Sunday, January 23, 2011

Pin the Treats in the Kitties' Mouths

Tonight was Mom's birthday party and Mom and Dad made party games! This one was called Pin the Treats in the Kitties' Mouths, and you had to try to get the treats into Lucy and Petey's mouths.



Here comes the blindfold!



Go, Mer!



Pete's turn.



Kate was Grandpa's little cheerleader!



The birthday girl!



Uncle Ben!



Kate wasn't quite ready to have her first blindfold experience and I can't say I blame her!



Hmm, is somebody peeking?



We also played Pin the Tail on the Donkey (Eeyore).



I made a coconut layer cake, Mom's favorite!



Here it comes!



Wish time!



Mmm, with chocolate ice cream. YUM. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Retro Cooking Club

Yumi was in charge of Cooking Club this month, and we did a retro dinner! We all dressed up in 1950's and 1960's outfits, and made food from that era as well. As soon as we walked in the door, Yumi handed us a Tom Collins.



Mmm, the appetizer table.



Yum!



Nancy made this fabulous nut loaf.



And Valerie made olive cheese balls and shrimp puffs. I could not stop popping those olive delights into my mouth!!



Summer's mom helped her do her hair.



It was magnificent.



And the other side!



Cheers to bee hives!



After the modeling shoot, I headed into the kitchen to see how Yumi was doing. CHEERS!



Turns out she was cooking up a storm!



"LOOK AT HOW MUCH BUTTER I'M SUPPOSED TO USE!"



"Seriously? I'm supposed to just keep adding more and more and MORE?"



"WHEN DOES THE BUTTER END?! SO MUCH WHISKING."



Eventually we decided it was buttery enough and she could stop.



I made stuffed peppers! Everything looks more delicious when arranged symmetrically on a platter.



Yumi's masterpiece, salmon wellington. (With buttery butter sauce to drizzle on top!)



Emily went above and beyond, and in addition to her main dish for the night, surprised us with a classic gelatin "salad." So futuristic and thrifty!



Oh my god. LOOK at it. What a glorious centerpiece!



Bon appetit!



Emily slicing into the salad.



Whoa.



My serving of "salad." It was SO GROSS. Hahaha. We all greatly applauded Emily for daring to make this dish, and it sure was dazzling to look at, but none of us could finish our helping. I actually kind of choked on mine, because it was so slippery it went SHOOTING down my throat!! Nothing says "fresh" like coating your veggies in a layer of slime! I can't believe people actually used to EAT this!!



Emily also made individual tuna noodle casseroles that were totally delicious.



Yay! Eating!! I think that in this picture, Yumi has just taken a bite of "salad."



For dessert, Summer made Babas Au Rhum.



RUMMY! I loved the rum-soaked raisins.



Last time we had cooking club at Yumi's house, she gave Summer a yellow dress. It's becoming a tradition, because this time she had one for Emily! Look at those pretty pastel girls, they are like visions of spring!



I brought my huge collection of vintage magazines, and we flipped through those off and on throughout the night. The kitten cover is my FAVORITE. There is a 100% chance that I would buy that magazine if I ever saw it at the newsstand.



After dinner, we played a wild game of Twister!



We played with teams of two. This was our very first move of the night. Look at how dramatic Summer's pose is!! With an attitude like that, she was bound to win.



Getting harder now...



Valerie and I lost round one, so it was time for Emily & Nancy to combat Summer & Yumi!



It turns out there are a lot of butts in Twister. They should've called it Buttster.



Twisted!



Spin a good combo, Valerie!



BUTTSTER!



Who knew Twister was going to be THIS FUN!?!



It was time for the final round and we all had our game faces on. BRING IT!



All twisted up, right off the bat!



Hahaha, I love Nancy's face in this one.



Uh oh, my slip is starting to show a LOT.



SERIOUSLY SO FUN!!!!!!!!!



Since I showed Emily's butt earlier, I figured it was only fair to show my butt too. Whoomp! There it is!



Could we BE having any more fun??? It's so fun it HURTS!



Right foot yellow!



Hands and feet.






FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!



Who wants to play Twister? Emily does!



After Twister, we played Charades.



By this point in the night, Summer had acquired a tiara from Yumi!



And Yumi had put a fancy red hat on my head!



Second word, two syllables!



It was an awesome game and an AWESOME NIGHT!



Cheers to another fantastic installment of Cooking Club!