My 32nd Birthday Celebration. 24 Aug 2014

I’m not someone who likes experimenting with food or creating recipes. But I feel like dancing around the kitchen every time I put on my apron and start cooking/baking. Cooking is therapy, joy, and art. I feel the joy throughout the whole experience, starting from buying the ingredients and ending with hearing “yummmmm” around the table. I’m a planning freak, and that applies strongly when it comes to planning a cooked meal. This was, I guess, where the idea of my 32^nd birthday celebration came from. A fancy, home cooked meal for a group of 14 girls.

Cooking was never one of my interests. I baked my first cake when we moved to our new house a year before turning 32 and it was the beginning of a new passion. It's amazing how with time, our taste and knowledge in food builds up and it’s such a beautiful journey to learn about herbs, spices, cooking techniques and weird utensil names.  Only a year later, I found myself standing in my kitchen with many cookbooks opened in front of me and 14 ladies to feed at night.

The only item that was cooked a day ahead was the olive spread that I served with the Bruschetta as a starter. All the other dishes were cooked on the same day. I walked into the kitchen at 9am, started with the desserts and drinks and moved to the main dishes in the afternoon. I left the kitchen around 5pm and started dressing up until my friends started arriving by 8. The table arrangement was done by my friend Mariam, who came in the afternoon to add her touches and help with choosing the serving plates.

The menu:

Two salads and Bruschetta were served as starters:

1. Beetroot Salad.

2. Spinach Salad with Strawberry.

3. Bruschetta with Three Spreads: Tomato, Pesto and Olives. 

Four main dishes were served afterwards. By then, i was relaxed and happy to see my friends enjoying the evening AND the food! 

1. Fish with Tahini Sauce. 

2. Meatballs with Cherry Sauce.

3. Spaghetti with Zucchini, Tomatoes & Sage.

4. Chicken with Cream

Wrapping up, each person was served with three mini desserts:

1. Mango Sorbet (with a hint of coconut)

2. Chocolate Mousse (with espresso added in the mix)

3. Mini Victoria Cakes

Turkish Coffee, Lemongrass Tea, Arabic Coffee and Black Tea with Mint were served with dessert. 

As my first experience with hosting and cooking at the same time, i felt that i didn't find the right balance between dining with the guests and being in the kitchen to serve the food. But that was improved with time as i got addicted to those kind of warm dinner parties. By the end of the day, and when i finally took my breath, the girls surprised me with a cake! 

All recipes were chosen from Arabic cook books (Suzan Husseini, Dalal AlSherougi) and websites (mainly foodnetwork.com). 

It was a very special night for me, an achievement that i highlighted as the top achievement of 2014: Cooking a meal from A to Z to 14 people.