LB's 50th Birthday Dinner Party

Appetizer Plate

     Last night, five couples got together to celebrate LB's 50th birthday.  B Lovely and Mr. B Lovely hosted the dinner party at their warm and inviting house and we all made different courses to help LB ring in this milestone.  First of all, Mr. and Mrs. B Lovely set a wonderful table in a large square, which  aided in good cross-table conversation.

     Once all of the guests had arrived, I put out an appetizer plate for each person.  There were 10 people and five appetizers apiece, which makes 50, the magic number of the night!  Trying to be creative, I had each appetizer represent one of the five tastes: sweet, salt, bitter, sour and umami.  Sweet was represented by the triangular peach chutney Hamantaschen, salt was the tapenade pinwheel, bitter was the brussel sprout mini-quiche, sour was the lemon jelly and umami was the won ton flower cup filled with edamame hummus.  Lots of alcohol and conversation flowed forth.  Next up was the salad provided by Mr. and Mrs. B Lovely - a wonderful mix of greens, including baby kale, with a tart but creamy dressing that complemented it perfectly.  More alcohol, more conversation and much more laughter ensued.  We then had the main course - LP made a fantastically rich and creamy scalloped potato side dish and the Mop Philosopher made a Chicken and Clementine casserole with Fennel and Pernod - wow!

     I then served a palate cleanser, a cucumber, grape and ginger granita.

     And then, the piece de resistance, LP's rich, chocolatey gateau topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.

     It was a fun-filled, great tasting get-together and my stomach was killing me from Mrs. B Lovely's shenanigans with Sally!  A perfect way to celebrate a dear friend's milestone birthday - intimate, joyful and full of love.