Party kicked off at 6 p.m. and didn’t end until well after midnight.
Food was demolished.
My voice was hoarse the next day from laughing so hard.
Nobody up-chucked, choked, went into anaphylaxis or spurted drink out of their noses (although this last one is often a sign of party success).
And my husband pronounced it, “the best party ever.”
We had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed ushering in my husband’s 40th year with such a fabulous group of people.
The evening started off with jellied gin gimlets concocted by my dear friend and apparently mixologist (who knew?) Christina. These were absolutely delicious and fun to pass around as people walked through the door. We also snacked on roasted red pepper dip and Vietnamese summer rolls — big hit! Thank you Mekong!
Summer Rolls from Mekong Delta
Jellied Gin Gimlets
Roasted red pepper dip
It’s hard to compete with squares o’ jellied alcohol and spring rolls, but the Chinese BBQ pork was also scarfed up, as it always is. This dish was actually part of the first home-cooked meal I ever made for my then boyfriend/now husband while we were dating. It was lick-your-fingers worthy back then and still is. Make it! Make it! Make it! I wish we had pictures but we were having entirely too much fun and by the time we remembered to whip out a camera, piggy was gone. Well, not entirely gone. I squirreled away some leftover oinker to ensure we had some to enjoy the next day. Oops, hostess party foul. 🙂
Apparently the soba noodle salad with peanut dressing packed some fiery heat, but that certainly didn’t deter anyone from digging in for seconds. One of our guests actually said (mid-forkful mind you), “my ass is going to fall out tomorrow, but it’s sooo good and sooo worth it.” Don’t let this proclamation scare you off, however. You can easily decrease the spice if you wish, although I personally don’t recommend it. And actually, the recipe as written isn’t very spicy at all, I added the extra kick.
Party-goers also enjoyed coconut rice, Thai spicy ground chicken and a delightful and aromatic clay pot Singapore chicken courtesy of the mixologist’s other half, Chuck. Fantastic food all the way around.
And then came dessert. My go-to baker and dessert whiz Erin out-did herself. She produced decadent dark chocolate ganache raspberry brownies and piles and piles of chocolate chip cookies — the birthday boy’s favorites. Both desserts are equally dangerous to have in the house. For some reason, however, both my husband and I keep “forgetting” to take the remainder to our respective offices. Yeah right. Let’s face it, we’re hogging them.
Husband’s Favorite
Dining With DINKS 