Saturday, April 25, 2009

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!

18 comments:

Anya said...

Is she 85 Waaaaaaaaaaaaaw
she looks GREAT :)
GRATULATIONS ALICE !!

I like the chocolate cake LOL
Quincy thats a realy
sexy pose today HEHE
Your pose is puuuuuuuuuuurfect ;)
purss Kareltje =^.^=

Have a GREAT sunday....
Anya (@^.^@)

Tracey said...

Things looked great.. and yes, lentils are a hard item to deal with. I cook them and never quite know what to do with them. Congrats to you for thinking fast on your feet. Seems like you had a great time and Alice looks Fabulous!!

Lisa said...

Everything looked delicious! I'm going to make the lemonade chicken! Sounds so yummy!

Heather said...

you're sweet have a birthday party for Alice. she looks very hip! i'm totally going to make that chicken of yours, but what is the cornstarch and flour for? you didn't include that in the directions but had it on ingredient list... do i add that after it's done cooking if i want a thicker gravy/juice?

Kathy's Red Door Welcome said...

Looks like the your guest had a fabulous birthday. How fabulous to be so interesting and bright at the age of 85. I think my cat Zoe is always relieved when company leaves.l.o.l.

LuLu Kellogg said...

Quincy stole the show with his "look at me, I'm cute" pose!

Thank you for the lemonade chicken recipe. I am going to try this today :)

Happy Sunday :)
LuLu~*xoxo

Noodlegirl said...

Oh what yummy eats! So enviousssssssss as usual! Wow 85 she looks great oh my guess what I found out this one lady at spin class is going to be 90 in July!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

What a gorgeous birthday! Perfect!

I'd love to look as great as her at 85!

Nice food!

Cheers,

Rosa

Amy J said...

That cake looks fab! What a lovely party!!!

vanillasugarblog said...

somehow Quincy always steal the post, umm show! LOL

soulchocolate@hotmail.com said...

Oh Yum! Your lemonade chicken looks awesome! That's something I want to try soon!!! What a nice way to celebrate a birthday with a personal touch of class you have there!

Zaroga said...

The chicken recipe looks like it migh be delish. Happy birthday, Alice! The cake looks great too.... and so do you!

50s Housewife said...

She looks adorable and so do you! :) And yes, I've had lots of cooking flops over the years.

Elaine said...

How nice of you to cook a birthday dinner for your friend. I think that was the best present of all.

Wishing her many more Happy Birthdays!

Janet said...

Alice looks very very happy Michelle! I love what you made and everything looks so yummy!

Caroline said...

Both Alice and the cake look amazing! Alice certainly looks a very nice lady, I am still in shock about the fact that she is 85 years old, she so does not look it.
Quincy made me giggle, he really looked at the end of his tether!
By the way, I have some great lentil recipes if you are interested, apparently I am the only person who likes them.

Seawashed said...

Alice is adorable. What a lovely feast you cooked up in her honor. It all looks so wonderful Michelle, how sweet you are.

I can't wait to try that crockpot chicken! Thanks for the recipe.

AndreaLeigh said...

happy birthday to alice! 85 is a huge accomplishment. and your meal looks so delicious! you are a great friend!