The party's over

Every year we host what seems like a massive 4th of July party for Neil's students and our friends. It is always enjoyable, if a bit frantic, this year it was lovely. I'm not sure what it was: slightly fewer people than usual so I could actually visit for more than a nano-second without getting distracted. Or, more importantly, blueberry ginger mojitos made by my dear friend Christian they were so wonderful and put a little glow around everything. :-)
It is always lovely to see the kids come out of their shells as the evening progresses. The end of most parties at our house ring to the laughter and squeals of little ones racing around the house. Our house is particularly suited to racing around, hiding in and general play and the kids make full use of it. There are 3 routes through the house and the kids chase each other around. Generally for a party the "public" rooms - living room, kid's bedroom (a route of the main bathroom) and dining room have been tidied and cleaned. The detritus which has accumulated in these areas ends up dumped in the more private area of the house, our bedroom and the study. I carefully close the doors so nobody can see this catastrophe of dirty laundry, bits and bobs from all over, and general chaos. No matter, the kids wade through it all with glee! I'm surprised noone has broken a limb on this obstacle course!

All parties at our house involve massive amounts of food, from us and from our very talented friends. This time I started early making a lemoncake (Maida Heatter's Best Damn Lemon Cake, really), her Triple Threat Cheese Cake (fondly known as better than sex cheesecake in our house), and her Emilio's cheesecake ( a creamy rich New York style cheesecake that received rave reviews from those who had sampled the real thing!) I also made cashew chili (which noone knew to eat - they just figured it was left on the stove from some other meal- which tells you something about the general state of our house when friends are over! ) Vietnamese Chicken Salad - generally popular but didn't taste as good as usual.
Neil did most of his cooking on the day - a marathon of making sausage rolls, bread, hummus, pizza and wings and ribs. As you can imagine the air was filled with yummy smells as we cleaned the house.
Many people bought the most wonderful food but here are some highlights. Kathi (of McClures bookshop in Clemson- you must go, if you haven't already) bought shrimp and a fabulous wasabi sauce for dipping, Gregg Ammons, our very talented local photographer, apple smoked pork that was too die for! and Paul marinated and cooked to perfection lamb on the grill. Nicole's strawberry spinach salad and Beth's Black Bean and corn salsa, yum.... and did I mention the mojitos and the red white and blueberry pie from Christian.
Good friends, good food and crazy children - what more could you ask for!