August 25, 2022 Brunch - Eggs and Sausage. Dinner - Suzette’s 65th Birthday Party
It will be impossible to adequately describe this day. It started out rather calmly, perhaps because Suzette has been working for days cleaning the gardens and setting up serving and dining areas around the back yard.
While she put the finishing touches on the food areas, I made breakfast of sausage Pattie’s and eggs over easy.
After breakfast we went to Costco and ate a hot dog and then did some last minute shopping including Ten 16 lb. Bags of ice, eggs, Heineken beer, and a bouquet of flowers.
When we returned I rested and soon Suzette’s kitchen crew arrived with baked bread and a birthday cake baked by Brianna, the new baker at the Greenhouse Bistro. The executive Chef Josh arrived and the food and beverage director. The cooked the shrimp and pasta for the party and hung slices of prosciutto, serrano ham and capicola on columns with toothpicks. They also made a large bowl of Grape Suzette Salad with white and red grapes, cherry tomatoes, shredded Parmesan cheese, and lettuce. The inspiration for the party’s theme was the extravagant food arrangements by Salvador Dali in his cookbook.
Chef Josh at the charcuterie table
I went to the kitchen at five and filled six bowls with olives and dates. I then unwrapped the cheeses at the charcuterie and cheese table. The hit of the party was not our cheeses but the wheel of Brillant-Savarin cheese brought by Monika and Aaron. Suzette made a terrific apple, raisin, and ginger chutney and I bought a slab of Guava paste for something sweet to go with the meat and cheese.
At 5:45 Will, one of the band members, arrived and started setting up under the trampoline. He was with a jazz quartet that played until 9:30.
People started arriving at 6:30 it was quite a crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Almost everyone brought a gift. Here is a list of the attendees who brought gifts, although there were extra gifts for which we were unable to determine the donor.
There was a shrimp Shrine under the gazebo. There was a beverage area beside the big elm tree in the yard and on the patio was the cheese, olive, and charcuterie table.
I had trouble walking but tried to help with the wine.
Willy and I had pulled 20 wines from the basement Wednesday evening and many people brought wine. We also served Pellegrino water and Warsteiner Oktoberfest beer and Heineken beer.
The best wine was a 1990 Wynn’s Shiraz from Australia.
We guessed there were about 50 folks attending.
At 8:00 we cut the Salvador Dali cake with the melting clock.
It was a very special evening.
Bon Appetit
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