Birthdays and Christmas parties make for busy Saturdays

Some weekends are lazy, some have one event to keep us busy, and others are very popular. This past Saturday was one of those busy weekends. In the early afternoon, we had a birthday party for friends’ two-year old son. Afterwards, we had our traditional Christmas party for a specific circle of good friends.

In the morning, I had to run errands, and prep my entree for dinner that night. Somehow during the initial planning process, the men were drafted to do the primary cooking, while the women were taking care of some other small items. While I do simple cooking for the family, my wife is the expert when it comes to fancy food that guests eat. My dishes are easy, simple, and every-day-type cooking. I was surprised that this was really happening.

Luckily, my wife wasn’t about to let me hang out there to dry. She helped me by picking up the necessary groceries earlier that week, and then directing me that morning in how to make tandoori chicken — skin the chicken, here’s how to make the marinade/paste, etc.

Calum's 2nd Birthday Party

Calum's 2nd Birthday Party

After the food was prepped and in the fridge, we all got ready for both parties, and hit the road. We dropped off the food with our dinner party hosts that evening, Pradeesh and Sona, and went to the birthday party. The party was very nice, and the kids had their faces painted. It was also good to converse and hang out with friends we haven’t seen in person for a long while.

In the evening, we went to pick up some champagne and other items, and went to the dinner party. All of the men’s food came out great, but so did everyone’s. My tandoori chicken was a big hit, and was finished in about 10 minutes. Nobody could believe that this was my first time making tandoori chicken, but I explained that I had a lot of help.

My Tandoori chicken

My Tandoori chicken

The highlight of the dinner party was the Secret Santa Gift exchange. This year, Vijay handed over the mantle of “Christmas Santa”, and Pradeesh was now “Christmas Pappa.” All that actually entails is setting up the participants in Elfster, and ensuring that everyone gets matched up appropriately. Interestingly enough, Nums was my secret santa, and got me a classy black winter coat and a nice dressy sweater to match. I’ve been waiting to get a nice coat for work, so this was great.

Great party, and we got home around 1am. Phew, it was a long day. I didn’t take too many photos, so the ones published online are courtesy of Master Photographer Sunil.

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