Sunday, May 17, 2009

Surprising times

Today is Mrs G's birthday. She's been telling me for years that she wants a surprise party but if you keep asking for it, how can it be a surprise? Anyhow - this year she hadn't mentioned it - in particular this past week I've been putting in some serious mileage and not having too much sleep whilst she was out of town for a few days for a wedding.

Wednesday night found me frantically baking (using the yeast from the previous post) - knot rolls with fried onion and plain rolls with lemon zest and rosemary. Thursday night I made sinfully rich, calorie laden brownies. I picked up beer and wine, chips and salsa and salad ingredients which were carefully stashed behind other things until they were needed.

Invites went round on facebook. Everyone volunteered to bring something.

Here's the kicker - the surprise took place in our little apartment, with all set up and people arriving whilst Mrs G was in the apartment having her Shabbat nap. So much could have gone wrong - she could have noticed extra food around the place or woken up early but I figured that I was due a little luck given the hard work that I'd put in and so it came to pass that at 18:00 there were somewhere around 30 people quietly waiting in the apartment, table laden with food whilst I went in to waken my sleeping beauty.

The look on her face was priceless as she walked out and suffice to say that she was speechless (anyone who knows her will understand just how surprised she must have been). It was a really lovely celebration.

We have an amazing bunch of friends here and we'll be sad to leave you behind but look forward to spending future smachot ba'Aretz with you.

I have an amazing wife.

Gilly


1 comment:

rutimizrachi said...

And she, an amazing husband. I am so proud of you. And I need some of those clever recipes -- without reliance on the "name brand ingredients, of course -- as Mister Mizrachi has been chalashing for a surprise party for some decades as well. (Isn't it interesting that the people who would loathe surprise parties are the ones called upon to make them?)

Yasher koach!