August 16, 2009

White Dog used her allowance to buy global warming and crazy color socks for Steve for his birthday...he loved them! She wakened us at 6am to say "Happy Birthday" so we opened gifts and cuddled on the bed and made a few treat trades.

Gregg came over midmorning to get slabs and slabs of ribs slow cooking on the grill and White Dog assumed her grill master role of watching and sniffing from the deck. Since it was a special day she also babysat Dragon--actually playing chase with him until he was tired and napped, out of the way of preparations.

Rita and Buster arrived at 1 with black bean and mango dip, followed by Jesse with guacamole. White Dog and I made gazpacho the night before as well as shrimp, mango, avocado salad with lime. Gordon had an event conflict but he stopped by to drop off a whole turkey that he smoked overnight! Richard's calabacitas were creamy and spicy.

Sangria flowed, music floated on the air, the dogs rested in the shade munching from their own plates. White Dog helped Gregg and played hostess. She truly deserved Candace's dessert (in lieu of a traditional cake): Basil ice cream topping blueberries (Steve's favorite) in an almond/date crust...I am not sure whether the birthday boy or White Dog enjoyed it more! Best of all after everyone left, a few ribs remained--too few to save. So Steve and White Dog had a post party snack.