Sunday, July 26

Beach Party!

Heck yeah! Time for the big party! I picked up Lauran and headed for Starfish Market to get the last few essentials before the big bash. Before I had left the grocery, I got a call from Mom to wish me a happy birthday. Not only did she call a little early, she called to let me know she'd just bought tickets, to come here! Yee-haw! So, it looks like Mom will be here Sept. 5-10 and she'll even be sharing the plane ride home with me. I'm very excited and can't wait to show her all the cool things here in St. John!

Debauchery soon followed as we made our way to the house. We kicked off the party with a tasty tray of capers, locks, ritz, onion, and cream cheese. There was also a tray of deviled eggs. I love food. Soon, the strata was ready. I'm not sure if you know what strata means...so I'll elaborate. We're talking a scrumptious blend of quiche and bread pudding, breakfast style. The perfect mix of eggs, bread, sausage, eggs, cheese, spices, and other flavorings filled up the casserole dish and was sublime. Kudos to Keith for whipping it together. Next in the buffet line was a huge pile of home fries and then a large bowl of popovers. I could smell the popovers baking in the oven, so by the time they were in the bowl, I already had two. Smearing a large gob of raspberry jam on the fresh pastry was heaven. I would like to get the recipe from Keith, soon. The popovers were fluffy, bready, eggy, and buttery goodness, all in one. I'd almost compare it to one of my favorite items at Buzz Bakery- their breakfast brioche, a sausage and egg breakfast pastry that looks almost like an engorged muffin, only it has a texture like that of a croissant. Mmmm...I have to admit, I'm a little bit excited to be home again and indulge in a brioche and latte on a Saturday morning.

Soon after we started eating, the mimosas and bloody mary's were pouring into glasses. I love Martini & Rossi Asti with Tropicana. I'm think 75% Asti and 25% OJ is a good mix. Mimosas are just perfect for every Sunday morning brunch! We cleaned up the plates and headed for the beach soon thereafter. What a beautiful day of weather! I don't think I could have ordered a more pleasant breeze, light cloud puffs, good wind on the water, and sunshine. Susanna and Ron brought the sunfish with them and just about all of us took our turn sailing it around Cinnamon Bay. I love sailing around in a Sunfish! I capsized it a few times, naturally. There was a strong breeze once I got a hundred feet or more from shore, so it was awesome to zip around and practice tacking and jibing.

Sometime in the evening there was a short rain storm to cool off the hot skies. It rains often when there is not a cloud in the sky. They call it the devil beating his wife with a broom when it rains when all you can see is sunshine. In contrast, the rain that came during the party brought with it large grey masses of clouds. Fortunately, the clouds did move through quickly and before long, we were basking in the sun again.

Eventually my stomach was running on empty again. Despite the late afternoon hour, I baked up a dozen biscuits, scrambled half a dozen eggs, threw in some shredded cheese, and made 7 or 8 scrambled egg biscuit sandwiches. Wow, a scrambled egg sandwich really is the best way to cap off a day of mimosas and hanging out on the beach. As goes with most parties and celebrations, the guests trickled slowly out the door. We wrapped up the night by watching Stepbrothers in blu-ray. I definitely get roaring with the laughter when it's Will Ferrell in another one of his movies.

What started around 10:00am ended somewhere around 1:00am. What a great birthday celebration!