If you are a regular reader, you might have realized that the last few weekends I have not been posting quite as much as I normally do. I have been super busy with a few different projects, and now I can tell you about one of them!

My mom had a very special birthday this year, so my sister and I threw her a (surprise!!) birthday party on a Saturday night in September.

The gathering was somehow kept a secret for two months!! Mark and I started working on the party back in July, when we went to a couple of places to talk with events people about menus, room rentals and so on. It was so much fun! I just loved picking out the venue and [of course] I especially enjoyed picking out the menu!

It was so hard for me to keep a secret from my mom for two months, and the night of the party she could not believe that I had done it! I was really proud of myself 😀

My friend Megan was a sweetheart (as usual!) and took some amazing food photos during the party, to document as she knew I would want to.

Mini – Maine crab cakes:

They were so good!

I picked out two stationary hors d’ouevers that people could munch on while they were waiting for my mom to arrive with two of her good friends (they were in charge of getting her there!) The Baked Brie “En Croute” (or wrapped in puff pastry??) was a huge hit as was the crudités with a dill and curry dip… just thinking about these appetizers almost makes me hungry!

There were 19 guests (not including my mom, sister and myself) who arrived between 6 o’clock and 6:20 that evening.

I enjoyed catching up with a lot of our family friends while we were waiting for my mom to arrive:

My mom arrived [promptly for possibly the first time in her life – that was a shocker to me!] at 6:30…

She was very surprised:

After she arrived, our passed hors d’ouevers started. I picked out mini-Maine crab cakes with chipotle aioli (pictured above), tomato and basil salad on Vermont goad cheese toasts, and portobello mushroom toasts with with balsamic shallot relish and white truffle oil (they were amazing!)

My sister gave a great toast before we all sat down for dinner – my mom got a real kick out of it:

There were three different entree choices for dinner. But before we get to that, there was a choice of the restaurant’s well known clam and corn chowder or a mixed green salad:

There were three entree choices:

Statler Chicken Breast, which was a grilled free-range Statler chicken breast with red bliss mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and Jack Daniel’s gravy:

The second choice was a pork tenderloin which was a 6 ounce grilled pork tenderloin served with red bliss mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and house made seasonal fruit chutney:

I decided to enjoy the third choice… it was amazing and lasted me two nights:

Brick oven baked penne pasta – a pasta in a pink vodka sauce with 4 cheeses (Parmesan, Pecorino, Mozzarella & Fontina). It was fantastic!

My sister was in charge of the birthday cake which was also a big hit…

Mom blew out a few candles…

Mark and I had a great time at the party, too:

Well, that about wraps up the party…

Hope you are all having a great week – see you tomorrow!