Good Friends, Good Times

Russell's party was a lot of fun and it was wonderful seeing people I haven't been in contact with in a long while. We have a great group of friends and are fortunate in so many ways. Hopefully after Russell graduates we will be able to socialize again and see our friends on a more regular basis. I don't know how long lived that will be though if we end up moving to Virginia. But that's a long way off yet for me to be agonizing over and it may never materialize...

I know all you foodies out there are dying to know what was on the menu last night. Of course I made everything from scratch which although was hours and hours of hard work, was worth every melt in your mouth bite and I had a great time making it all. More and more I keep asking myself why the heck I'm not catering. So often I've told myself no way could I do it for various reasons, but if I can put together that much food in my own kitchen and it all turn out great, maybe I'm missing the forest through the trees? Ugh, I'll think about that later.

Anyway, here's the party food break down...

I made stuffed mushrooms and stuffed peppers, puff pastries( some had a sweet filling and some had a savory filling), bruschetta, crostinis topped with aioli and avacado, and another version of crostini topped with a blend of cream cheese, asparagus, and Parmesan cheese and baked under the broiler, raspberry chipotle sauce blended with cream cheese to make a sweet spread for crackers, and smoked salmon and dill hors d'ouvres. I also put out a veggie tray consisting of fresh jicama, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and an assortment of marinated olives and sweet peppers with home made ranch dip for dipping, and some Miso dip for the vegans. Oh and I bought a platter of shrimp cocktail, but it wasn't so great in my opinion. I should have bought fresh shrimp and made my own instead. Lesson learned.

Special thanks to Jen for her hard work on the funky but fabulous cake for Russell, and special thanks to our friends who could make it last night. Russell had a memorable birthday!