The Baby Shower

www.BarefootInFloridaWithJulie.com

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Welcome To The Baby Shower

(May 2023)

A Haku Lei I Ordered From Hawaii For Veronica, Our Mother To Be

Our Buffet Table

Our Veronica, The Mother To Be

Veronica and Brian

The Proud Parents To Be

Gordon and Julie

Host, and Hostess, and Future Tu-Tu’s 🙂

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Our daughter Veronica, asked us to host a baby shower for her and Brian. We happily excepted!

After all, we have the perfect outside for entertaining. However, our backyard was a wreck! We had let it go because of the Pandemic, leaves were everywhere because in our section of Florida, our leaves fall off the trees from February to April. Our backyard grass was dead! Our landscaping was overgrown, and everything was in need of a good pressure washing and bleaching to our cement and statuary. We had thick black mold around our lanai extension and some landscaping. Our trees were also desperately needing to be cut back with quite a few limbs removed. We also needed some nice new plantings to really accentuate our backyard entertaining and lanai areas.

We had 7 weeks…..

I’ll spare you the long version and go straight to the CliffsNotes, we hired tree trimmers to really beautify our front and backyard, cutting down huge limbs that would block the sun, opening up our yard. Happily, just one week later our neighbors in back of us did the same and even cut down 3 trees on their property really opening up our yard even more. All of our trees were beautifully sculpted.

Next came all the cleaning up in the backyard. Raking leaves, pulling weeds, revamping landscaping with new plantings, etc. I started with my Herb Garden and went from there. Working my way all around our lanai extension, while Gordon tore up most of the overgrown ferns all along the back around the fence.

We purchased some new plants, pots, and mulch. Cleaned up what we liked, and tore up what we didn’t.

I refurbished my herb garden, planted new peppers all along the side of the of our backyard, chose beautiful plantings that attract butterflies and bees. The bees pollinate the flowering plantings. We even rearranged our backyard furniture and some potted trees that we have. I even ordered some new outside furniture to make sure we had enough seating for everyone. I even borrowed about 4 outside chairs from Mackenzie, our son’s girlfriend.

Once we had done all the dirty work outside, it was then time to do all the pressure washing. Our pressure washer ended up breaking, so we borrowed our son’s but, his just didn’t have the power that ours did. It was better than nothing though. We then had to locate someone to fix ours. That took over a week to get fixed. In the meantime, we are still planting…

It was from the beginning that I was ordering gifts for the baby, gifts for the guests, prizes for the games, and a few decorations. I wanted to make sure that everything arrived before the baby shower. Gordon and I also did a lot of shopping for party plates, cutlery, cups, bowls, serving utensils, fake flowers for accents, and so on, and so on.

I also thought of things like what Gordon and I can wear for this party? What foods are we going to make, or serve, what are we going to do with all of our dogs? We don’t want them slipping out the front door as guests arrive and then we lose them.

I will happily show you what all we came up with in preparing and hosting this party.

Gordon and I did it ALL ourselves! I do have to say that it was a lot on us! It took us 7 weeks. But, we did it! Next time though, I think we will ask for some help.

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Brian and Veronica

Apollo Beach

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Anxiously Awaiting Our Peanuku’s Birth

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The Baby Shower Foods

I like our table set ups. We already owned the portable tables, but I did buy the table clothes for them. I told Veronica that I wanted to do pastels for our spring party, but that I didn’t want it to look Easter. She agreed.

We already had the indoor/outdoor rug, but we did buy the large oversized umbrella and the pretty round fan like accents hanging down. I believe they are a Martha Stewart product.

I purchased the pretty plastic plates, and cutlery from Michael’s. I also purchased the pretty flowering swags set up along the front of both tables from Michael’s, as well.

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Tribute to Eileen Kelleher

On January 11th. of this same year Brian’s mother died. Her name was Eileen. It was a tremendous loss for this family as she was a very hands on mother and grandmother. I wanted to pay tribute to her. I decided to buy a bunch of wooden blocks to not only use as decorations around the food tables, but to also spell out names of all us, but especially her, I also wanted them to be our little Peanuku’s to play with and learn from. (Peanuku means Peanut in Hawaiian.)

Because they are Catholic, I wanted to incorporate an angel as well. I tried to find a wooden angel but I really couldn’t. I did find this particular angel with the stable and star. Bookends, actually. So, I ordered them. Brian’s mother Eileen would have made an excellent co-grandmother for our little grand-daughter. I would have happily shared that privilege and responsibility with her. Her death is everyone’s loss. Especially, our little grand-daughter.

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Our Baby Shower Foods

Gordon and I made most of them ourselves. The only thing that we catered were the Chicken Nugget’s from Chick-Fil-A. That was a request from Veronica. We were going to have children here and she wanted them to be able to eat something that they enjoyed. Therefore, Chick-Fil-A is it!

Because I, Julie, was also the official photographer for the party, I wish that I had taken more close-ups of the foods. But, when you are the decorator, the cook, the caterer, the hostess, the dishwasher, and the photographer, then you tend to be so overwhelmed that you miss a few important steps along the way.

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Our Baby Shower Food

The buns to the left are filled with our Cucumber/Carrot Cream Cheese Mixture.

Our Oriental Jezebel Cocktail Sausages, to the right.

L to R: Cucumber Onion Salad, Olive and Pecan Tea Sandwiches, Chick-Fil-A Nuggets with Dipping Sauces, Julie’s Chicken Salad with Herbs and Croissant’s, along with a Fruit Salad

The Dipping Sauces Consist of the Chick-Fil-A Calssic, and their Polynesian, and our Sweet Baby Ray’s

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It Was A Lovely Buffet

The Chick-Fil-A Nugget’s and the Dipping Sauces were a big hit with everyone!

The Fruit Salad

I Placed Cups with Spoons Here so that the Fruit Salad Could be Separate

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Time To Eat

The ‘Parents To Be’ Go First

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While The Parents To Be Fix Their Plates….

The Jewelry and Flower Tree

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Fixing Their Plates

Julie’s Oriental Jezebel Cocktail Sausages, Our Manchego Slaw, Pink Deviled Eggs, Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches, and Dill Pickle and Cream Cheese Sandwiches

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Now For The Rest of the Guests

You Can See Our Sails Here

We placed a few sails overhead to help to shield from the sun and rain if that were the case. The sails helped to keep the area a bit cool. Although, considering that this was an early May party, it wasn’t as hot as it usually is. Which we were very grateful for.

Cousin Kelcy From Orlando! 🙂

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Pretty Mackenzie

(Brodie’s Girlfriend)

Our Lanai Extension’s French Doors

We Set Up a Canopy For Veronica to Open her Gifts

Our Guests Milling About

Veronica Eating With Her Niece and Nephew, Shay and Johnathon

The View From Our Lanai Extension

The Trash Can (Basket)

Always have a trash can/cans available for your guests so they don’t keep trampling into the house. I wish that I had bought a nice large pot to use as a trash can. It would have been so nice and appropriate. Also, I would have used it to plant some lovely backyard tree.

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The Non-Alcoholic Drink Station

Veronica’s only request was that she wanted Virgin Pina Colada’s. We complied. 🙂

We also created some other Virgin drinks. We created a Peach Tea, and a Strawberry lemonade.

We did tell the adults that if they wanted a “splash” of something alcoholic, to see Gordon at his Bar. 🙂

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Veronica’s Very Talented Artist Co-Workers

Cooler Housing Bottled Water and Underneath the Gifts of Baby Shower Barefoot Wines

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The Sanitary Station

I wanted to have some Paper Towels, Tissues, Sanitary Wipes, and some Sunscreen for our Guests to use.

I placed a bubble wreath around the items just to make them look a bit festive and organized.

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Mackenzie and Brodie

Hank Got All Decked Out With His Bow Tie

Hank, Brodie, Veronica, and Mackenzie

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The Bar (Gordon’s Bar)

Brodie and Gordon Chowing Down on some Pulled Pork Nachos

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The Gift of Shot Glasses for the Guys

Brian Enjoying Himself

The Pulled Pork Nachos Were Made By Raul, Brian’s Friend

You Know the Guys are Going to Congregate Around the Bar

Pulled Pork Nachos, Beer, Yeah, That’s the Guys! 🙂

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The Petting Zoo

There have been occasions in the past where we wish that we had had these gates set up where we could contain our dogs. We’ve got great dogs, we weren’t worried about them hurting anyone. But, we were worried about our guests coming in and out of our front door and perhaps our dogs might slip out un-noticed, and then gone. 🙁

Therefore, we wanted to create a nice area for our dogs, keeping them safe and together, and doing our best to keep them cool.

Needless to say, they didn’t like it!

They wanted to be with all of us. I don’t blame them. We just wanted them to be safe because Gordon and I were the hosts of this party and we can’t just watch them the entire time.

Ultimately, we decided to just let them roam around and be happy. Luckily, they never strayed beyond our borders. 🙂

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THE CHAIR

(Before The Guests Arrive)

Notice the Cute Pillows of Top Ramen and Spam Musubi

I wanted to create an area in our backyard where we could designate as a gift area. We placed this canopy in a section of our backyard, placed an indoor/outdoor rug underneath it, hung some battery operated pink Chinese Lanterns above it, and placed a grand chair for our mother- to- be to sit.

We also brought out a glass covered bamboo table and the small table you see above and below, was Veronica’s when she was a small child.

Veronica is an artist. It quite frankly, started with me!

On the small table you see in the photo below, I introduced my daughter to Finger Painting, Charcoal, Pastels, Oils, Watercolors, Pastel Pencils, and Crayons.

I wanted her to have her childhood table for her daughter.

Now, Veronica can teach her art, just like I taught Veronica.

All of the Gifts you see Above, are From Us

Gordon, Veronica, Brian, Brodie and Julie

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Veronica With Her Great Friend Sarah

Veronica did not want to have this Baby Shower without her old friend Sarah here.

Seeing as how Sarah was Veronica’s Maid of Honor at her Wedding, I asked Sarah if she would assist in Veronica opening up her Baby Gifts. She agreed. 🙂

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Here, Veronica is wearing the Haku Lei I had made for her from Hawaii.

The is opening the gifts from her friend Sarah.

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Gordon Always Manages to get his Mug in There! 🙂

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Look At All The Gifts

I was truly amazed at how many wonderful gifts that Veronica and Brian received for their baby. It showed me just how loved and adored that they are by so many people. I am so happy that they have all these wonderful people in their lives. People that think so fondly of them.

Veronica is a very sweet girl that appreciates all that comes to her.

Brian too. 🙂

Opening Some of Our Things Now 🙂

Sarah Was Wonderful at Assisting With All The Gifts

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Spooky Wanted To Help!

Storm Pooper/The Dark Side 🙂

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This Beautiful Baby Diaper Cake

This was actually my favorite. Veronica’s sister-in-law Marisa made it.

I love gifts that house a lot of thought and consideration behind them.

Ariel by Don “Ducky” Williams

This beautiful signed poster was from Kelcy, Veronica’s first cousin who has worked at Disney for year’s.

The first movie Veronica ever saw was The Little Mermaid when she was 2. 🙂

Veronica with Kelcy

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All The Kelleher Women and Family

(Veronica is very lucky that she has such a great support system of strong wonderful women.)

The Highlight For Me Was Meeting Veronica’s Artist Co-Workers

Artists are Cool, Creative, and Inventing

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Memory Box for Peanuku

I was showing it to Mackenzie.

That is her hand above, looking at it.

I am big on memories and keepsakes so I sought out a nice pretty decorative box to put things in to give to Veronica, so that she could add to it. My thinking is that we can give this to our little baby girl when she gets older and perhaps she just might like to see the plates, napkins, and cutlery used at her baby shower. The decorative napkins, and even some of the jewelry. I hope she likes it. I put it together with lots of love and thought. 🙂

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Time For Games

Some of Our Prizes

I think with any sort of party there are games. I am more of a board game person not a party “game” person, but I did consult Mackenzie for help, and our past experience with parties, and we came up with this….

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We Even Had a Drinking Contest

(A Baby Bottle Drinking Contest)

We had about 9 Baby Bottles, and I decided to have a baby bottle drinking contest.

My idea was for it to be about 1 minute long, and the person that drank the most in 1 minute won. However, Gordon told them to complete the drinking until it was done. First person won!

The Prize is a $20.00 Gift Certificate to Chick-Fil-A.

The Winner!

Beautiful Shay won a $20.00 gift certificate to Chick-Fil-A!

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The Next Game…

Guess How Many M&M’s Are In The Vase?

Cousins Kelcy and Veronica

Kelcy WON!

(She said she just wrote down the last 4 numbers of her Social Security and that’s how she won!)

Kelcy won a $20.00 gift certificate to Chick-Fil-A!

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Last Game…..

Just How Big Around is Veronica??? 🙂

The Winner is Sean!

He was off by only 1/4 of an inch! She was 43 inches.

(I would like to state that this was not about fat shaming. This was about the baby. I know that I gained 52 pounds with my Veronica. We’ve all been there. We’ve all gained that weight. That was what it was about.)

Congratulations to all of our winners! They all received a $20.00 gift certificate to Chick-Fil-A!

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To Veronica and Brian

The Gifts for Baby

I tend to put a lot of thought into what I do, but this was exceptionally fun!

Shopping for gifts for our little Peanuku, things that I know most of their family and friends wouldn’t buy them.

I focused on our time in Hawaii and how much it meant to all of us. Both Veronica and Brodie were born there. Veronica being the first born, she lived in Hawaii the first 12 years of her life.

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Wrapping The Gifts

I found some great online stores that sold Hawaiian merchandise, even for the keiki’s. (Kids)

This Was So Much Fun!

The Honu featured prominently. (Sea Turtle)

“It’s a Girl” Ribbon

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All The Party Prep

I wanted to use our festive food covers on our pretty tables to help keep the bugs away.

Here I am washing them all. It had been a while since we used them and they were a bit dusty. So, I hand washed all of them. I’m letting them dry here.

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Parting Gifts By the Front Door for our Guests as They Would Leave

Mauna Loa, or Hawaiian Host?

(These were also a big hit!)

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Party Picks

I always love making and creating some sort of craft whenever I can, and when the occasion calls for it.

Here is a very good example.

I wanted to make some Party Picks for some of the foods we were having. I wanted pastel colors. I already had the toothpicks and the 6 inch skewers, I just needed the beads and the glue. So, I went shopping to Michael’s craft store and found everything that I needed.

I’m wearing food gloves because these picks will be used in our food and I didn’t want to contaminate them. I’ve got all my supplies in front of me. The dish towels are covering up my supplies so that dust or dog hairs don’t settle on them.

ToothPicks and Skewers

Luckily, toothpicks and skewers are inexpensive. You can find them at your local grocery stores. They are even cheaper at your local ethic grocery stores, especially the Asian supermarkets.

I found so many great beads at Michael’s. I went with Pink, White, and Gray. I didn’t just want “beads,” I wanted an opalescence look to them. I found the perfect ones!

It was really just a matter of placing some glue onto the tip of each pick, and then quickly adding one of the beads before it dries.

The glues that I used are a Gel Bead Fix. I also bought them from Michael’s.

I ended up making a ton of them, but I figured that I will always find a use for them in the future whatever may be leftover.

Baby Bracelet Beads for Picks

Initially, the baby’s name was supposed to be:

Isabelle Eileen Leilani Kelleher

However,

they since dropped the Leilani, much to my sadness. 🙁

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All of The Party Picks Completed

Now It’s Time to Create the Cups to House Everything

I wanted to dress up some cheap plastic cups with some nice “stickers.”

I did find some lovely paper stickers that I mainly used.

Pretty Pastel Straw Were Also Important

Veronica’s Cup

Here You Can See the Completed Guest Drinking Cups for the Party

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Dressing Up Plain Plastic Cups

I must have purchased about 36 pink plastic cups from Michael’s. I also bought several paper and silk flower stickers to glue onto them. My thinking was that each person can identify which cup is theirs by the sticker on it. The cup also acts as a take home gift for each guest.

I’m using a Hot Glue Gun to glue the stickers onto each cup. If you are familiar with stickers, they don’t usually “stick” very well on their own. I just wanted to insure that they did.

All Finished! They Look Beautiful!

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Planning For The Party

If you have ever planned for a big party and hosted it yourself, you will know that you need room in your home to prepare for it.

Building Blocks

I was trying to think of accents to have all around the food tables when I realized that blocks would be perfect! They could also be passed to the baby to use and learn from. So, I set out buying blocks! Lots of them!

I wanted them to spell out names of loved ones, the name of my son-in-law’s mother who had recently passed away, and the names of both our families.

I also purchased some little wooden toys for our little one to play with.

I thought they looked great all around the food tables.

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Before The Food

Before the food comes there is always the decorative tables.

We purchased the giant umbrella first to use as a cover for our foods.

We already owned the two tables you see above. We also owned the indoor/outdoor rug underneath them.

I did purchase both of the table clothes, the pink fan shaped decorations, and the floral swags that you see on the tables.

The Baby Blocks, and the Vase with Pink Flowers and Serving Utensils and Tongs

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Our Enclosed Lanai Extension

I knew that this area would be a hub for traffic, what with the food tables and all.

Therefore, Gordon and Brodie added some sails overhead to help keep the sun down a bit.

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French Doors to the Backyard

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Above, you see the blocks that we used to spell out Grandma Eileen’s name. You also see the name of Papa Brian, that is our son-in-law’s father’s name. Papa Brian died 4 days after our party. Very sadly for all involved.

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Guess How Many M&M’s?

This was a game that I cam up with.

It has been done many times, but I was at a loss of game ideas so this one stuck with me.

I also figured that whoever won might want to share the M&M’s with whoever was interested. I knew they couldn’t eat all of them on their own. Turns out that Cousin Kelcy won! And she did as I predicted. She shared them with whoever was interested.

I used food gloves for this as I am handing the M&M’s and I didn’t want to contaminate them.

We used Peanut, Brownie and Classic M&M’s.

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The Party Planning

The Small Table Above Was Veronica’s When She Was a Toddler

(I got it out of the attic and gave it to her for her little daughter to use.)

I talked earlier about how you really do need to have some room to do some party planning. Our house is too small for the size party that we had. Which is why everything has to take place outside in our backyard. But, all the planning and shopping spilled over all over our house. Most every room.

This is our Dining Room where I started to get the gifts together for the baby, and for our guests.

I Must Have Ordered A Ton Of Building Blocks

The Green Basket I had in our garage, same with the Pink Ribbon.

I wove the ribbon through the round holes in the green basket and tied a nice bow.

I then placed all the blocks that we weren’t using for the party into the basket for our Peanuku.

When the party was over I placed the rest of the blocks in it for Veronica and Brian to take home with them.

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Party Gifts, Prizes, Decorations, etc….

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Creating Veronica’s Throne

(The pillows you see above were Veronica’s favorite foods in Hawaii. Spam Musubi and Top Ramen.)

Being pregnant anywhere can be very uncomfortable, but being pregnant in Florida in May can be very uncomfortable.

I knew that we needed to create an area for Veronica that was cool and comfortable, also very pretty. We erected a canopy tarp overhead, and placed an indoor/outdoor area rug underneath. We also set up a table to hold her gifts from the guests that would be attending.

The Gifts You See Above Are All From Us

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Party Favors

The Gift of Barefoot Wines

If you are familiar with the Barefoot Wines, (they are a favorite of mine), then you know they have the pink or blue foot on them. They are truly perfect as a take home gift for the baby shower.

I have many rubber stamps in my collection. I was looking for a barefoot, but didn’t fine one! (I know I used to have one.) Anyway, I did find a child’s flip flop so I chose that one. I had purchased some “tags” from Michael’s and some pretty pink ribbon. I then set about creating the party label to add to each mini wine bottle.

My Rubber Stamp Collection

The little Pink and Green case used to belong to Veronica.

I snagged it and it holds my stamps, and has for decades.

Gordon and I purchased many Rose and Chardonnay Mini Wines

All The Labels For The Wines

Notice the pretty pink plumeria with the jewel in it, in the photo above? That was a cute and adorable free gift that Leilani’s Attic gave me because of all the orders I placed at their business. I wanted it so badly. But, I gave it to my Peanuku because I love her more. 🙂

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Our Bleeding Heart Vine

Creating a Drink Station

I wanted a separate drink station from our main food tables.

I looked online for something ready made that I could just order. They were so expensive and just weren’t what would work for us so I realized that we could just create our own! All we needed were some large urns and perhaps a wooden board over it to create a table.

We already had these 2 granite slabs that we had purchased years ago from a granite company’s scrap pile. Here Gordon is placing them over top the tall urns. They are adding extra height to this table.

Gordon purchased the board above at Home Depot and had them cut it to the length we wanted.

Here Gordon is spray painting the board white.

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Drink Station with Barefoot Wine Party Favors

The Cooler Houses Bottled Water for our Guests

To the left we have a trashcan underneath our Drink Station, and we have our Drinks all along the wooden board on top.

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Our Jewelry and Flower Tree

The Jewelry you see above I purchased from a business that cleans up beaches. So, every bracelet/anklet that I purchased, the proceeds go toward keeping our beaches clean. I liked that! I made spending the money worth it. Not only are they attractive, they are helping our environment.

We Already Had The White Pot, and The Twig Form From a Prior Mandevilla Vine

I spray painted the twig form white, and then planted it into the white pot with potting soil.

I then placed green moss over top the soil.

Our large Area Umbrella

Under This Umbrella Was Where I Wanted Our Jewelry/Flower Tree To Be

Between The Two Food Tables

I Think The Ladies Loves Choosing Their Gifts

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Flowering Plants in Pots

Our Row of Color

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Setting Up The Bar

Diamond Head 1945

Gordon’s Bar that he inherited from his parents.

Gordon and Brodie Setting Up The Bar For The Party

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The Recipes

I wanted to explain that because Gordon and I did everything ourselves, including all the food, I wasn’t able to take our usual photographs of the making of the foods because that takes up a lot of time that we just didn’t have. Gordon was at one end of the kitchen while I was at the other. There was no time to photograph every step in the process. Also, most of these foods were repeats from past occasions. After all, this was a baby shower with family requesting their favorites and not really wanting much of anything new. So, I will give you the recipes of the foods we did make. I’ll just be copying and pasting from other website pages. But to start, here are my Pink Marbled Deviled Eggs.

Julie’s PINK MARBLED DEVILED EGGS

Brian Getting a Deviled Egg

(Notice the vase with the pink flowers in the photo above? In that vase are serving spoons and tongs for anyone that may need to use them. I just placed the silk pink flowers in it as an accent.)

I wish that I had had the forethought to take close ups of the foods on the table. That is what happens when you do it all yourself. You just can’t remember to do everything. 🙁

This is actually very simple to make.

You just need to start making them a good 3-4 days before you will need them.

You want to boil as many eggs as you want to use. I also add an additional 2-3 just in case some don’t turn out nice. As in, if you use new eggs the shells are harder to peel and can mess up the cooked egg whites so that they just don’t look attractive. I start by buying eggs ahead of time and keeping them in the fridge a good week or even longer before I use them. I then hard boil them. When they are done, I keep them in cold water in a bowl in the sink until they have cooled down. Once cooled, I place them in the refrigerator in a bowl for a few hours so that they become a bit cold.

My PINK Hard Boiled Eggs In The Refrigerator

In the photo you see above, I have since taken my eggs out of the refrigerator and placed some water and pink food coloring into a resealable baggie. In order to achieve the marbled effect, I crack the hard boiled eggs all around each egg, but I don’t peel the shell off. I then place cracked eggs into the pink water and place into the refrigerator for about 3 days.

The Marbled Effect

After about 3 days of soaking in the pink water, I remove the shells from the eggs and pat them dry.

Now it’s just time to slice them open and remove the yellow yolks and place into a bowl.

You then make the deviled egg mixture to place back into each egg. In addition to the ingredients that I use in making my deviled egg mixture, I always like to add some Turmeric. Turmeric is the ingredient in Curry that turns it yellow. So, by adding some Turmeric you are making the deviled egg mixture a beautiful golden color. Which looks great next to the pink outer egg white.

I don’t know if you have a favorite deviled egg recipe or not, but if you don’t then I’ll give you one of mine.

I eyeball everything. I can’t give you precise measurements even if my life depended on it.

Mayonnaise, (if you are from the South use Duke’s or Hellman’s), a little bit of Mustard, (if you are from the South, use Yellow Mustard), Some Southerner’s use Vinegar, but that’s up to you.

Then add some Freshly Ground Black Pepper, and some Pickle Relish or chopped Olives. Also, a teaspoon or so from that jar of pickles in your Ice Box. Just to sweeten it all.

If you are from the South, it’s time to add several dashes of Tabasco Sauce. (Gotta have some heat. After all it’s hot in the South.)

And there you have it!

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An Oriental Jezebel Cocktail Sausages

This was an easy one. I used my Oriental Jezebel Sauce for this recipe.

Before I give you the recipe for these cocktail sausages, I am posing the recipe for my Oriental Jezebel.

Click Here For:

An Oriental Jezebel

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You want to marinate these about 2 days before you want to cook them.

I used 4 little Smokies sausage packages. First I drained them of their liquid. I then placed them into resealable baggies, and added between the 2 bags, 3 of my jars of An Oriental Jezebel sauce. I then placed them in the refrigerator to marinate for a few days.

The Ratio Here is 4 Sausage Packets to 3 Jars of Jezebel

Into The Refrigerator They Go

A few hours before the party I dumped them into a colander to drain, I then added a fresh jar of my Oriental Jezebel and stirred them around, and then baked them in a casserole dish for about an hour until done.

You can judge the time for yourself but you want the sausages to plump up. When ready, place into a serving bowl and serve with some decorative Cocktail Picks. (Like the ones I made above.)

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The Food Prep

Whenever possible wash your fresh veggies, greens, grapes and fruits a few days before, and store them in the refrigerator to keep fresh.

Tons of Greens Washed and Drying

Grapes and Apples

Cucumbers, Carrots, Jalapeno’s and Chinese Cabbage

Here Gordon is Ready to Make our Cucumber/Carrot Mixture for Sandwiches

Here I am Drying Lots of Herbs for our Foods

The Chopped Pecans Above are for our Olive Pecan Tea Sandwiches

Here This was Taken the Day of the Party

Gordon is Making the Fruit Salad

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Sadly these are the only photos that I have of us making any of the foods for our party. But, I do have the duplicate recipes on some other website pages which I will list here.

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Manchego Cheese Cabbage Slaw

(You can see it in the photo above left.)

This recipe was requested by a few people that loved it!

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Manchego Cheese Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

1 Savoy Cabbage – sliced finely

3 Granny Smith Apples – cored and sliced thinly

2 Red Delicious Apples – cored and sliced thinly

2 Pears – cored and sliced thinly

1/2 Jalapeno Pepper – de-seeded and sliced thinly

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

1/2 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Powder

2 Tbsp. Aji-Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning

1/2 Cup Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 Cup sliced Chives

1/2 Cup Lemon Juice

6 oz. Manchego Cheese – grated

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(I, Julie, LOVE Manchego Cheese!) 🙂

This is a very Crunchy and Crispy Slaw

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Place your Greek yogurt, sour cream and mayonnaise into a medium sized bowl.

Then add your roasted garlic and Mirin to the bowl…

then your sugar.

Now add your salt and pepper to the bowl and mix all your ingredients well. Taste the dressing and add any previous ingredients as needed.

Finely chop your Jalapeno Pepper and Chives

and then add them to the dressing.

In a large bowl, add your lemon juice. Slice your apples in half and remove the seeds, then slice the halves again in half. Mix the apples with the lemon juice so the apples don’t brown.

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Remove the apple quarters and slice them thinly, then place them back into the bowl with the lemon juice.

Do this for all the apple quarters, then mix all the apple slices and the lemon juice together.

Slice the pears the same way and add them to the bowl and mix them well.

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Now, slice your Savoy cabbage in half and remove the core at its base using a triangle like cut. Slice the cabbage halves thinly as shown.

Place the sliced cabbage in a very large bowl and add most of the dressing to the sliced cabbage.

Mix all the ingredients well, adding any more dressing as needed.

Apple and Pear Slices Ready to Add to the Bowl

Add your apple and pear slices to the cabbage bowl and grate your Manchego cheese into the mixture. Add as much or as little cheese as you like.

Here I felt the slaw needed just a little more of the dressing so I added it. As you can see, I still had some dressing remaining.

Let the slaw sit in the bowl allowing it to wilt slightly.

Place the slaw into a large Tupperware bowl and top with a lid and place it in the refrigerator in order to chill it, until ready to eat.

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Cucumber/Carrot Sandwiches Underneath the Palm Tree Food Dome

Cucumber and Carrot Sandwiches Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 Cucumber – grated

1/2 Medium Sweet Onion – grated

3 each Orange, Yellow and Purple small carrots – grated

1 1/2 Package (8 oz.) Cream Cheese – softened

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

Salt and Pepper to taste

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Shred the vegetables into a medium sized bowl lined with a cloth kitchen towel.

Like so…

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Gather the towel together forming a ball and squeeze the vegetable tightly to release their juices.

Here is the end result.

Mix together the softened cream cheese and mayonnaise.

Add the vegetables to the bowl…

and mix them all together well. Add your salt and pepper to taste. Spread this mixture in a thin layer over a slice of bread and top with another slice of bread. Cut off the crust and edges of the bread to create your Tea Sandwich.

Or you can eat this delicious mixture over any breads you like.

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Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches

(Although you cannot see the plate of Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches on the table. Here is the recipe from the past.)

Nellie Mae’s Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches

Whenever I would come and visit with my grandmother in Rome, Georgia she always made her pimiento cheese for me. It was my lunch many a visit with her. She always kept them in a Tupperware container with a damp paper towel draped over the already made sandwiches. That kept them nice and fresh and moist for whenever we would take them with us, but the moist paper towel never touched the sandwiches. She managed to position both ends of the paper towel between the edges of the Tupperware so that it just hovered above it.

The women of her generation were genius! 🙂

Pimiento Cheese Sandwich Ingredients

I once asked my grandmother what is the secret to a good pimiento cheese sandwich and she told me, “Rat cheese.”

“Rat Cheese” Makes the Best Pimiento Cheese

By “rat cheese” she means that good old cheese that the rats would get into. And it is even written on some old recipes as “rat cheese” as an ingredient. Only that WWII generation would know what that meant.

But here we are using Sharp Cheddar Cheese, or for my preference, Extra-Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

You just want to grate whatever amount of Cheddar Cheese that you want. Then add a drained jar or two of Pimientos.

Next comes the dashes of Worcestershire Sauce, and Ground Cayenne Pepper to taste.

Now for the Mayonnaise, or Miracle Whip.

I do have to say that the best Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches seem to be made with Hellman’s Mayonnaise.

Combine all the ingredients and spread onto any bread that you like.

There are many Pimiento Cheese Sandwich recipes in the south. This one is my favorite as I did grow up eating it.

Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches are served at The Master’s Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, every year. My brother Johnny who lives in Ireland always requests that either me or my mother send him jars of pimiento’s just so that he can make the pimiento cheese sandwiches to eat while he watched The Master’s Golf Tournament.

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Dill Pickle and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

Ingredients:

Dill Pickles – medium sized, patted dry

1 x 8 oz. package Cream Cheese – softened

8 Slices of Bread, crusts removed

Spread your Cream Cheese over a single slice of bread and place a dry dill pickle into the center of the bread. Wrap the bread around the pickle and then slice the bread and pickle in 3/4 inch slices.

We placed ours on a bed of parsley to serve.

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Gordon’s Cucumber and Onion Salad

(This was another recipe where we were asked to give it out. It is delicious!)

The Ingredients:

Gordon did some taste testing and discovered that when he combined these two salad dressings, Newman’s Own Zesty Italian and Ken’s Steak House Sweet Vidalia Onion, he had created a new taste that was very tasty. 🙂

This salad is simple.

Just chopped Onions, and sliced Cucumber.

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Cucumbers and Onions

Some Freshly Ground Black Pepper…

And Some Salt

Now to Add the Salad Dressings to Taste

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Toss

Then set into the refrigerator for the salad to chill a bit and the flavors to blend.

Add a Sprig of Tarragon and Serve

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Olive and Pecan Tea Sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 x 8 oz. packages Cream Cheese – softened

3 Tbsp. Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 Cup Pitted Kalamata Olives – sliced

1 Cup Pecan Halves – toasted, then chopped

1 Tbsp. Greek Seasoning

Whole Wheat Slices of Bread

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Toast your Pecan halves on a sheet pan in a 350’F oven for about 5 min. or until you can start to smell them. Roasting the pecans will enhance their flavoring.

Add your cream cheese to a large bowl to soften, and add your Greek Seasoning.

Let the pecan halves cool.

Mix the seasoning and cream cheese together.

Slice the pitted Kalamata Olives into thin slices and add them to the bowl.

Chop your pecan halves and add them to the bowl.

Pour your heavy whipping cream into the bowl and mix all the ingredients well.

Spread the mixture thinly over bread slices making your tea sandwiches and using a pecan half to top the sandwich as a garnish.

The Olive and Pecan Tea Sandwiches are pictured top left.

We placed some honey underneath each Pecan Half so affix to each sandwich.

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Chick-Fil-A Nuggets, and Dipping Sauces

This was the only thing we catered. I knew that we would need something for the kids to eat that they liked. We also had teens at the party. Apparently Veronica and I were thinking alike when she suggested some sort of chicken nuggets. I then told her that were going to cater from Chick-Fil-A. 🙂

We even bought a few of their dipping sauces as well as providing one ourselves.

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Julie’s Herby Weedy Chicken Salad

If you look at the food to the left of the pink bowl above, you will see some Croissant’s.

Next to those are my Herby Weedy Chicken Salad and lots of herbs. Because we cannot see it clearly, here it is from another website page of ours:

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BOIL THE CHICKEN..

UNTIL THE MEAT IS FALLING OFF THE BONES

Because I have made my Chicken Salad on other pages on this website I didn’t want to start at the beginning, but I will tell you the ingredients. To me, these kinds of salads are taste and preference oriented.

For example, I don’t like a lot of mayonnaise in mine. So therefore, I use just enough to combine all of the ingredients, and I don’t have my salad swimming in mayo like other people do.

So, the basics that I have here are:

An entire Chicken boiled until the meat falls off the bone. Then all of the meat, white and dark, is removed and placed into a mixing bowl. It’s at this point where I do add some mayonnaise. I may add more as the making of the salad goes on. I also add some Mustard. Just a few squirts or even a spoon full or two from our homemade mustard’s. Lots of Freshly Ground Black Pepper, because I do love Black Pepper. A few dashes of a good hot sauce. The Hot Sauce of the South is Tabasco. Again, this is to taste.

I did add 3 Hard Boiled Eggs to this. Depending on the size of the chicken. Sometimes I only add 2 but this was a pretty big chicken.

I did chop some Onions and some Celery and adding the amounts that I wanted.

I also added some Pickle Relish, just a few spoonfuls and some Sweet Pickle Juice from another jar in our refrigerator. Just a few drizzles to add some great flavor.

Now I Combine All of These Ingredients

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Next Comes All Those Great New Extras