Anniversary Dinner

Hello to all again! I'm excited to be able to participate in 3 memes again today: Tablescape Thursday with Susan, Foodie Friday with Michael Lee, and Some of my Favorite Things Saturday with Laurie. Yay!

THEME:
"Over The Years"
INSPIRATION:
Our family and each other

Back in October 26th, 1996, Mr. Man and I entered our LDS temple in Oakland, CA and "sealed" a covenant with Heavenly Father that we will love and cherish each other for all eternity...

Well, this year, yesterday, was our 14th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. We didn't bungee jump off any cliffside or bridge, didn't seek out a fancy restaurant, no expensive gifts bought and no parties thrown. For this anniversary, we reflected on the success of our marriage and our family as well as another pledge to make it to 7 more years of happiness. At least...

Now, we enjoy life with our three children- 1 in Hawaii, 2 at home.

But before we had all three, we had our memories and possessions that reminded us of our union and all the ups and downs we endured. So this table is reflective of that...
Card table-1997, Flowers 2002, Autumn Dinnerware- 2005, Tablecloth, Birds and Flatware-2009, Glasses, Napkins, candles and holder- 2010.

We ate in our family room after the kiddos went to bed. We listened to Michael Buble and reflected on how much we still love each other and the life we are building in our new home.

Our menu and dinnerware were also a mix of old and new: The plates, 2005 and 2007; The solid red plate (Home Trend "Siena") was a gift from a young couple family friends. They were relocating and reducing so they gave us the whole set for 4!
The food- a FAVE of ours since 1996; Crabcakes, but my own recipe this year. The couscous, only tried and loved it this year. Broccoli, a staple family veggie since childhood for Mr. Man and 1987 for me. The dessert of Cream Puffs with chocolate ganache has been an anniversary staple since 2002. Homemade ganache, totally only started 2008.

So there you are, our marital journey for your enjoyment. One thing that's still and will always be... How much we are totally crazy about each other! Everyone, meet Mr. Man. My dream man... (Max's of Manila in Honolulu, Hawaii, September 2010)
and our children L-Infinity (17), J-Pony(11) and I-Dude(8). Our pure source of joy. When we look at them, they remind us how lucky we are to have found each other.

I love my life and wouldn't trade it for anything. How about you?

Thanks for peeking! Now I'm off to see your post!

Strawberry Topped Cupcakes

Hello to all! It's been a while as well since I joined in Foodie Friday with Michael on Designs by Gollum, so I'm really glad that I have something delicious to share!

Every year starting in Fall, we hit the library and grab seasonal story books. I read to my children out loud, going back to cuddling and reading 101.

Well, my kids and read I this book called "Cook-a-doodle-do!" The author fashioned it after the story of the Little Red Hen where the character is a great grandson of Little Red.

With the help of his friends, a pot-bellied pig, iguana and a turtle, they managed to bake a beautiful Strawberry Shortcake!

So we printed the recipe written on the back page, but when it came to it, we didn't have the flour that it called for. So...

We found a regular cake mix and we turned them into cupcakes. We chopped up some strawberries and floated them on top of some Redi-Whip! Yum!

That is my hubby's cool hands. I had to quickly snap it up before he ate his cupcake. He loves strawberries on whipped cream!
And this one's mine... Oh, it was worth the wait from taking pictures. (I think they're both a bit grainy because I was not paying attention to the setting, I was too busy imagining how delicious they would be! LOL)

Love ya for stopping by! Time to eat over at your blog.

Hawaiian Table Splash

Hello everyone! I know, I know... Long time between posts. Been really busy so I hope you can forgive me. I'm still working on getting all of my dishes out of the storage place, but I promise, I'll have more posts soon enough.

This is the buffet table I put together for my daughter's "Off to College" (Brigham Young University in Oahu, HI) Farewell Dinner back in August. And since I'm busy, busy...

I'm participating in Tabletop Tuesday with Marty, Thrifty Thursday with Leigh and Tablescape Thursday with Susan, of course!

This is definitely fitting to all three memes- there's a suped-up table for Marty's :-); I only had to buy the pineapple ($3), votive holders (75% off), hibiscus ($5 for 20) and lanterns (75% off), everything else, I've had so that's thrifty enough for Leigh's; and it's a tablescape for Susan's meme! I'm so clever sometimes, it scares me. (Oh, look at that, I even made a Halloween pun. Ha!) Enjoy!

THEME:

"Aloha Farewell"

INSPIRATION:

Brigham Young University

Laie, Oahu, Hawaii

I had some shells and candles...
Soft blue Ikea napkins and Asian lanterns...
I had pebbles, pineapple, bamboo, hibiscus, too!
So under the candlelight,
and with colorful pearls and pebbles...
I set the stage for some Hawaiian buffet dining!
Afterwards, when everyone was pull of roasted pulled pork, chicken adobo, lumpias, noodles, fruits and steamed rice... I made sure that the pineapple took a freezer nap, the shells, pebbles and pearls were back in their boxes;
and the candles, bamboo and dinnerware were all put away-- A WEEK LATER!

What? It was a beautiful table!

Thanks for peeking!