Today is my birthday, which means that last night was my annual birthday dinner. I had a few friends over, and there was much good food and ample tasty wine flowing freely. I'm definitely getting to be an old lady, but it's nice to share the passage of time with a kick-ass group of people. As always, I feel compelled to mention that I couldn't have pulled this off without Lisa's help on Saturday... We ate out on the porch, which is thankfully covered since it was a drizzly evening...
We started with a trio of appetizers: Vodka-spiked Cherry Tomatoes, Fava Bean Crostini, and Salmon Rillettes. We used some baby heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joe's for the Vodka-spiked Cherry Tomatoes, and they turned out really cool-looking.
For the soup course, we went with a Creamy Asparagus Soup with Lemon Dumplings,
The soup features wontons filled with a concentrated lemon liquid that explodes in your mouth when you bite into it. Always a fun surprise for first-time tasters...
The salad was one that my Santa Barbara friends have had many times before: Warm Peach and Prosciutto Salad. I have a hard time thinking of any other salad to make when peaches are in season. I love the balsamic and thyme combined with the peaches, spicy arugula, and beautiful prosciutto... Mmmm...
The main course was Bouchon's Sautéed Atlantic Salmon with Leeks and Beurre Blanc. (Picture jacked from my other post about this recipe, since we were in the weeds and had no time for frivolous things like picture-taking...)
And, finally, dessert was a Donna Hay Frozen Tiramisu.
It's been a really nice birthday weekend. I took a vacation day on Friday so that I could enjoy the cooking at a leisurely pace rather than trying to cram in all of the grocery-shopping and prep after work. It was great getting to catch up with friends, some of whom I don't get to see nearly often enough. With the whole three-spinal-surgeries-in-9-months thing (a process that actually started the day before my birthday dinner last year), this past year is not likely to be one that I look back on fondly, but I'm optimistic moving forward into the year to come...
We started with a trio of appetizers: Vodka-spiked Cherry Tomatoes, Fava Bean Crostini, and Salmon Rillettes. We used some baby heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joe's for the Vodka-spiked Cherry Tomatoes, and they turned out really cool-looking.
For the soup course, we went with a Creamy Asparagus Soup with Lemon Dumplings,
The soup features wontons filled with a concentrated lemon liquid that explodes in your mouth when you bite into it. Always a fun surprise for first-time tasters...
The salad was one that my Santa Barbara friends have had many times before: Warm Peach and Prosciutto Salad. I have a hard time thinking of any other salad to make when peaches are in season. I love the balsamic and thyme combined with the peaches, spicy arugula, and beautiful prosciutto... Mmmm...
The main course was Bouchon's Sautéed Atlantic Salmon with Leeks and Beurre Blanc. (Picture jacked from my other post about this recipe, since we were in the weeds and had no time for frivolous things like picture-taking...)
And, finally, dessert was a Donna Hay Frozen Tiramisu.
It's been a really nice birthday weekend. I took a vacation day on Friday so that I could enjoy the cooking at a leisurely pace rather than trying to cram in all of the grocery-shopping and prep after work. It was great getting to catch up with friends, some of whom I don't get to see nearly often enough. With the whole three-spinal-surgeries-in-9-months thing (a process that actually started the day before my birthday dinner last year), this past year is not likely to be one that I look back on fondly, but I'm optimistic moving forward into the year to come...
1 comment:
happy birthday late! Arrgh, I am so bad with birthdays this year. Your dinner looked delightful!
love ya, maggie
Post a Comment