Garden Party 2008 Part II

Upon our arrival at the farm for appetizers we came upon this pretty lady making drinks for her guests. The drinks were pretty too. And so delicious.

Shelly and her husband always stage their setting for the party in a different spot in the gardens. So, then we went wandering to find where we would be this year. Her gardens are beautiful and it is nice to wander at the farm, especially with that drink in hand.

The table was so stunning. As Karen quips, "dang, no one does white like Shelly!"

Karen's cute skirt and top went perfectly with the icy yummy drink. I really can't think of anything that wouldn't go with that drink, but hey, she matched too.

The food... and angels sang! I can't tell you how good it was without my mouth watering. She found all of her recipes in her Mom's cookbook, from Hawaii. Nelia got it from a chef while on a trip to the islands, it is even signed. See the menu in previous post. My hubby keeps saying, "the chicken, oh the chicken'...

Such a gorgeous setting, table, friend and her farmer at the first stop of the Garden party 2008! Thanks guys!

Garden Party 2008

Oh! My! Last evening was the Garden Party Dinner and it was so over the top, it is doubtful that I can do it justice with my limited skills using photography or writing. The sights, tastes, smells, the fun, the perfect weather, the creativity and resourcefulness of our friends... Oh! My!
Vern and Shelly's year for Appetizers

Mark and Karen's year for Dinner

Our year for Dessert

I'll share more later, probably for a week, until you feel as though you were there. Today I am doing dishes, lots of glassware and then laying and hopefully recuperating on the patio.
*If you click on the photo, they will enlarge and you can read every delicious word.

Entertaining at Home and Work

Tomorrow evening is the Lynden Pioneer Museum's 10th annual Members' Only BBQ. We hold this event in the alley behind the museum. My hubby cooks, the Jazz Omelets play, Jerrie and I serve, Troy schmoozes. I'm expecting about 150 for dinner tomorrow night. Every year we have more people and the same menu, Costco sausages and rolls, sauteed peppers and onions, chips, baked beans and dessert. Usually cake or an apple crisp but this year we are having strawberry shortcake. Jerrie met me at Costco this morning to help me with the hunting and gathering. I also went to both grocery stores in Lynden today. Then I chopped 10# of onions and 18 peppers. In the morning I'll make the beans, pick up the berries and go like crazy until it is over at 6:30 p.m. If you are not a member of the museum and would like to come for the BBQ, you can join tomorrow and then come for the festivities. We also show off a new collection and this year it is motion lamps, they are so cool. I am totally coveting them. If we get them all going we could blow a fuse or two.
Friday night is the progressive garden party dinner with friends. This is a huge deal, lots of fuss and incredible food and wine pairings. My hubby and I have dessert this year. Tonight I finished my place cards, polished the silver, wrote my grocery list again, and tried to visualize the piles of dishes and doo dahs laying on every single flat surface of our home as they will look Friday evening. It is going to be a Martha moment! Unless, I fall over.

Fourth Fun

Visit the Snapsisters' site to learn more about Sparkler fun. It really does not take much to entertain my sisters and I. We think this activity is really fun. Our kids do too. http://thesnapsisters.blogspot.com/

Not Only is He Handsome, He's a Poet

Sometimes my hubby gets up and leaves for work before the rest of us are up in the morning. He usually leaves a note letting us know if we need to feed the animals. This morning he left coffee, the Sunday paper and this note.

There once was a guy named Fred,
who made sure his animals were fed.
He made his own lunch,
Including bananas from a bunch,
And got the paper for his wife,
the Slug-a-bed.

Honestly.

4th of July Recap

My sis, Kathi made this dessert straight out of Martha's Living July issue. Very good, apparently there is lots of butter in the crust.

My dessert plate, including Kathi and Martha's flag dessert, Hana's sugar cookies and Becky's dessert which at first glance looked like potato salad. It's not, trust me, I hate(strong word) potato salad and this was nothing like potato salad. It involved buttermilk, vanilla pudding mix, cool whip, fruit and fudge striped cookies. My, that is good stuff. I didn't feel so good when I got in bed last night.

These kids come from a long line of firework pyros. My Dad is crazy for fireworks. We always took a trip to the Res to visit Bargain Betty where he seemed to know Betty on a first name basis. One year he was giving us the safety speech before we went on our picnic, showing us how to light and toss firecrackers. Mom was busy in the kitchen. Us kids were gathered around the picnic table and just as he said "one at a time" the whole string went off in his lap. Fastest I ever saw my Dad move, burn marks on the picnic table and on his legs. My Mom came flying out of the house yelling, "I suppose you burned your pants!" He had.

My camera batteries ran out so you'll just have to trust me when I say they got bigger. Bill got out the camera, the tripod, he set the shutter and we had a blast writing and posing with our sparklers. Visit Jodi's blog to see how to do it yourself. This probably isn't saying much but it can entertain my family for hours.