I had a very nice birthday party last night.  Thanks to all who attended.
For whatever reason, I got into my head that it would be a delicious appetizer spread.  Jocelyn and I spent a few hours prepping on Wednesday, then some more hours baking Thursday morning, then finishing on Thursday night.    It was a blast.  I don't plan to make so many apps any time soon.
The menu included:

• Pan Seared Oven Roasted Pork Loin with an onion/soy glaze, sliced thin and served on lettuce leaves with red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and some shredded white onion.
• Basil leaves topped with sardine and a guava reduction
• Turrialba cheese with red bell pepper and basil, drizzled with balsamic reduction, on picks
• Fried Chicken Wings plated on celery leaves
  
• Basil, Oregano, Parsley & Garlic bread topped with a black olive and sour cream tapenade garnished with parsley and red bell pepper
• French bread with same tapenade, etc.
• Whole wheat baguette with same tapenade, etc.
• Turrialba cheese cubes, plated with chopped parsley
• Six fresh-baked loaves, sliced, with olive oil for drizzling
• Carrot stick
• Celery slices/sticks

There may have been something else, I don't recall exactly.
Some friends (Judd and Jacqueline) were nice enough to bring over two whole additional platters of appetizers- including some puff pastry, fried zucchini, ham-wrapped plantains (yum!), and more.

Many brought wine or other libations, one of the standouts is a Costa Rican produced passion-fruit wine that is a "demi-sec" and very interesting.  I'd like to try it ice-cold on a hot afternoon.  I think it would also make for an excellent mimosa-style beverage, or a dessert wine.   But sipping it mostly-cold after eating a lot of spicy/salty food was not the best pairing.

Of course, the people present are what really makes any party, and I always enjoy the company of good friends.  We are very lucky in that regard.

We finished off the evening with some chocolate cupcakes smothered in spicy chocolate frosting.  Yummy!

A nice change from a 'normal' party for us was that we made everything finger-edible, so instead of doing a bunch of dishes and silver, we just threw some napkins in the washing machine, and had glasses and serving plates to clean.  More prepping, but less cleaning.  Prepping is more fun.

Labels: birthday, bread, food, photo, tamarindo