Yesterday I celebrated my forthcoming Birthday (March 15) with a pot luck dinner party for 20 of my nearest and dearest friends. I t has become a tradition that I have a party. Last year it was the opening of my art exhibition at The Blue Tomato Gallery. I can't pull that off annually, so I returned to a more traditional format of eating good food, drinking good wine and enjoying good talk. It is usually fairly casual. This year was no exception. I spent the two days leading up to Saturday cooking up a storm, with glazed ham, Swedish meatballs, Dutch sauerkraut, potato salad, and several cheeses. My friends added scalloped potatoes, Indian chicken curry with papadums, seafood and several other salads, vegetarian lasagna, breads,Greek yogurt, condiments and four types of cake and a pie.
This was accompanied by wine, beer and Perrier water and closed with coffee and tea. I have been feeding large groups for quite some time, so I have the buffet organization down to a science and with a few friends helping, it ran very smoothly. Judging by the group's animation, the laughter, and the complete silence while everyone was seriously eating, I know they all had a good time. A smaller hard- core of friends remained until after 1:00 AM and all left with doggie bags. Still, leftovers fill my fridge and we won't go hungry for several days.
My friends include artists, musicians, writers, a photographer or two, a web designer, some retired civil servants and an impresario. Add my student lodger, two pre-teens, a ten month old baby and, of course, me and we have a cross generational mix of happy people. Lubricate it all with enough wine, beer and juices to keep the conversation and the laughter flowing.
Once they all left, most of the clean up had happened, and the dish washer was loaded. I washed my wine glasses by hand today and put everything away slowly. Kathleen and I decided to ignore the arrival of Daylight Saving time today, and change the clocks slowly, one at a time throughout the day. I look around the house now and feel blessed with my friends and my life. The lovely flowers they all brought, are filling my rooms with scent and the colours of spring.
Thank you HP for another good year.
