Annie Gets a Party

Annie turned 12 earlier this month, and one thing she asked for this year was a party.  A Real Party. 

Given the fact that for the past three years we've not been able to have friends over on her birthday, either because of covid, or me having covid, or generalized illness, I thought it would be a nice thing to do, to celebrate this last year of pre-teenagerhood.

So today after ballet company rehearsals my husband and I are transporting nine girls home, with four others to be dropped off at our house a bit later, for Annie's Twelfth Birthday Party.  We've got cupcakes, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, vegetables and dip, fruit, party games, a craft, and a dance playlist (many thanks to our niece, who took time out of her busy first year of law school exam time to send a plethora of good "dance party" suggestions that I used when I was choosing songs). My sister gave Annie a tabletop disco ball for Christmas, along with glow-stick necklaces.  Annie will be wearing her blue silk dress--you know, the one I bought at the secondhand store, tags still on, for $5 about 5 years ago?  The pizza will be delivered around 5pm.  People are excited.  (Is it wrong to say that I'm excited that tonight I will be done hostessing?  Because I'm excited about that!)

Annie is a pleasure to parent and it's a privilege to celebrate her.  She's my right-hand girl: reliable, kind, intuitive, thoughtful, and generous.  We understand each other on what feels like a mitochondrial level.  She has made countless sacrifices over the past year, with my Dad's illness, and she doesn't complain about it. She's so unselfish and unspoiled that it's a delight to spoil her just a little bit now.  She loves friends, and beautiful things, and cupcakes, and I'm thankful to provide those things for her today. 

A dozen years with my little girl.  I know you hear this all the time, but mothers will little ones: don't blink.  It truly flies.  And it's beautiful and bittersweet. 

{I make it a rule not to post pictures of my children, but this one is acceptable: Annie practicing piano recently in a straw hat. So sweet!}

Happy next year of life, Annie, and happy party day!

Easy Hospitality Supper, Key Lime Pie Cheesecake Recipe & A Prayer Request

I'm just wrapping up "peak week" of May in our household.  This month is extremely busy, and this week saw the perfect storm of nearly everything: from the normal (piano, violin, co-op, art, ballet, Bible study) to the less common (haircut, ballet rehearsal, attending a play, houseguests).  

Annie's ballet recital is this afternoon and her costume is enchanting: ice blue over a pinkish-beige, with a pinkish-beige flower in her hair, and blue fairy wings.  She is nervous and excited.  Three-fourths of the grandparents will be in attendance, and I'm about to go pick flowers for her bouquet.  I could have ordered roses from the ballet school, but the coral bells and peonies and lilacs are peppering my flower beds right now! And they're free! 

Tonight we're hosting grandparents after the show, so here's my Easy Hospitality Menu:

*bacon-wrapped chicken

*roasted Yukon gold potatoes

*steamed broccoli

*key lime pie cheesecake 

It's simple, healthy (I mean, minus the pie), and easy. This morning I'm prepping the chicken and bacon, cutting the broccoli, and making the pie.  So this evening all I'll need to do is cut and roast the potatoes (easy), steam the broccoli, and cook the chicken!

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The key lime pie cheesecake recipe is a standby here and one of my signature desserts, so I'd love to share it:

*Two-Layer Key Lime Pie Cheesecake*

Acquire or make a graham cracker crust. 

Set out an 8-oz package of cream cheese to soften. 

For the baked layer: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together a can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup key lime juice (I sometimes just use regular lime juice) and 3 large egg yolks. Pour into the crust and bake until set--about 8-9 minutes in my oven. Let cool.

Once the baked layer is cool, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese with 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk  (yes, more of that!), 1/4 cup of lime juice, and a little dash of vanilla. Beat until smooth, then pour over cooled baked layer, and smooth the top.  

Cover and chill until firm--at least four hours or so. If you want, pipe whipped cream around the edges before serving, but I never do it!

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And finally, if you feel led, please join me in praying for my husband.  His routine 3-month checkup with the surgeon on Wednesday revealed some anomaly that may be scar tissue from his surgery in January or it may be a recurrence of cancer. He will go in next Friday the 18th for a PET scan.  We always want to pray that God's will be done, but I'm also praying that God's will is that this is merely scar tissue.  I spent a little while in agony over the "what ifs", which are scary to consider, given this particular type of cancer, and now we're just waiting.  God very clearly gave me this Bible verse on Thursday morning: 

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. 

-Psalm 27:13-14

And so we do. 

Hospitality in a Tiny House

Since our basement was finished a few years ago, our house isn't as tiny as it once was!  But we still have a small area for receiving guests and having dinner, and my kitchen is tiny.  The house my family lived in before my mother built my current home featured a galley kitchen, though, with almost no counter space, so when we moved in to this house we thought we were living in a palace!

It's all relative.

That being said, hospitality in a small home is a challenge.  I've lived as a married woman in this house for 16 years now and I still struggle from time to time with the best way to do things.  But here are my tips:

*Make everything you can ahead of time; in fact, plan your meal around things that keep well. I'm talking about sliced cheese and crackers for an appetizer, a big salad made in the morning, something easy to heat and serve (lasagna, curry, masala, baked pasta), and a dessert that can hang out nicely in the fridge (key lime or chocolate pies are favorites here).  My kitchen gets messy *very quickly* because it's so small, so I like to get everything made well in advance of the actual meal so that I can clean up without rushing.

*Make all that food, and clean the kitchen, particularly if you suffer from an open floor plan.  My kitchen is fully visible from the front door, the back door, the living room, and the dining area, so I like to have my kitchen nice and clean before anyone arrives.

*Try not to procrastinate.  Procrastination is never the housekeeper's friend.  If you're having dinner guests over on Friday, try to get some things done ahead of time.  Enlist the help of children if you need assistance cleaning house!

*Remember that only the main living areas and a bathroom need to be tidy. I do like having a tidy entry, too.  The layout of my house means that every single bedroom is visible from the living room or the guest bathroom. But I am not above closing bedroom doors if needed!

*Tidy doesn't mean perfect.

*Take time to set a nice table or put out flowers--just something to give it a pretty touch.  This time of year I usually have a small bouquet of lavender in the guest bath, a small bouquet of other flowers on our coffee table, and something on the dining table.  During the winter I might have an orchid in the bathroom, pinecones in a bowl on the coffee table, and candles on the dining table.  It doesn't have to be extravagant.

*Think about seating a few days beforehand and supplement if needed.

*For large parties, use the dining table as a buffet, serve finger foods, and provide lots of seating outdoors, if possible.

*Keep the house as tidy as you can on a regular basis, so you don't panic the day of an event. On the other hand, if you have young children or other difficult circumstances, cut yourself some slack. Most guests want to see you, not a perfectly decluttered home.

*Allow enough time to get ready yourself before guests come.  I like to reserve the last hour for my own grooming, lighting candles, choosing some music, and relaxing.

 I've learned all of this the hard way.  The event where we spent all day cleaning?  The birthday party where I was sitting on my bedroom floor embroidering a onesie for the baby as the guests arrived? The mad rush to get the food ready?  Yes, yes, yes.  But now that I've worked out my general guidelines, I find that hospitality in my tiny house gets easier and easier.  This month alone we've hosted a birthday party, overnight guests (twice. or maybe three times? one of these times we hosted four people we didn't know--but we loved!), my husband's co-worker and his wife for dinner (neither of whom I'd ever met), several tea + play dates, several drop-in visitors, a luncheon, and I forget what else.

And there was no panic or last-minute embroidering to be had on any of these occasions!!

A Birthday Party for Rebecca

Yesterday we threw a party for dear Rebecca.

Here she is in her purple party dress (purple is her favorite color, didn't you know?), with her newly-completed quilt.  Don't look too closely! But do look closely enough to see the little "R" that I embroidered in one of the squares.....

The diagonal stitching is not meant to be artistic.  That's what I did at first, then decided I didn't like it.  But I liked leaving it there--it looks cute! 

We used the purple plates, naturally.  And I'm really enjoying lavender bouquets these days. The children had cocoa, the adults had a big hot pot of PG tips.  

Not pictured, but so yummy: small wheat crackers, spread with cream cheese, a topped with a tiny dollop of fig spread.  

Annie and I made tiny chocolate cupcakes on Thursday afternoon. 

Our guests brought their dolls, and the dolls each had a tiny clay cupcake.  The larger clay cake was for them to split, apparently.  

The children played and the adults talked all afternoon, and then after our guests left I had a quiet hour of rearranging the books, silver, milk glass, and jadeite in my barrister's bookcase, and rearranging my jewelry box, while talking to one of my best friends on the phone. 

A happy afternoon, indeed. 

Shades of Green in Early Spring

The unintentional theme for the evening was shades of green: starting with the pale green linen tablecloth, continuing on through the jadeite, and crowned by the bouquet of hyacinth, lavender, and not-yet-blooming snowball bush branches. 

I wandered the yard searching for Something Green to balance out the white hyacinth and more silvery lavender.  Snowballs did the trick. 

For supper I made roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, butternut squash-kale gratin, and for dessert, a cool chocolate pie accompanied with whipped cream and hazelnut coffee.

Takeaways from dinner tonight: 1) I need to perfect my chicken roasting skills (it was okay, but it could have been better); 2) I need to perfect my coffee making skills; 3) three hours is just not long enough to visit with our dear pastor and his sweet wife. 

Yard Bouquet: Hyacinth and Rosemary

Yard bouquet season is here again!

This morning I wrote and drank my coffee while enjoying a jar of hyacinth and rosemary.  

And then, this afternoon, the same bouquet helped me in my hostessing..... 

when a friend came over for a delicious double batch of scones: dried cherry and almond on the one hand, chocolate chunk and orange on the other.  And a pot of earl grey cream tea.  It was a lovely midweek luxury.  Now: back to work!

Late Autumn Birthday Dinner

My sister turns 33 in a few days so this past Saturday we celebrated. The menu tells me we are deep into the cold weather now, although it's still officially autumn, the evenings are dark and in the morning the deck is slick with frost. Winter is on his way!

*Sauerbraten

*Mashed potatoes 

*Roasted brussels sprouts

*Butternut squash-kale gratin (because she didn't get any at Thanksgiving!)

*Flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream 

*Eggnog from the local creamery; if you are into eggnog (I'm not), this is the platinum version 

The entire menu was gluten-free to accommodate three-fifths of us.

We had an extraordinarily strenuous week--unusual for our household. The dust has now started to settle!

All Afternoon in the Kitchen

I have started a little tradition of inviting myself to a friend's house for dinner, but volunteering to bring the dinner.  I do this for friends with young children, because they typically have a harder time going out at night.  Annie and Finn aren't old, but they go to bed later than most of my friends' children, so we have the flexibility to stay out!

Today as soon as we finished school and some basic chores (12:30) I hit the kitchen and did not leave until I walked out the door at 4:45.  I was cooking for a family of seven, plus my family of four, plus (I found out at 2:30) my friend's parents who were visiting this week as well.  That's 13 people, although 7 of them were young children.  And Finn is gluten-free.  

Here was the take-away-dinner-party menu:

*basic green salad on a big platter (with yellow peppers and red onions on top)

*baked pesto ziti (highly glutenous) 

*baked penne (gluten-free, featuring ground beef from our farm!)

*French bread (made as described, except I used 3 c. wheat flour at the start)

*gluten-free sandwich bread for Finn 

*chocolate pie with a gluten-free graham cracker crust 

I made it all, and it was all good.  

And I'm so happy because tomorrow I get the night off!

Hospitality: Magic Tricks and Coonskin Caps

On Friday evening we hosted a pastoral candidate; our church is interviewing candidates to replace our pastor, who is retiring after over 30 years of service.  I am on the search committee, and we have a guest room, so we hosted the latest candidate. 

After the interview we came back to the house where Finn and Annie were already in pajamas.  We sat around talking for a while, although it was late, and Finn and Annie pulled out all the stops: Finn showed off his best magic tricks, and Annie pranced out of her room wearing her jammies and a coonskin cap, which made her father dissolve with laughter.  

Not knowing what our guest's morning schedule is like, I opted for the continental breakfast.  I can totally see why hotels do this: it's easy and can last from 6 am to 9 am.  I'm glad I did it, as he turned out to be a rather late sleeper (after 9!).  The coffee was still hot, the fresh bagels were ready, the bowl of berries and grapes was waiting.  

We spent the rest of the weekend on workouts, church, another pastoral search committee meeting, family time, chilly games of hide-and-seek outside, kicking around leaves, visiting Granddad, and grilling burgers for Sunday supper.  Satisfying September!

The Greco-Roman (and *mostly* gluten-free) Toga Party

Finn had planned the day for months: a toga party, featuring food, toga-wearing attendees, and commemorating the anniversary of the explosion of Mount Vesuvius.

So on August 24 we had our feast.  I realize that Pompeii is in Italy, but we went with Greek food: it's so good and easy to make gluten-free. We'll just call it a Greco-Roman toga party. We invited my in-laws and I started to cook.

The makings of spanakopita (I love dill!!),

the makings of moussaka (made with beef from our farm!),

the makings of more spanakopita,

my favorite tray, which involved a spinach-feta filling in phyllo cups and tomato-feta-balsamic skewers,

my fauxnakopita (that's what I'm calling it, because I did not use phyllo dough--just pie crust),

gorgeous black grapes and delicious dolma, 

a crudite-and-hummus platter,

and not pictured were pita crisps and a big pan of moussaka.  

I lost it twice: when I put the toga on my husband, and when my in-laws showed up in togas.  They had driven to our house wearing togas.  I don't think I will ever recover from the hysterics.

A Gluten-Free Bridal Shower

Last weekend my mother-in-law and I threw a bridal shower for a dear friend's fiance.




 She is gluten-free, so I had a good time planning a party menu featuring gluten-free foods!  Here's what we had:

Greek cucumber cups

Caprese sticks (drizzled with a balsamic reduction, bien sur!)

Salmon spread

Chicken salad

Gluten-free crackers (or phyllo cups, for the gluten-eaters)

Carved watermelon full of fresh, seasonal fruit (my father-in-law carves these--he even adds the flowers himself; cute)

Instead of a cake we served a smattering of little gluten-free treats--

Dark chocolate-covered almonds

Chocolate truffles

Almond-crusted mini-cheesecakes

Nutella dip

White chocolate-amaretto dip

Strawberries

Gluten-free chocolate graham crackers

My mother-in-law made 'wedding punch' and we also served Pellegrino to the low blood sugar types, like me, who can't drink punch!

My mother-in-law loves an 'around the clock' shower theme so that's what we did.  I assigned myself 9am, and gave the bride a poem plus a few morning treats--two pretty coffee mugs, amaretto coffee, chocolate, nice kitchen linens, a lemongrass candle, and a magnetized pad of paper (for the daily to-do list!).

The bride was beautiful and happy, and it was a treat to throw a party for her.

The Hosta Bouquet

On Saturday we hosted one of my husband's colleagues, who is relatively new in town, and his girlfriend for dinner.  I'd never met them--I love hosting people who are Strangers.

My menu was simple and easy to prepare ahead.  The biggest hit was the roasted pork loin. I made a variation on Anna's recipe.  For my pork loin, I juiced two lemons and a lime, heavily doused the pork loin with Jane's Crazy Salt and Pride of Szeged Chicken Rub, then roasted it (covered) for 20 minutes at 450 degrees, and then an hour at 350 degrees.  Delicious.

Nothing is really blooming in the yard right now other than the day lilies, so I did not have any flowers ready to cut for the table.  I was sweeping the patio when the hostas caught my eye.  Their blooms are still not open, but they were beautiful!

Yard bouquets are the best--free, simple and always unique.

And we had a nice time--our guests are much younger than we are (born in the 1980s! Imagine that.) and were up for a game of boys v. girls trivial pursuit.  The boys won!

Mother's Day Luncheon and A Gluten-Free Brownie Recipe

Today after Sunday School and church we hosted my mother-in-law (and father-in-law, and brother-in-law!) for lunch.  I basically copied the menu from my last luncheon because it was so easy for the vegan person, gluten-free child, and carnivorous guests.  I baked brownies for dessert today, though, and topped them with mint-chocolate chip ice cream because my mother-in-law likes mint!  

Many mothers were represented today: 

the tablecloth was a gift from my stepmother

the linen napkins were passed down from my paternal great-grandmother

the plates were from my mother-in-law's mother

the flatware is from my father-in-law's mother

the peonies are from my garden, but my aunt gave the plants to me a few years ago

....and we had lunch in the house my mother built! 

I did not do any of this intentionally--it's just that a sentimental sort like myself finds these connections easily.  

*            *            *

As an added bonus: Gluten Free Brownies a la The Joyful House

*Melt 2 sticks of butter (or equivalent dairy-free version like Earth Balance) on stovetop

*While it's melting, combine 1/2 c. oat flour and 1/2 c. sorghum flour with 3/4 c. (preferably Dutch-process) cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a small bowl

*Remove butter from heat and let cool slightly 

*In a large bowl, beat four eggs with 1.5 cups of sucanat (or sugar)

*Add butter to egg-sugar mixture and mix well

*Add dry ingredients to butter-egg-sugar and mix until well-combined

*Bake at 350 in 9x13 until done (about 15 minutes in my oven!)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Anniversary, Kate and William!

Four years ago I got up very early and had a party. Friends came.  

We had lots of tea.

Of course we had a professional cake made.

Quiche, fruit and cheese, Allison's scrumptious scones, etc!

A champagne toast at breakfast because why not?

My dear Allison is excellent at flower arrangements. 

We sat and feasted and drank tea and laughed for hours after the wedding. It was a great party and so much fun to do something so out of the ordinary!

The Revolving Door

Today was a fun and happy day in our household: the Revolving Door day.  A friend arrived in mid-morning with her daughter; another friend came fifteen minutes later with her son.  We visited, then the first friend left and I babysat her daughter. The four children played and ate lunch, then after lunch another friend came over with her two children.  And finally in mid-afternoon an additional friend came to drop off three of her children--I had said I'd babysit them while she took her other two children to the movies!

So that means in and out of our doors today rotated five adults and seven children.

A whole pan of gingerbread was consumed and lots of tea......and we adults tried to solve all the world's problems around my dining room table while the children played in various locations all over the house, dug holes in the unplanted part of the garden, used the swingset, chased each other around the yard.....

At one point,  my friend Allison laughingly said she was going to re-name my house "Polly's Drop-Off Day Care, Tea Room and Mobile Therapy Unit."

I love having people visit and feeding them lots of food and many pots of tea and hoping that they leave refreshed and energized to go out and tackle Real Life.  Life can be challenging, and true and honest friendship restores our souls!

Easy Saturday Luncheon

Today we invited a lovely couple over for lunch; they were friends of my late mother, and are genuinely kind and gracious people.  I was too busy enjoying their company to take pictures before we ate--but here's the one glimpse I got with my phone.

 I did all of my cooking yesterday, leaving this morning for the fun task of table-setting. Annie and I picked the tulips together, and I was happy to use my jadeite--perfect luncheon plates--and my husband's grandmother's silverplated flatware.  

  The menu was perfect and simple to make ahead, which is what I needed. I was cooking for four people who eat anything, one vegan, and one gluten-free person.

The Menu: 

chicken salad on a bed of lettuce (for my husband: lettuce with pecans, raisins, et cetera)

platter of hummus with radishes, carrot, celery, red pepper and cucumber

fruit salad (strawberries, blackberries, apple)

crisp whole-grain crackers 

Dessert:

chocolate-almond cake for dessert topped with freshly-whipped local cream and a dollop of berries

hot tea!

Oh! The unsightly paper towel is covering fresh, still-warm cinnamon bread that our guests
brought to share.  Delicious!

After we ate we all sat around and drank tea and visited. W, the husband, did the portraits you can barely see in the background here, so we took him on an art-tour around our house and discussed the origin of the various pieces we have collected over the years.  I even pulled out an old watercolor that he had done in 1968, of his two daughters, and he'd forgotten about it.....that was a sweet moment.

After they left we spent the rest of the afternoon happily engaged in various productive pursuits: my husband mowed and did the weed-eating outside, the children played raucously, and I sewed a new tee-shirt for myself, then we had Thai food for supper, topping off a perfectly wonderful Saturday.

Hostessing Again!

Hosting our dear friends for supper before a little gift exchange......this time our cozy winter dinner consisted of--

*pork barbecue for the bbq-eaters
*Parker House rolls
*kale-brussels sprouts salad
*roasted sweet potatoes & regular potatoes
*lemon icebox pie

I kept it very easy because today was fruitcake-baking day in my house.  Every year I make fruitcakes for my father from his mother's recipe (which was also his grandmother's recipe).  He loves them and I will never skip the tradition--even if I end up baking them late, like I am this year.  It's a classic, traditional fruitcake and the first year I made it I was only a few weeks from giving birth to our second child and I was unprepared for how epic it would be.  Now I am wise and start one day ahead to save myself the backache.

We had such a nice evening, with the children screaming wildly like banshees downstairs and the adults upstairs lingering over the meal.  We exchanged gifts and dear Allison gave me the softest pajamas, lavender dryer bags, lavender salt scrub and a glorious jar of lavender-rosemary dish detergent, which I cannot *wait* to use! We love to give each other gifts that are useful and luxurious--it's so nice to make everyday tasks more pleasant.

That's all the hostessing I will do until my daughter's birthday in early January.  We return from our New Year's trip on January 5th, and it will only be a few days until I pull together a little sparkly party for her.

Holiday Hostessing

In one week, I have hosted four different times!

Last Saturday we celebrated my sister's birthday with:
*roasted vegetable platter (cauliflower, broccoli)
*English fish pie
*gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate pie

--and used the cream-and-brown china, with the aqua napkins (flowers courtesy of my father).

On Sunday we hosted my in-laws for my mother-in-law's birthday.  We made:
*pork barbecue
*rolls
*purple cabbage-carrot coleslaw
*steamed broccoli
*roasted potatoes and carrots
*key lime pie cheesecake

--and used the white fine china with the Christmas linens.....

On Monday and Wednesday I did scads of Christmas baking.  On Thursday we hosted our neighbors for:
*salad "bar" (lots of toppings in individual jadeite bowls)
*spaghetti with meatballs and freshly-grated parmesean
*fresh foccacia kissed with pink Himalayan salt
*platter of Christmas goodies

--and used the jadeite, with no tablecloth (easy cleanup in case of spaghetti spills! five children between us, and all of them small....) and paint-dipped pinecones.

And on Saturday we threw a little Christmas luncheon for my grandparents featuring:
*chicken salad with pecans
*fresh Parker House rolls
*potato-onion soup
*buttermilk pie (my grandfather's favorite!) & decaf coffee

--and used the cream and delicate aqua-flowered china passed along to me by my husband's grandmother, set on top of a cream tablecloth with aqua napkins....so beautiful!  My centerpiece was a fruit bouquet my neighbor made and brought on Thursday evening.

Now I'm done!

An October Baby Shower

Several years ago my dear friend was pregnant with her second child--who is 17 years younger than her first child!  I threw a baby shower for her and it was such a pleasure. Things worked out so perfectly that the shower fell in autumn--her favorite season and an easy time of year to work rustic beauty into the scheme.

I decided to use my brown and cream china and work forward from that.  I wanted cream and brown invitations, and found these--perfect!

Layered the table with a white cloth and then a long rustic piece of fabric the thrift store presented me with a few weeks before the shower. Set it up with my china, supplemented by more cream plates I had gathered at the thrift store to fill it out.  A couple of cream candles and some flowers and that was that!

The menu was good and very easy: vegetables and dip, pumpkin-chocolate chip mini-muffins, mushroom and leek mini-quiches, chicken salad with pecans and cranberries in phyllo cups, traditional cucumber sandwiches, hot ham and swiss rolls, M&Ms, carob raisins, salted almonds. 

I set my buffet with a tablescape that I loved, with a long swath of thrift store fabric along the top. 

The cake's top layer was lemon and the bottom layer was spice.  At the last minute I gathered twigs and berries from the yard to garnish the bottom. 

My emptied-out hand sewing basket held the favors. 

White pumpkins and gourds, a few leaves a rustic fork holder!

We drank hot spiced cider or Perrier and got very, very cozy in my small main room. It was a sweet afternoon!