Dom's Birthday Party Saturday July 25, 2009

Pictures from Dom's birthday party:

The little kids playing in the pool Carla and Pep brought and set up in the backyard. Pictured: Gracie, Joey and Aiden.

Dom opening his gifts with McKenzie in the background.

Mark and Donnie...and that's little Skyla that Uncle Mark is holding, she doesn't look too sure about him.Looking down the table towards Dom. That is Aiden in the sunglasses on his left and Bob Lavoie barely made it in the picture on the bottom right corner.Andrew and Jeremiah eating dinner, you can also get a partial view of Aiden on the right side of the picture.
Another shot of the dinner table, I was so busy I didn't get very many pictures but did make sure I took some after everyone had gotten their food and were sitting down. I wasn't in my "photographer" mode, so I must apologize for the lack of good pics...sometimes you just got to go with whatever you get. In the picture above you have a close up of Tara and Andrew, above them are Jeremiah, Elaine, Bob Lavoie's daughter, then Dom at the head of the table. On the right side of the photo are Chad and Bonnie.
Now looking down the table in the other direction from upper left and moving clockwise: Dom Jr., Carla, Kylee, Mike, Ken Gemma, Laura, McKenzie, Tara and Andrew (in the blue shirt).
Another shot of the table with Jake, Bonnie's great-nephew in the foreground. Everyone else is shown and named in the other pics.

What we ate:

I fixed turkey sandwiches and bbq beef sandwiches along with 8 salads. It was a hot day and salads just sounded good to me. (Of course, not everyone else agreed with my menu choices, most people in Dom's family think salads are not things to be eaten, especially our grandkids from that side. I can say, my side of the family loved the food I prepared this year.)

The salads I prepared were:

1. Crunchy Napa Cabbage Slaw (this was a really good slaw, one of the best of had, but you need to really watch how much cilantro you put in, it can get a little spicey!)
2. Spinach-Blackberry Salad (this was a little unusual, but surprisingly good I used marionberries from our yard and shaved parm cheese)
3. Romaine and Mandarin Orange Salad (I really liked this, the poppy seed dressing was great! I'm glad I have lots left over and I was even able to send some home with Chad and Melissa since Chad really liked the dressing too!)
4. Greek Tortellini Salad (I added black olives, and chopped hard salami, didn't add the spinach leaves, added chopped basil leaves instead - this seemed to be a crowd favorite - the lemony vinegrette was really good)
5. Cucumber/tomato/green onion salad with balsalmic vinegar dressing (my own recipe that I have been making for years, a real favorite with several people in our family. So glad our own onions were ready to be picked for this, they add such a great flavor to the salad.
6. Bruschetta in a bowl: tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and croutons tossed and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. (got the idea from #42 here).
7. My own homemade potato salad that I have been making for years.
8. Fruit salad with watermelon, honeydew melon, red seedless grapes and green seedless grapes.

For dessert we had our usual marionberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream and brownies.

Guest List:

Dom (the birthday boy, celebrating 75 years!)

Me (the party planner, caterer, all around slave)

Mike, Laura, McKenzie & Kylee

Dom Jr., Carla, Grace & Joey (backyard pool provider)

Miah (general last minute helper, thanks so much!)

Lissa, Chad (my sous chef, such a big help!), Aiden & Skyla (star of the party at just 5 days old)

Bonnie (my other sous chef, ice provider, table provider, general helper & baby holder) & Jake (all around helper) Matt...(MIA, but he will be available on August 25!)

Bob & Joyce Lavoie (Dom's golfing buddy & his wife)

Skyler & Elaine (Bob's daughter and her husband, another golfing buddy of Dom's)

Ken Gemma (so glad he could make it this year)

Mark & Donnie Anderson (thanks to Donnie for helping with the cleanup!)

Andrew & Tara Hagman (thanks so much guys! Andrew washed ALL the dishes and Tara did most of the after party cleanup! not to mention Andrew mowed the entire pasture on Thursday so it would look nice for the party...you guys are wonderful!)

Jeremy and Penny Anderson (so wonderful to see you...thanks for making the long drive for the day)

It was a good day, but I'm glad it is over for another year!