A Birthday for Alice!

What a day! I'm exhausted as all heck but in a good way! After tea with four other friends this morning and then rushing home to meet Bryan at my place to start cooking the meal for Alice's birthday, I know I will sleep really well tonight. :)

Here are a few snapshots of our wonderful evening. Oh, real quick, Alice is such a dear friend to me. We celebratead her 85th birthday today! She is such a wonderful woman. I admire her in every way. She is beautiful, smart, witty, musically gifted (she plays the violin in a quartet) a wonderful writer a wonderful cook, oh I could go on! One word that would describe Alice is worldly. I want to be just like her when I grow up. :)

Getting ready to cook!

I just love the smell of fresh cilantro!

Okay you should all know that THINGS sometimes don't turn out and the lentil salad didn't. Lol! So, Bryan rushed to the store to get some fresh asparagus. I know you've all been there. Come on, make me feel better here!

The finished dish. The lemonade chicken was so good!

Chocolate and strawberries. Now you all know that is one of my favorite combos!

The finished cake. Okay and I just noticed that one strawberry on the right is turned the wrong direction. UGH!

And the proud baker.

Isn't Alice just adorable?

You will NEVER guess what she got as a present!

Quincy wanted to say a few words. "I NEVER thought those people would leave. I might die if I don't get any attention soon. It's been two hours!"

Also, I didn't make the gluten-free buttermilk pie. My friend Susan ended up being sick this evening, unfortunately and couldn't make it. Hope she feels better soon! Missed you Susan! I just found out one of our members of the paranormal group has a birthday this week so we are celebrating at the meeting tomorrow. I am considering making the buttermilk pie tomorrow. :)

For those of you who want the recipe, here ya go! :) I highly recommend using dark meat as well and don't forget to use all the sauce that is left in the crockpot to drizzle over the meat and rice!

Crockpot Lemonade Chicken

4 pieces chicken (even with bone in if you want!)

6 oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

2 Tbs. brown sugar

3 Tbs. ketchup

1 Tbs. vinegar

2 Tbs. cornstarch (for thickening the sauce when done)

2 Tbs. water

Arrange chicken in crockpot. Combine lemonade, brown sugar, ketchup and vinegar. Pour over chicken and cover. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

Recipe yields 4 servings.

Sleepy bed time now. Night all!