Ian's 30th Birthday Party

It's the post you have all been waiting for...Ian's 30th Birthday Party!

In December, Ian turned 30 (and yes I know exactly how late this post is...someone keeps reminding me). To celebrate the milestone, Ian decided he wanted to invite all our friends over to eat and drink so that's exactly what I did. In the end we had about 45 people hanging out in the condo and it was a blast!

One can't throw a 30th birthday with out lots of food, Dirty Thirty punch with paper straws and, obviously, a S'mores station in the living room! The menu consisted of flat breads, chicken-on-a-stick with dipping sauces, meats, cheeses and Ruby's amazing popcorn served in individual bags.

For the food set up, I moved the dining room table against the wall and covered it with Kraft paper. Once the table was set I wrote, in chalk, what each item was.

Wine crates at the back of table created height and my favorite berry baskets made an appearance, too.

The S'mores station, in the living room, was loads of fun. I put a Sterno in rocks for roasting marsh mellows and melting chocolate.

My favorite thing was the paper straws with birthday flags...

Food and drink aside, it was an awesome night with some really great people!

Happy 30th Birthday, Husband!

In the Kitchen: Homemade Applesauce

There is nothing more "fall" than apple picking; well... maybe scarfs, boots and Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

In the spirit of fall a friend organized an apple picking outing. On Saturday a group of us drove out to Larriland Farm. The farm has several orchards and veggie patches; everything is "pick your own" and priced per pound. Naturally, we picked our fair share! After we picked our own apples and veggies, we  snacked on fresh apple fritters and shopped for pumpkin butter, apple cider and local jams and jellies in the farm run store. 

It was such a fun afternoon! But what to do with all that apple bounty?!

While we were in the store I grabbed a pamphlet packed with different apple recipes; one of which was applesauce. I have never made applesauce and definitely never thought about making it. Ummm, it is so EASY! 

Sugar, Nutmeg and Cinnamon to taste 

All it takes is boiling the apples, letting them simmer for about 20 minutes, run 'em through a food mill and add sugar and spices. Now I know! It's so quick and easy. AND I can control what goes in to the mix.

Because I used 8 large apples there is plenty to go around. I have loads of mason jars in the cabinets; so I split up the applesauce in to different size jars to grab and go for meals on the run.

Homemade Applesauce 

Up next, figuring out what to do with the beets I picked.

Anyone have favorite Fall recipes? Or made something for the first time recently? Beet recipes?

*All images are my own and taken for LifeLoveAtHome