This little piggie went to a pig roast!

2 little piggies (Peanut and Rajeev) went to a wedding.
2 other little piggies (Guy and Larry) went to the same one.
These four little piggies were seated at the same (gay) table and became good friends.



Guy and Larry had a pig roast on Saturday! I was so excited- my FIRST pig roast! Peanut went out of town to celebrate Mother's Day with his mom, so I brought Javier who's been salivating about having his own pig roast since the day I met him. Thankfully Javier documented it all on his iPhone- my pics were terrible!



I didn't go empty handed! I made natural strawberry cupcakes with natural strawberry frosting, decorated like little piggies of course! Marshmallow snout (I stuck in 2 chocolate jimmies to make the nostrils), marshmallow ears, and mini M&M eyes. This pic is courtesy of Violet's friend--- Peanut & I surprised her at work on Friday night and gave her one!



I made a bunch. But I got showed up:



Yes, that's a chocolate cake. Everything is edible, including the marzipan mushrooms. I definitely need to haul myself to Chicago to get Rose to teach me a thing or two. And when we were leaving, Javier conveniently said something to the woman who baked and decorated the cake in Spanish that I couldn't understand... probably along the lines of: your cake was awesome and definitely cuter the stupid pig cupcakes and I want to hire you to bake my birthday cake but don't tell the Indian kid.



Whatever, only one of my cupcakes was left.

Still, my first pig roast! I can't wait to break out la cajachina for the next one!

Tres de Mayo!

Confessions from our Tres de Mayo Party:
1. The margaritas were a bit too strong.
2. There was a lot of butter in the cupcake frosting.
3. I know I'm responsible for three shots, but that doesn't explain the 9 shot glasses I washed last night...
4. I am remembering things from last night as I blog.

It started innocently enough on Thursday night, when I squeezed 36 limes...



And everything was o.k. at 7:00, when Peanut grilled the tequila lime chicken skewers:



And we came up with a beautiful spread:



I made Peanut take some artistic close-ups! These are my favorites:



Tequila lime chicken skewers.



Homemade guacamole, salsa fresca (blue bowl) and dessert in the background.



Dessert! Lemon bars, coconut cupcakes, strawberries with whipped cream.

And then Vixen showed up....



... and seduced me into joining her for a shot of tequila....



... and the countdown had begun.



PARTY PICS!!!!



This must have been early in the evening (Jason, Simon, my favorite Filipino Martin, Julio, and Gregory).



I am remembering Baker, George and Mountie asking me about a coconut.... they must have been referring to the cupcakes...



which were delicious! Me and Javier.



Charles, whose outfit I secretly coveted, and Lance.



Jack and George flanking H. Reuhl who arrived with treats from his store (including the shot glasses, though I am not holding him responsible) and a flower on his lapel...



... that of course ended up in Vixen's hair (with Peanut).



K-dog, Ryan, and Jeff rocking the shocker.



Mountie and Eliza, taking a break from saving the world, with Peanut.



I could not have chosen a more perfect pseudonym (Vixen, Ozzie, Javier, Wentworth, Vixen's roommate and her boyfriend, and Kenny).



But oh lord, do I have to come up with pseudonyms for all of these people? Here goes: K-dog, Ryan, Baker, Jesse, Antonio, Arthur, and the guy in the back who you can't really see anyway.



Definitely later in the evening, when I started taking "artistic" photographs, which in my world involve holding the camera diagonally (Gus, Wentworth, Kenny).



This is perhaps the cutest picture ever: Jesse, Javier, Peanut, and Gus.



I just had to post this one because I really don't get what's going on? Is there a race? Apparently, Vixen's roommate's boyfriend was as confused then as I am now (Vixen, with Ozzie and Javier).



I bet she is trying to get Smith to have a tequila shot, too.



... but she is so over Kenny.



Me, gettin' some lovin' from DJ.



Again, I could not have chosen a more perfect pseudonym (Vixen and Kenny).



And again, I could not have chosen a more perfect pseudonym (Javier, Ozzie, Vixen and Jesse).

And to think, this was only for Tres de Mayo, which makes one question what on earth is going to happen on Monday for Cinco de Mayo? ADIOS AMIGOS!

Big Guy's Day at the Circus

On Saturday, Peanut, his sister Mary Kay, and I drove up to the shore to celebrate their father's (a.k.a Big Guy) 70th birthday! Big Guy and wife were joined by all 8 of their kids, 5 grandkids, and 5 significant others! And of course, we weren't going to go empty handed.



The request was for a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.



But would one 8-inch cake feed all 18 people? I made cupcakes, too, which Mary Kay helped frost and decorate.



Big Guy loves the circus, so the cupcakes were decorated with juggling bears...



... while the cake itself became the big top!

Battle Chocolate

When Rick found out that Cindy beat me in Battle Sambuca, he challenged her to a new tinfoil chef competition. Since I lost last time, I had to host but got to choose the secret ingredient. So when I was at yoga at 11 AM Saturday morning, Peanut texted them both my strategically chosen secret ingredient: Chocolate!



Rick started off strong with an amazing chocolate mint mojito (some claimed he had an "unfair advantage" with the drinks).



For a first course, Rick made bacon-wrapped shrimp with a peanut-chocolate dipping sauce (left). Cindy made chocolate-spiced nuts (in the bowls on the right). Both were tasty.



For a main course, Rick made steak with a chocolate mole sauce, served alongside beet mashed potatoes. He got MAD POINTS from me for making PINK mashed potatoes!!!!!!



Cindy presented pasta with a chocolate-infused bolognese sauce with shaved Parmesan and chocolate. The salad was served with an exceedingly delicious white chocolate raspberry vinaigrette.



A pleased crew: Newcomer Violet, who's only allowed to give you one free refill, Tim & Brad (who hosted last competition) and their friend Joe.



Can it be a cooking competition without a torch? Rick brought it out strong toasting marshmallows...



That were the perfect garnish for his smore-tini's, complete with graham cracker crumb rim.



Rick served those alongside some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.



Cindy retaliated with an amazing chocolate bread pudding, served with a chocolate brandy glaze.



The chefs along with their sous-chefs, Jack (for chef Rick) and J.G.G. (for chef Cindy).



While Cindy scored high for originality, Bill announced that it was Rick who would walk away as the new tinfoil chef!



Here's Peanut with Violet's friend.

Welcome Home!

Cliff and George moved into their new home 5 nights ago, and they invited Peanut, Sparkles and me over for drinks on Sunday to check it out. I couldn't go empty handed, so I decided to take them a homemade fruit tart.