Today Has Been All About Tomorrow

We have our annual holiday party tomorrow. In preparation, while the Spouse has been cleaning his desk, adjusting the playlist for six hours of music, and washing the windows, I have been cooking.

I have made:
• Pumpkin bread
• Banana bread
• Gingerbread
• Orange-cranberry bread
• Shortbread and shortbread with crystalized ginger
• A couple of gallons of chili
• A 19 pound turkey
• A cake (my birthday's on Tuesday, and while it isn't a birthday party, there Will Be Cake, because, well: cake)

In addition, I went out and bought a wreath and much other food (cheese, veggies, the other sorts of food one has at parties, beer, cider, etc. etc.), did some preliminary cleaning of the kitchen. And the Spouse made his legendary spice cookies.

Tomorrow I bake the ham, buy the last minute breads and salad stuff, get everything organized and set up, clean the bathrooms and clean the kitchen (unless I can lay off some of those cleaning tasks to the assorted Young). All this before 2pm, when the open house starts.

The house smells awfully good right now.

Birthday Cake!

Birthday Cake!
Originally uploaded by madrobins

Maybe it's pathetic to bake your own birthday cake, but since we always have our holiday party so close to my natal day, I figure...cake. I like making cake. I'll make a cake. This year I decided to go geometric. I'm pretty pleased with it (though I need years of practice to get all the little beads of fondant on the bottom to be the same exact size).

Here's the aerial view--as if Busby Berkeley was doing shots of dancing chorines (except in fondant).

Birthday Cake (Busby Berkeley Shot)
Originally uploaded by madrobins

Tired Dog is Very Tired

These parties take a toll on Emily. So much food juuuusssstt out of the range of a dog. Garbage cans with dirty plates just aching to be masticated. People all over the place. Small children all over the place. Teenagers all over the place. What's a dog to do?

Prowl around looking concerned and making attempts at the garbage cans. Bark whenever the doorbell rings (over and over and over). And at party's end, FALL OVER and SNORE.

Which sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Fed something like 60 people, I estimate (maybe a few more--there were teenagers upstairs and young adult-types in the front room with Sarcasm Girl and The Beau). I think I'm going to amputate my feet, cause: ow. But it was a good party, and there's only a bit of cake left.