Friday, July 11, 2014

The Outlawz Friday Coloring "At the Beach/Pool" Challenge and Blake's Birthday Card

Ooooh, it is hot here again today. If you live in the Valley of the Sun, you know what I am talking about. Desert heat with the added monsoon--ain't nothin' like it. Egads! Hot, humid, dusty. How fun. Really would love to get away right about now, but that's not in the cards. Soooo...on to today's challenge:

We are sponsored this month by All Dressed Up, the home of really darling stamps! Our randomly-selected participant will win two free digis of his/her choice. Lucky you! Please join us this week. Remember, you can use any coloring medium! We love to see what all you talented peeps out there can create, and this week's theme of beach or pool is a fun one.

All Dressed up Challenge blog

This week I am using two different digis for my scene. I made a birthday card for our local-chef friend, Blake, whose birthday is on August 1st. It's nice to be ready in advance for a change! I combined Make It Crafty Tropical Beach and LaLa Land Crafts Summer Luka, printed them on X-Press It Blending Card, and colored them with my Copics:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04, R20
Hair: C5, C7, C9
Swimsuit: Y02, Y04, Y06
Water/Floats/Fins/Goggles: B12, B14, B16
Snorkel: YR12, YR14
Turtle: YG21, YG23, YG25, YR12, YR14
Palm Leaves: YG21, YG23, YG25
Coconuts/Shells/Palm Trunks: E41, E43, E47
Sand: E0000, E30, E40, E42, E43, E50, E70
Sky: B0000, B000
Clouds: C0, C1

I went for a simple design on this, so I only added some Stampin' Up ribbon and Candy Dots. My DP is from the Best Creation Inc. Splash Fun collection,and I paired it with Stampin' Up CS. Hope Blake likes it. 

Gary took me to J&G Steakhouse at the Phoenician for my birthday dinner last Friday. We had marvelous watermelon gazpacho, Au Gratin potatoes, and filet mignon. Then they gave me a birthday dessert, which I selfishly did not share with Gary. It was delicious, and here is a photo of it:


Also, Gary gave me a lovely wine-dinner gift this week. We ate at our only Arizona AAA 5-Diamond restaurant, Kai, on Tuesday. Was it good? Does a bear poo in the woods? Sorry, that wasn't very classy of me, was it? Anyway, we were joined by our friends John and Carol and Bob and Connie. The meal took 4-1/2 hours, a bit longer than it should have. Our wines were OK; I really loved two of the 5 we were served. But the food was spectacular! I even ate the venison! And I hated venison when I grew up in Montana--the wild, gamey taste did nothing for me back then. However, this venison was superb--prepared beautifully, (no gamey flavor, thank goodness), and so tender you didn't even need a knife to cut it! So here are the courses, skipping the Amuse to start the meal--which was foie gras, as well as some other little bits that were delicious, but I have no earthly idea what they were! Forgot to take a photo of that. And pardon my photos--I was trying to take them quickly, so I didn't disturb everyone at our table with the flash. I didn't get the best shots, but oh, well...

1st Course: Citrus Olive Oil Poached Dover Sole, Escabeche of Summer Root Vegetables, Lettuces of Arugula, Grapefruit Buerre, Tobiko Caviar:

2nd Course: Sweet Grass Smoked Squab Breast, Santa Cruz and 60 day Corn Bread, Pickled Cherries, Cafe Dulce Foie Gras, Charred Asparagus: 

Intermezzo palate cleanser. Oh, there were such flavorful layers to this. Of what, I am not sure. But it was sooo good, and definitely cleansed the palate!

Main Course: Mole Adobo Rubbed Venison Tenderloin, Pommes Dauphine, Golden Chantrelles, Sobrasada Emulsion, I'itoi onions:

Dessert:  Light and Dark, Dark Chocolate Sponge Cake, White Chocolate Crumble, Roasted Marcona Almonds & Goats Milk Butter, Wild Strawberries and Huckleberry:

They also did the most unusual thing. They brought out small arrangements of flowers and herbs, and then added liquid nitrogen to them. Really unusual effect!

Also worth mentioning were the breads. Several kinds were given to us. And, if our bread plate was empty, they came by and added more. My fav was a roll with a salted-honey glaze on the top. (You can barely see it on a plate next to my venison course.) Yum, yum, yum. So that was a great deal of fun. The food was paired brilliantly with the wines; the chef made all of the wines taste even better than they actually did without food! Loved the conversation and the atmosphere. If you ever get the chance to dine at Kai, please do. Expect to spend a goodly amount, (including your first-born, just kidding), but it is soooo worth it! 

We stayed overnight at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, which was really a good idea after drinking all of those wines! (Although I never had them refill any of mine!) And our little Donovan had a short staycation at my sister's house. Thank you again, Merrilyn & Ron, for taking care of Don.

Oh, forgot to mention that our daughter, Angela, took me to Vintage 95 in downtown Chandler for brunch this past Sunday for my birthday treat. And, it was a treat! Really yummy food, there, too--salmon wraps, chilaquiles, and shrimp lettuce wraps. My favorite were the scrumptious chilaquiles shown below. Do you think I got enough fabulous food to eat in the past week? Yeah, I think so, too! And now I have to lose weight yet again. Sigh...will I never learn? Apparently not in this lifetime!

I'll leave you with my photo of Blake's card. Do check out the wonderful creations by my talented teammates: Carla, Dawn, and Kathi! And, please join us this week with yours! 

Have a great weekend!


10 comments:

  1. I am pleased you had a good birthday Penny and you enjoyed some wonderful food!
    Your card for Blake is fabulous, the image is so cute, beautifully coloured the the scene you have created is wonderful.
    hugs Sue xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. My goodness! You have made me so hungry this morning! lol Thanks for sharing the menu and the pics! Your lovely beach scene card is wonderful! Have a great weekend! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You eat and drink better than anyone I know, Penny! Thanks for sharing the culinary details of your birthday celebrations! I'm glad they were all wonderful! Your card is pretty spectacular, too! Perfect merge and coloring! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The card is really cute, he should love it! Seamless merging and, of course, your beautiful coloring! Love the description of the food. I have had wonderful venison right here in Wisconsin too! My own kitchen!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow real yummy designer food and of course I just love your quirky sense of humour. Thought now you are both retired there will be less wining and dining, but it seems like the two of you are only picking up speed now. Love the fun birthday card.
    Hugs Desíre {Doing Life}

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your card is adorable and your birthday meal looks to have been an experience to remember. I am glad you got so lovingly spoiled on your birthday.
    Hugs,
    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  7. Penny it was so fun reading about your celebration dinner. I love going to restaurants too ..never experienced the nitrogen !!It must have been amazing!! Love the way you made the sandy beach on your cute card.
    And Thank you so much for your encouraging comment on my Swinging Card tutorial

    ReplyDelete
  8. Super cute card - you really bring out the best of those funny little LaLa images :) Loved reading about your foodie experiences too - fortunately I've just eaten as I might not have enjoyed the reading quite as much!! Sounds as though you had a fabulous celebration - belated birthday wishes :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. You created such a fabulous scene, then colored it beautifully.

    Your birthday meals sound wonderful, though I have no idea of what a few of those things are. You didn't mention the wine or show the wine bottles, which would have been a nice touch. We're always looking for new wines to try.

    Belated Birthday wishes. I'm so glad that you were wined and dined and fêted! I'm just soooooo behind with everything these days! Ah well.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog! I appreciate the kind comments more than I can say! :^)
Hugs, Penny