No Blue Soup! aka Suck it, Bridget!

The Spread

This is my spread sans dessert (which was in the fridge).  Not too shabby, aye?  Best meal ever, some might say.  (They might...they happened not to say it, but they might have not been the "some" who would.  That's all I'm sayin'.)  Though I must credit Crystal with making the salad.  Still, I chopped the tomatoes and "planned" to make it...I just ran out of time. 

The crowd favorite appears to have been the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with comments like "why can't you just make that every night" and "please make this again for Thanksgiving!"  Done!

 All I know for sure is that Sandy didn't get any scraps...and some went back for seconds too!



Rachel, Nick, Crystal, Kelly, Sarah, and Heather.  (Not pictured:  Sandy)

Here is the urban family after cleaning their plates.  Look at the happy faces, satisfied with the fact that they didn't have to ingest blue soup, omelette, and marmalade after hours of careful cooking!

As we watched BJD the second time, we added a bit more context to the film by "having our colors done" a la Color Me Beautiful.  There were a lot of tips in there that were, well, dated let's say.



I'm not sure if this is when Crystal plotted buying "Color For Men" for Nick.  But that happened.

I thought I had a picture of the tiramisu cake, but oh well.  I guess I'll just have to tell the story without the photo.  I got a 4 and a 3 candle for it as this would have been Movie Bridget's 43rd birthday....but it was also just 5 days after urban family member Nick's 34th birthday.  So, I switched them for him - and the party became a surprise party.  I'm not sure sharing a birthday party with Bridget Jones was on his bucket list, but if so, check!

*Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver did not show.  I blame Sarah for that.  She was supposed to bring them.  And apparently much plotting was done by Crystal and Kelly to make it happen as well.

Summary:  I made the better meal but got none of the sweet rewards in the form of British men fighting over me to the tune of It's Raining Men.  Sigh.

Happy Birthday, Bridget!

November 9th.  Cigarettes 3.  Birthdays 33.

Tonight is the night I promised long ago - the urban family dinner party commemorating Bridget Jones's birthday.  While a friend told me I should not actually make blue soup, omelet, and marmalade (after 4 hours of careful cooking), it was quite tempting.

Instead, tonight's menu includes mainly things I've never made before that could become problematic and represent the "blue soup" phenomenon.

The Menu:
Heirloom Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Salad
Pesto Cheese Manicotti
Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter sauce
Roasted Green Beans
Tiramisu
And Wine of course.  Lots of wine.

I did a very un-Bridget like thing and did a lot of pre-planning and prepping.  I prepped for about 4 hours last night, so I can already report some disastrous results.

For instance, the tiramisu recipe I chose was based on it being much easier than actually making tiramisu from scratch.  My first recipe called for pre-made lady fingers, but having found none in stores, I opted for a recipe with a pre-made Angel Food cake instead.  Easy enough, no?  No indeed.  I was supposed to "whip" the whipping cream and marscapone cheese until it was "stiff."  That never happened.  I got to the point where I thought it was getting less stiff instead of more stiff and stopped.  In short, the tiramisu is a runny mess in my fridge, and it's the only completed item for the menu.  This bodes well for the meal.

But other prepping worked out much better.  I made the sweet potato gnocchi (I'm a big fan of both sweet potatoes and gnocchi) completely and totally from scratch, and I do think it's going to work out pretty well.  The only remaining obstacle will be when I make the sauce tonight and saute them.  Fingers crossed.

The cheese manicotti is the only thing I've successfully made before.  (I've roasted green beans, but they didn't turn out too well...I ended up throwing them away uneaten.)  To prove that this dinner would indeed fit the "blue soup" requirement, my manicotti shells split while boiling them, so they are pretty much a broken, folded pasta mess with cheese.  I happen to like a folded pasta mess with cheese.  I hope my urban family does as well.

Let me extend an open invitation for Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver to join the festivities tonight.  Please note you will be required to fight each other, preferably to the tune of It's Raining Men.  (Hallelujah!)  I have it on iTunes.  Not a problem.

In other news, Caperberries...apparently always a bad idea.