Preparations Underway

For the last three years, we've always had a dinner party on the weekend prior to our wedding anniversary, and we've invited everyone who lives in Dallas who made the trek to Italy with us for our wedding.  We call it our rehearsal dinner anniversary party.

We have a rehearsal dinner recreation menu -- pizza and fries, both homemade, and then we have anniversary cake for dessert.  We order a small cake with the same decoration and flavor as the cake we used at our Dallas wedding reception that was about a month after we got back from Greece and Turkey. 

So I started working from home at about 6 a.m. this morning, and expect to be done in a few minutes.  Then it will be a flurry of cleaning, setting the table, cooking, and delegating tasks to hubby.  I think our head count tonight will be 9 or 10, counting us. 

The plan for tonight:

Dirty shirleys, the featured cocktail to start

Spinach artichoke dip (hot)
Baked brie and raspberry tartlets
Cheese -- two kinds to slice and serve (sottocenere w/ truffles, and brillat savarin bloomy affine)
Cannellini bean-garlic dip (cold)
Creamy avocado dip (cold) (Greek yogurt and avocado are the basics)
Salsa (store-bought)
Veggies -- sliced bell peppers and baby carrots
Tortilla chips
Crackers

Then beer and/or wine with homemade whole wheat pizza dough, everyone tops their own, cooked on the grill.  Accompanied by a simple salad (mixed greens, red onion, vinegar and oil), and sweet potato "fries" (cut like fries but baked).

Then for dessert, wedding cake and shots of limoncello!  The cake needs to be picked up from the bakery in less than two hours!

I have a feeling it's going to be a chaotic afternoon...  Will try to take some photos of the finished products to share.