40th Birthday Party

It's hard to believe it has been 10 years since Susie & I had our big 30th birthday party - before Arizona, our careers in education, marriage & Julia. WOW - how much life has changed!

August 1 isn't here yet, but you know I love celebrating for at least the whole month. I started early since Susie came home for her annual summer visit on July 9 & had to leave on July 22 (best air fare & she has a summer job) so we planned the soire for mid-July.

The theme was ice cream & we had lots of it. All homemade by our new ice cream attachment (anniversary present for Jai & I which we've talked about getting for YEARS!); I made ice cream EVERY day for 2 weeks with Jai & then Susie's assistance. It was insane, but fun! YUMMY work, too! : ) We had traditional ice creams made with LOCAL dairy milk & cream as well as non-dairy varieties made with soy milk & creamer & also sorbets made with lots of local, fresh fruits & juices.

We had lots to try, many non-traditional choices. No Neapolitan here - seriously no vanilla, milk chocolate or strawberry!
Sorbet: basil lime, watermelon basil, watermelon (all fruit, no sugar/honey) [all but the lime were local]
Soy: vanilla, mint chocolate chip (local mint), green tea & ginger
Dairy: coffee, banana, lemon-lime, peach (local), dark chocolate (local Olive & Sinclair chocolate, really intense flavor), goat cheese & honey (all local ingredients)

We also made some snacks, most were of the healthy kind. I made 2 bean dips - one with garbanzo beans, parsley & lemon juice (I call it "Hummus" though I don't use tahini), the other with black beans, cilantro & lime juice (I call it "Caribbean Bean Dip"). There were lots of corn chips & veggies for dipping. In addition to the cold dessert stuff, I baked my famous banana bread & my delicious & easy chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. YUM! We created an adult beverage of sangria (Jai's speciality) & a non-alcoholic summer punch with tea, juice & lemonade (Susie's concoction). Our friend, Mike, brought his yummy spinach & artichoke dip. OMG - it is good!

Lots of friends & family arrived, many early enough to see Julia, some hadn't been to our house before & of course eat the ice cream. : ) Thanks to everyone for being a part of our milestone celebration - it was lots of fun! Also thanks for the gifts - they were thoughtful & generous.

I'm looking forward to the next 10 years! Life truly is good!