The Roses Were A Hit!

Today was the SAMmy's (Strength Among Moms) Valentine's party. Our SAMmy's small groups take turns with these "special" party dates, and this Valentine's party was my group's responsibility...I have A GREAT GROUP!!!!

My friend Jocelyn and I worked together on a few things. We made these Mocha Latte's (recipe here*):
*If you actually link to the recipe, you will see that the parfaits in the recipe do not look like our latte's. Ours did not have enough time in the fridge to set, and we did not whip cream for our topping. Therefore, we stuck a coffee stir straw in each, and dubbed them not PARFAITS, but merely LATTE'S. (Clever, huh?) The motto of the morning was "That's the way it was SUPPOSED to be!" Every time something wasn't quite right, we chanted our motto...we're a laid back, happy group! So, if you try the recipe, and it isn't quite right...remember the motto!

By "we", I mean "Jocelyn" of course. I intended for it to be "we." I bought the ingredients and invited Jocelyn over yesterday to do the cooking and making of the roses in the picture below. While we were working away, and about to dip those glasses in chocolate and jimmies, my daughter called from school to tell me that she needed to go to a friend's house to practice a dance that they were presenting in gym class today (nothing like last minute planning...she gets that from me!). I asked where her friend lived and who was taking her there...her friend lived about 20 miles away...and her 16 year old sister was driving them...and it was snowing. No way! So, I had to leave Jocelyn to do the work while I drove a group of girls in the snow to a friend's house. But, Jocelyn was a good sport! (Then, I took a wrong turn on the way back and ended up in a different town...not exactly an unusual thing to happen to me...)

Anyhow, before all that drama, we made these AMAZING (if we do say so ourselves) chocolate covered strawberry rose bouquets - 4 dozen of them! They were our door prizes for our 4 tables. Here we are, this morning, patting ourselves on the back...thumbs up, Jocelyn! Way to go, partner!: The whole event was well attended and everyone had a great time - we did the Caged Heart craft, and made Valentines for our kids out of band-aids (the big kind) and paint pens. (What kid doesn't like to cover themselves in band-aids? Even if they don't have a boo boo!) We served pita bread sandwiches, salad, an olive bar and cold veggies and dip, pita chips with salsa and Stephanie's guacamole, Valentine cookies made by Jen and of course our mocha lattes. And, Megan made amazing punch. Beth even made pitchers of cucumber water and lemon water for those of us who wanted a refreshing drink. Yummy!

Well, I promised Jocelyn I'd put this picture up of us...because we were really proud of our bouquets. They were lovely. I wish I would have taken pictures of the bouquets themselves before people arrived. Oh, well...