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Finished August's first catering job last night. This was a super hard one for me in one sense --being on this next-to-no carb diet (just small servings of really healthy ones like oatmeal with no milk ) and it was all desserts. That being said, you know what happened. I held out really well until the day of where things got crazy and I didn't eat, and yes I ate HALF OF THE LOAF of the Paula Deen zucchini bread my neighbor sent me when I got home. Yeah. Free meal for the week and I didn't get to have it on a date with Jeff. We were trying for Monday. Back to my story.
These turned out killer. Pecan turtle chocolate brownies. I contracted out the base (because I would have eaten 5 pounds of batter if they were done in my house), then made homemade caramel to drizzle, toasted pecans and chopped them on there, and chopped big pieces of chocolate on there. People were going through the line and would go "oh my gosh those look dangerous" so I said "that means you'd better take two". So they did usually. I'd bought some extra just in case --we had plenty.
Lemon vanilla phyllo shells. I've got to defend myself --fillo and phyllo are correct, I like the old spelling better. I think it's more romantic. 
See how the flower arrangement worked? It got a little wilty by the end, but not too bad. I was thinking it was going to be mostly neutrals, and they weren't using much blue, so I did all whites, silvers and greens. But it turned out they had a lot of blue. I wish I'd asked again about plans at the last minute ---I had access to a lot of blue. Oh well. I think it was OK. We had a few greenery sprigs to poke into my table to tie it in. 
Mini berry pavlovas with cream and chocolate sauce. That was my other screw-up in the car on the way home. The client took a jar of chocolate sauce, but we had another quart jar that wasn't used up, and well, it was chocolate and cream and sugar and sweetened condensed milk.....
THIS was our kitchen for the night. We were in a park-like historical apple orchard with a small historical landmark cabin which I don't think was open at all. This pine was taller by far than anything around and had a big tent-like area underneath that was pretty hidden from guests. 
Here's the opening and one of my helper girls for the night. There was also a squirrel living in the tree that kept chittering at us periodically, and at one point I think dropped a pine cone on my head. That, or the tree was mad. I had to use vaseline to get the pine sap out of my hair when I went home, but really it was pretty funny.
Here's our phyllo and brownie station.
Here's the pavlova station. The girls were great workers, but there was also a lady there named Debbie who was AMAZING. I was so grateful for her. She was also the only one who stuck around and helped me pack up at the end. I hope she gets free movie tickets or something from the family. I would have paid her about a hundred dollars if she were one of my girls. Seriously. 
Thought you'd like to see some of the other decor. This bridge is over a little creek that ran right through the back of our treehouse.
String quartet. 
Blue and white. See the artichoke finials? I brought almost their twins for my table. That was cool. And lucky.
I've got a wedding I'm doing next Saturday --their theme is "French garden". I did a practice centerpiece today and I'm so excited with how it turned out I had to share. I never ask for a budget for florals from my client, so it's always just what I can scrounge from my yard, neighbors yards, and (shh!) city parks/roadside plantings. Is that wrong? I pay taxes right? I never take very many. Anyway --loved how it turned out so thought I'd share.
Hi, this is Tia, my mom's outside in the yard and didn't want to come inside and type all of this up, so I'm doing it for her (it has been a month, and I thought people needed something to read on here, I read it too). The picture above is of us at the cochlear kid's camp shooting bottle rockets. One boy's rocket blew up, we think it was because the bottle was too small. Fortunately, another older boy about my age gave the boy his rocket to use. When it shot up, it spiraled!
This is a picture of me standing close to a bull elk, next to our cabin. I saw it three different times! once by the parking spot, once here, and once a little while after, when there was about ten altogether!My mom and I had just gotten back from a nature walk, where we were the only ones there, before we left, my mom needed something sugary (she was on vacation), so that's why I'm holding skittles. I got the lemonade when we got back.
This is right after Kai's rocket launched off. I don't think we actually got one of a rocket up in the air. We got a video, and they went super high, but no picture.
This is Ari, waiting for her turn, you can see her "evil eye". That's because when we were leaving from a day camp for all of the kids while the parents were at a meeting, Ari's group (eight and nine year old girls and boys) were doing face painting, and we didn't have time for the one she wanted. It was lunch time, and we didn't want to be late. So the guy that was doing it, just drew a big black circle in the middle of her face, my mom drew a few squiggles around it, and called her a Chinese dragon. Then she was happy (she loves everything to do with China, except that sometimes the food they eat has mushrooms in it).
This is Ari, after the horseback riding. Her horse, Scarlet, kept bending over and eating grass. Ari kept yanking with two hands on the reins, as hard as she could, but the horse wouldn't stop! Finally, a ranger had to tie Scarlet to the trail leader's horse. At the end, one of the rangers gave Ari a painted horse shoe (not used, they had some in the gift shop too) with Scarlet and '09 on it. After that, Ari kept saying "My horse kept getting big into trouble!" with a surprised look on her face, as if to say, can you believe it?!?!
Here's Kai and my dad on their horse, Bubba. It sounded like they were having fun (I was behind them), but when it was over Kai said he didn't have fun. I was surprised, since I had had a great time.....
My horse was named Gipsy, and she was beautiful, gentle, and was perfect. She seemed to know what step was right to take, and I hardly needed to look at the trail, and where to go! I almost even fell asleep (one little boy that went before us did)!
Here we are, prepared for any weather, ready to go. The horses finished their last-minute-peeing, and I was a little nervous, for no reason. But I got over it a few minutes after we started.
This is before we even started. The first time we had come up there, it was pouring, and our dad had the van, so we had to walk. Fortunately, it only rained after we got there. The phones didn't work that far up, so we just walked halfway home when our dad didn't pick us up, and we ended up going back up there and missing rock wall climbing. It was fun anyways. Here is the video.
We went to California for a few days for my sister's baby's blessing. Wonderful, except as usual I used vacation as an excuse to fall off the wagon. I'm a really careful eater until I'm.... not. Oh well. I'm doing a three day cleanse to try to undo the damage, and I'm almost done with day two, so I'm feeling pretty good. Sorry for all you non-diet people that have to read this, but -big part of my life this summer. Coolest thing -my Dad drove for me all the way down, and all the way back, and all over during the week. It was like being the kid again which I love. Of course I did have three kids calling me "Mom" the whole time, but hey -still good. 
We had a great couple of days on the beach, which is a freakin miracle for June in San Diego. "June gloom" is the norm. All the kids, and the dads played in the water, and the moms sat on the beach and nursed babies and worried. Why do moms even go to the beach you've got to wonder sometimes. I guess if they didn't, no one would be there to do the worry job. But Hey! I snorkeled! I'm so proud of myself. When we went to Hawaii last time, I was OK scuba'ing, but snorkeling I kept having panic attacks. It comes from that time in the Caymans when Jeff and I were almost swept out to sea with this scary strong current. 
Anyway, I put on the mask and spring suit, and tried to go in, but freaked out immediately. My Dad was in there messing around, and I just said to him "I'm too scared. I'm too scared." My dad, typical, was very blase. It's just a straight beach break. Don't worry. Just stay in the middle of the cove and you'll be fine. Here, I'll go out with you" OK, almost turned around a bunch of times, but didn't! OK, when a big set of waves came in, I let them bring me in, but I was really calm out there for a good ten to fifteen minutes. I saw a couple Garibaldi, but it was so murky, frankly it wasn't worth staying very long. Anyway, faced my fear, and maybe next time will do even better.
You see Lee out there? Right after I came in, he got swept over to the rocks on the side, and a lifeguard had to guide him back in. He still swam in on his own, but I'm glad that didn't happen before I went out there, or I probably wouldn't have gone in at all. Sooo freaked out about currents.
We also had a night where we met everyone at Seaport village, for dinner, and the kids rode the merry-go-round. This is such a neat carousel. When we were kids, our parents took us there all the time (cheap family outing my Dad would say). Yeah, I rode with the kids. It was nostalgia weekend.
Here's my friend Kay and his beautiful family. How did he get such a good looking wife??!! (Just kidding Kay --you're great.) Kay was my best friend in college --we'd talk to each other about people we were dating, go out together as friends, there aren't many guys that could have been that great a friend --to me and my sister both actually. Kira says he kind of saved her life that year she was up at BYU. (I was wierd those semesters). 
Here's my sister and brother and their families (and Tia).
....AND --my Uncle Tom and Christopher my cousin --we were so excited to see them. You can tell who's brother Tom is can't you?
Another fantastic meeting --my cousin Dylan and his wife Margie. Poor Margie. She tried to duck, but I kind of tricked her. She's a beauty, you had to see her. 
Posts
Finished August's first catering job last night. This was a super hard one for me in one sense --being on this next-to-no carb diet (just small servings of really healthy ones like oatmeal with no milk ) and it was all desserts. That being said, you know what happened. I held out really well until the day of where things got crazy and I didn't eat, and yes I ate HALF OF THE LOAF of the Paula Deen zucchini bread my neighbor sent me when I got home. Yeah. Free meal for the week and I didn't get to have it on a date with Jeff. We were trying for Monday. Back to my story.
These turned out killer. Pecan turtle chocolate brownies. I contracted out the base (because I would have eaten 5 pounds of batter if they were done in my house), then made homemade caramel to drizzle, toasted pecans and chopped them on there, and chopped big pieces of chocolate on there. People were going through the line and would go "oh my gosh those look dangerous" so I said "that means you'd better take two". So they did usually. I'd bought some extra just in case --we had plenty.
Lemon vanilla phyllo shells. I've got to defend myself --fillo and phyllo are correct, I like the old spelling better. I think it's more romantic. 
See how the flower arrangement worked? It got a little wilty by the end, but not too bad. I was thinking it was going to be mostly neutrals, and they weren't using much blue, so I did all whites, silvers and greens. But it turned out they had a lot of blue. I wish I'd asked again about plans at the last minute ---I had access to a lot of blue. Oh well. I think it was OK. We had a few greenery sprigs to poke into my table to tie it in. 
Mini berry pavlovas with cream and chocolate sauce. That was my other screw-up in the car on the way home. The client took a jar of chocolate sauce, but we had another quart jar that wasn't used up, and well, it was chocolate and cream and sugar and sweetened condensed milk.....
THIS was our kitchen for the night. We were in a park-like historical apple orchard with a small historical landmark cabin which I don't think was open at all. This pine was taller by far than anything around and had a big tent-like area underneath that was pretty hidden from guests. 
Here's the opening and one of my helper girls for the night. There was also a squirrel living in the tree that kept chittering at us periodically, and at one point I think dropped a pine cone on my head. That, or the tree was mad. I had to use vaseline to get the pine sap out of my hair when I went home, but really it was pretty funny.
Here's our phyllo and brownie station.
Here's the pavlova station. The girls were great workers, but there was also a lady there named Debbie who was AMAZING. I was so grateful for her. She was also the only one who stuck around and helped me pack up at the end. I hope she gets free movie tickets or something from the family. I would have paid her about a hundred dollars if she were one of my girls. Seriously. 
Thought you'd like to see some of the other decor. This bridge is over a little creek that ran right through the back of our treehouse.
String quartet. 
Blue and white. See the artichoke finials? I brought almost their twins for my table. That was cool. And lucky.
