Happy Birthday Party!

It seems a bit self-serving to wish myself a “Happy Birthday” on my own blog, so I won’t. But, I do want to wish Sandy, Paula and Scott a “Happy May Birthday.” We got together today to have our May Birthday celebration. My dad and Lynn came by for a while to help us celebrate, and we invited Tammy and Tom to join us even though they don’t have a May birthday in the family. Tammy’s birthday is in June, so we decided to count them in. Scott was running the Bay to Breakers up in San Francisco (Go Scott!), so we missed Scott and family today.

We had a hot day for our birthday party, but we didn’t let that stop us from having a good time. Having the pool to jump into when the temperate became too sweltering helped to keep us cool. The boys only left the pool to eat dinner, and I swear they were done eating in less than 5 minutes.

With the weather so hot, I knew we were going to need a refreshing beverage to start the day, and wine just seemed too heavy. Do you have the June issue of Bon Appétit? If you don’t, do yourself a favor, and pick it up next time you’re out. It has some amazing recipes and summer party ideas. I have a few of the recipes marked for my summer entertaining. I started with Rose Sangria with Pineapple and Guava, and I am happy I did. This sangria was the perfect beverage for the birthday party. The food for the party was great too, but I will have to blog about the food later this week.

Sangria with Pineapple and Guava
Adapted from Bon Appétit
1 750ml bottle rose (I used a Malbec Rose from Argentina)
24 ounces pineapple juice
24 ounces guava nectar
4 cinnamon sticks
2 cups cubed fresh pineapple
2 oranges, sliced separated

Mix the rose, pineapple juice, guava nectar in a large pitcher. Add the cinnamon sticks, fresh pineapple and the slices from one orange. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours or overnight. Slice the second orange and cut the slices in half to garnish the glasses. Garnish the glasses and pour the sangria into the glasses. Makes 12 drinks.