Last week Monday, the 19th, I pulled a muscle in my back and was out of the office for the entire week. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my vacation days but I couldn't even sit in a chair without having tears of pain roll down my cheeks. On top of that, Roger's birthday was coming up on Thursday, 10/22, and I had made reservations at Commis for that Saturday. There was no way I could make it through the evening sitting upright. It was time for Plan B!
Plan B was for Roger to make dinner and have a few really good friends over. Wait...what?!? The Birthday Boy was going to do the cooking and entertaining? It seemed a little unfair at the time he made the suggestion, but I was in no position to argue. I agreed. I sent out an email Wednesday night thinking at such short notice our friends wouldn't be able to make it. Everyone said yes!
As the day got closer my grand schemes of making a whole bunch of things from scratch began to fall to the wayside. After a week of being in pain I came to realize that 1) I'm not in my 20's anymore; 2) I'm not Superwoman or Martha Stewart and 3) Don't sweat the small stuff. Cupcakes were going to be made Duncan Hines and everything except for the soup was going to be something that could be served cold or heated in the oven. The only thing I made from scratch was the Ranch and Green Goddess Dressing (courtesy of Cook's Illustrated).
We had simple bites for appetizers (nuts, salt and pepper chips and mushroom turnovers - all from Trader Joe's) and assorted sodas to start things off. The main course was the Italian Wedding Soup from The Barefoot Contessa; served with a simple green salad with my homemade dressings and two kinds of bread - Olive and a Pugliese. The soup was delicious! Roger was afraid that the soup would be too salty but I think it was just right. The meatballs were great and glad that he made them tiny. You got a little bit of meatball in every bite and you didn't have to bother with cutting them up to be bite size - they already were. The cupcakes were yummy and much better than the dry ones I had bought at Whole Foods. Sometimes fancy cupcakes aren't necessarily the best.
The party was a success and I think our guests went home with full bellies. Thanks to Bill, Jim, Jean, Tony, Peter and Felix for contributing to a fun evening for the Birthday Boy and Old Injured Lady.
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