Success and weariness

What a great day it turned out to be.  The dinner for my friends was just perfect.  We had fun, the food turned out great, and the weather was lovely so there were no worries about travel.  That shrimp recipe is a keeper although I cut way back on the Tabasco and it was still spicy enough.

I ended up making it a sit-down dinner served buffet style since there was too much food to manage on little plates.  I didn't deviate much from the menu I had planned.  With the extra half of cake mix that wasn't used in the Yummy Dessert, I made a birthday cake for one of the guests whose birthday is this month.  I found the cutest candles that were in the shapes of the letters Happy Birthday, but boy did those melt down fast!  We laughed that she hardly got a chance to blow any of them out.  I also added chocolate-dipped strawberries since I had bought fresh strawberries instead of frozen for the dessert.

Since it was an afternoon do, I invited my son and granddaughter later in the evening and we did the whole meal again.  I sent leftovers home with them and still have some for myself tomorrow.

It really pays off to plan and write things out.  Once I settled on the menu, I had a shopping list and a preparation schedule covering two days.  With all the thinking done in advance, it becomes a simple matter of following the plan.

I'm sorry to say I didn't get a picture of the meal.  Only the aftermath.  The new kitchen got a real workout.  Me, too.  I think I'm ready for bed.  So glad tomorrow is an extra day off this weekend.