Thank you guys so much for all the sweet comments earlier!! Yall are the best 
No yoga happened this afternoon. I was a total bum and just sat on the couch with Ryan all afternoon long. It was so relaxing and lovely since we haven’t been able to spend a whole afternoon together in awhile since I started my job. I had a couple bites of d’lite at some point—
We headed over to my parents house around 5:30 for the “party”. I was greeted with a delicious homemade lemon drop martini (wooheeeeee these things are good and STRONG!) and some cheese and crackers (I only had one though—wasn’t that hungry yet):
We had a delicious meal of apricot and olive beef over jasmine rice (strange combo but works really really really well!) as well as Margaret’s homemade caesar salad. Her sister in law grew the tomatoes in her back yard!
And then for dessert we had ice cream sundaes!!!!!!!!!!!
My mom and aunt went and picked up a big tub of coconut d’lite earlier and then she layered it with caramel sauce, chocolate sauce and toasted almonds. It.was.amazing. And sorta healthy?! I ended up licking the caramel out of everyone’s glass bottoms:
And I got presents!
A collection of specialty spices from a small shop in Wisconsin—
HOMEMADE vanilla extract made by a friend of Margaret’s. It took a YEAR to make the extract! How crazy is that?!
As well as an awesome new cookbook, picture frame and biscotti cookies. Yay! Here’s the whole group toasting at dinner—
So throughout the evening I had my lemon drop, half of Ryan’s lemon drop and a glass of wine. Yep—I’m through. Night night time Jenna. It’s been a great day though and tomorrow I’m getting up and hitting a 9:00 Bikram class to sweat it all out. Love it.
Its night night time over here. See you guys in the morning!
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Gorrrrgeous ice cream sundaes and presents!!! What a fabulous celebration.
Congratulations once again, Jenna!!
Ice cream sundaes! Nice!
All those spices and vanilla are fabulous!
That homemade extract sounds so cool.
Congragulations “Chef Jenna!” : )
I’m from Wisconsin and have that same brand of spices
I would totally be fighting you over the caramel at the bottom of the glasses! YUM!
Aww, what an adorable gift! I just saw one of those shops a couple towns over so I totally want to go explore. Mmm, that vanilla looks AWESOME!
What an awesome party, and it takes one year to make vanilla extract? WHOA!!!!!
Fantastic sundae! And I’m drooling over that homemade vanilla extract … WOW.
Congrats Jenna! Lemon Drop Martinis, yes please! And yeah on the cheese and crackers, I had some delicious manchego tonight myself……I’m curious, what is the new cookbook you got as a gift??? I ordered Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries based on your rec, and got it in the mail the other day and it is an amazing piece of food literature. Thank you! I am a huge fan of Ruth Reichl’s books, as well as Bourdain’s, and, well, I could go on….but I would love to hear some of YOUR other recs! Congrats again, you deserve it!
woohoo
and penzeys spices, so kewl!!
Wow that homemade extract must be a million times better than what is sold in stores!!
Congrats jenna! Yay for the cool gifts! Love the chef hat.
Every looks awesome, and WOW about the vanilla. Enjoy Bikram tomorrow!! I’m doing an Anusara class I think…
Congratulations! You look great in your new hat.
What a fun dinner!
That caramel must have been tasty! I just can’t eat ice cream or cold cereal after other people…something about the milk and the double dipping. But good for you!
I bet you will SAVOR that vanilla! Let us know how it is!
congrats jenna, you earned it!!!!
Jenna, you can order Penzy’s online, they are actually a national chain, we have one here in Richmond, too. The spices are very high quality and are pretty pricey but worth it. My favorite is actually called florida seasoning, it is a citrus pepper!
hey girl! I’m new around here, but I’ve been reading your blog and some of the other blogs for a little while now, and just made one of my own. Congratulations on the graduation!! I am sooo jealous of your bakery job. Best of luck! Oh, and PS, my aunt lives in California and apparently they have a Penzey’s there too. She gave me an herb/spice salad dressing base kit a few years ago for Christmas– that stuff is awesome!
CONGRATS JENNA!!!
Penzey’s spices are absolutely amazing!! ENjoy!
Congrats on graduating! Love your gifts, especially Penzeys!
We have Penzey’s spices in Pittsburgh too… I love the peppermint hot chocolate mix. Mmmmm
The vanilla extract is so cool! How did she make it?
HangryPants,
I really don’t know! I think it involved soaking vanilla beans in vodka for a year though…I don’t know the exact process.
Andrea,
I would KILL to go back. Someday!
In the old days, I ordered Penzey’s from a mail-order catalog! There’s one about an hour from my house now (in Denver)! Yea! Their quality is very high.
It would be so hard to cook for a chef! But it looks like your Mom totally rocked it!
Congrats on graduation! Oh Jenna- you’ll love penseys- you have to get a catalog or check out to see if they are anywhere near you. Their spices are the best and they have a lot of specialty blends that are fun too
I really wish we had a D’Lite here! those sundaes look so good!
You’ll love the Penzey’s spices – they have some really interesting stuff you can’t normally find in stores. I think you can order all of their stuff online now, too.
Congrats again!