The Last Of The Twenties

Did I forget to mention WHY I was in Tulsa? Not only does my friend live there but she was celebrating her 29th birthday, or should I say trying to forget that she was that much closer to 30? We decided to throw a small cocktail party in her honor, equipped with a summery signature cocktail, cheese plate, and birthday cake.
We made a trip to Whole Foods and left with almost everything in the store. The cheese plate had a nice trio of St. Agur blue, Port Salut, and a semi-soft Wensleydale with cranberries. Alongside the cheeses were clementines, dragonfruit, genoa salami, quince paste, and cracked pepper water crackers. I was so excited that the Whole Foods in Tulsa had dragonfruit! It was my first experience with it and could not wait to taste it. It was custardy and mild, similar to kiwi, but not as tart. Oh, I wish I could find it in New Orleans. Anyway, we also stuffed some piquillo peppers with soft goat cheese and put out some caramelized walnuts to snack on.

Now my main reason for going to Whole Foods was to purchase their Chantilly cake, but just our luck, they were out. I decided to go with the Italian cream cake instead and was very pleased. It had walnuts and raisins embedded in the white, vanilla-y cake. And of course a big "2" and "9" sitting on top!

And finally the piece de resistance, a lovely gin cocktail much like the one we made during "a perfect collaboration," but I found this one to be even better. We muddled raspberries with sugar and used 2 parts pure grapefruit juice to one part Boodles gin. We then mixed in sliced cucumbers and fresh basil. Let's just say, it went down real easy.

Despite having the cops called on us by nosy neighbors, we had a wonderful evening full of drinking, eating, and storytelling. I just hope my birthday will be as nice as this one. Hopefully it will inspire your next party too!

Happy Dining!