I took off from blogging in June because the month was just so busy.
Hubby was away on work trips three of the four weekends, but he made a special provision for the weekend of my birthday: he hired Chef Justin Ward, our Parisian chef friend and travel buddy, to prepare a special four-course dinner and then teach a bread-making class the following day.
The nature of both events dictated that only a small number of people could join us though I wish I could have included quite a few special people! (Mom, the usual life of the party, was unable to join us as she was under the weather.)
We started the evening with a bouquet of flowers from my son’s sweet girlfriend and a pile of Big Boy tomatoes from my wonderful, overflowing garden!
Hubby volunteered to assist the chef, and he also took most of the pictures of both events!
Justin started with us off with freshly baked biscuits and sweet potato gnocchi in a crème sauce with prosciutto and hazelnuts.
Our second course was the main course. We indulged in beef tenderloin medallions that were perched on pureed potatoes. Sauteed yellow squash ribbons wrapped the potatoes, and roasted asparagus and a single radish topped the creation. The red wine reduction sauce was the perfect accompaniment!
I knew how much food Justin was preparing, so I purposefully ate only half of my entrée and saved the rest for the next day’s lunch!
The next course was salad with a Dijon vinaigrette dressing and a cheese board with cheeses selected by the chef.
Finally, even though everyone was groaning over the amount of food we’d already put away, Justin began making crepes for the dessert bar, complete with banana slices and berries from the garden; the chocolate ganache, caramel, and crème were all freshly made as well.
After dinner, all the littles wanted a read-aloud book. We crowded onto the small bench in the kitchen as they jockeyed for the best position to view the book they brought me.
I think this was my favorite part of the evening!
