Dinner Group Fun

We hosted dinner group for June.  We invited some new friends over to join us and had an absolutely delightful evening...
I have to share my decor, which for me is half the fun.

The banner has been a project in progress for a few years.  The rosette was giving me fits and by the time I hand scored the paper to form the rosette and stuck them down, I realized as they began to tear that the strips of paper were not big enough start with.  Well, I set it aside and did not want to start over so there is sat until my sweet friend had left over white strips already scored and cut from Stampin UP's rosette die and it made repairing the project easy.  Every time I look at it, I get all kinds of happy.  I hate the mirror over the fire place, but we work with what we have.

These table settings were so much fun to put together.  I stopped at the local Smiths and they had a sale on their table napkins and place-mats.  If you didn't' know...my favorite colors are red white and blue so I had to have them.  They had all kinds of red, white and blue tableware, but knew I had to draw the line.  Ralph would have been none too happy if I came home with another tableware set.

  The favors were these cute little plastic soda bottles emptied of their contents and cut in half.  Inside i put regular and white chocolate covered pretzels and holiday peanut m&m's.  I then "duct" taped the bottle together and wrapped red and white ribbon around the outside and tied it with Stampin Up's bakers twine.  I poked holes in the lid and inserted 3 sparklers and tied a ribbon around them.  The star and little tag is made from Waltzing Mouse's 1776 stamp set.  It was fun to see the guys figure out how I got pretzels inside the bottle and then they made fun of me for using duct tape.  I don't care, I wanted the bottles to stay stuck together in our unbearable heat.

 We started dinner with Lobster Cheesecake that has remained on our favorites menu, but not often made because of the cost.  Don't turn your nose up until you tried it.  We paired it with fresh grapes and a sprinkle of fresh parsley (sorry no pics) 

We proceeded with  crab stuffed salmon with a drizzle of teriyaki sauce, pineapple ginger rice and steamed green beans with lemon zest.  Incredibly tasty.  Ralph created the recipes after reviewing several from our Northwest region cookbook.  These two dishes are keepers!

 We proceed with the evening sharing our favorite poems.  I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me to have had a Mother who loved poetry and would frequently quote to us the ones she knew by heart and read to us the ones she didn't. 

" little fly upon the wall
ain't you go no clothes at all?
not a blouse or a skirt? 
Not even a shimmy* shirt? 
My, you must be cold."  
(A shimmy shirt is an undershirt - we all wore them as kids)
Just imagine this with a British accent whispered to a child as they sat upon their mothers lap watching a fly that had infiltrated the home in the hot summer months and was resting upon the wall.  This will always be a tender moment for me.  It was fun to hear about everyone's experiences with poetry and how it had influenced their lives. 

We finished the evening off with Pate choux puffs filled with strawberries and Tillamook strawberry ice cream topped with homemade fudge sauce.  (no pics again...the ice cream was fast melting)  We truly enjoy these events and time spent with friends.

Ta Ta for now.