birthday celebrations, part 1

Our birthdays are 3 days apart, so each year brings a bundle of joint festivities and this year was no exception. Let's begin at the beginning...

Wednesday was my birthday, and I woke up to tea in bed and loads of fab pressies. I was seriously spoilt by the wonderful people in my life...and I just love it! Later that morning was the USA vs Algeria game, and I am happy to report that the anniversary of my birth brought the boys some good luck.

After the game, we returned to my office to share some coconut custard birthday pie (my fav) with the work friends. Yum.

The day ended splendidly with a great meal at home. I'm much more apt to want to cook a really decadent meal at home than go out, and we had a fun time cooking, singing, and dancing around the kitchen together. Being the mildly food-obsessed person that I am, I planned a menu a few weeks ago that included some of my favorite ingredients and dishes. 

We started with rosemary peach champagne cocktails (recipe at the end of the post). Nothing tastes more celebratory than champagne. 

prosciutto and melon for a starter

veggie and shrimp paella for the main course

and berries and cream for dessert

The courses fit wonderfully together, were really scrumptious, and provided some tasty leftovers. All in all, it was a great start to the end of my 20s!

Rosemary peach champagne cocktails

(adapted from Cooking Light magazine)

1 bottle champagne or sparkling wine

2 peaches, diced to 1 inch pieces

1 spring rosemary

honey

1 cup water

Put water, rosemary, and honey (I eyeballed this, but estimate I used about 1/4 cup) into a small pot and bring to boil. Let boil for roughly 5 minutes, then remove from heat and cool to room temp. Remove rosemary. Place peaches and rosemary simply syrup into blender and blend until smooth. Pass through sieve to remove any pulpy bits (and use this pulp in a smoothie- it's delish!), and then let this rosemary peach puree sit in your fridge for 4 hours (better if overnight). I made these up by putting 4 Tbs of the peach mixture into a glass and then topping with champagne, but the champs really reacts with the peach and gets very foamy and hard to pour. Instead, mix half the peach mixture with a bottle of champs in a pitcher, taste, and add more peach as necessary. Garnish glasses with a rosemary spring, and enjoy!