Bonne anniversaire a moi!
I'm planning and cooking my own birthday dinner. My wife took some convincing that this was what I really wanted to do, because she believes that other people should feed/pay for you for your birthday. This is a fine philosophy, but I've been wanting to invite people over and cook for them for a while. So
hntrpyanfar and
dark_towhead will be joining us for dinner.
I pretty much finalized the menu today and started the shopping. Some of the things I've made before, some I haven't. I got to play with my many cookbooks as well as www.foodnetwork.com.
The menu is as follows:
Tuscan-Style Stuffed Artichokes
Fresh Fruit Salad
Risotto Milanese with Asparagus
Casserole-Roasted Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Chris has been charged with acquiring an ice cream cake for dessert.
The only thing I'll have to really cook while people are here is the risotto, which is good. I was thinking of going Asian, but most asian dishes have to be put together and cooked immediately before eating, so they're not too great for company events when you actually want to see your company.
Fun Shaw's food finds of the day: I got a 2 lb bag of HUGE, yummy smelling, organic lemons for $2.99, and 2L of good Italian exra virgin olive oil (the kind that comes in a big can) for $9.99. If you want saffron, look in the organic section-it doesn't exist with the regular spices.
I've got everything but the fresh produce and the chicken, which I'll probably pick up Friday night on my way home from work.
:) Cooking is fun!
hntrpyanfar and
dark_towhead will be joining us for dinner.
I pretty much finalized the menu today and started the shopping. Some of the things I've made before, some I haven't. I got to play with my many cookbooks as well as www.foodnetwork.com.
The menu is as follows:
Tuscan-Style Stuffed Artichokes
Fresh Fruit Salad
Risotto Milanese with Asparagus
Casserole-Roasted Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Chris has been charged with acquiring an ice cream cake for dessert.
The only thing I'll have to really cook while people are here is the risotto, which is good. I was thinking of going Asian, but most asian dishes have to be put together and cooked immediately before eating, so they're not too great for company events when you actually want to see your company.
Fun Shaw's food finds of the day: I got a 2 lb bag of HUGE, yummy smelling, organic lemons for $2.99, and 2L of good Italian exra virgin olive oil (the kind that comes in a big can) for $9.99. If you want saffron, look in the organic section-it doesn't exist with the regular spices.
I've got everything but the fresh produce and the chicken, which I'll probably pick up Friday night on my way home from work.
:) Cooking is fun!