Saturday, February 11, 2006

Some Swell Soirees!

Wow! I've been having so much fun! This weekend I started soireeing early, as on Friday my friends the Q's came to celebrate Queen Q's birthday. I baked her a maple cake:

And I made mini-pizza's for everyone to eat and a salad and some dry kibble for Mrs. Q and myself, since we are on code Red for lowering our cholesterol levels. Actually, it wasn't really dry kibble, it was lean turkey patties, very tasty.

I met the Q's about 5 years ago when we all joined the same Civil War Reenacting Unit. We've been fast friends every since and it's a rare thing when you are friends with an Entire Family to find that you like everyone in the family. You know how if you are friends with the wife, you can't stand the husband, or if you like the couple, you think their kids are brats. So it is just a delight to have these folks come for a visit because each person is a treat all on their own! And of course they seem to love me unconditionally, and how cool is that? I don't even love myself unconditionally!

Even though it was Mrs. Q's birthday, she came bearing gifts, and I made a haul with some teacup socks, a cup and saucer set, a darling new teapot and a ton of stuff like canned salmon and canned chicken breasts. It was like Christmas all over again.

They had never seen Out of Africa so we sat and watched that rather long movie, and of course we all like the costumes, the time period, the rifles and general war paraphalia and we all decided that we'd really be quite all right if we had a major domo like Farah.

The really silly part is, that although I have a brand new digital camera that I am chomping at the bit to use, I did not remember to take a single picture!

HOWEVER, this evening, Soiree Number Two, I did take the camera along and I even had a good time. Tonight was 'Second Saturday' which is a monthly event in midtown Sacramento with an art walk and open galleries. In the summer it is quite the scene. It's a little early for it yet; but the moon was full and there were a lot of people about. I attended a buffet to benefit the homeless at the dance studio where I just started taking the belly dancing lessons. Everyone just gets up and dances and it was a lot of fun. I refrained from dancing because I don't know how, yet, but it was neat to watch. One of the teachers is a dead ringer for Marla Maples. She is quite thin to be a traditional belly dancer but she is so amazingly good at it, I forgive her!

I also had my picture taken with the teacher, who is like 70 something and just an amazingly smooth dancer.


NOT the most flattering picture of me; whither, whither has my waist gone? But look how cute Jodette is! I chowed down in Middle-Eastern food, focusing on the stuffed grape leaves and the hummus and the veggies and avoided the falafels and the stuffed meat pita breads. I talked to a bunch of new people.

For the most part the women who are taking this class are full figured, middle-aged and just wanting some exercise, with no intention of becoming performers. I did, of course, WOW my friends' the Q's with my one-step non-belly dance with the complete lack of foot-hand coordination that is my unique signature! I can work the finger cymbals, or I can take a step forward, but not both. Never both! That way lies danger!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A maple cake??? I didn't know they existed. How does one make a maple cake? I'm hoping it's not a secret recipe!

Miss Pink Ponsonby said...

No! Not Secret! If you want the 'cheater' recipe, you use a Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Yellow Cake Mix and add 2 Tablespoons of Mapeline Flavor to the mix. The frosting is cream cheese buttercream frosting with Mapeline flavoring. Use Half and Half instead of water in both the cake and frosting recipes. (NOT a Diet Cake, tee hee!)

Anonymous said...

Yum! Thank you. Now I just have to get my friend to make one for my birthday. :)

Anonymous said...

And a Fine Cake it was, too!!! And it was ok to eat just a Very Little bit, because we had had yummy kibble.

The boyz loved the leftovers...you will No Doubt have company fall semester :-)

Queen Q