another year another food spread!

Last July, I graduated another decade and moved into my 30’s. However, are you really in your 30’s when you’re 30 or are you solely 30? I contemplated this redundant question on the eve of my 31^st. According to Mike, 31 is not a big deal. Though, I would argue that 31 could be just as momentous, if not more, than my 30^th; at 30+ 1, you are legitimately in your 30’s.

Long story short, I wanted to ring in my bday with a weekend getaway with friends. However, since Mike and I disagreed on the magnitude of celebration to be had, we agreed upon an evening of food and friends and hosted a little party at our condo. As all parties we host revolve around food, I wanted to share with you all my party snacking details.

Shockingly, this year, I ditched the baking; not a cake, a macaron, or a cookie came from my oven. Mike and I were/are in the middle of redecorating [more to come on this], and by default, there was too much to do in too little time. Instead of whipping eggs and icing cookies, I spent my pre-party hours cleaning, decorating, and rearranging furniture…except for when I needed a coffee break and decided to see the giant duck.

I celebrated my July 2nd birthday on July 1st; Canada Day. For those not in Toronto, in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday, a 6 storey duck was towed into the harbour to kickoff the Canada Day festivities; so naturally, I had to check it out.

Back to the party…

As I was busy, decorating, flower arranging, and cleaning, I left the party menu up to Mike but I did have 2 asks: (1) I wanted Nadege’s Marie Antoinette cake and (2) I needed my meat + cheese. Inspired by the ‘whole table’ meat and cheese spreads and scattered charcuterie boards I’ve been seeing pop up on Instagram, in addition to my food asks, I requested that Mike arrange a bountiful platter to follow suit. He definitely delivered!

One day, I aspire to have a full table made into a charcuterie board, but for this bday, we kept the cheese wedges separate and mixed together the meats, antipasto, and fruit on the largest platter I owned. Mike’s dish made the perfect centre piece for the party table.

Also on the menu, were a platter and boat of amazingly delicious sushi [crafted by one of Mike’s colleagues], a made-from-scratch onion dip [of course with ripple chips], my Marie Antoinette bday cake, and a late night snack of chicken wings and Vatican’s [a Burger’s Priest creation in which a burger is sandwiched between 2 grilled cheeses -but instead of full on burgers, Mike made sliders!]