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!

Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Flu Flu, Black Plague...

I have no idea what kind of virus that we were recently been afflicted with, but it was pretty brutal. Ian was sick for 8 days, I was sick for 9, Connor and Tony were sick for about a week. The kids missed an entire week of school. I did my best to take care of the kids and myself but the entire time period was a blur. I can't even tell you much about what we ate during that time.... Gatorade, water, diet soda, baked potatoes, soup...

I found this picture on my phone, so at some point I know that Ian had pancakes. By process of elimination, I can tell you that I made these pancakes. Tony, Connor, and Ian don't know how to make pancakes and these clearly aren't the frozen variety. That means that I made them. Go mom!


Here is Ian on day 5 of the illness. We had all had a temperature of 100 degrees or higher for several days. Some of us (okay, most of us) were not bathing daily.


The plague started to lift just in time for a most joyous occasion - my sister's baby shower! Yep, she's having a baby and I could not be happier for her and David. In preparation for the shower, I made 3 dozen homemade sugar cookies with a confectioner's sugar glaze. FYI - these cookies are supposed to resemble baby boys wearing diapers not fat, bald, European men wearing speedos.

The Christmas Eve Big Show!

Christmas Even dinner - Ham, rolls...

Peas, asparagus, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and carrots, mac & cheese...

My sister's trademark cathedral cake! This is a pumpkin strudel cake and it was fabulous.

My sister also made 7 layer bars.

Here are the cookies that I made the day before. No one believed that I actually baked them. My family assumed that they were store bought and that I was trying to pass them off as homemade... Not that I have ever done that in the past.... Okay, I have done that in the past but these really are home baked - by me.

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...

The Murphys Have an 80's Party - 6.20.2009

My brother and sister-in-law had a kick ass 80's party this weekend. I am amazed by the attention to detail that was put in to it - pop rocks, candy necklaces, etch-a-sketches, lemonheads, and slap bracelets were everywhere!



My brother's costume kicked ass! His wife looked awesome too, but I didn't get a picture of her. Chris or Mandy - Please forward me a picture of Mandy to post here!



I opted to go for the "too cool for school, hard rock" 80's look and did my best to channel my inner-Axl Rose. Ian and Connor showed up for the first hour or so of the party and my parents were kind enough to leave with them, freeing me up for the tom foolery that would ensue.




My lovely friends, Liz and Olivia, came to the party with me. Both ladies looked as lovely as usual.




Here's my bro on a hog. It's not his bike, but I begged him to sit on it so that I could get a picture of him. hehehehehe.



My ridiculously cute sister and my brother in the background.




We left the part around 10:45 to head out for the Truth for Sanity show at Oldfields. I am pretty sure that the band kicked ass, as they always do, but I had also had many adult beverages consumed out of a Solo cup so don't quote me on it.

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.*