Man’s Day/Night Out

What kind of a gift would a man really enjoy receiving? I figure time out for just doing guy things. So that’s what I gave my husband and a bunch of his buddies on Saturday—golf in the morning and poker that night in honor of my husband’s birthday which is actually today.

After stealthy covert ops for the last couple of weeks, I actually managed to surprise him with all this. Surreptitious planning is hard to do when the honoree lives with you.

Surprise Golf Outing

Getting my husband to the golf course without his knowing where we were going was fairly easy with a bit of convoluted subterfuge on my part. Hiding the golf clubs and goodie bags were more problematic, but I managed.


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The invitation sent out along with directions to the golf course attached on the back with a golf tee.


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Each player’s goodie bag (seen in the photo held by my husband): a homemade blueberry muffin (I was baking at 5 a.m.), carton of Goldfish crackers, and the following....


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… a golf ball sleeve made out of cardstock using an idea from Vale Designs. I used her template to trace out the boxes on heavy-weight cardstock. Coolers with ice and bottled water were loaded on the carts (with the golf club’s permission)—survival tools for Arizona’s heat. After their game, Jim (one of my husband's golf buddies) kindly treated the group to lunch which bought me some more prep time for the poker event.

Surprise Poker Night


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The front and back of the poker party invitation I made using cardstock and then laminating. The end result looks like a real playing card, just oversized (each is 4½-by-6½ inches).


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Cardstock sleeves held the invitation. On the outside is a poker chip label I made identifying the guest.

My oblivious husband played on his computer upstairs while I started “his” dinner: grilled rib-eye steaks, baked potatoes, giant Portobello mushrooms with onions, salad, and lobsters. The guys showed up promptly at 6—surprise! Let’s eat.


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I had the guys eat outside by the pool, so I could get the poker stuff ready. Until they came inside, my husband still didn’t know about the poker game. Here’s my recipe for the Portobello mushrooms, I just made it up on the fly, so to speak:

Portobello Mushrooms and Onions

Pre-heat oven to 350°

• 6 whole Portobello mushrooms, rinsed and gently patted dry with a towel.
• 1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin
• 6 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
• Olive oil
• 1 minced garlic

In a sauté pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the sliced onions, and the garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent and just about to get golden brown in color.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush the foil with olive oil and then do the same with each side of the mushrooms. Place the mushrooms gill-side up on the baking sheet.

Top each mushroom with the onion mixture. Bake at 350° for approximately 20 minutes.


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The cake I made while everyone was on the golf course in the morning came out of hiding after dinner before I escaped for the evening. It was meant to look like two stacked poker chips but merely looked strange. Ah well, it was delicious. The filling between the two layers is a mixture of blueberries (my husband’s favorite) and whipped cream.


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Guys don’t care about things like take-home favor bags, but my final offering was left by the front door for each of them when leaving at the end of the night. I used glassine bags with a card thank-you label I made, and sealed with a paper poker chip personalized with each player’s name.


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Inside is a laminated cheat sheet made using a free printable poker hand rankings from here and a dice poker game bought at the game store at Park Mall.

It’s amazing that all the guys involved, their wives, and I managed to keep all the preparations and arrangements secret from my husband. My husband was thrilled with his day and that’s what it’s all about.