The Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Week Two

Welcome to the Lord's Table

How good a thing it is, how pleasant to behold,
when all God's people live in peace, like sheep within one fold.
As perfume, by its scent, spreads fragrance all around,
so life itself will sweeter be where unity is found.

This past week, since we spent Friday attending First Friday Mass and running a few errands, and on Saturday the boys participated in their first Fencing Tournament before coming home to continue building the fence for our new garden, we ended up saving our 2nd Good Shepherd's Garden Party for yesterday, after Mass on Mother's Day!   It was such a nice way to celebrate the day with my family, and my husband and children helped prepare some of the menu items while I ran out to take a little gift to my own mom.

Here are a few pictures from this week's party:

~ The Table ~

Twinkle Toes started setting the table, while Chiquita and Snuggles carried the Wine Glasses, which they all just love being able to use every once in awhile for these special occasions!    

~ The Chairs ~

Inspired by Charlotte, and the last part of the bible verse for for this symbol ("Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.”), we skipped decorating the chairs and instead enjoyed Fresh Mozzarella Balls "Cheese Curds."

~ The Bread ~

Our Lamb of God Rolls didn't turn out nearly as cute as it did on Easter...  I'm not exactly sure what it looks like, but the kids still loved it.   

~ The Honey ~ 

We already had some creamed honey in the pantry, which we used for this menu item, along with some delicious lemon curd, made by a sweet friend, which I have been saving for a long time to open on a special occasion.... Yum!!!  

~ The Wine ~ 

This year, rather than making our own, we picked up some Sparkling White Grape Juice, Sparkling Peach Grape Spritzer, and Sparkling Raspberry Grape Spritzer. 

Cheers!!!

~ The Fruit ~

I have wanted to try and make an edible fruit bouquet for a couple years now, and decided to make one for my mom for Mother's Day.  

While I was taking it out to her, my boys and husband made one (left) for me!  As soon as we got home the girls joined the fun and made one (right) as well.

Once again we'll save our 12 Fruit Salad for Pentecost Sunday.  

~ The Milk ~

This year I pulled out our Ice Cream maker and let Snuggles make Vanilla Ice Cream!  He had so much fun and loved watching the ice cream spin and get thicker and thicker.  And I loved watching him...  He is such a cutie!! 

"I think it's all done, Mom!"

 

In addition to the delicious Vanilla Ice Cream that Snuggles made, I also had picked up some "Bunny Tracks" (Vanilla Ice Cream with Thick Fudge and Peanut Butter Caramel Ribbons, Chocolate Covered Peanuts and Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Bunnies) and we set out whipped cream, syrups, sprinkles and Easter Candy for making Sundaes!  

Like last year, it was such a treat! 

~ The Pizza ~

When we were at Costco on Saturday, we picked up a Pepperoni Pizza, along with some mushrooms and bell peppers to add to the top, for this Garden Party. 

Overall it was such a nice Mother's Day, complete with a (decaf) coffee from my husband on the way home from Mass, which I enjoyed while he made breakfast!!   The boys surprised me with a thoughtful book (spending a Barnes & Noble gift card they had been saving, with a little extra help from their Daddy) and I enjoyed playing with the early Mother's Day gift (which I love, love, LOVE!!!) my husband spoiled me with just before Easter.

 Be sure to visit Catholic Cuisine to share pictures from your own Garden Party!

I hope you all had a very Happy Mother's Day!!

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Week One

The Good Shepherd's Pasture

When Israel fled from Egypt's hand,  the seas split wide to form dry land, 

the mountains leapt like ewes and rams,  the hillsides skipped like playful lambs.  

What makes you leap, O hill and sea? Why, Jordan, do you turn and flee?

O, tremble, earth, your Lord is come to lead all people safely home. 

Once again, we are celebrating the 50 days of Easter with the Garden of the Good Shepherd!  Our Garden Party for this first week, based on the theme "The Good Shepherd's Pasture," ended up being a late dinner on Saturday night, after spending the day (very appropriately) looking for supplies to build a fence (to keep the deer out) for our very first vegetable garden!   With my limited time, I did make a few modifications to the menu this year.  Here are a few pictures from our party:

~ Mini Shepherd Pies ~ 

This year I made a double batch, and we had plenty! 

~ Shepherd's Crooks ~ 

~ The Sheepfold and the Ewe & Ram Cookies ~

We had lots of cake this past week, leftover from Easter Sunday, so we opted to make a Sheepfold (with the leftover ingredients from our Bird's Nest Cookies) and Ewe & Ram Cookies (using the cookie cutter from our Nativity Cookie Cutter Set).   We actually made them on Friday (after decorating the crown cookies), so this really simplified things on Saturday evening!   I don't think I would have had the time to make them otherwise. 

~ Graham Cracker Gates ~ 

While I was busy preparing the Shepherd's Pies, the kids assembled the Graham Cracker Gates. 

~ Lamb's Wool ~ 

I had a slight problem with our Lamb's Wool Punch "Tea" this year.  I didn't have time to make it earlier in the day, allowing it to Chill, and apparently it hadn't cooled enough before I poured it into my Glass pitcher. . . resulting in a nice crack.   Ooops!!! :(   I guess I need to start looking for a new pitcher!

~ Wolf Paw Cookies ~ 

Like last year, Captain assembled the Wolf Paws! 

I must admit that had I not had the help of my older children, I highly doubt that our first Garden Party would have happened this year.  I've been feeling pretty tired lately...  But they just love them so much, and they were all more than willing to help however they could.   :-)   

We are all looking forward to next week's Garden Party: 

Welcome to the Lord's Table! 

Don't forget to head over to Catholic Cuisine to share pictures from your party!

Our Seventh Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: The Heavenly Zoo

Last night we had the last of our weekly Good Shepherd Garden Parties based on the theme "The Heavenly Zoo." To be honest, I found this party to be the hardest to prepare for, since a few of the menu items just didn't want to come together for me! ;)

It did all come together in the end, and was enjoyed by everyone...  Here are a few pictures with the details:

~ The Water ~

I ended up just filling up our water pitcher and setting it on the table.  I wasn't sure if we'd need it, but after those super sweet Lion Lemonades the kids were all very thirsty! 

~ The Deer ~

We've been pretty burn out of cake lately, but I tried using a new "healthier" cake mix for our Deer Cupcakes and we all loved it!  It was actually a Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix from the health food departments, but I just ordered more of them from Amazon since, with subscribe & save and additional coupon code, they are less expensive.  Yum!!  Anyhow, for some reason I was having the hardest time breaking apart the pretzels this time.  But, after lots of attempts and a bowl filled with broken pieces, I finally had enough to make finish up the cupcakes.

~ The Lion ~

I substituted vanilla ice cream for the frozen yogurt and had just enough for our Lucky Lion Lemonade, but boy were these drinks sweet.  Only one of my children actually drank hers.  I loved the "mane" made out of sprinkles though, so next year I think we would just do the same thing with maybe just a milkshake underneath. 

~ The Beehive ~

I wasn't sure if the Beehive Baked Pears would turn out for me, and purchased a box of Honey Maid Bee Crackers from the very beginning.  However, after filling the pears and then finding out that the pie dough I purchased had gone bad, I was determined to figure a way to finish them. . .  Most of you would have probably just whipped up your favorite pie crust recipe. But pie crust and I just do not get along, and it would have been quicker for me to load up my 6 children and head to town rather than try that again.  So, I called Charlotte to help me brainstorm and I decided to try using a can of crescent rolls that I had in the fridge.  They worked!  I wrapped the pears, and then after the first 20 minutes of baking I covered them with foil.  

These were very delicious, and everyone (except for Snuggles & Twinkle Toes who both refused to even take a bite) loved them!  I especially loved the leftover honey & nut mixture... Uuummmm!!  

Oh! That reminds me, I did substitute pecans for the pistachios.  

~ The Peacock ~

I could NOT find Peacock feathers anywhere.  Charlotte suggested that I could just print a coloring page, but I had an idea in my head (inspired by these peacock feather cupcakes) that I was just dying to try:  Peacock Cupcakes!

Didn't she turn out cute!!??!! 

 I frosted some of the leftover chocolate cupcakes with some white frosting and decorated them with green and blue cake frosting and then rolled the edges in some purple sugar sprinkles.  I frosted one cupcake light blue for the face, added 2 upside down chocolate chips for the eyes and the nose and "feathers" are all mini M&M's. 

~ Pelican Toasties ~

Our Pelican's turned out looking more like Pac-Man, but my children loved them!  Next time I just need to make sure to purchase a loaf of french bread that is flat on the bottom, and not so rounded.

~ Phoenix-Tail Shrimp ~

I took the easy way out on this one, skipping the recipe and just purchasing a shrimp cocktail platter.  Personally I don't like shrimp (actually my face swells when I eat it) but my husband and children (particularly Captain who ate way too many) loved it!

~ The Dove ~

I did have a little bowl of Dove Truffles setting out, which I purchased just before Easter, but we are saving them for Sunday.  We also had our Pentecost Windsock hanging above the table for decoration!  

Our Sixth Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Oh! What a Beautiful City!

Yesterday afternoon, after Mass, we had our sixth Good Shepherd's Garden Party! While the girls and I were busy making the Chocolate Covered Strawberries and other goodies, Hubby fired up our grill and made hamburgers for the first time this year!   It was a nice and relaxing (with Handel playing in the background!) end to a very busy week!

I did end up making a few changes to our plans, but it all came together very nicely and was enjoyed by everyone.

~ The City Gates ~

To keep things simple, and because they worked so perfectly during week 1, we ended up making Charlotte's Graham Cracker Gates.  (I plan on letting my children have the rest of the pretzels and cheese cubes for a snack sometime this week.)   This time we used cinnamon graham crackers and the kids loved them even more. 

~ The Temple ~

These were so much fun and the children LOVED the umbrellas and cherries!  

~ The Thrones ~

After weeks of trying to come up with a menu item that would work for "the thrones," I finally came up with something!!! Can you tell that I was excited!  ;-)   Didn't they turn out cute?

We used Nature's Path Organic Toaster Pastries, Frosted Wildberry Acai, cut them not quite in half, and then stuck the taller side on the top end of the shorter side using a little of the leftover melted almond bark from the Strawberries.  We then cut pirouette cookies, also attaching them with almond bark, for the arms and legs of the throne.  

~ The Bride & The Groom ~

The Bride & Groom Strawberries were very yummy and the perfect size for sitting on the throne.  Hubby and I especially loved hearing all the little things that the "Brides & Grooms" were "saying" to each other! lol! 

We also decorated the table with our Wedding Candle.  My friend Dee Dee mentioned planning on decorating for their Garden Party with her own wedding decorations and I loved the idea!

~ The Crown ~ 

We've had so much cake lately, and I plan to make another for Penecost, so these Peanut Butter and Jelly Crown Shaped Sandwiches were super easy to make using the cookie cutter that Twinkle Toes received in her Easter basket!

~ A Couple More Pictures ~

Our little Rose was having so much fun sitting up in her bouncy seat and trying to grab the corner of the table cloth.  It won't be too much longer before she will be joining us for meals (not that she isn't usually sitting in my lap most of the time anyways).  I can't believe that she is 5 months old already. . . We are enjoying every minute with her, and they are all flying by way too fast! 

Please head over to Catholic Cuisine to see the pictures from everyone else's Good Shepherd's Garden Parties, or to share pictures from you own.

I hope you enjoy this last week of the Easter season!