Birthday Bash

Okay, my birthday is long since past, but I never got a chance to post pictures from my party. I spent a lot of time on the food, so that seems to be all of the photos I have. Above, you can see several of the yummy treats I laid out for the party, including fruit for chocolate fondue, and zucchini goat cheese tartlets. Of course, the cake was the piece de resistance: White cake with raspberry mouse filling. This was the first fondant cake I'd ever made. It turned out beautifully, but I really missed the flavor of buttercream icing. I think this might be the end of my foray into fondant cakes.Here are more nibbles - half of the reason I'm listing them all is in case I want to remember for a future party (that, and to make sure all of you are looking forward to my next party!). On the red plate are savory endive treats with grape, walnut, and cheese stuffing. On the orange plate are caprese salad skewers - fresh mozarella, basil, and cherry tomatoes. In the background I have melon and salami skewers (provolone was out of the budget this time around). Mmm...the desert plate. The cake and chocolate fondant were clearly not enough, so this plate has mini cheese cakes and raspberry and apricot tartlets. These are the only things I can't take credit for (Safeway frozen section), but WOW were they good.

One of the birthday presents was an amazing White Mountain ice cream maker (the creme de la creme of ice cream makers) so I fully expect I'll be posting a bit more about my summer culinary experiences. Be sure to keep an eye on the costume website - I received a lot of sewing presents and have been updating and sewing like a mad woman.
Finally, for the heck of it, here is an adorable picture of Dave and Calypso during one of her rare naps. She wore poor Dave out.