Happy Birthday Linda!
Linda is my mother-in-law. She has a big birthday coming up this Sunday, and she thought no one was gonna do anything about it! Little did she know...rewind 2 months....My sister-in-law, Kelly, and I decided we should drive down to Orange County and surprise her mom on her 60th birthday. Then, Kelly had the idea to not only surprise her with us, but to throw her a whole surprise party! So thus began a 2 month party planning discussion 400 miles from the venue. We decided to throw her a Mardi Gras themed party, as Linda was born and raised in New Orleans, and Mardi Gras is around this time of the year (not sure exactly when, but the party stores sure have a lot of Mardi Gras gear right now!)
We called Linda's boyfriend, Mike, who graciously let us bombard his little home in Capistrano Beach for the shindig. Kelly and I made a guest list of 30 friends and family, thinking no way would they all come. We ordered some cute Mardi Gras invites, which I printed and sent out, and low and behold, everyone RSVP-ed yes...even our friend Lisa who gave birth to her 2nd daughter a mere 8 days prior to the party!
Last weekend, with our New Orleans menu set and bags of Mardi Gras themed goodies packed, Scott and I drove down to Orange County for the long awaited party. Wait, I forgot to mention that Kelly and her boyfriend Levi drove down during normal daylight hours on Saturday, but Scott and I had the good fortune of waking up at 4:30am Sunday to make the drive down due to Scott's Saturday night work schedule. But let me tell you, there are no trucks on the 5 at 5am, and no traffic in LA...we made it into the OC by 10am...where we promptly headed to our sorely missed Grower's Direct produce market to stock up on party perishables.
This is the drawback to being a chef and throwing a party for your mother...you have to cook, even if you live 400 miles away! We traveled with 2 Le Crueset dutch ovens, a giant wooden salad bowl, 2 lbs of fresh shrimp from Scott's work, a king cake ordered from New Orleans, and a full set of knives. Whew! So once we purchased the remaining ingredients for our New Orleans feast, we arrived at Chris's house, where we began our cooking adventure. We prepped most everything there for our menu, and then packed it all up to transfer to Mike's house to finish cooking and set the party up.
Linda's Mardi Gras Menu
Hurricanes
Veggie Crudite with Ranch Dip
Sausage and Cheese Bites
McCarthy Shrimp Cocktail *
Shrimp etouffe
Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya
Rice
Caesar Salad
King Cake
Turtle Cookies
We arrived at Mike's a mere 1/2 hour before the start of the party. I set about decorating the table while simultaneously prepping the appetizers. Scott started the roux for the etouffe. We were on a tight schedule, since Mike had taken Linda to the movies, and would be back in 1 1/2 hours. In that time, we had to decorate the house, hope all the guests arrive on time, and try to calm down with a hurricane.
From there, everything flowed perfectly! Linda's friend Marion (the one who threw my heart-themed bridal shower) decorated hurricane glasses for all the guests, and another friend Lorraine brought festive bunches of balloons. Brother-in-law Jeff kept the hurricanes flowing, Kelly was on top of keeping tabs of her mom's arrival time and handing out beads, and Scott and I held up the food end of things.
Empty hurricane glasses? Bartender!!
Hurricanes
Veggie Crudite with Ranch Dip
Sausage and Cheese Bites
McCarthy Shrimp Cocktail *
Shrimp etouffe
Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya
Rice
Caesar Salad
King Cake
Turtle Cookies
*McCarthy Shrimp Cocktail: This is how the McCarthy clan eats their shrimp at shrimp boils. Ritz cracker, dab of butter, shrimp, squirt of ketchup. Seriously, don't knock it until you try it!
We arrived at Mike's a mere 1/2 hour before the start of the party. I set about decorating the table while simultaneously prepping the appetizers. Scott started the roux for the etouffe. We were on a tight schedule, since Mike had taken Linda to the movies, and would be back in 1 1/2 hours. In that time, we had to decorate the house, hope all the guests arrive on time, and try to calm down with a hurricane.
From there, everything flowed perfectly! Linda's friend Marion (the one who threw my heart-themed bridal shower) decorated hurricane glasses for all the guests, and another friend Lorraine brought festive bunches of balloons. Brother-in-law Jeff kept the hurricanes flowing, Kelly was on top of keeping tabs of her mom's arrival time and handing out beads, and Scott and I held up the food end of things.
Empty hurricane glasses? Bartender!!
Levi & Kelly waiting for the "arrival"
Then, at 4:00, we got the secret call from Mike saying they were on their way. Conveniently, Mike's front yard is gated off, so we could all gather in there, and Linda would open the gate and see us all. And boy, when she entered the yard she was blown away!
Suprise
Then, at 4:00, we got the secret call from Mike saying they were on their way. Conveniently, Mike's front yard is gated off, so we could all gather in there, and Linda would open the gate and see us all. And boy, when she entered the yard she was blown away!
SupriseShe had NO idea any of this was going on...she froze in shock! We piled beads and a boa on her, handed her a drink, and she set about greeting all of her guests. It was really great to see her so happy and excited. Jeff even made a montage of pictures of Linda set to music on a dvd that we all enjoyed watching.
The McCarthys
The party was a huge hit, but unfortunately we had to drive home the next day. This was my first trip to Orange County since we moved away, so in the 2 days we were there, we had a lot of visiting to fit in, but more on that in another post...this one is to honor Linda...there's no better mother-in-law I could wish for!
The McCarthysHere are some party pictures!
The mamas (left to right): Cousin Melissa (due in a few weeks), Linda, Lisa, Nichole
Mardi Gras Gangsta Chris models his beads
Barrie & Mark, the king and queen of Mardi Gras...they are Mike's son and wife, and the winners of the game we played (below)
Evelyn loves to party!
Traditional King Cake, flown in from New Orleans Haydel's Bakery
The mamas (left to right): Cousin Melissa (due in a few weeks), Linda, Lisa, Nichole
Mardi Gras Gangsta Chris models his beads
Barrie & Mark, the king and queen of Mardi Gras...they are Mike's son and wife, and the winners of the game we played (below)
Evelyn loves to party!
Traditional King Cake, flown in from New Orleans Haydel's BakeryHappy Birthday!
4 comments:
damn those are some mad party/cooking/surprise skills. nice work in pulling off such a kick ass party from such a long distance. i know how hard that drive is and to pull off all the cooking upon arrival?? wow.
How sweet! I got all teared-up reading that, remembering how happy my mom was when my brother and I threw her a 50th birthday party. It was worth all the hard work of planning a California gathering from Philly, just knowing how happy it made her. I'm sure it was the same for you and Scott. I'd be curious to try your hurricane recipe if you'd like to share. I have never met a hurricane a liked, neither the ones I have had at restaurants nor the ones I have made from recipes myself, but Scott is a chef - his recipe has to be good!
so NOW i know why you were driving TO orange county on a sunday!
you guys did such a great job planning this -- linda looks so surprised!!!
was there a baby jesus inside the cake?
There were 2 baby Jesuses because we had 2 cakes! Mike got one, and his daughter Carrie, a king cake virgin, got the other. As for the hurricanes, Scott's brother Jeff was in charge, and he used a mix, some powdery thing you mix with water, and then add the rum. They were delicious, tasted like fruit punch.
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