brunch

ingredients for a successful brunch:

friends
red velvet pancakes
an extra-large dog bone
powdered sugar
conversation
fresh-squeezed orange juice
card table and extra seating brought in from the patio
growling tummies
something to celebrate

surprise!

party bags and dessert treat

Joe's birthday is this week, and his family and I decided it would be fun to surprise him.  We invited his friends, picked baseball as a loose theme and orchestrated a foolproof surprise plan.  Joe's dad organized a "family meeting" at a local restaurant, and Joe's sister and I went ahead to set up for the party. 

centerpieces

 

In keeping with the baseball theme, I made baseball centerpieces with glass rectangle vases, green paper grass and small vinyl baseballs from the party store.  I filled two smaller square vases with peanuts in their shells, and made a few mini-balloon centerpieces to put between them.  Always a fan of party favors, each guest received a bag with Cracker Jacks, a bag of peanuts, a Baby Ruth bar and a baseball cookie pop with "Joe #26" written on it.

cookie pops

Joe was completely surprised, and it took a little while for it to sink in that his friends and family were all there to celebrate him. 

Have you ever surprised someone for their birthday?  What did you do?  Was it hard to keep it a surprise? This is the longest I've ever kept a surprise a secret.  I was so afraid I was going to blow it.

rooster. or how i discovered fried egg sandwiches.



child renderings of roosters can be found all over the restaurant 



If you live in St. Louis, you've no doubt heard of Rooster, the breakfast crepe, sandwich cafe downtown on Locust.  The restaurant owned by David Bailey (who also owns Bailey's Chocolate Bar, Bridge Tap House and Range), has won numerous awards for their menu and atmosphere, and they have not dissapointed.  Several weeks ago, I introduced a few friends to Rooster, and they were also pleased.  I always like to split food when I go out to eat so I can try a few different things.  But, there were no takers, so I had to think creatively.  Wanting to have something both sweet and savory, I opted for the least expensive savory thing on the menu: a fried egg sandwich.  I figured this would enable me to get my savory and sweet fix without breaking the bank.  I'd never tried a fried egg sandwich, but the ingredients looked pretty good, and I was feeling adventurous.

  

the fried egg sandwich in all its glory
photo via

Wow am I glad I tried the fried egg sandwich.  It was satisfying enough that I didn't even end up wanting a sweet crepe (though I did get a few bites of another friend's dessert).  Since discovering this sandwich, I've gone back again to order it.  It is my go-to thing when I venture into Rooster now.  And Iive looked up recipes so when I'm in the mood for one, but don't want to go all the way downtown, I can make it for myself.

Do you have a favorite food you discovered by accident?  What is it?  How did you come across it?

scenes from a weekend: st. patrick's day

This weekend was full of the fun and the productive.  I organized my closet, painted pots and potted plants,  and hung out with friends for a st. patricks day potluck and game night.  We played a version of pictionary where you have picture cards that you need to use, in combo with charades.  I started my week long dog sitting gig, and as you can see, the two aussies are having fun with each other.  I think Dusty has also been better behaved, which is always welcome!  I worked on some paintings, and took some better photos of them with my new phone.  It was one of those great weekends where some stuff that needs to get done get's done, but those things don't feel like they consumed your weekend.

scenes from a weekend

painting, pizza, park, pooch and yours truly pal-ing around with a friend 


This weekend was gorgeous with minimal rain.  I found myself working on a commission of three paintings for someone's living room, walking Dusty around a beautiful park nearby, and going to a concert in the Grove.

On Friday night, some friends and I also tried our hands at pizza making.  Trader's makes it so easy to make (read: assemble) your own pizza.  They have pre-made dough (the whole wheat is my favorite), tons of cheeses to choose from (we went with goat cheese), roma tomatoes for a song, and fresh basil.  Not to mention a variety of  red and white sauces.  I will definitely be going back for more dough and toppings soon.  We ended the night with brownies and Morning Glory.  It was a fun and much needed girls' night.

It must have been a movie and pizza weekend because on Sunday I found myself grabbing California Pizza Kitchen with an old friend before going to see Friends with Kids.  We both thought the movie was funny, sweet, and worth seeing.  Then Dusty and I got another walk in around the neighborhood.  He is loving that the nice weather means longer walks!

Hope you had a great weekend, too!

game night

Juli and Zach pondering their answers to one particularly loaded question

On Friday, I hosted a Valentine's-themed Game Night.  And by Valentine's-themed, I mean that most of the food and decorations were pink and red. I made large and small red velvet cupcakes, strawberry cake pops covered in white and milk chocolate, chocolate lollipops, and chocolate-covered strawberries.

the sweet to salty, junk to healthy food ratio seemed appropriate for the valentine's themed-party.  you can see the celery sticks poking out in the background. strawberries (chocolate covered or not) count as fruits.

 I also found some strawberry Fitz's drinks, blood orange sparkling juice and raspberry lemonade to continue my pink and red theme.   

Sarah guessing everyone's answers to the question, "If you owned a funeral home, what would the slogan be?"

About 10 people showed and we mingled, ate and played a long game of Loaded Questions.  This is a great game for a large party, and even though not everyone knew each other, you wouldn't have guessed it by the third question. 

Looking perplexed that her guess for Stuart did not pan out


A night full of food, fun and friends for sure.  My favorite kind of night.  I'm already thinking about when to host another one, and what the theme should be.

Some Stuart and Diane love before the game commenced

What games are your favorite to play with a large group?  What kinds of themes have you come up with for parties or game nights that have been a particular hit?