my birthday dinner ....

it was my birthday a couple of days ago.

my husband planned the most amazing surprise !

you can read about the whole day over on my simple beauty blog but

i'm just going to cut and paste and share the food bits of the story for you here ...

let's start with ... my neighbors coming over with birthday cocktails

i love having neighbors who are such a bit part of our lives !



when rory gets home, he says

'would you be totally disappointed if i told you i've made a reservation for us at a restaurant ?'

ummmm ... let me think about this for a minute ?!

i still don't have to cook ?

i get to go out ?

yeah ... i'm good !

rory got a phone call just as we were ready to leave, from our friend craig

he said 'we've got a present for bonnie,

would you guys swing by and pick it up on your way to dinner ?'

up until that phone call, i had NO IDEA anything suspicious might be happening

after that ... i wondered if all wasn't as it appeared !

but ... i had NO IDEA of the amazing surprise that lay in wait for me

weeks of planning, international conversations, importing of food

so ... we get to C & J's place to 'pick up the present'

and the house is all decorated

and something smells incredible ... (and very familiar)

and then there were shouts of surprise and the faces of other friends i love

rory hands me an envelope and says

'this is my present to you'

inside the envelope is this menu .........



the foods of my childhood !

and VONGOLE !

(my requested birthday dinner every year since we had lived in Italy !)

now ... this is no easy feat ... because in my little girls mind, the vongole (clams)

HAVE TO BE IN THEIR SHELL

well ... you can't get that here ...

in fact, you can't get clams here at all, unless they are in a can

so Rory IMPORTED them from New Zealand

can you believe that ?!



the food was amazing.

APPARENTLY, they had been cooking all afternoon ... I thought Rory was 'working late' !

Here's the Patatas Alioli and the Champinones Al Ajillo con pan (with bread), of course.



And then came the never ending supply of Gambas Al Ajillo ... OH YUM !!



Master Chefs in action ...



Amazing team work ...



And here's the Traditional Vongole ... with homemade fettucine ...

I'll have to find out what recipe he used for this ... he said it was a Jamie Oliver one.



And the Vongole like my Mom used to make, only with a spicy Casa de Ross twist.

And this recipe too, I'll have to write it down and share it with you ... it's a spicy tomato sauce ...

mmmmmmm !!!



Do you know one thing I loved about this night ?

There were so many things I loved ... but here's just one.

I loved that I was the only known clam lover of the bunch but they still cooked this for me !

And (almost) everyone tried the clams ! Some even liked them !

All of these dishes were new to everyone besides me and Rory, and everyone tried them !

And again ... liked (and even loved) them !

I love the adventurous nature of this group of friends !

And I love that they love to celebrate life.

**

Mom ... Rory insisted that I take this photo for you ....

**

Empty shells !!



Cheesecake.

When we were little, it was tradition in our house that all birthday cakes had to be chocolate.

So ... we have gazillions of birthday pictures of us COVERED IN CHOCOLATE !

BUT, once we were old enough to request our own birthday cake preference ... mine was

ALWAYS cheesecake (with cherries on top) !

My sweet friend Donna recently learned this about me and though she had never made one

before, she baked me the most wonderful birthday cheesecake ! with berries ! oh my !



and Jodie made cupcakes

that I have yet to try

but some came home with us and I will be having one for breakfast !



I was crowned 'birthday queen' and actually wore my 'crown' for a good hour.

Not the mask though ... it was way too hot for that !



Spoiled ? Yeah ... I can't disagree.



I have an amazing, thoughtful, selfless husband,

kind, encouraging and giving children,

enthusiastic, creative and (SNEAKY!!) friends,

an extended family like none other,

friends all over the world (thanks to the Navy and now facebook !) that i love

AND

to top it all off ....



my very own website !!



I cannot wait for you all to see it !

Well ... you can sort of see it here but I've crossed off it's name (which you are going to LOVE)

because I don't want you to go there just yet.

I'll let you know when you can !

Craig and I are going to play with it a bit more first ...

by the way, Craig ... who is a music lover, not a web guru, designed this !

Look out world !

**

All in all ... this has been my best, most favorite birthday ever.

Thanks to everyone who was a part of it !

~ bon ~

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Salad w/Alioli

Here you go ... a Bonnie original.
Just threw this together out of leftovers in the fridge.

1/2 a baby cos lettuce
1/4 of an avocado
1 hard boiled egg
proscuitto left over from burger night
roasted red bell peppers (capsicum), left over from ... can't remember now !
aioli ... leftover from burger night

Throw it all together.
Add a bit of water to the aioli to make it a dressing consistency.
DONE.

Tortilla Espanola

Here's how I made this ...

Slice a chorizo sausage, a potato, an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Throw them in a frying pan with olive oil. I usually let the potato cook a bit before I add the onion and garlic. You don't want the potato to get too brown so do this on a lowish heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat 4, 5 6, eggs ... however many you want ... and a bit of salt. When the potato is cooked to your desired tenderness, pour it into the eggs. Then pour that mixture back into your frying pan. Don't add more oil ... you just use what's already there. Let it cook 'til it's pretty much cooked through ~ but don't burn the bottom ! I throw some garlic chives in at this stage too ! Put a dinner plate on top of the frying pan. Pick up the frying pan and turn it over so now the tortilla is on the plate. Now, push the tortilla from the plate, back into the frying pan. IS THIS MAKING ANY SENSE !?! I found a tutorial for you ... I've linked those two steps so you can see photos !! Anyway ... Once the bottom is cooked, tip the whole thing out onto a plate and you're done !

While that is cooking you can grab out your stick blender and make some alioli ...

I served this the other night with a salad ...

Spinach & Rocket, Roma Tomato, Red Onion, Black Olives, Avocado, Julienned Carrot & Cucumber.
Topped with Feta Cheese ...



We find we don't really need a dressing when we've got avocado and feta !

Making Mayonaise ~ The Video

In December of last year, I made my first batch of mayonnaise ... it was great tasting but soooo hard ! It took soooo long ! Not what you want to hear when making mayonnaise ...

After that, my Mom and my cousin had the aioli-sytle throwdown and discovered a new way to make mayonnaise ... a super easy way.

And just to clarify ... aioli and alioli are the same thing. The first is French. The second is Spanish. And I stand corrected !!

Here is the definitive mayo recipe ... the one I use all the time now ... the one I'm going to show you in this video. This 58 second video that shows making it from start to finish and even a shot of me speaking some unintelligible gobble-de-gook at the end !

It is seriously so simple. If you don't believe me ... and you have a stick blender ... try it, just to prove me wrong ! :)

THROWDOWN! Aioli-style

Aunt Kathy and I both had new aioli (garlic mayonaise) recipes to try.
So we had a throwdown!!!

My version was made according to Julia Child's very traditional French recipe.
AK's was made using a stick blender and slightly different ingredients.

We mixed both with some plain, cooked potato (patatas alioli)
and gave Uncle Jim (our judge) a blind taste test!

The verdict:
The traditional method is DELICIOUS! But it is a TON of work.
Be prepared to have your arm fall off from whisking.
On the other hand, this mayo can be eaten without guilt,
'cause you've already worked off ALL the calories!!
The stick blender method is much much much much much much easier.
It's not quite as good, but is a wonderfully acceptable alternative.

Patatas Alioli

Garlic Potatoes

2 pounds potatoes
salt
4 to 6 garlic cloves (I used 6)
1/2 cup mayo
fresh flat leaf parsley, 12 sprigs

Chop potatoes into big chunks like you'd do for potato salad.
Boil 'em to desired tenderness.

While that's happening, mix the garlic (that you've done in your garlic press), and the parsley (that you've chopped), with the mayo.

When potatoes are done, drain, and let cool. (I put mine in the fridge for 10/15 minutes.)
Then mix potatoes with mayo.

Done.

Enjoy.

Yes, you will have garlic breath.

Yes, it is worth it !!

I served this tonight with Pollo en Salsa de Ajo.

Australian Roast Veggies - with a Bonnie Twist

We loooooooooooove veggies done this way !
Super easy. I had some ham steaks in the freezer. Pulled them out to serve with the veggies.
Just heated them up. Made Mom's Pineapple Sauce.

For the veggies :

Cut up whatever you like and lay on baking paper lined cookie sheets ( or baking dish ) I usually do one tray of potatoes and one tray of the rest, since the potatoes take longer to cook. What have I got there ? Potatoes. I slice them about 1/2 an inch thick. Pumpkin. (you could do sweet potato) I do largish pieces. Carrots. I half them and then cut the halves lengthways so thy are flat on one side. Onions, peel and chop in half. Garlic, cut off end but leave in skin. They just pop out once cooked ! ( but if you cook them without the skins, they will burn ) I lay them flat ... not overlapping at all. I rub with olive oil and cook in a hot (180/200 C) oven. I usually do the potatoes for about 15/20 minutes before putting the other veggies in. Then do the rest til they are done. (maybe another 20 minutes but you'll have to play, depending on your oven !!)

The greens. This time I just threw garlic, onion, asparagus into some sesame oil, added bok choy at the end with some soy sauce. Once wilted, I added a bit of balsamic vinegar and pine nuts. Delicious !

Some times I serve the veggies with a bit of Allioli ...

Allioli (from all i oli, Catalan for "garlic and oil", Spanish Ajoaceite from "ajo y aceite" or Alioli) is a typical paste of the Balearic Islands, Valencia and Catalonia. It is made by pounding garlic with olive oil and salt in a mortar until a smooth texture is obtained. It differs from Provençal aioli in that it does not use eggs, although normally a small quantity of egg is added to allow a faster and easier mixing. The mix of eggs, oil and garlic is pejoratively referred as mayonnaise with garlic.

An easy way to make it ... a big blob of mayo with a spoon full of crushed garlic ( I use the stuff in the jar for this quick easy Allioli !! )

And now ... I must go start the day. It's Friday ... grocery shopping day ! Need to get my menu planned and my list made !!