Dinner is Poured, A Birthday Menu

It's time to celebrate one of my best friends. Another year down! I love that we've been friends for 30 years! And I really love that we celebrate our milestones with dinners that now include our spouses and all our kids.

This year, I decided to plan her dinner inspired by the cookbook that one of my blogging friends just published. I was honored to be a recipe tester for Cooking with Cocktails: 100 Spirited Recipes by Kristy Gardner* of the blog She Eats. For months, I was part of a team that tested and commented on her recipes...until she was confident that the recipes were fantastic. And, they are fantastic. Kristy sent me a copy along with the best thank you card. Ever. Look...

And she even signed it for me. Woohoo. "Follow the gin!" Okay!

I can't wait to share some of her dishes with my friends tomorrow.

Dinner is Poured

A Birthday Fête for Jenn’s 44th Birthday

Red Wine Chorizo with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes & Fresh Herbs

Brandy-Laced Chicken Liver Pâté

Framboise Whipped Stilton Cheese Toasts

Cazuelitas de Bacalao

Paired with Donnafugata Anthilia

II.

Winter Greens & Citrus Salad

Martini Puttanesca Topped with Seared Salmon

Grappa Ricotta Gnocchi with Wilted Greens

Paired with Donnafugata Sheherazade Rose

III.

Spanish Wine-Poached Pears

Chocolate Chip Amarula Cookies

Paired with Badia a Coltibuono Vin Santo

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.

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