I think my favorite napkin so far is this tight rosebud.
We drew names out of the wine glass above. In the tradition, we kept when I was child it was all luck of the draw! Watching it three days after the race had run gave me the advantage of only putting the top 12 horses in, so everyone had only one name to follow. Although, this did bring some unexpected confusion as the lead horse for quite some time didn't finish in the top 12. So although that horse didn't win for a good portion of the race we were trying to figure out who had the lead name!
Will do it a little differently next year.
I scrambled to find my table decor, but I was pleased with the end result. Although the Derby is not run on turf, the green made for a pretty table. I loved the diamond stained glass in the candle decor, as it reminded me of many of the jockey silks patterns. I ended up raiding the kids toys to find the horses that I set around and threw some rose pedals around for the finishing touch!
Also last minute I gathered some cheap costume hats and spruced them up with ribbons and flowers so everyone had a hat to wear and enjoy the fun. Didn't get a great picture of everyone with their hat on but it was a successful idea. Thanks Mary for your help with these!
Benedictine (cucumber spread) and Hot Brown (signature dish from Brown hotel -open face Turkey sandwich topped with tomato, bacon, cheese and a white sauce) were two new recipes Judy was successful getting together for me.
and course you can't have Derby with out Derby Pie!!
