Aunty's best friend, Gwen, will turn 66 on Saturday, so Aunty and I are planning a surprise party for her.
She thinks she is just coming over for dinner, ha! We got her best friend, Dee, to call her friends and she found six of Gwen's closest friends to attend. That makes seven, then Aunty, Carl, Laki, Laki's Mamma, and I make 12. It's perfect! We can seat up to 14 at Aunty's big table in her dining room.
Carl, Laki and I are playing cooks and hosts and servers. Carl will be grilling steaks and chicken breasts, Laki is making her wonderful seasoned green beans, I'm making cole slaw, mashed potatoes, beef gravy and chicken gravy. I've ordered a big red velvet cake which will be ready Saturday afternoon, and I have wonderful ice creams in many flavors in my freezer already.
The ice creams are: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, peach, rocky road, and pistachio. Is that enough of a good selection or do I need more?
I need a bit of advice, as you see. No one attending is a vegetarian, except Gwen, and Carl will grill those huge Portobello mushrooms for her. She loves those in a torpedo roll with cut-up hard boiled eggs and melted Swiss cheese, so she will be happy with her meal. No one has dietary restrictions; everyone was asked of this.
For to drink, I thought a nice red wine for those who want the steak, and a white wine for those who want the chicken. I looked this up and this is proper. I will also need a good port wine for dessert. What are good wines for this?
The appetizers will be celery and carrots with pimiento cheese, a cheeseball with nice crackers, and slices of pears and apples. Is this good?
I'll make a nice punch to serve with the appetizers, with fruit juice and ginger ale an nice pitted cherries in it. I will chill the cherries and set the punch bowl in a bigger bowl of ice so it stays cold. Then there will be coffee, hot tea, milk, iced tea (unsweetened so anyone can add as much sugar as they wish), ginger ale and Sprite and Pepsi. Is this enough of a selection? My new Keurig can make all the different coffees and teas. Will this work?
Gwen will come over first, and all the cooking and all the preparations will be done in my lair so she doesn't see. I like my big 5-burner gas stove better than Aunty's, anyway, ha!
We will decorate the dining room and close the doors so she doesn't see, and entertain everyone in the living room. Her friends will start coming in, and that will be the beginning of the surprise. Then when we open the dining room doors, she'll love this!
Then with the dessert, we'll bring out the presents! I found her a beautiful yellow gold cross with a small diamond on it, for the diamond is her birthstone. I saved money for two months for this, and it is lovely! Aunty is giving her a beautiful oil painting of the Transylvanian Alps we found in the attic. I put it in a better frame. Carl is giving her a very pretty floral coffee cup with her name on it, and Laki found some very nice stationery for her, because she writes many letters to people. Laki's Mamma is giving her one of her handmade afgans she loves to make. Dee told her friends they didn't need to bring any gifts, but they said they want to, so she'll get more presents!
I have the candles, we're using Aunty's best china and glassware, I will get the silver flatware out tomorrow and polish it all. Uck, that is a chore, but it is beautiful! I will get fresh roses for the centerpiece of the table, and Laki and Carl will do the birthday decorations.
I can't wait! Have I forgotten anything? Please tell me. Gwen is such a precious soul, and I want this to be perfect for her. She deserves so very much, for she takes care of Aunty so much when I'm at school and helps us so very much. She let me use her nice car for my driving test.
What am I missing? Please give me all the suggestions you can think of. I can change anything, for I still have tomorrow and Saturday until 6:00pm to fix something wrong.
Thank you so much!
With love,
~Cat
She thinks she is just coming over for dinner, ha! We got her best friend, Dee, to call her friends and she found six of Gwen's closest friends to attend. That makes seven, then Aunty, Carl, Laki, Laki's Mamma, and I make 12. It's perfect! We can seat up to 14 at Aunty's big table in her dining room.
Carl, Laki and I are playing cooks and hosts and servers. Carl will be grilling steaks and chicken breasts, Laki is making her wonderful seasoned green beans, I'm making cole slaw, mashed potatoes, beef gravy and chicken gravy. I've ordered a big red velvet cake which will be ready Saturday afternoon, and I have wonderful ice creams in many flavors in my freezer already.
The ice creams are: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, peach, rocky road, and pistachio. Is that enough of a good selection or do I need more?
I need a bit of advice, as you see. No one attending is a vegetarian, except Gwen, and Carl will grill those huge Portobello mushrooms for her. She loves those in a torpedo roll with cut-up hard boiled eggs and melted Swiss cheese, so she will be happy with her meal. No one has dietary restrictions; everyone was asked of this.
For to drink, I thought a nice red wine for those who want the steak, and a white wine for those who want the chicken. I looked this up and this is proper. I will also need a good port wine for dessert. What are good wines for this?
The appetizers will be celery and carrots with pimiento cheese, a cheeseball with nice crackers, and slices of pears and apples. Is this good?
I'll make a nice punch to serve with the appetizers, with fruit juice and ginger ale an nice pitted cherries in it. I will chill the cherries and set the punch bowl in a bigger bowl of ice so it stays cold. Then there will be coffee, hot tea, milk, iced tea (unsweetened so anyone can add as much sugar as they wish), ginger ale and Sprite and Pepsi. Is this enough of a selection? My new Keurig can make all the different coffees and teas. Will this work?
Gwen will come over first, and all the cooking and all the preparations will be done in my lair so she doesn't see. I like my big 5-burner gas stove better than Aunty's, anyway, ha!
We will decorate the dining room and close the doors so she doesn't see, and entertain everyone in the living room. Her friends will start coming in, and that will be the beginning of the surprise. Then when we open the dining room doors, she'll love this!
Then with the dessert, we'll bring out the presents! I found her a beautiful yellow gold cross with a small diamond on it, for the diamond is her birthstone. I saved money for two months for this, and it is lovely! Aunty is giving her a beautiful oil painting of the Transylvanian Alps we found in the attic. I put it in a better frame. Carl is giving her a very pretty floral coffee cup with her name on it, and Laki found some very nice stationery for her, because she writes many letters to people. Laki's Mamma is giving her one of her handmade afgans she loves to make. Dee told her friends they didn't need to bring any gifts, but they said they want to, so she'll get more presents!
I have the candles, we're using Aunty's best china and glassware, I will get the silver flatware out tomorrow and polish it all. Uck, that is a chore, but it is beautiful! I will get fresh roses for the centerpiece of the table, and Laki and Carl will do the birthday decorations.
I can't wait! Have I forgotten anything? Please tell me. Gwen is such a precious soul, and I want this to be perfect for her. She deserves so very much, for she takes care of Aunty so much when I'm at school and helps us so very much. She let me use her nice car for my driving test.
What am I missing? Please give me all the suggestions you can think of. I can change anything, for I still have tomorrow and Saturday until 6:00pm to fix something wrong.
Thank you so much!
With love,
~Cat
