On Friday night I threw the biggest, baddest party I've ever thrown. It was absolutely the best party ever! Hubby turned 40, so I put my heart and soul into it. We had a fantastic band, The Usual Suspectz, (http://www.theusualsuspectz.com/) who played great stuff from the 60's/70's. They really made the party so much fun! We did a little dancing. Played "Hubby Jeopardy." Ate. Drank. Ate. Drank. Drank.
The menu was Slow Roasted BBQ Brisket, Sticky Coconut Chicken with Cilantro Coconut Mint Chutney on the side, Brown Sugar Plank Grilled Salmon (did anyone miss this? oops, we realized we forgot to put it out! I must say though that it was delicious when we ate it on Saturday!). Aloo Chat Rice (an Indian recipe), Tomato-Watermelon Salad, Cesear Salad, and lots of yummy appetizers like Brie with Garlic-Cherry Chutney, and Won-Tons with Smoked Gouda and Dried Apricots dipped in Sweet Chile Sauce.
Our dessert table was overflowing, thanks in part to mom. She slaved away making mini cheesecakes and pecan lace cookies. I had started ahead (about a month ago) making and freezing cookies. We had Cocoa Nib Shortbread, Apricot & Thyme Shortbread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almost Candy Bars, Mixed Nut & Chocolate Tart, Double Dark Chocolate Biscotti, and the Birthday Cake was a Chocolate Stout Cake with a Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache. All homemade. All amazing. I do love my sweets!
Something I have to mention that was not homemade on the sweets table was the Dark Chocolate Almonds. They are from Trader Joes and they are sooo good. They are almonds covered in dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. Great with red wine!
And I was able to enjoy the party much more than I usually do when I throw a party. The key? I hired 2 teenage girls to handle the kitchen. First, they came and decorated. (My least favorite part of a party). And the backyard looked beautiful! Once I got all the food out on the buffet and showed them where everything was to keep the trays full I was done working for the night. They kept the food full, they kept the glasses picked up and clean, they washed dishes and just did an all-around great job. I might have to start hiring them for all my parties.
And I certainly could not have pulled off such a great party without the help of my parents who came over from Arizona 2 days before and worked their butts off until they flew home Saturday morning. Thanks mom and dad! And huge thanks to a bunch of other great friends who did things like cut watermelon for hours, bring appetizers, decorate, get helium and blow up balloons, store cakes in their freezer, fix our outdoor heater, make hubby's scrapbook, and run the Hubby Jeopardy game. Everyone was awesome! Thank you so much!
By the way, for anyone reading this who was here, please come by for a drink. We have so much beer left we will be throwing parties all summer! (Plus we'll share all the new stuff).
Hopefully hubby will get around to writing (or at least emailing) some thank you's. He had such a great time on Saturday afternoon opening all his cards and gifts. He received some nice bottles of wine, good tequila, gift cards, etc., and the Galaxy tickets. Finally he will get to go see Beckham play!
Happy Cinco de Mayo! (guess I should get myself one of those left-over Cervesa's)!
The menu was Slow Roasted BBQ Brisket, Sticky Coconut Chicken with Cilantro Coconut Mint Chutney on the side, Brown Sugar Plank Grilled Salmon (did anyone miss this? oops, we realized we forgot to put it out! I must say though that it was delicious when we ate it on Saturday!). Aloo Chat Rice (an Indian recipe), Tomato-Watermelon Salad, Cesear Salad, and lots of yummy appetizers like Brie with Garlic-Cherry Chutney, and Won-Tons with Smoked Gouda and Dried Apricots dipped in Sweet Chile Sauce.
Our dessert table was overflowing, thanks in part to mom. She slaved away making mini cheesecakes and pecan lace cookies. I had started ahead (about a month ago) making and freezing cookies. We had Cocoa Nib Shortbread, Apricot & Thyme Shortbread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almost Candy Bars, Mixed Nut & Chocolate Tart, Double Dark Chocolate Biscotti, and the Birthday Cake was a Chocolate Stout Cake with a Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache. All homemade. All amazing. I do love my sweets!
Something I have to mention that was not homemade on the sweets table was the Dark Chocolate Almonds. They are from Trader Joes and they are sooo good. They are almonds covered in dark chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. Great with red wine!
And I was able to enjoy the party much more than I usually do when I throw a party. The key? I hired 2 teenage girls to handle the kitchen. First, they came and decorated. (My least favorite part of a party). And the backyard looked beautiful! Once I got all the food out on the buffet and showed them where everything was to keep the trays full I was done working for the night. They kept the food full, they kept the glasses picked up and clean, they washed dishes and just did an all-around great job. I might have to start hiring them for all my parties.
And I certainly could not have pulled off such a great party without the help of my parents who came over from Arizona 2 days before and worked their butts off until they flew home Saturday morning. Thanks mom and dad! And huge thanks to a bunch of other great friends who did things like cut watermelon for hours, bring appetizers, decorate, get helium and blow up balloons, store cakes in their freezer, fix our outdoor heater, make hubby's scrapbook, and run the Hubby Jeopardy game. Everyone was awesome! Thank you so much!
By the way, for anyone reading this who was here, please come by for a drink. We have so much beer left we will be throwing parties all summer! (Plus we'll share all the new stuff).
Hopefully hubby will get around to writing (or at least emailing) some thank you's. He had such a great time on Saturday afternoon opening all his cards and gifts. He received some nice bottles of wine, good tequila, gift cards, etc., and the Galaxy tickets. Finally he will get to go see Beckham play!
Happy Cinco de Mayo! (guess I should get myself one of those left-over Cervesa's)!
