Chinese Birthday Party

Because I not only couldn't find the right coat Sunday, I also left my camera at my daughter's so I couldn't post any pictures yesterday.  So, I am showing pictures of Ella's Chinese 5th Birthday party today. For those of you with December birthday you know that they sometimes take a backseat to all the other festivities this month.  For this reason I want to give equal time to all December birthdays today by posting these pictures of Ella's birthday.  (I don't know why she is obsessed with the whole Chinese theme but she is.)  When asked what she wanted for her party food she said Belgian waffles so that is what we had--Chinese Belgian Waffles (probably a first!)

The birthday girl

 We began with stacks of these.

And added lots of toppings

 Ella's version of Chinese Waffles

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 There was lots of singing and dancing.

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There were many smiles and laughter.

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I gave Ella a pink and purple tutu which she put on immediately right over her party dress

 

 Following all the present-opening the big reveal of her new Chinese Bedroom was shown.  You can see it here. @ Tatertots and Jello.

For those of you that share December with Christmas and other holidays and yet squeeze your birthday in it too I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday!

 Thanks for coming by today and tomorrow I will share pictures of the Festival of Trees, a wonderful fundraiser for the Children's Hospital here.

Julia Child Dinner Party, Part 1--Finding the Book

After seeing the movie "Julia and Julie" I have been inspired to cook! Not only that, but I thought what great fun it would be to have a Julia Child Dinner Party with each guest making and bringing a recipe from Julia's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Of course, not owning her book, I set about finding one. That was harder than one might think. I asked around who might have one of her books. No success! (Why hadn't I purchased one so many years ago? I think I must have been intimidated by it at that time, but sure wished I had one now). All of the bookstores were sold out, the library was out, (I put my name on the HOLD list for one), Amazon had them but were back ordered on them. Luckily, a friend in California had found an article with some of her recipes in a recent Bon Appetite magazine and had her own dinner so she forwarded them on to me. So, after looking through them, this is the menu I selected for the dinner:

Terrines de Legumes au Coulis de Framboise
(Sliced layered pureed vegetables with Raspberry Sauce)

Potage de Poireau Pomme
Leek and Potato Soup

Boeuf Bourguignon,
(Beef Stew)

Ratatouille
(Vegetable casserole)

Pommes de Terre Parisiennes
(Potato Balls Sauteed in Butter)

Pissaladiere Nicoise
(Onion Tart with Anchovies and Black Olives)

Pain de Francaise
(French Bread)

Salade Verte avec vinaigrette
(Green Salad with sauce vinaigrette)

Tois fromage avec Champagne Grapes
(Three Cheese with Champagne Grapes)

Reine de Saba
(Chocolate and Almond Cake with Ganache)

Vanille Glace
(Vanille Ice Cream)

The date was selected and then the guests were invited (7 of them because that many can sit around my table comfortably). Each one was assigned one of the above recipes with strict instructions to plan on spending time in the kitchen preparing each one just as Julia did.

Tomorrow, I'll continue with the next phase of the party--Making the Chef Hats.

Stay tuned!

Be Mine

Here are two quick Valentine ideas:

1. Save your Valentines this year to make a quick Valentine banner. These are cards from last year's valentines-making party that are just clothespinned onto a ribbon. Last year, and I intent to do it this year, I invited a dozen friends over, bought blank cards and scrapbook paper from the craft store, cut out some paper hearts, made some heart-shaped sugar cookies and cupcakes and had a fun party. Everyone used their creativity and left with valentines that they could then send or give to others. Here are a few examples from the banner. 2. The BE MINE picture is an old window that was painted on the reverse side with acrylic paint. You can find old windows (and a lot of other cool stuff) at salvage or junk stores inexpensively. Just remember to reverse the lettering on it so it is readable from the right side.

As Martha would say, "It's a good thing!" Have a happy day.