate covered strawberries.  

 I interspersed all of this work with sitting in my chair with my legs up reading my book and alternatively helping Michael to set up all of the extra chairs and tables for our guests.  By 3 PM, everything was done and I headed to the kitchen to put together my peach crisp:  

peaches mixed with some spices and few other things

my crumb topping

by the time I remembered to take a picture after it was baked, it was practically gone  :-)

At 6 PM our guests arrived and we opened the Asti 

and began to party.  We had a wonderful time (and I got pictures of almost everyone)

Sue S & Pat W

Loree & Reg

Jan & June

Jim, Ann Mary, Susan

Gale

Jim, Carolyn, Beth

Candyce, Evelyn, Ginny

Ralph & Ken

Dennis S & Phil

Phil & Bryce

Harry & Martha

and everyone seemed to really like the desserts!  

the mostly decimated table!

 Everyone was gone a little after 9 PM and Michael and I cleaned up a bit, then settled down to read until bedtime…it was a LOVELY night!

So, I have to tell you a story about my birthday presents.  A couple of weeks ago Michael said to me “I have to buy your birthday present and I don’t want to write a check because I don’t want you to see what I’m getting”.  So I say “why don’t you charge it” and he says “I can’t charge it, so where can I get some $$$ that you won’t know about”.  He won’t tell me how much he needs, so I finally tell him that we have a bunch in our savings account, so go to the bank and take it out of there.  Since that time my girlfriends and I have discussed what the gift could possibly be?!?!!?  Several people suggested that he put a down payment on a trip somewhere.  I said “Michael knows me and knows that I wouldn’t like that as a gift at all!!!"  As a matter of fact, he told me I would plotz (and before you ask - to collapse or faint, as from surprise, excitement, or exhaustion, an alternative definition is - to fall apart or down from a strong emotion ) when I opened the gift…and I certainly would NOT have that reaction to a trip.  On Friday when we were coming home from the Quilting Expo, someone said “you know, in case you don’t like the gift, you’re going to have to be a really good actress.”  So anyway, Michael came to me Friday night and said ‘I know how you get when you are having people over, and it will be really hectic for the next 2 days, so I want to give you your birthday present now”.  Well naturally I was all for that!  He gave me my card (and truly, after I read the card which was a blank card that he wrote in, I said “you don’t have to give me anything else!”) and a DVD of one of the patriotic performances from the Performing Arts Club that I really liked.   

 Then he brought out my big present….and I got one look at it…and I didn't have to act at all....I cried and cried and cried.  I can’t believe what he got…he was right….it is a totally FABULOUS gift:

We called the artist and asked him to come to the party, and he and his wife graciously agreed:

Jean & Joe

I think they had a great time and we thanked him over and over again for such a precious gift...I wish all of you could see it in person, the pictures in the blog in no way do justice to the painting.