Launch Party Update

I have to admit that I am currently breathing into a brown paper bag. Long deep breaths praying that this Xanax starts working. My frazzeled self is imagining standing over the edge of the Grand Canyon looking down going "who needs a parachute I can fly by flapping my arms". Translation - I never think logically before I leap. EVER!

Guest count is now 60+, my yard is a big pile of dirt right now, I am getting a new garage floor installed Wed and Thurs and I haven't even remotely got everything ready for the party. I feel like the guy on the Next Food Network Star that always over extended himself. I mean who schedules a complete overhaul of their garage and frontyard the week of a major party? Oh and I forgot one more idiotic thing... we have our first dog obedience lesson on Saturday morning of the party. IDIOT!

Payday is Friday which means on Friday I will be doing the Costco, Kroger run then come home and decorate and knock out as much food preparation as I possibly can. Cion is doing the Central Market run and Dave is going to Home Depot to get us patio furniture. We will also need to reload the fridge back in to the garage on Friday. All of this AFTER working an 8 hour day.

Saturday's schedule looks even worse. Wake up, take Xanax, take dog to obedience training at 10:00am, go to bakery, Nudini, shower, clean, cook for 60+ people, pray the house doesn't over heat, freshen up, pop another Xanax, greet guests and pray for a miracle.

Wish us luck... we need it!

Launch Party

We decided to change the menu just a tad for the party on August 2nd. Instead of lamb we are going to do a beef tenderloin and a pork tenderloin. Below is our revised menu and the estimated preparation time.

Beef Tenderloin - grill 30 minutes
Pork Tenderloin - grill 20 minutes
Crab Cakes - stove - 45 minutes
Baked brie - oven - 20 minutes
Zucchini wrapped in proscuitto - stove - 20 minutes
Mini Caprese - will be prepared Friday night
Stuffed Mushrooms - oven - 30 minutes
Anti pasto tray - assembly time
Desserts - assembly time
Asparagus - stove - 20 minutes

Cion went to Whole Foods last night and ordered a case of white wine. We are off to Specs tonight to look for red wine and champagne. Guest count so far is 36 with more to come in.

We will go to Costco next Wednesday and Central Market on Thursday or Friday. We have jam packed days ahead of us and lots to get ready for.

Wish us luck!

Official Launch of Two Party Planners

It's official. Cion and I are launching Two Party Planners. Deidra is going to help us out when she can and be a great help to us on the business side. We have designed a logo and ordered business cards. Our first open house is scheduled for Saturday, August 2 at 7:00.

The menu we have planned consists of appetizers and finger friendly foods.

Lamb bites
Crab Cakes
Baked Brie
Zucchini wrapped in proscuitto
Mini Caprese
Crackers served with warm goat cheese and fruit
Stuffed Mushrooms
Antipasto Tray
Steamed asparagus
array of desserts

We are going to pick a red and a white wine to serve. Our goal is to give our friends, family and potential clients a glimpse into what we plan to offer.

If I left you off the email and you would like to come please RSVP to me by July 30.

Cheers and wish us luck!

4th of July Holiday

So for the 4th of July Cion, James and I will be gathering to let Tashi have a playdate with Reilly and Zachary. We will be grilling hamburgers and bratwurst served with Cion's famous salsa and quacamole. I will be making a cucumber tomato salad and a blueberry cheesecake.

The cucumber tomato salad recipe I got years ago and have made on numerous occasions. The ingredients are cucumber, tomato, red onion, mint, olive oil, white vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Once I get home I will post the recipe for everyone. It's always a light, refreshing side and a great accompaniment to burgers, fish and even chicken dishes.

The blueberry cheesecake recipe is a new recipe I am trying from Tyler Florence. Usually his recipes are a great success and if it goes well I will repost it. Based on the reviews it needs some cooking adjustment and a little bit of tweaking.

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July holiday.

It's been awhile...........

Wow I did it! Dave made me promise not to throw any parties during the month of June and today is June 25. I succeeded! My reward was supposed to be a dinner at Mark's but we decided to buy a puppy so that is my reward. For those who don't know above is a picture of Tashi Massey.

So July is now around the corner and I am going through serious party planning withdrawal. I have so many new recipes I want to try so everyone get ready!

Party #1 - Project Runway Season 4 premiers on Wednesday, July 16. My dear friend James started the tradition of getting together as a group to cheer on our favorite contestants. He so graciously included me in the fun and of course my party planning took over and now I like to help organize the wonderous events. So our first event will be the season premier. It will take place at my house and I will provide some snacks. I just sent an email to the group notifying everyone so I should have an RSVP count soon. Then I can plan what snacks I would like to do. I may do a red pepper hummus recipe from Barefoot Contessa I have been wanting to try.

Party #2 - I would like to host a small cocktail party. This is still in the planning stages and a date has not been selected.

Hope everyone is doing well and I will post more soon.

Disco/Mexico Bridal Shower Brunch

James Phillips, Jennifer Massey, Cion Ortega

(There were 4 hosts for this party; Kim Simmons is missing from this photo)

The Disco/Mexico Bridal Shower Brunch was another success. I was fortunate to have 3 other co-hosts for this party: James Phillips, Kim Simmons, Cion Ortega and myself. Dave was kind enough to do the grocery store shopping for me on Saturday and Saturday night James came over to help me decorate. To add some fuel for the decoration committee we grilled hamburgers and I made home fries (russett potatoes, olive oil, Tonys seasoning) and baked beans (ranch style beans, pork and beans, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar).

I think I did a great job combining the themes and really making everything come together. I strung some chilli pepper lights along the fire place and attached 3 disco balls. We hung a 12" disco ball from the ceiling fan and tied Mexcio tissue flowers (miriam made these) along the staircase.

On Saturday evening we marinated the chicken and beef. Sunday I got up bright and early and made the fruit salad. Then Kim came over and we made the quiche. Dave started grilling about 11:00 and we were able to assemble the quesadillas by 12:00. We ran behind on the shrimp but the whole food spread was finished by 12:30. Cion made homemade red salsa, spinach dip (AMAZING) and quacamole.

Everyone raved about how great the food but we still had lots of leftovers. Group size was 20 and we did go through all 10 bottles of champagne in 2.5 hours. Elizabeth (our bride and guest of honor) really got some wonderful gifts.

James and Kim were most excellent at making sure all the guests were taken care of and this really helped as Cion and I cleaned, prepped and took care of the food. I was impressed with how we all worked together!

After the party I was exhausted and was able to join Cion poolside for even more champagne and we munched on leftovers. We had a major brainstorming session about forming a new partnership so hopefully we can iron out details and start something soon.

So this is my last scheduled hosting party for awhile. I hope that Cion and I can reach a joint venture and really make something out of this. I do have a few parties to attend (Cion's pool party June 1st, Breann's kitchen unveiling party June 28) so I will post more details soon.

CHEERS!

Pictures from Cinco de Mayo Housewarming

The biggest success from the Cinco de Mayo party was the beef fajitas and of course the seven layer dip. For the beef for this party I used flank steak from Kroger. Dave uesed a tenderizer to thin the meat and we marinated it for 24 hours with lime juice, garlic, olive oil, liquid smoke, salt and pepper. It was incredibly moist and really flavorful.

For the seven layer dip I used Rosarita Vegetarian refried beans (3 cans), 3 bags of Quac Sals (you can find this in Kroger vegetable area), Large container Daisy Sour Cream mixed with taco seasoning, 3 tomatoes, 1 container blak olives sliced, 2 bunches green onion and colby monterry jack cheese. This is always a hit!

I also made Trey's Mom's Green Sauce but not many people touched it. I need to tweak this recipe.