20!

This past weekend I celebrated my 20th birthday with a few good friends. I wanted a casual backyard bbq vibe but with really good food – so we made crostini, grilled lamb chops, carnitas, seared albacore tuna sandwiches, and had my favorite cake from Maison Richard for dessert. We decorated with string lights, white linen, homemade beeswax candles, and gorgeous flowers that my mom and I arranged in vintage jars.

To start we had a tray of little snacks – dried apricots, chocolate-covered raisins, banana chips, Asian peanuts, sesame sticks, olives, white chocolate nuts, and snapea crisps. Then we brought out a cutting board with three crostini – mini versions of some of my favorite sandwiches. The first was smoked salmon with chives and cream cheese. Then we made a faster (no grill) version of the fig sandwiches featured in my last post, with goat brie, honey, black pepper, and figs from the garden. The last sandwich featured mini heirloom tomatoes on ricotta sprinkled with olive oil, salt, and pepper. They were all delicious! We enjoyed the crostini with some blueberry limeade (my dad squeezed 28 limes!). 

The dinner spread was awesome. I made carnitas for the first time (using this recipe) and they turned out really well. The homemade guacamole really stole the show though! We also barbecued our favorite marinated lamb chops and made mini tuna sandwiches – pepper-seared albacore tuna with crispy shallots, arugula, mayonnaise, and ponzu sauce on a toasted mini french roll. For sides we had a mediterranean orzo salad and a green salad with bleu cheese, dried cranberries, and candied walnuts.

The party went very smoothly – I did a lot of planning and prep work so that as soon as the party started my parents could completely take over and I could focus on hanging out with my guests. I loved the way everything turned out, from the food to the flowers and decorations. And I loved having all my close friend and family there to celebrate with me! Special thanks to my parents who I couldn't have done this without.