Hen Party, 2012

Hens and Hens:
Robbie, Barbara, Ingrid, Nancy, and Rhonda

HEN PAR-TAY! The last Hen get together was in 2010, and you know, a hen ought not go that long without chatter and a little scratch. So today Hens drove up for a weekend. The Hen of the year is Ingrid, who not only quite recently suffered a suddenly appendicitis attack, but is joining the Peace Corps. She told us she is dutifully learning Spanish and expects to be assigned to a South or Central American country where her years of running and heading up her own successful pest control company will be a valuable asset. Ingrid said she plans to blog during her Peace Corps stint and I for one can't wait to read what she'll be up to.

Ingrid: our Hen of the Year

Ingrid has two beautiful & accomplished daughters, one of whom is currently working for Obama's legal team, and being a student at Georgetown University is a classmate of Sandra Fluke. There! You now know several topics of discussion taking place over the weekend. Actually, am surprised a certain windbag of a talk show host's ears didn't explode after we got through discussing his ugly views.

More Hens, in no particular order.

Hen Robbie

Hen Nancy

Hen Barbara

Hen Rhonda

Some other broad, with orbs floating around her noggin'

We enjoyed seeing what our families are up to in photo presentations on my living room TV screen via a computer hook-up. The hook up allowed seeing everyone's families via on-line photo stashes and flash drive hook ups. The pix fest ended with a look at our Hen Parties through the ages (as saved on this blog actually).

Hens invade my Kitchen

And when the hens got hungry, it was time to chow down on Robbie's breads & fruits, Ingrid's luncheon meats, Rhonda's gourmet sodas and beers & cheeses, Nancy's superlative roasted beet salad, and other hen imported fancy foods - Rose Jam being my pick of the lot - cheese, cheese and more gourmet cheese! Barbara brought eggs from her flock of feathered hens, for all us human Hens to take to their families. She also brought along some goose eggs - which makes this hen's greedy heart sing. Whew! Hope I got everyone in there as to who brought what, but it all boils down to a surfeit of tasty treats for all.

A sampling of why Hens eat like the Queens they are

Late Satuday Afternoon

Ingrid recently celebrated a birthday so Robbie brought her a DELISH chocolate cake. The cake contained no gluten, being composed of almond meal, cocoa and other wholesome ingredients. I asked for an explanation of 'why no gluten?' and found out Robbie's teen daughter and one of Ingrid's daughters have Celiac (SEE-lee-ak) disease. Ms. Uninformed here was floored! Was clueless what the gluten hubbub is all about until now & I must be wearing orthopedic shoes, because I stand corrected!

Ingrid blows out the candle on her birthday cake

Saturday evening was the usual Hen chat fest. Soon someone casually mentioned it was nearly 1 AM, and next thing you know, I was literally ordering the other Hens to roost! First of all, I forgot the clocks had just sprung forward an hour, and well, let's face it, this hen is no Spring chicken and she needs her rest.

Sunday morning the Hen festing began refreshed and renewed. Robbie ran orange after orange through a juicer and added Ingrid's blood oranges so we could enjoy what is now our traditional morning Hen elixer, freshly juiced citrus. I served up a HUGE artichoke, roasted pepper and herbed goat cheese quiche made with my hen's eggs (you know, the kind with feathers).

Breakfast time - cause we were
famished from Saturday's feasting

Hens, in their jammies,  lolling around Sunday morning

The Hens decide to venure into the wilderness that is my backyard

Sunday we managed to find even more stuff to discuss and share with each other. Then we took our group photos in the back yard. I was pleased the Hens assisted me in shifting my chicken coop to a new spot in the yard, as it's been stuck in place for more than a couple of months now. Thanks for help my dears!

See you next year Hens!
Robbie, 'moi', Ingrid Rhonda & Nancy

So our 2012 Hen Party was a great success. I later found out one Hen, Robin of Vacaville would have attended if I hadn't left her off the notification list I sent out prior to the weekend. A Hen tragedy, I can tell you! Will be more careful at our next Hen Party, and hopefully it won't take another year for us to get around to one.