Mad Men Dinner Party

We recently had the pleasure of dining with my siblings, their spouses, and my parents at The Clarmont in German Village. We had never been to the Clarmont before. It's an old school Steakhouse that's still stuck in the 1960's - but that's a good thing. The ambiance was very "Mad Men". (If you've never seen Mad Men, you must start watching it immediately. Mom - I am talking to YOU).

Everyone dressed up for the occasion. Here is my brother (aka Don Draper) and Connor (as Roger Sterling). Handsome fellas!


David and Mandy, and a table full of highballs and martinis!


Baby bib lettuce with blue cheese, bacon, and vinaigrette. Delicious!


My meal - a NY strip steak, baked potato, and sauteed spinach.

Ian and his chicken fingers. He wasn't happy that I wanted to take his picture when all he wanted to do was eat.


The after dinner party! Here's Henry as he discovers how fun it is to dip sunglasses in to a drink!

Henry David!

This little guy is named Henry David and he's my nephew! He was born to my sister and her husband on March 27th, and weighed in at 8 pounds and 14 ounces. His favorite food is MILK!

Soup & Salad, and Tony's Antics

Lunch at Lindey's last week was so good that I was inspired to recreate it over the weekend when my sister and her husband came over for dinner.



Baby greens with feta, mozzarella, roma tomatoes, and olive oil vinaigrette.

Onions and lots of 'em! Other ingredients: butter, bay leaves, sea salt, cracked black pepper, beef broth, thyme, red wine, and garlic.

Finished product topped with sourdough bread slices and provolone and finished under the broiler.

Tony wasn't home for dinner and decided to make a salad for himself when he got home. In typical fashion, he took what had the potential to be a delicious and healthy meal and ruined it with creamy dressing, excess amounts of cheese, and crushed saltine crackers. The best part of this photo is that Tony wasn't posing for it. I just happened to catch him talking while he was mid-bite. Like I've said before, you can take the boy out of Indiana but you can't take Indiana out of the boy...

David's 30th Birthday Party and A Big Box of Awesome! 05.23.2009

My sister, Stacey, threw her husband a 30th birthday party last weekend. It was a ton of fun. So much fun, in fact, that I forgot to take pictures of most of the food.



Here is his spectacular cake that Stacey made. It's one of her many trademarks.




In celebration of David's big 3-0, Tony and the kids and I gifted him with a "Big Box of Awesome"! The fancy wrapping job was courtesy of the kids and I.



And what exactly was in the Big Box of Awesome?



There were several treasures that I purchased at a community garage sale at First Community Church. There was a vintage and unused children's recorder.




There was a 500+ piece puzzle featuring images of Mary and Child and John the Apostle.




There was also a wooden bound book of cocktail recipes that looked like it was published in the 60's. It featured an entire chapter on highballs, Tom Collins, and Manhattans!



The final, and best, gift.... An old Star Wars Monopoly game!

*We also included a gift card to Starliner Diner. I didn't think that it would be very nice to give someone a Big Box of Awesome unless it contained at least one new item.*