Birthday Celebration and Afternoon Tea

They say all work and no play makes a person dull, so after working five days this week and spending evenings preparing for my monthly presentation at the assisted living facility today, I took yesterday off to go to Chelsea, MI for a family celebration.  My youngest son and granddaughter, Isabella, have birthdays today - #40 for Jeremy and #14 for Izzy.  

Lori & Dave, and Steve, Sharon & Brooke came to the party too.  It was a fun afternoon with family.  The guys enjoyed watching Michigan State football together, and the ladies enjoyed catching up around the kitchen table.

It wouldn't be a party without ice cream and candles...

And presents.

Lori brought one of Jeremy's favorite desserts - Apple Crisp, and I brought a new recipe that was recently posted on ATAA [Afternoon Tea Across America] Facebook page - Pumpkin Cobbler.  Poor Landon had his taste buds all set for chocolate cake! ;-)  Everyone else enjoyed the apple and pumpkin desserts though, and I promised Landon chocolate cake for his birthday in November.  The easy and delicious pumpkin recipe is below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl:

1 large can pumpkin puree [29 oz.]

1 c. brown sugar [lightly packed]

1 large can evaporated milk [12 oz.]

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour pumpkin mixture into dish.

Mix together topping:

1 stick butter, thinly sliced

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1 c. chopped nuts [walnuts or pecans]

Evenly sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture.  Top with chopped nuts.

Lay pieces of sliced butter on top of cake mix and chopped nuts.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown.  Cool and cut into squares.

Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

*  *  *

Izzy will attend her first Homecoming Dance next Saturday, and she modeled the dress she bought for us.

Ellie was excited to show off the "Dorothy" dress that she'll be wearing for Halloween.

*  *  *

Today's program at the assisted living was "The Influence of Flowers."  It was about floral trivia and the important role flowers play in our lives.

I always take the residents a treat, but this month I didn't have a lot of time to get my creative juices flowing, so I ordered a cake and had red rosebuds piped on each piece of cake. I also took lavender black tea.  It was a program they could all relate to and enjoy.

Now I turn all my attention to next Saturday's Downton Abbey tea at The Whitney.