A Surprise Birthday Luncheon for Liz

Wednesday my friend Judy and I hosted a surprise birthday luncheon for our good friend Liz who is turning 80 next week.  Here I am in one of my favorite huipils that I bought in Oaxaca.

Everyone arrived early.  Liz pulled into the driveway and then I had to get a room of ladies to be quiet so she would not hear us.  Well, Liz walked into the entry, everyone yelled surprise and Liz just stood there shell shocked.  It certainly was a surprise.
We moved out to the patio and I first served Bellinis made from the delicious peaches that we can get this time of year from Pallisades, Colorado.   I also served crunchy cheddar cheese biscuits and Tomato and Watermelon Squares.  (Both recipes will be featured in my appetizer cookbook that I am working on).

 Paula, Birthday Girl Liz and Bonnie.

A little bit of Mexico on my table...  The blue and silver oil cloth I had bought from my friend Guadalupe who had an oilcloth line of purses, place matts, cosmetic bags, etc. called Mary Jane Bags.  Now she's founder and owner of PENZI, a very successful and creative wedding planning and event company in San Miguel de Allende.  The plates are an abstract Picasso like design that I picked up in Dolores Hidalgo 30 some years ago.  The glassware from San Miguel along with the paper mache dolls.

I love using my cotton paisley bandanas that I bought in the market in San Miguel to use as napkins.  I photo shopped this photo of Liz by adding a sombrero and made napkin rings.
Such the party girl!

The ceramic nopal cactus acted as a place card holder.

I served an arugula and mixed green salad with thinly sliced red onions, avocado, peaches and pepitas (pumpkin seeds) with a cilantro dressing.  With some dietary restrictions (no fish, no meat... at least gluten was not an issue this time) I made a Black Bean Torta that was layers of flour tortillas, sauted vegetables, asadero cheese and salsa fresca (see recipe on my upcoming next Post).

Clockwise:  Bonnie (in the orange dress), my mom Lorraine, Paula, Judy, Nancy, Liz and Lucette.  Along with the meal, I served a chilled Spanish Rose, Muga.

We finished with the most decedent dessert that everyone said they could not possibly finish but guess what, everyone did.  I will post the recipe soon.  The beauty of it is that one can make it in advance, it is frozen and will feed a big crowd.  The only downside, there are many steps to the recipe.

It was a great day with wonderful weather, delicious food and drink and good friends.