WE ARE NAKED!!!

Don't get excited!! It is our yard that is naked. Hurricane Ike has taken all of our trees! Here is Sonny spending yet another weekend cutting up the trees that Ike broke the tops off of. We waited to see if any could be saved, but they all had to come down. Jenny's special childhood tree, that was outside of her room, didn't make it. Sorry Jenny!

THE DIASTER

OK, so the date says Feb. 3, 2009. Maybe I am a little late but at least I am trying to catch up! So I am going to just pick up where I left off , which would be to talk about the disruption of Hurricane Ike in our lives here on the Gulf Coast. This is what Hurricane Ike left behind at our house. Doesn't look so bad does it??!! Well, this is the cleaned up version because I was in Canton for 10 days during all of this. I couldn't come back because we had no electricity or water. My sweet husband came home within minutes after the storm passed and cleaned for the next week. I missed our house and yard looking like a bomb went off and he could not take "before" pictures because I had the camera! Yes, we had more damage than we would have liked (water in 4 rooms), but we were so blessed. So many had very little to come home to. As you can see, our house is still standing and we just love the new "blue tarp" roof. It matches all of our neighbors!

SUMMER OF DISRUPTIONS

It has been awhile since I have posted. However, I actually have a reasonably good excuse. Our first disaster was our desktop crashed. Dead as a door nail!!! To make a long story short, we had no formal backup and some of our attempts at backup were just not adequate. I cried for one whole day over pictures that are now frozen on my old hard drive. I was also heartbroken over losing some of the recipes that friends had shared with me. So, if you know of any good and cheap techs that can get these pictures off of the old hard drive, please let me know.

Several $$$$$ later, we had the computer "redone" complete with a new external hard drive for back up. I couldn't work on the computer for weeks because every time I got on it, it was blank, wiped clean. Where were my Favorites???!!!!! I really stressed every time I turned it on. You never realize how much you have on it until it is gone.

While still in the recovery phase from that loss, the lap top got an Ad Ware bug. Those things are really bad! Back came the tech and after several days and several more $$$$ we had that back, up and running. We lost no data, just money!! There is always a silver lining.

After all of these tech problems, I got a much needed break. I traveled to San Antonio with my sister who was attending a conference. We had a "Girl's Trip" and had so much fun. I think I may have had more fun since she had to work. The San Antonio Riverwalk was so beautiful and one day we had a little "cool front" come in and were able to walk outside all day without doing a melt down.

Little did we know that this was just a lull before the real disaster came!

JELLY AND JAM

This weekend we visited with our good friends, Bubba and Dorothy Kay who live on Lake Livingston. The last time we visited with them, Dorothy gave us this jar of homemade strawberry jam. It was so delicious and I have been saving this last little bit for that special piece of toast. However, I can now finish this jar off because she sent two more jars of jelly home with us.




Dorothy is a wonderful gardener. She has a flower garden, vegetable garden and grows fresh herbs. (She gave me some of those to take home also!) I am always amazed at her green thumb. While Dorothy does not especially like to cook, and I don't really know why because everything that she has made for us has been excellent, she does can all sorts of things. We are so glad that she likes to make our make our favorite - jelly.


This is her newest creation - BRB Jelly. That stands for Blueberry, Raspberry and Blackberry Jelly. We think it might be our new favorite. When the husbands went fishing on the lake, Dorothy made them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches using this fabulous jelly. My husband, Sonny, said it was the best jelly he has ever tasted.




Now before you even start asking, no this jelly is not for sale. All extra jars that Dorothy makes goes to us!


Thanks Dorothy and Bubba for a fun, relaxing weekend!

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S PARTY

What do you serve at a "Breakfast at Tiffany's Birthday Party? Breakfast food of course! This is a picture of the menu and it was a success!

The main course was Boil in a Bag Omelets. Yes, I know that sounds, well kinda gross, but let me assure you that they are wonderful. Each guest picks out their own ingredients for their omelet. Believe me, everyone was very skeptical as to whether the ingredients in their bag would ever resemble an omelet much less taste like one. However, they were pleasantly surprised at how tasty they were and so fun and easy.

Please notice the champagne glass on the left with the fruit salad in it. I bought these beautiful glasses at the Christmas clearance sale at Target. I purchased two sets for 50% off and loved them so much that I went back and was able to buy two more sets for 75% off. If you look close, you will see that the bottom of the glass looks like a crystal door knob complete with silver band. The fruit salad being served in each glass is one of my favorites.


I was not sure what to serve as a beverage until I remembered my friend Jane's Champagne Punch. It is delicious and non alcoholic so my nieces were able to drink it. Naturally, I served it in Champagne glasses.

I saved the best for last. My sister and I both share an adoration for Red Velvet Cake. So, I made Red Velvet Cupcakes for dessert. Red Velvet Cake seems to really be coming back in style now after being absent from the cake scene for a while. Or course, you must make it from scratch! Also, I now include a secret ingredient. One day while eating a piece of red velvet cake from a bakery in Houston, I noticed that it had something extra that made it really good. After a thorough investigation, (sometimes you have to eat two for research purposes), I discovered a layer of chocolate ganache. It really makes a difference in the flavor and makes it more chocolaty like it should be. Also, remember that presentation is everything. So in keeping with Tiffany's pearls and jewels, I used my pedestal cake plate that is dripping in crystals and scattered pearls around the base.

Here is my secret ingredient for Red Velvet Cake.

Ganache Recipe

8 ounces artisan chocolate of your choice, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoons vanilla or your favorite flavoring

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth. Add flavoring. Frost the top of cooled cupcake with ganache and let dry. Ice with homemade cream cheese icing.

Enjoy!

FAVORITE PARTY

This has to have been one of my favorite parties! My sister loves Audrey Hepburn and we both love Breakfast at Tiffany's. So, for her birthday, I gave a Breakfast at Tiffany's' party. I had so much fun planning it. I used this poster for a "Save the Date" email to all the guests.

I printed the invitations on Tiffany Blue Stationary and used this picture of Audrey on the front of the invitation. Everyone was instructed to wear black and pearls. On the inside of the invitation I printed a jewelry box with a string of pearls in it. I glued real pearls on the necklace as an embellishment

Yes, I found tiaras, like Audrey's, for everyone to wear.

I must say, I thought that everyone would be a little more enthusiastic about them! There seem to be alot of complaining about having to wear them. (:

Here they all are with a smile on their faces! One important guest was missing. My daughter Jenny was sick and could not join us. We sure missed you Jenny!

Of course, I always love creating a tablescape. The Tiffany Boxes in the center of the table are actually real. No, my dear husband does not buy me jewelry from Tiffany's, but my favorite boss and his wife always buy me a Christmas ornament from Tiffany's every year and I just can't throw the boxes away. I found the Tiffany blue sacks and small boxes at a party store. I used the sack to hold the silverware. The favor boxes have pearl bracelets in them for each guest. I used double sided white satin ribbon for the bows, just like Tiffany's!

Please note my bargain deals! I needed something to go between the place mat and plate since both are Tiffany blue. I found white crochet doilies at the Dollar Tree for $1.00. Also, as a place card, I used a pearl initial of each guest's name on her plate. I found those at Michael's in their dollar bin. In keeping with the pearl theme, I used pearl napkin rings and scattered pearls down the center of the table.

I love to decorate, but I bet you are wondering about the party food. I'll give you the low down on my next post!

TO BUSY TO BLOG

Yes, I have been to busy to blog, but not to busy to give parties! My daughter has been fussing at me because I have not continued my blogging. So Jenny, with your gentle nudging, I am back at it again.


I gave this party in January for my friends Jane, Shirley and Cindy. They have December and January Birthdays!

Notice my place card holders. These are chip bag clips! I found them at HEB in Rockport, TX and yes, they were on the chip aisle. I could not resist them. So cute! I would not let the girls take them home as favors as I plan on using them again!

Now I must admit that I really enjoyed making the party invitations. I love stationary and the computer has opened up a whole new world for me. You can make anything. I find myself wanting to give parties so that I can create a new invitation. I also love cupcakes so these were perfect.







While dessert is always our favorite thing, I served a dish called Avocado Slaw that everyone loved. I got this recipe from my Mother and it is so easy, yet delicious. Everyone tries to guess what the ingredients are. I think that the Hellman's mayo is what makes the difference.



AVOCADO SLAW


1 Bag Coleslaw Mix, (Wash & Dry)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
Hellman’s mayo (Only Hellman’s)
4 avocados, cubed
Toss coleslaw, onions, & avocados together. Add mayo until creamy. Serve immediately as avocados will turn brown.



Enjoy!