Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Today is Ben's birthday! We had a big family pizza party to celebrate. Dad decorated with balloons!



Yay, pizza!



I made a huge salad.



And a chocolate cake with peanut buttercream frosting!



Singing "Happy Birthday!"



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR BEEEEEEEN!



YUM.



The cake was super delicious.



Cheryl told some stories while we ate cake!



Then it was time for presents!



Benjamin Elfin Forest got a new apron!



And some delicious-looking wine!



And Dennis made Ben this mirror!



It says "beautiful" on it. So sweet.



He taped a photo of young Ben on it, too. Look at his little hairdo!!



Happy birthday, Ben! Cheers!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Chocolate Cooking Club

Nancy hosted cooking club this month, and the theme was chocolate! We used an episode of David Rocco's Dolce Vita as our inspiration, and followed the menu that he featured on the show. Cioccolato! We made the four recipes from his menu, and added two additional recipes. Summer kicked things off with a chocolate martini. She put her own twist on it to make it even more delicious!



Bailey's Mint Chocolate, Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, and Vodka! With a Junior Mint as garnish. So delicious!!



We also had lots of fantastic wines to enjoy throughout the night. Look at how cute this little predator is!



Valerie brought this super, SUPER delicious and perfectly appropriate wine, The Chocolate Block.



THIS ONE HAS A UNICORN!!!!!



Time to eat! Le Bernardin, ooh la la! Fancy times!



Valerie made chocolate babka! Soooooooo delicious.



Emily made the Shrimp with Chocolate.



Yumi made the Beef Stew with Chocolate.



And Nancy made the Penne with Chocolate and Anchovies.



Now that is one brown plate!! This dinner was definitely weird. I usually like pretty much everything always all the time, so I did enjoy it. The shrimp were plump and juicy and awesome. The bread was hands down fantastic!! The pasta was WEIRD but I liked it. The bread crumbs gave it an awesome crunch. The beef stew was super intense.



It was hard to keep the chocolate off our faces, so we all looked extra beautiful while eating this meal.















We decided to save my salads for last because we figured we'd need something refreshing. ACTION SHOTS!



Sprinkling berries!



Mmmm. The salads were bright and delicious. Topped with chocolate balsamic dressing!



After dinner, we played an intense game of Foodie Fight.



Then things got crazy.



Nancy has the creepiest yet awesomest wiener water gun from the good old days. SEX!



The gun inspired a series of spy team photos.



Go team!!



Charlie's Angels? Or something.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

New Bedspread and Sock Stealer

We got a new bedspread! Here is Charlie modeling it.





Emma has always had a bad habit of stealing my socks and dragging them around. Here are a few of her latest hauls.