Unbelievable...We Had Another Party!

This is too much fun...we had another party last night!  Well, OK, small party.  At Christmas, some of the neighbours wanted to know how to make dumplings, so Janet said she would show them how.  That was the purpose of her party.

In order to get a jump on things, Janet decided to make the dessert on Thursday night.  She clearly wasn't channeling Betty Crocker as this is what her crater cake dish looked like:

Wow!  Was she angry!  It's supposed to be Sticky Toffee Pudding, using a recipe she got from our Aunt T.  Janet has made this recipe many times with nothing but success.  We didn't want to see her cry, so we left the kitchen.

Janet made the fillings for the dumplings and had everything ready for our friends to try to fold them.  Janet was very nervous about having this little get together as everyone has been raving for years about how delicious her dumplings are.....she says the truth of the matter is they don't know how simple they are to make.

So....we had Thai Shrimp Dumplings with Coconut Basil Sauce from Hugh Carpenter.

This is Wendy and David.  Wendy lives across the street and has a really pretty yard.  Why are they relaxing and not making dumplings?

Now we remember why David is relaxing.  Janet didn't think anyone could do a worse more creative job folding Gyoza than Phil, but David proved her wrong.

Here is Mark from next door and Jack from down the street.  Do you think Jack had too much to drink?   He's  all blurry! 

In total, they had:  Vegetable Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce (above), the Thai Dumplings, Gyoza and rice, Chawan Mushi and a remade Sticky Toffee Pudding that didn't crater!

Well...how about us doggies?  It was really nice and warm here today so Janet took us for a big walk.  When we get home, what does my already tired brother do?  He goes to par-bake himself in the hot sun!  What's up with that?  See Janet's hand petting Rockers' head?  Both Rockers and I always put our paw over her arm when she is petting us.  Totally adorable?  You bet!  At any rate, she falls for it!