GANNER'S BIRTHDAY

We’ve been celebrating Chris’ birthday for several days now, and had a little family gathering for Brunch yesterday.   Caro did all the food, including the cake.

 

Sweetpea set the table, choosing an assortment of paper and plastic from our stash, including glasses left from her FROZEN party last Summer.  (Funny, they must be the jinx, for THOSE pictures were kinda fuzzy as well).

There were Bacon-Wrapped Dates and at left is a little dish of Salmon/Cream Cheese Spread, with a garnish of Red Onion and Capers.

 

We had a lovely bowl of Shrimp in a Beer/Garlic/Minced Onion/Butter Sauce, to go over Grits.   Can you SEE all that tiny onion and garlic and Cajun seasonings?

I DID manage to make the Grits, with about half a stick of butter poked down into the middle to melt.  Grits is a Southern version of a creamy, white Polenta, and some of us prefer ours with just a little sprink a sugar. 

There was Sausage Strata, bubbly and golden.   It's an eggy bread pudding, with lots of little pork sausage crumbles.

 Sublime Wok-Scrambled Eggs.

Hash-Browns with caramelized onions and peppers and white Cheddar.

 
Kielbasa in a honey-mustard sauce, in a little doll-sized crock-pot.

Some St. Angel, a creamy roulade resembling Ricotta, some dried cranberries, and little Seckel pears.

Toasted Pecans.

What happens to a birthday cake when everybody chooses a different color of balloon.

We had quite a day, beginning with Ganner's hiding inside the big Water Heater carton, on which he'd written all sorts of BEWARE!!    and  DANGER!!!   And CAUTION!  IT BITES!!! topped by quite a faithful copy of a portrait of him painted by Sweetpea when she was in pre-school.   As afraid as I was, more for HIM than HER in this charade, since he twice practiced his grand entrance, bursting out the door and almost collapsing himself, box and all, onto the floor, but also making sure she did not take fright either, I gave her a whispered word during our hello hug, and armed her with one of the big flexible foam tubes which came as cushioning in the heater-box. 

One jump from the box, a smart set of painless whacks with her sword, a small set-to as he armed himself with another, and much merriment and hugs all round and lauding of the heroes.

After Brunch, four of the things made their way upstairs, where we tried our hands at balancing them on our palms, balancing things on THEM, doing that spin-the-plates thing with Chinet and frisbees, and lots of surprise jousts throughout the afternoon.

I swear, That Child was the oldest person in the house.

Moire non,