Tonight we celebrate the birth of a good family friend! She turned 55... in December! Why was the party so late? I still don't know the answer to that, but frankly it didn't matter because it was so much fun and an excuse to get everyone together.
The party was held at Sur La Table at the Westchester Mall where we were the chefs and cooked our own dinner from scratch. This included pasta, sauces, and a cake. At first, I was incredibly nervous because to be honest, I do not spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen. But after a couple "glasses of courage" I realized that it wasn't meant to be a cooking competition, it was meant to be fun!
Luckily, the birthday girl's middle son and girlfriend (both a year older than me and my good friends) were there as well as we represented the youngins. Our team was pretty much doomed from the beginning. As we added lemon juice to a way to hot skillet, it exploded everywhere and we were all covered! Luckily we had on our aprons.
Of course there were many more mistakes along the way in this adventure. Sauce was burnt, pasta was too thick, then too thin, then nonexistent at all. The meat wasn't shredded finely enough and I refused to touch the fatty pieces. Therefore, half of it got thrown into our "garbage bowl" even though it was perfectly usable. But we didn't care. Half the time we didn't even pay attention to the food. The people were the sources of entertainment. And we did pay attention to the food, we did it together as a team.
My last couple of posts have been about family/friends. At this point of my life, I have begun to realize how much I treasure my time with loved ones. I often discuss the need to be out on my own, but in reality I love being surrounded by loved ones as often as possible.
Needless to say tonight was great. Way better than sitting home doing work or out partying with strangers in the city. Call it a coming of age tale if you will, as I have come to realize what life is all about... being with the people that make me happy and make me a better person!
Happy birthday Pat... 3.5 months later! :)
WHAT a WONDERFUL post. I love the idea of cooking your own party and need to check out this place. I suspect I know some people who would enjoy it! Your post goes from the "literal" description to deep author reflection - the hallmark of effecctive writing!
ReplyDeleteLoving that you took notes about what to write about! Such a great idea. I will have to try it!
ReplyDeletehttp://sprinklesandicing.blogspot.com/