The party

Despite the fact that I started getting a sore throat while still preparing for Luigi’s party, it turned out to be pretty successful. Some things didn’t go as planned, but I should have known they wouldn’t considering…

Yes, the plan had been to do a simple finger food buffet party and it evolved into a much larger, sit down food affair, but that’s ok. It probably was easier since finger food takes a lot of prep time.

A good bit of the preparation was actually done on Friday, but on Saturday there was still a lot to do and my brother-in-law and his wife along with my parents were all railroaded into helping all volunteered to help.

We started out with antipasto kebabs (cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, salami, etc. strung on a stick and marinated), some bakery bought mini pizzas, homemade finger sandwiches (cucumber and goat cheese with olives), ventricina and capocollo and frog eyes (which mom made and were a big hit).

Next up it was a cold pasta dish made with chicken breast, carrots, celery, a creamy pesto sauce and grapes. That was definitely a change for the Italian palate – some liked it, some didn’t, but that was fine.

Then it was time for the meat dishes – meatballs in brown gravy and Judith’s fabulous pork cooked in milk. (That recipe has a big thumbs up. It’s delicious, easy to make for a large party and leftovers are also delicious. Thanks Judith for all your help!!). Along with the meat I made a big Caesar’s salad with homemade croutons (another novelty for the Italian crowd).

We followed that up with fruit salad served in a watermelon carved into a basket and then, of course, the birthday cake.

Wine and beer were flowing, as was the conversation, but I was too busy to take any photos.  You see, the idea was that everyone would help themselves, but I guess that was too foreign of an idea for this crowd. We ended up serving everyone, which in a way might have actually been the better solution. After I thought about it I realized that it would have just been mass confusion as everyone descended on the tables with no rhyme or reason since organization seems to be in short order here.

There were, of course, some sour spots. One of our guests considers any food that she herself didn’t make or pick out (as in a restaurant) to be inferior and God forbid if it happens to be something that she’s not familiar with. She, of course, also knows best how to make the few recipes that are in her repertoire and doesn’t hesitate to let people know this. Consequently, most of the food she was served ended up getting thrown out. Unfortunately, she’s brainwashed her kids into thinking the same way she does so they didn’t eat much either. Now, it’s possible that they truly didn’t like it, but you should at least try it. The whole attitude gets to me along with the narrow-mindedness. (Not to mention how incredibly rude that kind of behavior is.) Life is about trying new things. Why paint yourself into a corner and miss out on new flavors? Last year I made a Devil’s Food Cake for Luigi’s birthday and she didn’t taste a single bite even though everyone else positively raved about how good it was. (And I know it’s not because she doesn’t eat chocolate, because I’ve seen her do it.)

This year the cake was a luscious sponge made with 20 eggs. It turned out to be delicious, extremely light and airy, so I kept it light by spreading some cherry flavored whipped cream in the center, then covered it with buttercream frosting and decorated it with a Winnie the Pooh frozen buttercream transfer.  I’m no professional cake decorator, but it didn’t turn out too bad.

Luigi got lots of presents and lots of attention of course. He quickly learned that the bags that people were carrying in the door were for him and, despite his usual reticence, was giving people kisses left and right. After all, they were giving him prettily wrapped packages, so I guess he figured he was going to give something in return.

I think a star has been born though because after hearing everyone sing “Happy Birthday”, then blowing out the candles on the first try, he got a wondering, self-satisfied look on his face as everyone clapped and cheered for him.

Blowing out the candles

Although there were a few sour notes, the party turned out to be a lot of fun and I think most people enjoyed it. Cleaning up the next morning was another story though.

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