Syttende Mai birthday party for Adam

OK, so Adam's birthday is really May 21 but because he loves being Norwegian, we scheduled his celebration for Norway's Constitution Day.

 

Party guests were greeted with rhubarb cordials (ok for kids).

 

The recipe is simple: 2 lbs. of rhubarb cut into 2-inch pieces is brought to a boil in 2 cups of water, then simmered for 30 minutes. With cheesecloth over strainer, the liquid is reserved and the rhubarb remains tossed. In a clean pot, 1 3/4 cup of sugar is added to the rhubarb liquid and brought to a boil, simmered for 10 minutes, then poured into sterile container and  refrigerated.

To serve, combine 1 part rhubarb liquid with 2 parts water.

 Pour into glasses over ice. Lemon slices/mint leaves on the side.

Smorrebrod.
 That's the Norwegian word for open-face sandwiches,

the theme for the party menu.

Inspiration for all sorts of ingredient combinations.

Salmon/cucumber/dill cream cheese/chives.

Chicken salad/lettuce/parsley.

Boiled egg slices/ dill pickle slices/sandwich spread/parsley

Pastrami wrapped around asparagus spears/cucumbers/dill cream chees.

Asparagus/Garden Vegetable spread/radish/cucumber/shrimp.

To be safe, I opened with a double-stacked bacon/lettuce/tomato.
The familiar BLT in miniature form was a hit!
 

Mini-BLT with cocktail pumpernickel bread. Bacon cheddar cheese spread on bread,
lettuce, tomato, bacon---repeat.
 Layers held together with toothpickor flag pick.




Rye bread, mixed green lettuce, fried cod, dill cream cheese, shrimp and lime wedge

 

Chicken salad on rye.

 

Cupcakes decorated with berries were a shortcut from the Norwegian version
of a luxurious white frosted birthday cake decorated with berries.

 Happy birthday, Adam!

Landon is 7!

It was a great day for a backyard birthday party--a lovely free-for-all afternoon under the maple tree shading a circle of chairs for about 35 attendees...parents, grandparents, cousins, school friends, adult friends from church.
 For additional super-cushy seating, some chose the Little House.

 

Landon decided the best place for opening gifts was the hammock!

 

Our Happy Graduate

The graduate may be happy but so are we!

While working as Director of Cost Reduction and Productivity
for United Technologies Corporation, Dave did the work that it took to earn his MBA.
On May 6, 2017, he graduated from Upper Iowa University
 and everyone who could travel to Fayetteville, Iowa that day
 was there for the celebration.
Congratulations, Dave!