Happy Birthday to ME - Friday night

Dinner was a success, I think. I had hinted at dinner Thursday night that Gary was buying me a Margaritaville Machine for my birthday, and would probably get it early for our dinner Friday night. Yeah, right, like I thought he would do it. Well, he did. Unfortunately, I think it was going to be a surprise, but I found it by the trash can in the garage about 30 minutes before the dinner guests were supposed to arrive. I had no "fixins" for the machine...... but I did have all the booze.
After everyone got here, I sent Gary to the store for Margarita Mix, limes, and ice. Mark took over grilling duties while he was gone, and Dad nibbled.... make that chewed, Randy's ear off talking. Gary got back, and we had already started eating shrimp. By the way, Mark did a great job grilling them. He called dibs on all the ones he dropped getting them to the platter, but I personally think it was on purpose. No one can be that clumsy........

After that, we had our wedge salads, and I mixed up some ritas. The recipe that comes with the book is the best I've ever had. I will NOT share it... if you want to know, then you'll just have to guess, cause I'm never giving it away. You can either guess when you taste one, or buy a machine and get the recipe. However, the texture is perfect for a frozen margarita. Now I'm going to learn how to make a Mocha Frappachino in it.

Dad went and started playing on his pc, while the other guys grilled the beef. I gave cooking demos on grilled okra, and made the taters and bread. We all sat down to frozen ritas, wine, beer, and the rest of the menu. Oink... Oink....Oink.
That jerk Gary had everyone sing happy birthday to me, cause he said I wasn't getting anything else for my b-day, which is Oct 13, by the way. I'm hoping that it's far enough away that he'll hae a senior moment and forget the machine and buy me something else.

We topped off the evening by playing pass the ace. Wanda won the first round, and her prize was a wine-a-rita mix kit. I bought it in Plano at the Toast of Texas shop..... it has 'ingredients' in it that are mixed with wine and ice, and it makes a frozen drink. Gosh, I should have tried my new maching out on it for her. Gary won the last round of cards, and his prize was nothing except a dirty kitchen. Oh well, so much for luck.

That was it. I got up early to blog (it's now 6:30am)... JUST KIDDING.... I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get started on this. I'm playing in a golf tournament, and Sheila and Gary T will be there. I couldn't sleep, so I've been up since around 4:30. I'll publish the blog after the tournament so I can post the results. Later........
We made a batch of ritas, and the recipe is the best I've ever had. I am sooooo happy with my new machine. Oh yeah, Mark liked it a lot!