Birthday For Two - End of Summer Party Menu

Party Perfect Specialty Cocktail - The Seabreeze 

This weekend was all about two very special people in my life (one big and one little), and the joint birthday we threw to celebrate them. Because we would be holding the event at my mom's weekend house on Long Island, a barbecue made perfect sense. 

Menu
For the main course, the general consensus was, resoundingly, Filet Mignon - who am I to argue? To make it extra special, I decided to prepare some make-ahead  Bearnaise Butter to melt over the Steaks as we served them.

For the Appetizers, I opted to keep it simple, reverting to a few of my old standbys - a great Shrimp Ceviche Dip that's always a big hit plus a few Cheese & Meat Plates and my favorite summer Caprese-style salad of rich Burrata Cheese, Tomato and Stone Fruit (this time using Heirloom Tomatoes, Plums and Peaches + a garnish of Micro Arugula). 

Dessert was easy (and store-bought, just as I like it) - a stupendous Vanilla Buttercream Birthday Cake from Southampton's Famous Tate's Bakeshop. 

Favors & Decor
Of course, it's not a party without favors. This was a fun challenge because our guests were to be adults and kids. I also had the urge to give out healthier treats (could I be growing up?), yet I needed to make sure they weren't disappointing (remember the lady that would give out raisins back when you trick-or-treated?).  

Favor Bags With Whale Bath Squirt Toys, Photo: NK

That''s why I was thrilled when I found these AMAZING Yummy Earth Organics Lollipops on Amazon (seriously, so good). The pops were perfect wrapped up along with my favorite Fruit Leather, in cute yellow and blue themed bags from Outside The Box Papers. I sealed the favor pouches with anchor stickers (we had a nautical theme) found on Minted.com. In fact, much of our coordinated party decor came from Minted. I also really loved the easy-to-assemble and affordable paper lanterns from Oriental Trading, which is a another great place for all your party needs (thanks to my sister-in-law for the tip). Oriental Trading was also the source of these cute Whale Bathtub Squirt Toys for the kiddies.  

LAST BUT NOT LEAST - Adult beverages!

I don't have to tell you that this is a must. The easiest way to serve a festive, seasonal cocktail is to serve just one kind - in our case, it was my husband's expertly mixed Seabreeze (as delicious as it is easy). And it's on-theme too! With the drinks mixed, I needed only to put out my and my Caprese Salad, Cheese Plate and Salumi Board, it was officially party time. Scroll down for the How To on our Cheese & Meat Plates and here is hoping your end of summer parties are filled with fun, family and great food too!  

The Appetizer Spread: Burrata, Tomato & Stone Fruit Salad, Salumi (Saucisson Sec + Prosciutto + Figs)
alongside a simple Cheese Plate, Photo: NK

French Inspired Cheese Plate, the How-To is below, Photo: NK 

How-To: French Inspired Cheese Plate 
Firm and Soft Cheeses - Cantal (firm) and St. Andre (soft, brie-like cheese)
Tiger Figs
Castelvetrano Olives (Ok- not French but Sicilian, and they're so amazingly good)
Sweet Surrender Black Grapes, or similar  
Carr's Water Crackers 
Italian Parsley Garnish


How-To: Simple Salumi Board
Sauccison Sec, dry French Sausage
Imported Aged Prosciutto Slices, cut into thirds
Tiger Figs

Sweet Days of Summer - Cucumber Margaritas & Fluke Crudo

Cucumber Margarita, Photo: NK 

Ever have a really fabulous weekend from start to finish? 


This past weekend was like that for me. 


Beautiful weather and wonderful scenery (we stayed at my family's home on Long Island) came together with a few fun activities, plenty of relaxation time and a nice meal. 

Let's not forget a drink or two.

The only thing I had to remember on Saturday morning was to begin steeping my Cucumber Infused Tequila for the next 24 hours so it would be ready for cocktail time.

Priorities, people! 


Next we attended the most lovely baptism for a dear friend's little girl. The ceremony was beautiful and the after party was great fun, not to mention beautifully styled:

A lovely baptism, Photos: NK

Here are her sources:

Plantable Pink Lamb Paper Seed Favors (you plant them and they grow into wildflowers!) - Etsy.com

Supremely delicious and beautiful custom Cake from famous Tate's Bake Shop, Southampton

Hand Monogrammed White Tin Pails filled with rocks painted with a cross. So simple and pretty! 

+ lovely seaside venue Cowfish Restaurant. 

It was a wonderful event!

Sunday was set aside for family time so naturally I wanted to plan a menu.
Since we were by the sea, I opted for a quick and classic fish meal. 

Fluke Crudo with Radishes & Cubanelle Peppers, Photo: NK 

We have so many seafood menus here on NK (like this, this and this). That's because seafood is my favorite food and when it comes to making a fast and elegant meal, nothing is better. All you need is a really trustworthy fishmonger and half the work is done. 

I decided to prepare a simple main of Red Snapper & Asparagus on the grill pan, preceded by an appetizer of Steamed Clams as well as a quick Local Fluke Crudo (what's quicker than raw?) inspired by Esca in NYC. 

Crudo actually means raw, and when the word follows the name of a fish, what you're about to eat is basically the equivalent of Italian Sashimi. As with many simple preparations, the key to Crudo is very high quality fish and accompanying ingredients (such as great Olive Oil and specialty Flaked Sea Salt). This article from NPR.com is where I found the inspiration for the below adaptation for Fluke Crudo. It is a great read!! 

Before you cook, you'll need to have Cocktail Hour. For that, we went for the simplest and most refreshing Margarita of them all - no Triple Sec needed! The Cucumber Margarita made with your own house-infused Cucumber Tequila - just let Cucumbers sit in Tequila for 24 hours and voila. Get the recipe on Food and Wine. 

Now, without further delay, here is our Fluke Crudo recipe. Truly delicious and as simple as it gets. 

Here's to another wonderful weekend and many more sweet days of summer to all! 

Choose thin Cubanelle Peppers if possible, Photo: NK

Fluke Crudo with Radish & Pepper
Lightly Adapted from David Pasternack /Esca  
Serves 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients:
4 Ounces of Radishes, cut into match sticks
1/2 Cup thinly sliced Cubanelle Peppers

8 Ounces very fresh Fluke filet, sliced in half lenghtwise and then again into 1/4 inch thick slices (cut against the grain)

2 Limes 
High Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Specialty Flaked Sea Salt (or other good quality coarse grained Salt. (we used French Grey Salt). 

Method: 
In a small bowl, toss the Radish Matchsticks and Sliced Peppers with the juice of half a Lime and a sprinkle of salt. 

Prepare each serving plate by squeezing about a teaspoon of lime juice on it. Place the slices of Fluke side by side or in a fan shape.

Top with equal portions of the Radish and Pepper mix. 

Drizzle each plate a few times with high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 

Finish with a sprinkling of Salt and serve with a Lime Wedge. 

Serve right away and enjoy!