Thank you so much to all who voted for me in the last Project Food Blog challenge!
Up next is challenge number three, a celebratory challenge in which we were asked to organize and host a “Luxury Dinner Party”.
I was thrilled this challenge coincided with my son’s birthday. Because, let me tell you… this young man is my little gourmet! Not only does he love being my taste-tester, he enjoys and often even offers to lend a hand when I’m in the kitchen. Something that very rearly occurs when it comes to non-kitchen related tasks.
His palette is also quite sophisticated… he started refusing to order from the children’s menu at restaurants a long time ago. Those options were just not *good enough* for him.
There was one particular occasion where he actually pouted when I told him he couldn’t order the lobster. (Yeah, Lobster…!) We’re on a budget I told him. “Mommy’s having a $9 salad, you aren’t having a $30 lobster, so please pick something else.”
On certain special occasions we do splurge a little on a nice meal. Birthday’s for example are always special occasions in my book, so a little splurging action was totally called for!
The inspiration for this menu originated from a solo lunch I had at Del Posto in NY a few months ago. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share the experience I had with my family and friends.
I’m hoping you’ll love this special meal just as much as the birthday boy did!
The day before the dinner I planned my menu, wrote out my shopping list, and on my way home from work bought all the groceries I needed including this yummy chunk of of Italian Black Truffle Cheese.
Tip: To add a gourmet touch choose a single star ingredient for each dish!
As you read through this post, you’ll see one key ingredient is the sole star of the majority of the dishes I prepared. By doing this, your menu will scream gourmet without hurting your pocket book too much.
After having a quick dinner I set the table, sorry… I didn’t have time to iron the the table cloth. I forgot to add it to the schedule. 
We didn’t all fit in one table so I had to make some adjustments (aka the *kids* table)
Once that was done I got to work on the Beef Consommé, prepared the base for my sorbet and called it a night!
Tip: Try to get as much prep-work done ahead of time.
Read through all your recipes and determine if there are any steps, or dishes you can prepare before the day of the event.
The morning of the dinner I baked the cake and prepared the white chocolate ganache which called for cocoa nibs.
While the cake was baking I took my sorbet puree out of the refrigerator, strained and froze it in the ice cream maker.
Next I worked on a little amouse-bouche prepping…
At lunch time I made the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and decorated the cake with the tinted White Chocolate Ganache.
A couple of hours before dinner I finished what was left of the prep work, took a shower and got ready for our guests to arrive.
Once all the guests were present, the birthday boy asked if he could open his gifts before we got started with dinner. Since it was a school night we didn’t want him to be up too much past dinner, we gave him the green light!
With presents out of the way the birthday boy was ready for dinner…
Dinner started off with an amuse-bouche of Pate served on Golden Toast Leaves with Aioli Garlic Mustard souce and an Italian Black Truffle Cheese and Sage Sphere rolled in Truffle Oil Toasted Puffed Rice.
The following course consisted of a delicious Beef Consommé.
Tip: Make sure you have a serving tray handy. This prevents you from making numerous trips to and from the kitchen while serving your guests.
After a delicious main course of Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb and Pappardelle in a Tomato Porcini sauce, everyone was treated to an Intermezzo of Organic Honey Crisp Apple and Organic Tosca Pear Sorbet which I chose to serve in little shot glasses. I wanted to make sure everyone saved room for dessert!
Organic Honey Crisp and Organic Tosca Pear Sorbet
1 ½ lbs diced apples and pears (approx 3 medium apples and 3 medium pears) Peeled, cored and diced
2 cups water
1/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup calvados prestige menorval france
Juice of 1 lime and ¼ teaspoon lime zestBring water and sugar to a gentile boil, about 6 minutes until it thickens slightly. Allow to syrup to come to room temperature.
Toss diced apples and pears in calvados and set aside.
Once syrup has cooled to room temperature, puree fruit and syrup in a food processor or blender until smooth. Place puree in the refrigerator overnight.
When ready to freeze strain and discard pulp. Stir in the lime juice and zest into the sorbet base. Then pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Once everyone was done with their sorbet we chatted for a few minutes, then I gathered everyone around the table, brought the Chocolate Cake out and we sang Happy Birthday to the birthday boy.
Everyone had a magnificent time and couldn’t stop raving about the meal, especially the birthday boy! Before he went to bed he came to me and said… “Mom, this was the *best* birthday ever!” Sigh… mission accomplished!
Here is a quick recap of the diner menu and wine paring I put together.
Note: The children enjoyed a variety of sparkling juice pairings with their dishes.
Before we move on, I wanted to send a big hug and thank you to my dear friend Cindy of Southern California Power Boat Connection for sharing some of the pictures she took during the dinner!
Now to officially celebrate my advancement in the Project Food Blog Challenge and to celebrate Cookbook month! I’m giving away one of these…
Exploring Wine: The Culinary Institute of America's Guide to Wines of the World
This is truly an amazing book any wine lover would love. Although it isn’t a dessert cookbook, it is extremely comprehensive and has exceptional wine paring charts one of which is a fabulous dessert wine paring chart as well as sample menus and wine lists!
In order to be eligible to enter the contest:
For extra opportunities to win you can also do one or more of the following:
Giveaway Details
One (1) copy of Exploring Wine to be given away.
One (1) winner will be chosen at random for this giveaway.
Deadline to enter: Thursday October 7, 2010 11:59 PST
Winner announced: Friday October 8, 2010
A big thanks and shutout to Wiley for sponsoring this giveaway!
Can’t wait to work on the Photo Tutorial for you!! (Fingers crossed…)
{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }
I thoroughly enjoyed drawing up a chair to your dinner party (via your blog of course). It all sounded and looked beautiful but hearing how you planned your work was also very interesting. We all juggle busy lives don’t we. Unfortunately I live outside the US so not eligible for the book but loved reading the post anyway. You’ll get my vote.
Josie what a lovely dinner party to celebrate your son’s birthday and what a unique spin on the challenge! Wow – I would love to wish you good luck but you for sure will be there in Round 4! You are amazing, I am booking you for my next birthday party!!!
How lucky!! What a birthday meal. Happy birthday!!
Of course he’s a gourmet. He grew up eating beautiful food. Which is a gift in itself. Good luck in the contest. GREG
Enter me in the contest too please. I just “liked” you at Facebook!
I already follow you on Twitter…
… and I tweeted! GREG
What a beautiful post!!! I’m tired just reading about everything you did. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the gourmet boy, too! My tip for entertaining: present a balance of hot items AND cold items. That way, not everything will have to stay warm and be made “just-before.”
)
[K]
I follow you on Twitter.
Wow, you treated your son to the most amazing birthday dinner. He is so lucky to have such refined taste buds at such an early age…..and an amazing mom that can cook him all this wonderful food. I’ll be voting for you at FB. xo
What a lucky boy! I can’t wait to try that sorbet, it looks fantastic.
That looks amazing. It’s so great that you share this passion with your son, too.
Sounds like you had a fantastic time! It was my husbands birthday too and we also used this challenge as a means for his birthday dinner! It really does help to do as much as you can the night before and this way you have more time to spend with your guests!
#1 entertaining tip: keep a sink full of hot soapy water, so you can wipe up little messes as you go. That way your kitchen gets cleaner faster and is tidy for guests. My mom taught me this one when I was 10. It’s simple but very useful.
now this is the real deal. luxurious dinner party indeed
congrats and i really really like your dinner party idea. the menu was well-thought of and everything was executed right 
well done!
sorry i have missed my #1 entertaining tip because i was overwhelmed at the beauty of your dinner. my #1 tip is not to forget about yourself as the entertainer. don’t try to be toxic to yourself by incorporating all the things you envision and forgetting about your makeup or what to wear. it is also your night to enjoy and relax so give yourself a break. your guests would also love to have you at the dinner table than see you in the kitchen all the time
awesome post! this menu sounds absolutely amazing, really. time around the table with good people and good food is always a great gift, birthday or otherwise. thanks for sharing this!
Just beautiful! What a fantastic family birthday and the food looks amazing!
Entertaining tip: prepare as much food in advance as possible, so you’re not scrambling at the last minute!
Beautiful table, delicious looking food. Happy family!!!
Good luck!
What a wonderful meal! I love that it coincided with your son’s birthday and that he is so into the whole thing. Happy birthday to him!
My #1 tip is to have everything that you need done at least 1/2 hour before your guests are expected to arrive, that includes getting yourself ready so that you can sit down for a few minutes, enjoy a few sips of wine, rest your head and catch your breath. Then you are ready to host the evening!
My number one entertaining tip is: Relax and Have Fun! Sometimes, the host forgets to have fun and that is the whole point of a dinner party.
Another tip–get your guests to help. It breaks the ice and gets some work done.
This looks fantastic! Happy birthday to your son and I hope we can both advance to the next round of #PFB2010!
Amazing post! What a birthday dinner for your son and how terrific that it coincided with your pfb dinner party assignment;) My son is quite the gourmet, too, and would definitely enjoy such a party…everything looks so wonderful and I love the photos…great job!
I was going to say that my #1 entertaining tip is to make sure everything is done so you can enjoy the party, but now I’m going to say, “make sure Josie is cooking at the party!”
What a lovely entry, I hope you win! My parents introduced me to prawns when I was little and they too were horrified when I wanted shrimp at every occasion! My most important dinner tip is to have a schedule, build in an extra 30 minutes, and include time to brush your hair, put on lipstick and a clean pretty apron before everyone arrives. Now I’m hungry for your papperadelle, hope you share your sauce recipe someday!
And I’m following you on twitter now!
I’m exhausted and really, really covet that appetizer. What a whirlwind of tastes you have and all complementing each other beautifully. I am sending my children to you for their next birthday dinners. Well done.
Happy Birthday to your little gourmet! Fantabulous dinner Josie! My tip is to prep as much as possible ahead of time ; )
I follow you on Twitter ; )
I’m Facebook Fan too ; )
And I subscribe! xoxo
This morning the Nuni pointed to the wild smoked salmon I had bought and said “I want THAT for breakfast. I want Sam, mom.”
My entertaining tip? Plan in extra time — you might just need it. And drink while you’re cooking.
And I follow you on Twitter.
What a good sport is your son!
love it! Congrats on an amazing dinner!
Whit
Love this post! What a great birthday party, with a superb menu! Voted for you!
My dinner party was designed to take the diner food from Gooch’s Diner, where my parents first met over 40 years ago, and elevate it to luxury for their 39th wedding anniversary. Come see if you’d like
Beautiful job on this dinner party, and happy birthday to your son! I just saw that Italian Truffle cheese today at TJ’s and I had to pass it up, but I’m definitely going to try it soon. Each course looks splendid, the attendees were certainly lucky to have a seat at your table!
Beautiful presentation, beautiful food, happy birthday to your son, I voted for you!
What a really gorgeous meal.
It all looked so good!
Hmm…#1 entertaining tip. I think it would be to make sure you get enough done in advance so that you can join your guests during the meal.
A beautiful meal and a beautiful timing coincidence! Lucky for your gourmet son. Happy birthday to him and congratulations on making it to the 3rd round. Here’s to making it to the fourth *insert my vote*
Aww what a wonderful birthday dinner – I know I would have loved it if my parents threw me one like that when I was younger. You really captured the warm atmosphere of the party in your photos and the menu looks delicious! Good luck!
Love how your son will eat all of that. I wouldn’t have been caught dead around any of it even though my parents fed me adult food and I never ordered off the kids menu. Can you come and cook for my birthday next month?
Your menu looks great! Hope we both make it to the next round!
You have my vote!
What an amazing dinner !! He’s definitely a lucky boy and hope that he had a great day. Everything looks delicious would love to be a guest at one of your parties!
I follow you on twitter also
Lovely post, just wanted to vote and cheer you on!
-Gina-
Thanks for the “shout out” Josie. That was one of the most amazing dinners I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying and photographing! We were honered to be invited. Keep up the great work – and we can’t wait for the next one.
))
Wow! This looks incredible! See, now my Mom threw parties like this and all it did for me was give me dinner party PHOBIA LOL But your son has a fine teacher, I bet he carries on the tradition. This dinner looks amazing. Kudos, you got my vote…hope we both make it through to the next round! http://bit.ly/cNNCrR
Happy Birthday to your son
This is a fantastic menu and entry, voted and best wishes with the contest 
Well now we know you can cook too. I had a feeling! See you in SF? You have my vote.
Definitely see you in SF!! Thank you!
I’ve decided that you should come to my house to cook for me for my birthday this year!!
This looks amazing!
I’d love to… all you have to do is pay the airfare.
You’ve given me two reasons to be jealous of your son. First, he got to eat this meal. Second, he got to open presents before dinner! Growing up I couldn’t open as much as a card unless everyone had finished their cake and coffee! Good luck this week, voting for you!
Lick My Spoon
One question: Did the birthday boy have to sit at the kid table?
What a fantastic birthday dinner. Lucky boy!
Thank you! There was one spot at the grownup table for him, but he chose to sit with his brothers and a friend he invited over.
What a great birthday treat!! Your son is a lucky little man! Great job with this challenge… good luck!
Great post and you have my vote. I love your pictures
What a great party!!! Your son is darling….I know he loved his special dinner!
MY entertaining tip…for a less-stress dinner party, prepare foods you’ve made before. no picking a new recipe for a table full of guests!
PS…voted!
looks like all mouths were enthralled.
beautiful photos and a lovely meal.
no doubt the birthday boy will remember it
for many moons to come.
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