A birthday party during a Pandemic; oh how things have changed.

Well, we tried to prove it was possible to throw a fun, SAFE, party in a pandemic. I guess it depends on your definition of “party”. Our patio isn’t that big, so we limited the attendees to five people, the largest number we can possible seat out there and keep up social distancing guidelines. It worked, for the most part, everyone was comfortable and most importantly, safe.

And we know everyone was safe because this party was a month ago and nobody got sick 🙂

Our dear friend was entering her late 40’s, so we decided to treat her to some great wine and hopefully decent food. Let’s check and see how it went.

Amuse Bouche

Parmesan & Chilliwack Corn Lollipops

These were tasty, if unspectacular. The presentation was pretty cool, a bunch of melted cheese and corn stuck to a pretzel stick. We paired this with our all-time-favorite rosé, which I reviewed at the Vancouver International Wine Festival earlier this year.

Appetizer

Handmade Agnolotti w/Peas & Pancetta

This is a Thomas Keller recipe, and it’s just brilliant. This was my first attempt at a filled pasta and although they didn’t look all that pretty, they tasted superb. We paired this one with a nicely aged Barolo from an excellent year.

Seconds

Wild Mushroom Risotto

and

Baked Brie w/Blackberry Compote and Spiced Nuts

We didn’t serve those two dishes together, but we did pair them with two wines which made it through both courses.

For a brief interlude before we got to the main course, we served this wine which was used in the sauce for the steak. All the guests agreed it really punches above it’s class.

Main Course

Filet Mignon with Cab/Mushroom Sauce, Puréed Potatoes, Glazed Carrots

Paired with two excellent reds, this dish was the star of the show, as it should be.

Dessert

Black Forest Cake

This one was a request from the birthday girl, it’s her favorite cake. Probably my LEAST favorite but I guess I’ll make up for that when it’s time for MY birthday 🙂

All in all, a wonderful night of great company, food, and wine. Looking forward to the next time we can hold a bigger gathering and invite everyone we’d like to invite!

Up next: I still have to finish off the Okanagan report with my report on Black Swift, plus I have a ton of random stuff to review, AND………

….the reason the blog hasn’t been updated as much as I would like is that I am working on something special that I am very excited about. Still have a few steps to go to get it all set up where I would like it, but I am hoping to have at least the first part put together by this weekend. Stay tuned!