apologies for being away so much last week. i had to travel to houston on a business trip for my other job. what started as an overnight trip turned into two nights away from home. i left my house at 5 in the morning on monday ... and didn't return until well after 8 in the evening on wednesday night. the rest of the week was filled with catching up on orders/emails to notably noted clients and doctors appointments.
while last week was pretty crazy, the weekend prior was fabulous! we were celebrating a very special lady in my life -- my mother. my family lives about thirty to forty-five minutes away in muskogee. i don't get to see them as often as i would like, but i'm grateful that we're as closely located to one another as we are -- it could definitely be worse.
on friday night my little sister drove to tulsa to help me prepare everything for the saturday afternoon late-lunch family party we had planned. i realized after everyone left that i never got a picture of the table setting (sad face!) but my mom loved everything. we all had a blast just spending the day together.
not the best shot, but who doesn't love hydrangeas? there's something so romantic about them, and they can brighten my mood in an instance.
so many of my ideas for the party came from
pinterest. we didn't have a "theme" other than a bright, springy, laid-back, family function. my mom's only request? "lots of yummy, fattening food." enter southern comfort food.
you wouldn't believe how delicious these raspberries were!! and so simple! seriously, so good! even my super-picky fiance was eating them by the handfuls.
i don't have a picture, but following appetizers, we had a yummy corn and cheese chowder (picture below from the pioneer woman):
we didn't do the bread bowls, but it was still oh-so-good. i left the bacon out of mine, but imagine that lots of people would enjoy it with the bacon still included. this recipe makes a huge batch, so i was able to enjoy the leftovers all week long (and even sent some home with my parents and aunt).
finally, the main course:
as i mentioned before, sierra and i created personal pot pies for everyone. not only were they in their own ramekins, but the pies also had the first letter of each person's name marking the top of them (with "m" for "mom" and "d" for "dad"). sierra made my mom's extra special by adding hearts to the top of hers as well.
i know i baked this so i shouldn't be bragging, but oh.my.goodness. these were so delicious! i saw my aunt again this past weekend, and she was telling others that it was the best pot pie she had ever had! i was flattered (and secretly agreed). i played with the recipe myself, subsituting a few things i knew wouldn't be crowd pleasers and using rotisserie chicken instead of chicken breasts.
it was hard to choose sides for the pot pies because they were stuffed to the gills with veggies, but the freshly steamed asparagus and green beans were hits as well. again so simple, but so delish.
we were so stuffed we had to wait a bit before digging into dessert, so we did one of my favorite things -- we just sat around visiting. my brother, his wife, their baby, my parents, my sister, one of my mom's sisters (brenda), and travis and i sat around chatting, watching basketball, and enjoying my sweet little nephew.
now, you know i can't have a special occassion without a cake by
seana hon. she didn't disappoint. sierra found cheerful, zany candles that went perfectly with our spring paisley/floral print cake -- vanilla on the top and chocolate on the bottom. it was the perfect size, too! 4" & 6" ... not too much, and not too little ... and all so delicious.
happy birthday, mom! we love you so much!!
