Another year older

Thank you, everyone, who made my birthday party what it was. I had so much fun! Laura came up with the concept and Andy designed these divine inviatations. It was so much fun having a bunch of people in the house, too. I'm getting more and more used to the place. It's finally starting to feel like I'm not just on vacation, but I actually live in a quiet, peaceful house of our very own.

We had all manner of wines and I wish I'd written them down to archive here. But, I didn't. So, since I claim that the blog is about the food, I'll detail that here.

Using the magic of puff pastry Andy spent pretty much the entire night pacing back and forth from the (overheated) stove to the table with Procuitto pinwheels and pesto puffs. They all disappeared as soon as she would put them down on the table. They were wonderful. The piece d'resistance was the cake and Laura went all Martha Stewart on me. It was a double layer chocolate cake with pink frosting and coconut shavings. She'd shaped it like a little hand bag! There were Milk Duds on floral wire for a handle and a coconut Hersey's kiss for the clasp. The cake was super dense and the frosting was so buttery. It was wonderful.

My mom made her famous clam puffs, but nobody would have been able to tell you that. Matt, Julie and I scarfed them down before the first guest even arrived. I made what I was calling an Italian Club Sandwich. I heated some olive oil on the stove top (easy to do, what with the uncontrolled inferno of heat that rises from that contraption every time I turn it on) I sprinkled in some dried Italian herbs and a dash of red pepper flakes. I infused the oil with the flavors. I sliced in half a loaf of focaccia and brushed the bottom later with the infused oil. I then layers on mortadella, teeny (perfectlly sliced thanks to the original anal retentive chef, my sister) tomatoes, shallot and provolone cheese. I put on the lid and sliced them into one inch squares. I'd wanted to put on a layer of arugula, but my new store, Kowalski's on Grand, doesn't seem to carry it.

Everything was delicious, the thougtfulness that all of my friends possess was really humbling and, by the by, I looked FANTASTIC! Hopefully, sometime this week I'll be able to post some party pictures.

So far, I think I'm going to like leaving my 20's in the dust.