Monday, March 28, 2011

The Birthday Finale! Cakes and Cab, The Wine That Made France Jealous.

    My week of birthday revels came to a smashing finale Saturday night with an Indian street-food-a-palooza party.
 This last week had been a mad, crazy blur of late nights and eating out, running the gamut from Morimoto to iHop. So I thought that Saturday night should be my turn back in the kitchen as a way of thanking all my friends who'd made the week (okay the last 11 days) so special for me.
  I decided that the best way to have some fun was to make a whole bunch of street-food style snacks. There were samosas,
 momo...
 vadai...
  idili...
 and an array of chutneys, relishes and salads.
In short,a lot of food.
 And of course....The Wine. About The Wine. We're talking about a magnum of Chateau Montelena 1974 Cabernet. Read about it here.
   This was the famous vineyard and one of the famous wines that put Sonoma and Napa on the Wine map. Look out France. The Wine was a gift from our attorney and we've kept it carefully waiting for just the perfect occasion to open it. Saturday night was the night.
   Thanks to our friend Leighton who's actually in the wine business, it was carefully opened...
...poured, sniffed and enjoyed by all. It was a 37 year old bottle and we opened it just in time! People had a great time, eating...
(World traveler Mr. X certifying the authenticity of the dishes)
 talking...
 laughing....
 
begging...
(The wolfs' stare will hypnotize you into giving her a momo)
and lurking.
(Patsy's go-to spot at parties is under the dining room table, just in case of course.)

It wouldn't be a party without presents.
Herbs!
Culinary tools
Reading Material (I'm probably the last person on the planet that hasn't read this)
Flowers!
 The odd item.
No, this is not what you think it is, get your mind out of the gutter (then drop and give me 10)
   It's a gnocchi board okay? A gnocchi board! No more dominatrix jokes.
  Finally the cake came out. And what a cake. We always serve Princess cakes from the best bakery in Sonoma, Scandia! Alan consulted with the owner Marcella. He wanted an Indian themed cake. He'd shown her some sari fabric and she suggested a henna design for the cake, which is what she did. She's great. She even called the house on Friday night to tell us what a great time she was having with the project. She totally kicked ass with the cake!

   The night was amazing. Great friends, good food, who needs anything more? Maybe just a candle or two less on the cake. Maybe?? It's now 24 hours later and I'm still doing dishes but who cares? A birthday comes just once a year... if you work it right it could go on for at least 11 days!
   In the next few days I'm going to be sharing the recipes and how to's of what I served. With the exception of the momo, all the dishes were vegetarian. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

20 comments :

  1. You had me at momo. My favorite. What a par-tay!

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  2. Happy Birthday Kathy!! Lovely!! Indulging in your event virtually :)

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  3. Beautiful clicks and I looooove momo :)
    Happy Birthday Kathy :)

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  4. @kankana,
    me too, and this time instead of making momo dough, I purchased some dumpling wrappers which allowed me to make them assembly line style easier for a crowd

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  5. Wow, what an amazing finale to your birthday celebration! Momo and a '74 Chateau Montelena Cab!! And, I love the henna design princess cake that Scandia created :)

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  6. amazing kathy!!! what a party... happy birthday and thanks for the visual treat - looking forwar to all the recipes.

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  7. Damn what a beautiful feast. You must have been dead ass tired. It is my birthday at the end of April. I want that cake. Can you coach Dr. Food in getting me one luke that? Love ya and Happy BDay again!

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  8. Happy birthday hunnie! you sure know how to party :)

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  9. Happy Birthday. You know YOU had to cook it otherwise it wouldn't have tasted as good and it ALL looked good too. Happy days.

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  10. @Pauline,'
    thanks so much..i'm still recovering from all the prep and cleaning

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  11. @janis,
    it's two + days later and now i know how tired I am, Dr. Food needs to talk to Alan. He showed Marcella some sari fabric and then the discussion got around to henna, thus the cake!

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  12. Rajani@eatwritethink,
    thanks so much...I'll be posting starting tomorrow

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  13. Happy Birthday! What a lovely cake :-)

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  14. @Cooking Rookie,
    yes, Marcella really outdid herself with this cake!

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  15. Happy Birthday Kathy! And from the looks of this post it was a happy birthday indeed. Couldn't have happened to a lovelier person! BTW- you are NOT the only person on the planet who hasn't read the book :-[

    Still want to try making samosas!

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  16. Great Birthday Kathy. I think with great food and Indian chutneys on the table... whew! Thanks to the great Cavernet! Lovely cake too! You obviously had an awesome night. Thanks for sharing this, you made us smile.

    Cooksandlay
    www.yoursmartkitchen.com

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