Cooking my own 50th birthday party food

[Pallee]

Looks like about 70 people, starts at 5:00, so I expect them to be hungry. Almost all adults. I love doing this stuff and do tend towards overkill, but here goes....

Buffet style

Greens w/ spiced poached pears, hazelnuts, blue cheese

Grilled Veg Platter

Beet Salad

Fruit Platter

Potato Aioli Gratin

Bresaola Beef Tenderloin

Homemade Warm Pastrami

Glazed Voget Ham

Lamb Dolmas

Chicken Roulades w/spinach, roasted red peppers and feta

Smoked Salmon

Garlic Prawns

Seared Ahi on Sesame Wilted Spinach w/ pickled ginger and cukes

Asst. Breads and Rolls

Pickles, horseradish, mayo and dijon

Asst. Homemade Marshmallows

Ind. Cheesecakes on Homemade Graham Crackers

Persimmon Pudding

Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Covered Brandied Cherries

Angel Food Cake

Huckleberry Ice Cream

Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

Chips and Crackers

Asst. dips, including potted cheese, french onion dip

Asst. cheeses

Spiced Nuts

Wine, Beer, Soft Drinks, Cocktails, Water

I plan on making everything, ice creams, cakes, smoking salmon, curing tenderloin, breads, rolls. Probably buy the chips and crackers.

I've been doing events and parties for other people for so long, just wanted one with all my favorite stuff. But there's that nagging question.......what am I missing?

[highchef]

Your birthday cake!

[mrbigjas]

my invitation?

[suzilightning]

the tiara? i can loan you mine if you like....

actually it sounds fabulous but what about a sparkling wine/ champagne for a special toast?

[ludja]

What a feast; it certainly sounds appetizing. Nice idea to have the angel food cake which can be adorned or not with the ice creams. The burnt sugar and huckleberry ice creams sound wonderful, by the way.

I'm curious how you use the bresaola with the beef tenderloin. I've only used bresaola at room temperature.

[jende]

help.

You're not planning on doing all this yourself, are you?!

[Pallee]

Oh yes, sparkling wine!

The bresaola I do is not traditional. I put a dry rub of the spice mix on the tenderloin and air cure it in the refrigerator for several days. Then sear it on the grill. Then vacuum seal it and cook it sous vide style in a 130' water bath for a couple hours. When it's time to serve, I take it out and slice it. It's very tasty and easy, just takes advance planning.

After years of putting on events for other people, this is the first one I've done for me. It's fun to be able to change the menu as no one else has a clue what I'm doing.

[Pallee]

I have a friend to roll the dolmas and any last minute stuff, but I'm doing the rest myself. I have a prep list and it should be fine. It's a little over a week away.

[Jean Blanchard]

servers? help cleaning up?

[ludja]

...

The bresaola I do is not traditional. I put a dry rub of the spice mix on the tenderloin and air cure it in the refrigerator for several days. Then sear it on the grill. Then vacuum seal it and cook it sous vide style in a 130' water bath for a couple hours. When it's time to serve, I take it out and slice it. It's very tasty and easy, just takes advance planning.

...

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Interesting; thanks for the explanation. I thought you were using bresaolo with beef tenderloin and couldn't quite picture it. Sounds like a nice dish.

Good luck with all your planning and execution! Let us know how it goes.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Looks pretty comprehensive, ambitious, and fabulous to me! If I were going to add anything, it might be a pasta dish... but then I tend to err on the side of overkill, myself.

I'd also say to enlist some help, even if it's just for prep work... but again, I'd be in the category of "do as say, not as I do" because I get twitchy if there are other people in my kitchen while I'm on a massive, under-the-gun cooking jag!

After the dust settles and you've recovered from the festivities, I'd love to hear about your homemade marsmallows. I can't stand purchased ones, although my family loves them (we have bonfires every Sat. night, so we go through bales of 'em,) and I have always wondered if the homemade ones would taste more, well, like FOOD!

Happy birthday, and hope you have a terrific time!

[Marmish]

Looks pretty comprehensive, ambitious, and fabulous to me!  If I were going to add anything, it might be a pasta dish... but then I tend to err on the side of overkill, myself.

I'd also say to enlist some help, even if it's just for prep work... but again, I'd be in the category of "do as  say, not as I do" because I get twitchy if there are other people in my kitchen while I'm on a massive, under-the-gun cooking jag!

After the dust settles and you've recovered from the festivities, I'd love to hear about your homemade marsmallows.  I can't stand purchased ones, although my family loves them (we have  bonfires every Sat. night, so we go through bales of 'em,) and I have always wondered if the homemade ones would taste more, well, like FOOD!

Happy birthday, and hope you have a terrific time!

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Pallee, it sounds fabulous. I've been meaning to make burnt sugar ice cream for a while now. Care to share your recipe?

Sunny, come on over here. We've been making tons of marshmallows.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Sunny, come on over here.  We've been making tons of marshmallows.

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Oooh, thanks! I'm there now...

[YoChefGregg]

When is or was your birthday?

I turn 50 on the 23rd of December, in Mexico, with my daughter's family and new grandson.

Felix Cumpleaños !