Birthday Lunch

Sorry no pictures!

Following Elizabeth's lead, I'll post about a lunch I gave recently. I love the idea of having a few ladies over for lunch, so have put on a couple since we've moved here. It's been a great opportunity to get to know my neighbors and motivation for me to put my house in order and do something! For my birthday I decided I wanted to celebrate by having a lunch with other November birthdays. I invited five ladies from the ward, luckily the dynamic between the women was great. Although we all knew each other from church, it was a litttle bit of an unusual grouping, but we had a great time eating and visiting.

The hardest part for me is assembling tableware and making it all look pretty. Sara helped in this area, I borrowed red dishes from her. I started with a large plate and then a salad plate on top and then placed a lindt chocolate bar wrapped in blue and yellow on each plate (to serve as place cards and as a little birthday gift). I removed the top plate when I served each course, but kept the large dinner plate their to serve as the charger. I agree with Liz, getting the linens ready was a pain, something I should have done the day before, but of course I was doing it right before they came.

I wanted something simple for lunch, but elegant. I wanted my guests to feel pampered.

This was the menu:
Pears stuffed with blue cheese, walnuts and cranberries atop a bed of arugula
Creamy potato leek soup
Rustic potato bread
Creme brulee

Sparkling apple cider

I plated and served each course, which was easy and made it feel special. The food was really yummy and easy to do ahead: the soup and creme brulee could be done the day before. I did make the bread that morning, but it has a fairly short rise time so it was easy and so good hot. I also made the pears and dressed the salad that morning. Josh bought me a torch last year and now I find any exuse to make creme brulee. Ina Garten's recipe is the easiet I've tried and has wonderful and consistent results. I torched the sugar right before I served it.

For the kids I laid out a simple lunch, pb&j, goldfish crackers, juice boxes and clementines. Some sat outside, some on the floor, it was very casual. They were thrilled with their spread. One little girl later reported to her dad that I made the best pb&j sandwiches.