birthdays are fun. I love getting people together for dinner or any other reason but I especially enjoy intimate dinner parties and this was a great one. It was Kim’s birthday and we got all of our friends together from Boot Camp to celebrate! Color palette was predominantly orange and the thought behind the evening was “bubbles and birthday” …not so much in the kiddo bubbles (although that was the invite, pictured above) and birthday cake but in the adult version of champagne and cupcakes.

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and of course the food…was INCREDIBLE. As we know, I’m not a cook so I again left that up to the birthday girl and amazing cook, Kimberly Donlon (she wanted to cook on her birthday, I promise!)

This time was a little interesting, Kim told me she was going to make cantaloupe soup and I kinda thought “hmmm! Interesting…not sure about that one but ok…I totally trust her” — it was so delicious. We ALL devoured it in seconds. See below for recipes and don’t miss the cupcake bar at the bottom.

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Smoked Salmon with Basil and Crème Fraîche
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12 4×2 1/2-inch slices smoked salmon
3/4 cup (about) crème fraîche or sour cream or cream cheese
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
12 large fresh basil leaves

Place 1 salmon slice on work surface. Spread 2 teaspoons crème fraîche over salmon. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons chopped basil. Sprinkle with pepper. Starting at 1 short end, roll up salmon slice, enclosing filling. Spread 1 teaspoon crème fraîche over top of roll; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon chopped basil. Cut roll crosswise into 5 slices (keep sliced roll together). Repeat with remaining salmon, crème fraîche, and chopped basil. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Transfer salmon rolls to plate; cover and chill.) Arrange basil leaves on platter. Using small spatula, top each basil leaf with 1 sliced salmon roll, fanning slightly.

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Cantaloupe and Almond Soup
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1/2 cup almonds plus sliced almonds for garnish
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
1 cantaloupe, halved, the seeds discarded and the flesh scooped out
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
lime slices for garnish

In a shallow baking pan toast the unblanched almonds in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 5 to 8 minutes, or until they are aromatic, and transfer them to a blender. Add 1 1/2 cups water and blend the mixture until the almonds are ground fine. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve set over a bowl, pressing hard on the solids, discard the solids, and return the almond milk to the blender, cleaned. Add the cantaloupe, the honey, the lime juice, and a pinch of salt and blend the mixture until it is smooth. Taste, add almond extract for additional flavor, if necessary.  Transfer the soup to a bowl and chill it for 1 hour, or until it is cold. Divide the soup among chilled bowls, and garnish it with the sliced almonds and very thin lime slices.

Serves: 5 1/2 cups, 4 - 6 servings

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Roasted Shrimp Salad
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4 1/2 pounds (12 to 15 count) shrimp
2 tablespoons good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups good mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3/8 cup minced fresh dill
3 tablespoons capers, drained
3 tablespoons small-diced red onion

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel and devein the shrimp. In two batches, place on a sheet pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss together. Spread the shrimp in one layer and roast for 6 to 8 minutes, just until pink, firm and cooked through. Allow to cool for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. When the shrimp are cool, add them them to a large bowl and slowly add the sauce and toss. Add the dill, capers, and red onion and toss well. The flavors will improve if you allow the salad to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Otherwise, chill and serve at room temperature.

Serves 10

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Cupcake Bar
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at least 2 kinds of cupcakes: we had vanilla, chocolate and orange
3 different flavors of icing: we chose buttercream, chocolate and peanut butter
as many different kinds of sprinkles as you want…we had six

We’ve done this at a few parties now and it’s so fun in a small group (less than 20). People love to create their own and try several different kinds of combinations. It’s a huge hit and makes a great (EASY!) presentation.

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party favors… I usually don’t do party favors but this is such a fun group I thought a cd of my favorite mashup artist GirlTalk would be a blast to give out. A framed letterpress card from Color Box Design with the initial K personalized the evening just for her, visit their Etsy shop here.

happy birthday kim!!