Isaac's BIrthday Party

There's never a dull moment in the Casa D'Engvall.  On Saturday night, we hosted a birthday party for our dear friend Isaac.  After my long run, I met Jewel at New Seasons to get all the party supplies.  We bought plenty of food and booze to enjoy with Isaac's out of town family who trekked down from the Seattle area and lots of local friends.  

After many canning days, it is obvious that Jewel and I work well in the kitchen and Saturday was no exception.  Per usual, we were fairly ambitious and super lucky for the out of towners who showed up early and ended up rolling up their sleeves to help with the last minute details.  Isaac's niece, Little Miss Hailey, was my personal sous chef and she rocked out an amazing looking cake!!  

Here's a pic of our finished work.  This week, I'll be posting recipes for the individual items that made up the buffet.  From left to right, they are fennel parm shortbreads, baked brie with tomato cashew chutney, sweet relish over cream cheese, a variety of crackers, waldorf wontons, stuffed mushrooms, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, deviled eggs, pesto palmiers and sliced bell peppers with crab dip.  

On the bar, we also had a wine station with smoked salmon dip, steamed artichokes with more crab dip and nibblers of dried bing cherries, dark chocolate chips, cashews and chocolate covered almonds.