a happy night

My beloved turned 30 yesterday. I was hoping to do something special for him, but considering the fact that our house is in major renovation mode, it would have been impossible to do anything here. After giving it a lot of thought, I asked some of our sweet friends what they thought about the idea of hosting a surprise party at their house in my husband's honor. They readily agreed. Thus, the secret party planning madness began.

The evites went out (Side note: evite.com is a FABULOUS way to send invitations! It's a great and trustworthy program on-line that makes RSVP easy, lets you know who has even viewed the invite as well as saves lots on postage. Check it out! ), the plans started coming together. His parents drove six hours to share the special night as well as his brother, which made it really special. I planned the menu, cooked nine pounds of spaghetti, enough sauce to fill a small swimming pool and enough salad to feed both teams competing in the Super Bowl. I crossed my fingers that no one would slip the secret and baked 4 Midnight Bliss Chocolate Cakes with chocolate glaze, 1 cheesecake with lemon curd as well as 48 cupcakes (recipes below).

After scheming and planning, I was able to deliver my Beloved to the specified location at the specified time. Once he heard "SURPRISE!" he removed his blindfold (which he was not happy about wearing by the way, but I kind of enjoyed his agony ;). He had no idea and was completely shocked by the amount of people that came to share his night. For fun, I threw in an 80's theme. The ratted hair, the bad denim wash and the neon colors just added to the fun (J and I changed upon arriving).

As he and I talked about it on the way home, we were blown away by the people that love us and those at the party were just a sample of that. Although we don't live near family, we have friends that have become family to us. They support, challenge and pray for us as we raise our kids, walk through marriage and just live life. They have served as a concrete reminder that although something may be absent (in our case, family that lives nearby), God will never let His people lack that which they really need.

'And my God will supply every need of yours

according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.

Amen.'

Philippians 4:19,20

'A friend loves at all times

and a brother is born in adversity.'

Proverbs 17:17

"No longer do I call you servants, 

for the servant does not know what the master is doing; 

but I have called you friends,

for all that I have heard from my Father, 

I have made known to you."

~Jesus Christ

John 15:15

Here are the recipes for the yummy treats! 

Baker's Midnight Bliss Chocolate Cake

4 eggs

1 pkg.  (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix, any kind

1 container (8 oz.) BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

1 pkg.  (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

1/2 cup MAXWELL HOUSE INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ, any café flavor (you can use any brand/flavor coffee. I use International Cafe Suisse Mocha caffeine free and sugar free) 

1/2 cup  oil

1/2 cup water

1 pkg.  (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped (I omit this and use the chocolate glaze on top instead) 

2 Tbsp. powdered sugar (Again, I omit this and use the glaze on top) 

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan; set aside.

BEAT all ingredients except chopped chocolate and powdered sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, stopping frequently to scrape side of bowl. Beat on medium speed 2 min. or until well blended. Stir in chopped chocolate. Spoon into prepared pan.

BAKE 50 min. to 1 hour or until wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 min. Loosen cake from side of pan with metal spatula or knife. Invert cake onto wire rack; gently remove pan. Cool cake completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Satin Chocolate Glaze

from allrecipes.com
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I don't care for semi-sweet so I use milk chocolate--yummy!) 

• 3 tablespoons butter 
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• *I also use a dash of milk. I found it to be clumpy without it. You can add it right away or wait until the end and add until desired consistency

Due to other responsibilities I have waiting for me, I will post  the other recipes as well as pictures of the party at a later time. 

Hugs and blessings to you all!

<><tce

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