Prom Dessert

I wanted to show everyone the dessert the kids had for prom dinner. A big thank you to Terry Rathsack who made the dessert. Terry is the executive chef for a company in town. The company owns what is called (I think) The Farm. This is where the visitors to the company stay instead of a hotel. I believe that there are company functions held there also. So needless to say, when I heard a chef was coming to the house I was very nervous. I can cook for family but God forbid what a chef would say about the menu and how I did. The Rathsack's contribution was Tiramisu. Luckily, there were maybe 5 pieces left for the adults to share. It was excellent. I wish I had had more time, in a less hectic setting to discuss baking with him. We did talk about getting Creme Anglaise to not curdle. Double boiler!

All the parents and siblings did a wonderful job of prepping, cooking and serving the food. I wish you all could have seen how wonderful the presentation was. The punch goblets had strawberries on the rim as a garnish. I've never had a staff of 10 under me! I need this crew for Thanksgiving.

The Cute Couple

Finally pictures of Conor and Taylor. Is it no wonder why they were voted "Cutest Couple" for the yearbook. Awww, they do look cute. Pictures were taken at a park near the house. The kids then came back to the house for dinner. We served 5 couples for dinner. In addition to the prom attendees, we also had the parents and siblings. The adults got the leftovers. We were going to wait until the kids left before we broke out the alcohol but once the men went out to grill they thought it would be a good idea to open the Italian beer. So beer, wine and food was passed around in the kitchen all night. We did break out the blender when the kids left and Tyler's mom and sister made grasshopers for all of us. Jeff and I had a great time. I hope the kids and parents did also.

Prom Tablescape

I was having difficulty figuring out what I was going to do to decorate the table for prom dinner. I didn't want it to look too much like a wedding reception. The theme for prom was Arabian Nights and we served an Italian menu. Hmmm, what to do. I talked with one of my co-workers. He loves to decorate and is very good at it. He sent me an email about 30 minutes after I told him I was at a loss for an idea. He thought I should try to marry the two themes and sent me pictures of a Moroccan tablescape. Perfect. Now the problem was to see if I could find something in Appleton. I checked out Hobby Lobby, World Market, Pier One and Gordman's. As it turned out, the last place I went was Gordman's and they had what I needed on clearance to boot! Thanks David!

Now that I had the lanterns home, I needed to decide what to put with them. The morning of prom, I took the leftover dress fabric and made a tablerunner. I also used the fabric that we bought but didn't use for the dress and added that around the lanterns. I could kick myself because I didn't get enough pictures and I was knee deep in the dinner preparations that I forgot to light the candles in the lanterns. Duh, that was the focal point and I messed that up. So here is my dining room. We call it the Hemmingway room because it has items in there from our travels. Now, you add the Moroccan theme with my Amish table and this is what you get.