Signature Drinks

The Pink B*tch

we called it

The Pretty Pink Lady

When we have a big party I like to make a signature drink. We always offer a special cocktail when we have our annual garden dinner party. For the birthday party last Saturday night we were using pinks, oranges and greens in the color scheme...mostly pink. I thought a pink cocktail would be fun. I've made this one before and served it at a party, it's not too strong, it's refreshing and it's pretty....perfect! I found the original recipe in a cookbook a friend gave me, Serena Food and Stories by Serena Bass. It's one of my very favorite cookbooks, there are some really great recipes and she tells great stories about food, catering and her life.

Serena's version of

The Pink B*tch

1 1/2 ounces Absolut Citron

1/2 ounce raspberry puree

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

Splash of Sprite

Lemon wedge, for garnish

Add all the ingredients to a shaker half filled with ice.

Shake well and strain into a double rocks glass over ice.

My version - to serve a crowd

*The Pretty Pink Lady*

1 1/2 cups Sky Vodka - Lemon

1/2 cup raspberry puree

1/2 ounce Real Lemon Juice

2 or 3 cups Sprite

Lemon slice, for garnish

I made the drinks in batches, sometimes doubling these

ingredients depending on how fast the guests were drinking

them. We set several glasses on a tray, put in a few ice cubes,

filled the glasses and perched a half-lemon slice on the edge

of the glass. I made them pretty weak, it was a mellow crowd

and I was going for a thirst quencher - not a strong martini

style drink. We didn't bother with the martini shaker for

these, just poured them straight out of a pitcher.

*Raspberry Puree

I used frozen whole raspberries.

Thaw raspberries, put in blender and blend on high for a couple of minutes. Strain through cheesecloth to get rid of the seeds. Blend seeded raspberry syrup with equal parts simple syrup.

*Simple Syrup

I heat two cups water with two cups sugar until the water almost boils. Stir until you're sure all of the sugar granules have dissolved. Cool the syrup completely and then add to the berries.

I posted this recipe for Julie, one of Tami's readers...hope you like it Julie!

Party Primping

When I plan a party I get so preoccupied with the cleaning, setting up tables + chairs and making food that I tend to push aside the decor aspect of a party. For that we have Tami...now that girl is all about the primping. We found these letters at the craft store, she brought some ribbon and we hung them in an open window by the entrance to the barn.

I had set up these pots with moss and the lighted twigs, the night before the party Tami said "they need something!"...I grabbed a pink feather boa that I had picked up for the birthday girl to wear...I threw it on the tree and ta daaa....a feather tree! Lucky for us I had two pink feather boas, we had these trees flanking the dessert table.

Okay, so the party was in the barn...the lighting is poor. Tami brought over this cute little lamp from her own bedroom...how cute is that? She set up these little vases too, hey...the girl can get crazy with the cute.

Tami's hubby Fred was in charge of the bar, he set up the beers on a shelf behind the bar so our guests would be able to see what we had to offer....are we uptown or what?

Here's a shot of the buffet table, that's my cute hubby in the background sneaking in the door before the party started. Birthday girls sister Colleen brought the fruit tray...isn't it gorgeous? Nothing like a colorful buffet table to make things look more appetizing, that's what I always say.

Here's a better shot. I painted some old planters hot pink and we filled them with candles. Instead of putting candles on a cake we put fifty candles on the buffet table - no...we didn't make the birthday girl blow them out. I took this shot right before the party started, lest you think nobody showed up because of all of those empty chairs in the background. Honest..we had a good crowd.

See? Lotsa people in the party barn...and the glow of fifty candles - whew...we didn't burn the barn down, I was a teensy bit worried.

Here's a shot of the party barn chalkboard. I made it several years ago out of an old board and some chalkboard paint. It's great, every time we have a big party I like to write a greeting on it. Last year we had a family reunion in the party barn....I wrote a welcome note to all the cousins.

My favorite candelabra. I took this shot the morning after the party.

Next on the agenda? The annual pumpkin carving party in the barn! It's a much smaller gathering....hmm...I should paint those planters orange don't you think?

For more party photos, check out the post below...I have a guest photographer!

More Party Primping

So I had my party primping post ready to publish...and I found a photo CD in my mailbox. Not the e-mail mailbox but the snail-mail mailbox. It was from The Snapsisters! namely Jodi, Jodi is Tami's (my co-party-planner) sister. Jodi stopped by the farm late Saturday afternoon while we were working on a few of the final details of the party, and she had her camera! Jodi is a pro, she takes photos for a living so I was thrilled to see her walk in the door of the party barn. I've posted my pictures and now I'm going to post the pics that Jodi took...dang that girl made the party barn look cool.Here's Jodi's daughter Hana Jo, she made the frosting for all of the party cupcakes...this kid knows her way around a KitchenAid mixer, she's a whiz with frosting and tips...thanks Hana!

Tami made these tags for the buffet table, I didn't get a picture of them...I'm so glad that Jodi did.

I didn't get a photo of this bouquet either...oh Jodi, you've made me so happy.

Or these little white vases on the table buy the door....isn't this a beautiful shot?

And this one? With those twinkling lights in the background...wowza.

Oh, be still my heart...flowers, and twinkle lights reflected in the mirror. So cool.

These K's that Tami made for Karen the birthday girl, I love the colors.

This is too cool...it's making me want to buy one of those groovy cameras with all those snazzy lenses, hmmm.....then I'd have to take lessons from Jodi on how to use it ;)

One of those yummy cupcakes I talked about earlier, I'm calling this food-photo-art.

Looks like we're ready to party doesn't it?

Thanks Jodi!

If you're looking for a great photographer who is also a lot of fun,

you need to check out the snapsisters!

Ruby Tuesday

It's Ruby Tuesday! Whenever I'm blog-hopping on Tuesdays and I stumble upon the Ruby Tuesday posts, it makes me wish I had remembered to get one ready. Today was no different. I'm late but I'm posting one of the dahlias from the party Saturday night. This dark red dahlia reminds me of my grandpa's ruby ring, it was a deep dark red that was square cut. The Husband gave me a ring that is very similar to grandpa's...it's my favorite ring to wear because it reminds me of him.

The Morning After

Ohhhh...happy day! I figured out how to get my pictures out of my camera and onto my computer. I'm so tech challenged it's not even funny, I remembered I had a memory card reader stashed in my office and, ta daaa....even figured out how to get the thing to work.


This morning I was supposed to get on a ferry to go to a party on an island. But I just couldn't go, I've barely seen The Husband this past week. Last night we had a party in the barn (I think it went pretty good), there was a bit of cleaning up to do....but mostly I just needed to be home. The sun was shining, there were leftovers, there were yummy treats baked by a dear friend...I just couldn't get in the car and drive away. I needed to be home, I needed to wander around the farm and enjoy the sunshine


I wandered out to the barn in my jammies and slippers this morning, this little collection of flowers in their vases had been gathered up and was sitting on the bar. My friend Tami made all of the floral arrangements for the party, she has a couple of friends that let her raid their gardens, she picked buckets and buckets of dahlias....the flowers were so incredibly beautiful. The party was in our barn but there were a lot of other folks that worked really hard to make the whole thing happen. I made a big batch of pink cocktails and a couple of dishes, my mom made her famous stuffed mushrooms, Tami cooked up a storm, and Colleen made an artichoke dip that was so good I'll be begging for the recipe.

All the pretty vases gathered up and sitting on the bar...

Tami thought I wouldn't like this arrangement, she thought I would think it was too busy.
I loved it....
I think I took about ten pictures of it this morning.

I have more party pics that I'm hoping to post this week. I know Tami will be posting about the party as well...check out her blog on my sidebar, I think she's going to post a recipe or two, I'm tellin' ya - there was some yummy food. If you're looking for ideas for holiday parties you just might want to keep an eye on her blog this week.

Tuckered and Tattered

This little echinacea is looking a bit tattered, poor thing. The Husband is looking a bit worn out as well. It was a long week for him at work, crazy long days...but the grass is in, the corn is in the bunker - crops are in for the year, he's looking a little dazed.
Tomorrow night we're hosting a birthday party in the party barn for one of our friends...I hope my tuckered out hubby doesn't fall asleep standing up, if he tips over I sure hope somebody catches him.

Freaky Photo Find

I was clicking around this morning, drinking my coffee, visiting a few blogs before I went outside to work on cleaning the Party Barn. I clicked on several blogs and meandered off into the cyber universe...random clicking and reading comments - you know the drill.
Lo and behold...I found one of my photos...on somebody else's blog - they were using it as the little photo that goes with their comments... it was such a strange experience. I know it happens to other people, I read on their sidebars about how they don't want their photos used without permission...I just never thought somebody would "borrow" one of mine. I know when you throw stuff out into the cyber world it's kinda free for the taking, I really never thought it would happen to 'lil ol me. In an odd way I take it as a compliment since I don't see myself as a photographer.
My camera and computer still aren't on speaking terms, my sissy came over today and tried to trouble-shoot for me...prognosis? She thinks I'm toast, not the language she used...but you get the picture.
Bumma.