Tag Archives: friends

A gathering of friends

My husband has this group of friends. They go back to their high school days. And when I married him, well, they became my friends, too. In 2003, we started having New Years together, every year. Personally, I’ve been to about 5 out of the 8 parties. People have traveled from North Carolina. From Delaware. From Louisianna. And probably from other places that I can’t remember! And we converge at this party.

Some of these folks I get to see throughout the year . . .

. . . but some I only see at this event.

Hi Brad! I’ve only met you twice in my life. But I love you, man!

And Laura–I hadn’t seen her for years! She’s probably going to end up being one of the high-powered people of our nation. She’s got the smarts, she’s (almost) got the law degree, and she makes a beautiful party mask. Here she is admiring Steph’s freshly pressed engagement ring.

Last year we hosted the party at our apartment in Chicago, and it was the first time I truly realized how much work goes into preparing food, drink, and bedding for a dozen people. So this year, I want to thank Dave and Katie, our marvellous hosts, for doing all the actual work.

It was great to just show up, decorate some cupcakes, party, and leave. Heck yeah.

The cupcake decorating was a blast. Katie has all these fun tools, and had different batches of icing done up in blue, purple, red, and black. I piped little flowery shapes all over those cupcakes, and called it ‘art.’

My husband also piped some icing on some cupcakes. I like to call his weird-shaped amorphous piles of frosting ‘abstract art.’

Katie had also prepared a mask-decorating table, where we decked out our masks in sequins and feathers.

Everyone got really into it.

Hello husband of mine! Wait . . . where is your face? And why is it all covered in hair???

Brad’s Batman mask may just take the cake.

One cake for you, coming up.

Here’s my almost finished mask . . .

Let’s put it on and check out those cupackes again.

Wow, they look even more amazing through these little eyeholes.

The guys were all over things this year. First of all, Alex and my husband salvaged the roast when the roasting bag split.

Good job guys! You enabled us all to get our protein fix for the evening.

And I love this picture below–each guy is so focused on whatever his task is. And where are the girls? I honestly have no idea. Probably in the other room mixing up a juicy drink.

Way to be men! Way to get things done! Way to carry that table outta there! Each one is in his own little task-shaped world, and yet they are working in harmony to some kind of unifying man-rhythm. I should probably say something deep about manhood and gender as it’s revealed in this moment. But I can’t think of a single deep thing. I’m too distracted by thoughts of a roast.

With each year that passes, the celebration gets sweeter and sweeter for me. Because each added year of friendship with this group also adds a layer of love.

I like my love how I like my frosting: no skimping allowed!

Soon I’ll be telling you all about the amazing game we played–it’s great for large groups of people, and is guaranteed to have you splitting your sides with laughter.

In the meantime, a toast to friendship! A toast to stickin’ together through the hard times and fun times alike! And this party was definitely in the ‘fun’ category.

The only individual who wasn’t amused was Tom Brady, who napped on the bed, completely unimpressed.

You missed out big time, cat.

PW Weekend: food, food, food

Are you tired of hearing about my weekend with the Pioneer Woman yet?

It’s only taken me a month to spit it all out.

This is the next to last installment, and I am lumping together accounts of what amounted to a treasure trove of food.

The very first night we were hit up the side of the head with her chocolate sheet cake, which we devoured warm from the oven.

For anyone who doubts the existence of this woman, let me reaffirm that we watched her whip up this cake with our own two eyes.

And she served me a piece with her own two hands.

Here, Jenna–have a piece of chocolate cake. I insist!

Why thanks, P-Dub. I think I’ll have seconds.

It was delightful for breakfast as well. I speak from experience.

The next day chefs Lia and Tiffany whipped up some toffee.

Whipped, whipped, whipped. I can’t stop using that verb, but it’s a perfect description of what these women did in the kitchen. They made it look so easy. However, just to avoid an F– on my English composition scores, I think I should come up with a synonym for ‘whipped.’ Let’s make one up. How about ‘zaboomed’ or ‘razzifrazzed’.

You can click here for the toffee recipe–you won’t be sorry.

And then Lia showed us how to make truffles.

It was all very scientific, with tons of useful facts. This woman knows her chocolate, what makes it fall apart, what makes it get that weird chalky white color sometimes, and what makes it go ‘zing.’ But all I can remember is that she tests the temperature of her tempered chocolate by touching some to the point under your lips where your chin begins. Apparently it’s a very heat-sensitive spot. Next time I’ll take notes. Though wait–there will be no next time! *weeping into sleeve* Oh well, I’ll console myself by making the truffles by myself and talking to my imaginary friend the P-Dub as if she were there. Imaginary friends totally worked when I was a kid–why not now? And why can’t one of them be exactly like Ree?

You can click here for the truffles recipe as well as a thorough step by step documentation by the P-Dub herself.

We all donned non-Laytex glove thingies, dipped our hands in chocolate, and rolled the truffles in between our palms. I would have photographed the occasion, however being covered in chocolate and holding my DSLR were not compatible states of being. So I chose the chocolate. It was an existentialist moment.

Lia also showed us how to make these chocolate designs.

You pipe ’em on a sheet of parchment paper, let ’em dry, and then stick ’em on a truffle. Or a bowl of ice cream. Or something. Gorgeous.

There’s nothing like watching a woman at her craft. Lia knows everything about chocolate, and I mean everything. High school chemistry teachers would do well to invite her to guest speak in their classrooms. That would have snapped me out of my chemistry-induced high school head fog, I’m telling you. It brings meaning and sense to a discipline that I heretoforth had seen as inapplicable to my life.

For dinner, Ree counteracted our heavy consumption of cookies, truffles, and toffee with a nice slab of beef tenderloin.

It looked more raw than I would have thought was appetizing–but it was actually melt-in-your-mouth perfect. Mark my words.

On a tangent, don’t you love Ree’s ring and bracelet?

We ate the tenderloin with a generous heap of seafood pasta and a perfect salad.

It was heavenly. I wish I had that pasta recipe . . . Lia and Tiffany razzifrazzed it up from the remains of the seafood they used for our salad lunch.

In fact, Christy couldn’t finish her pasta. So I pulled out my trademark move. “Um, are you going to finish that?”

You think I’m joking. But I’m not. Thanks for the rest of your pasta, Christy. It was awesome.

There was a second tenderloin that got abandoned on the counter, so at night I snuck back to the kitchen and had at it.

You may also think I’m joking about this . . . but I’m not. I ate a nice chunk of it, in the dark, with only my Mom as a witness. She promised to take my secret to the grave.

I also expressed my love to Ree’s knife, her famed Wüsthoff.

I’m happy to say that the Wüsthoff reciprocated and said it had a fond place in its steely heart for me, too. It was a tender moment.

Look! I’m putting my feet on the P-Dub’s coffee table!

I leave you with a quote I came across on someone’s blog. I wish I could remember whose, because I love it.

Stay busy, get plenty of exercise, and don’t drink too much.  Then again, don’t drink too little.  ~Herman “Jackrabbit” Smith-Johannsen