Food Musings

A Winnipeg blog about the joy of preparing food for loved ones and the shared joy that travel & dining brings to life.

Celebrating the Wee One

August26

For many years, Daughter #2 has been dubbed, a little Martha Stewart (even before the term might be considered derogatory).  Her recent efforts to celebrate the birth of her first niece (my first Grandbaby) beautifully demonstrated her creative talents.  She started with the thought “You Are My Sunshine” even before we knew the sex of Wee One and she set the date before the bundle of joy came into the world.  The tumultuous weather of late, made us all a tad nervous about whether we would have to change locales.

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In the end, the grey clouds parted and the sun shone brightly on the day (just like song lyrics that were her selected theme).

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Here she is with her Grandma (our Mom) wearing yellow, of course.

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This is her other Grandma cuddling with Wee One.

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Her yellow colour theme was beautiful against the lush green after the recent rains.

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She thought of everything including a Dream book for the baby, where we all recorded our hopes and dreams for Wee One.

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The big hit was the opportunity for us all to demonstrate our artistic abilities.  She purchased onsies in various sizes along with socks and bibs and we were invited to decorate them to ensure that Wee One has a funky wardrobe.

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She had set up a double clothesline in advance where the articles could be pinned while the paint dried.  This also gave us a gallery to admire each other’s handiwork.

Were the refreshments good, you ask?  She had thoughtfully put out huge urns and red and white sangria, along with a berry punch.

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She recruited the three sisters to provide the savouries.

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She wanted everything to be served at once and had designated the gazebo to be the food and beverage station.

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This meant that we could all participate in the festivities, with the exception of Sister #3 who somehow got stuck keeping the yellow jackets away from the food.  At least the pesky yellow insects came appropriately attired!

The savoury menu included:

An array of garden party cucumber rolls up, cherry, carmelized onion, goat cheese bruschetta  and her infamous phyllo wrapped asparagus were provided by Sister #2,

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along with her spicy pork tenderloin which is delicious cold.

Sister #3 made from-scratch Humus (including peelinge every single chick pea), Baba Ganesh with baked pita chips,

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Prosciutto and Parmesan Palmiers,

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and these gorgeous Antipasto Skewers which were as delicious as they looked.

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I provided a stack of Artichoke Nibblers,

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Cauliflower Strudel, Chili-Rubbed Shrimp

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and what turned out to be a new favourite: Bacon-Wrapped, Cheese-Stuffed Figs.   I am going to provide the recipe for these in a subsequent post and if you would like any of the others, please simply leave a request in the comment area.

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Desserts were volunteered by a number of participants.  No wonder the wasps were attracted to the table, the colours were as vibrant as an exquisite garden in full bloom.

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Daughters of Brother #3 looked smashing in their dessert coloured dresses.

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Speaking of smashing, these beautiful cake pop Party Favours were lovingly provided by our friend Caroline whom is an expert cake maker.

Wee One and her gorgeous Mom were showered with love and beautiful gifts.  The afternoon was a lovely way to celebrate new life and family and friends (who are just like family).

Kath’s quote: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you’ll never know dear, how much I love you, please don’t take my sunshine away.”

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Love-that is all.