New Years Eve 2013

Another New Years Eve, another party. A few pics:

A tasty spread.

I was going to dress down this time, but Carrie’s fancy black dress forced me to re-attire.

The highlight of the night was a co-ed putting contest …

that Reese (shown here with her partner Tom) starred in …

and Mommy and Norman won.

The Cheuks.

The Joffes, sans Aaron.

Jeffrey, Jeff, Colleen and Lilly — new friends from Chicago.

Happy New Year!

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Tomato Club III Or THAT’S What It’s Like With Forty-Seven People in the House

Last night the Jenkins fam hosted Tomato Club III. It was the third meeting of the group and the first in almost exactly a year.

Tomato Club food never disappoints.

The theme was “Diner Dinner.”

It was a very crowded diner. And one with very good food.

In total forty-seven people made it to the gathering. Twenty-four adults, twenty-three kids. Perhaps a few too many for our humble home.

A few more pics:

Finn and Sam Fessler. Trouble squared.

Ollie — ever the optimist.

Four of the gals. Much better behaved than the fellas.

Fessler’s Monte Christos were a big hit.

Us.

So full was the house that the kids spilled in to the master bedroom.

Bridgette, Spencer and Chris White made their second Tomato Club.

and new ones.

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Finn’s Fourth Birthday

Today was Finn’s fourth birthday and we celebrated it with many of his — and our — closest friends. The theme was “Penguins,” and there were a lot of them. Not real ones, of course.

A few pics:

Mom, Dad and the birthday boy.

Mike Miksis making snow cones for the Miksis clan.

The spin art machine (manned here by Ellen) proved to be the hit of the party.

I have a feeling this ended up quite messy.

The Joffes.

Penguins …

penguins …

everywhere the penguins.

Liz manning the frog hopper.

Reese and Sophia.

Like I said, the spin art was the hit of the party.

A very big penguin cake.

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On the Tomato Club’s Return

Last night, after a month of collecting theme ideas and help from my buddies Todd Johnston and Peter Fessler, I finalized theme ideas for Tomato Club, part deaux. For those seven billion of you who don’t read this blog or socialize with the Jenkins fam regularly, Tomato Club was an idea I came up with a few years ago — basically a quarterly party with randomly-drawn themes. The first two Tomato Clubs, “From Your Childhood” and “Julie & Julia,” went quite well. I put it on ice for undisclosed reasons, but it’s back by popular demand.

But not without the original rules. Which are:

Tomato Clubs should be held every 3-4 months. The concept: everyone brings a dish and/or drinks based on the drawn theme. The host/hostess also provide a tomato-based dish (e.g., stuffed tomatoes, etc.)

Would-be hosts draw their theme. If they don’t like it they can return it to the pot — I’d like to find a plastic tomato — for a $5 fee. If they don’t like their second pick they can return it for a $10 fee. The third pick is it, like it or not.

There’s no crime in buying your dish pre-made so long as it’s consistent with the theme

And that’s it.

Oh, and those themes:

Pop Culture

“Big Night.” Food from the 1996 Stanley Tucci movie

“Gone with the Wind.” You’ve probably heard of this flic.

“Seinfeld.” If there’s no “big salad,” there’s a problem. Oh, and the soup …

“The Sopranos.”

“Julie & Julia.” DONE.

“Ratatouille.” Dishes inspired by the hit movie

“The Titanic.”

“And the winner is …” Food/recipes inspired by Oscar-winning films

When You Have No Time to Spare, Make a Martha Stewart Meal. She has a few recipes, doesn’t she?

It’s Oprah’s World, We Just Live in It. Recipes from “O” Magazine

“Mad Men.” Food inspired by Don Draper and his pals

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” Food from the movie or book

“Eat, Pray, Love.” Food from Italy, India and Indonesia (all three if possible; host should balance out)

Geography

Chi-town. Food that reminds you of the Second City

New York, New York

Locals Only. Favorite dishes from your favorite local restaurant

Paula Dean & 42lbs. Of Butter. Southern fare

He Just Smiled and Gave Me a Vegemite Sandwich. Food from the Land Down Under

Blame Canada! Blame Canada!. Dishes from our northern neighbors.

Behind The Iron Food Curtain. Dishes from Eastern Europe/Russia

The United Kingdom of Boiling. Irish, Scottish or English (choose your country)

Viva la French Food!

Don’t Be Such A Sauerkraut. German dishes

Tiny Bubbles. Hawaiian fare

If It Don’t Have Curry, It Ain’t Indian Food

Hey, Pal. Food from New England

Island Hopping. Food from your favorite island destination

Waiter, There’s a Lutefisk In My Soup. Scandanavian Food

Don’t Cry for Me, South America

Pho Dat!. Southeast Asian Food

World Cup Celebration. Draw a country’s name from a hat and make a dish

Thai Me Up!

“Lost in Translation.” Japanese food

Greek God/Goddess. Take a guess …

Southwest Siesta. Tex Mex

Period Stuff

Wartime Grub. 1940s dishes on a limited budget

1950’s TV Dinner. Re-imagining 1950s-era TV dinners

In A Gadda Da Fooda. Dishes from the 1960s

Dazed & Confood (or Key Party Without the Keys). Food from the 1970′s

Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Food! 1980s dishes

You Can’t Make Me Eat It! Food from your childhood DONE

Manifest Destiny. Covered wagon train-type meals

History

American Revolution. Original American Dishes

Fort Sumptuous. Civil War Era food

Mutton, It’s What’s For Dinner. Victoria-Era England food

Henry XII. Food from Tudor times

Holidays & Special Events

Kentucky Derby. Mint juleps are just the beginning

So What If It’s November, Let’s Celebrate Cinco de Mayo!

Venice, Carnival

Mardi Gras/New Orleans

Day of the Dead. Oaxaca, Mexico (interior Mexican food is different than traditional Mexican food.)

The Eclectics

Diggin’ Deep. Make a dish from only items currently in your fridge and pantry.

Last Meals. Gotta be more than just Molly Moon ice cream

Bomb Shelter. Meals made from cans only. Hey, it’s a challenge. (Example: dessert could be a Twinkie)

College Daze. Spend less than $10 making your dish/meal.

Fifty Shades of ___ (pick the food)

Black and white. Food that’s either (a) actually black and/or white, or (b) has the phrase “black and white” in the recipe

State Fair. Takes on stuff from the fair

Anne Rice Vampire Books/New Orleans. Select a dish from one of 3 restaurants–Bayona, Commander’s Palace, NOLA (Emeril Lagasse)

Others

Pick Your Diet. Atkins, p90x – whatever flattens your stomach. There’s about eight of these in the hat.

You Pick It. Make up your own theme. There are about eight of these in the tomato.

Vegetarian. It’s not as bad as you think …

Breakfast For Dinner

Bars Closed, Now What? Your favorite late night, post-party grub

Diner Dinner

School Cafeteria. Take classic school food and re-imagine it

Burgertime!

Garden Fresh/Healthy Fare

Surf and Turf

Ethnic Night. Bring a dish that reflects your ethnicity

The Dishes of ___. Pick a famous chef.

Ole! Tapas!

Ballpark Night. Your spin on stadium fare

Campground Classics. Re-imagining campground favorites

BBQ or Death

Those oughta take us into our nineties …

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Reese’s Fifth Birthday

Credit to Ronnie 100%.

Yesterday the family Jenkins and twelve of Reese’s closest friends celebrated her fifth birthday.  The theme was “ballerina”: all the girls dressed up in pink tutus and Rhonda hired a ballet teacher to come in and teach them a few basics.

Thanks as always to Ronnie, good times were had by all.   Unfortunately I did not do a particularly good job as cameraman: lots of shots of the girls, but of the adults not so many:

A well-instructed party.

Even Ollie got in to the swing of things.

Everyone ate quite well.

Making a wish.

Cutting the very, very tasty cake.

The girls really got into playing golf in the back yard …

and running in the front yard — for no apparent reason.

A little post-party r&r before another big event later that day.

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Our First-Ever Masters Party

I’ve always wanted to host a Masters party.

Yesterday we finally did it. It wasn’t Masters Sunday — today’s Easter — but Masters Saturday proved quite a good time thanks to great company, great food and a great new game called “Pass the Rock: Golf.”

A few pics:

Golf balls in the flowers -- a very nice Ronnie touch.

The food tasted a lot better than it photographed. Ronnie's pimento cheese sandwiches were the talk of the party.

To my surprise Ronnie decorated the kitchen with 5x7's of the Masters field.

Clockwise from me (in my favorite shirt): me, Harald Becker, Peter Fessler, Adam Waalkes, Mike Johnson, Baron Kofoed, Norman Cheuk and Jeff Benezra.

Not quite into the Masters just yet.

After the round Norman, Benezra and I retired to the putting green where I added to my Pass the Rock winnings.

Finn needs some work on his finesse shots, but he's getting there.

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Tea Party 2012

Today Rhonda hosted the third annual Mother-Daughter tea party at casa de Jenkins. (The first two.) Eleven moms, thirteen daughters and a whole lot of fun. Or at least I’m told. Unfortunately Rhonda didn’t take any pics this year — something about the battery being charged — so we’re limited to those taken by the professional photographer (forthcoming) and these, which I took with my iPhone:

One of the tea tables ...

and Finn, who didn't even attend the party but spent his afternoon instead sandwiching the outlet malls between two McDonalds.

Photo not shown: the UHaul van into which we moved two rooms full of furniture to make room for the party. Total cost of said mobile storage unit: I’d prefer to forget, but it was a lot more than if we’d have checked our furniture into a hotel.

UPDATE: Fortunately Maya Dammand brought her Windows phone and snapped some pretty nice pics.

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New Years Eve 2012

Last night we have a few close friends over to celebrate the new year. Missing were Eli and Veronica, who’ve moved on to sunnier pastures in La Jolla. Still we had a great group of friends.

The downside of Eli and Veronica’s absence was that there was no one to keep us going ’til midnight. The host (me) sure didn’t have midnight in him. By 10:30 we were all in bed — the price of being forty-plus.

A few pics:

The host family, Finn protesting.

Carrie's mom Janet joined us from Corvallis.

The next generation.

Unfortunately Finn's look is getting familiar.

What Ollie said ...

In the evening's most memorable moment, Mo LITERALLY laid one on Isabel later that night.

Gettin' ready to call it a night.

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Christmas Day 2011

Christmas Day finally arrived yesterday. Good times were had by all.

We started the day around 9 am with lots of presents. Santa Claus must have gone into debt, because the presents were many:

I’d call it an embarrassment of riches — except we’re not rich.

The kids with, um, Santa.

Finn modeling his best present IMHO.

At least Rhonda was looking at the camera ...

Later that morning the family put together the first-ever Jenkins family jigsaw puzzle:

The Jenkins family puzzle proved to be a big hit.

Later that afternoon the Beckers, Norman and Benezra joined us for a little holiday cheer.

Reese and the Becker girls.

The fellas.

Can't imagine how this conversation went.

Isabel snapped this pic - the camera seemed about as big as the photographer.

Isabel reading one of the new additions to Reese's growing library.

Unfortunately the ever-present picture man wasn’t in high gear this day, so we didn’t snap a lot of pics.

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The Countdown to Christmas Continues

Less than two weeks to Christmas and the festivities continue.

On Saturday the family Jenkins headed to Sand Point Country Club for brunch with Santa Claus.

The fam with Reese's balloon Barbie at SPCC.

On Sunday we joined the Otterlees and about fifty of their closest friends at the Otter Family Christmas shindig. Standing room only there, and unfortunately we didn’t take any good pictures. From there we headed to Jodi Cohen’s for the kids’ first-ever latka party. The kids learned how to spin dreidels, but ditto on the picture thing. From there we returned home whereupon Ronnie, Ollie and the kids finished decorating the family Christmas tree.

Hard work, done.

Notwithstanding the family Christmas tree, on Monday night Reese got own tree:

Not sure why she needs a personal tree, but I’ll pick my battles.

Yesterday Sofia Lippmann joined Tamir and Moe Richardson with Reese and Finn for a little private Christmas party at casa de Jenkins.

Tamir, Sophia and Reese, apparently looking at multiple photographers.

I did not attend but from what I could tell the gifts were really flowing. Reese and Finn received a Lite-Brite for Christmas — you know, that toy with all those little lights. Those’ll do well in the vacuum cleaner. From what I can tell it was part Christmas party part photo shoot — lots more photos are available here.

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