Orange Harvest Party

My dear friend Mary can throw a party. The type of party that has you scratching your head in disbelief. She is incredibly creative and talented, and i am so thankful that we finally live on the same coast again so that I can reap the benefits of her creativity.

Two weeks ago, she invited us to her house to help harvest their orange tree. You won't believe what we found when we got there.

Hand crafted bags hanging from a hook in the tree inviting us to fill a bag and take it home.

Mary made the bags from burlap and they were lined with vintage fabric from her grandmother. They were charming and Karen Ray has now appropriated the bag for her own use.

The tree was the perfect height for picking, and you could do it by hand or with a picker that Mary provided.

Some people got a little carried away with the picker... not to name names, TIM!

There was a bounty of food and every item had a hint of orange flavor or was orange in color. The menu was tacked to the umbrella out on the patio. Some ideas are so simple and yet have such a large impact. The menu included:

Victor's homemade hummus with pita chips.

Avocado Orange Salsa with Tortilla Chips.
This was my personal favorite, and I will share the recipe tomorrow.

Marinated Orange Olives

White Sangria with Oranges and Mango

Orange and Fennel Salad

3 types of skewers:
Beef with Orange and Garlic, Honey Orange Garlic Chicken, and Ginger Chili Citrus Shrimp.

And then there was dessert. Homemade gelato in two flavors! This is the Orange Rosemary.

Which was served with a dark chocolate and orange marble cake.

and this is the Orange Mango Gelato.

The kids played in the back yard.

And had quite the feast of their own!

There were crafts to make.

And quite possibly the biggest, most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen!

And the adults? 

Well, lets just say the party brought out the child in all of us!