Simply Appetizing

When you are celebrating a milestone birthday or just a girl's night in and you are providing the meals, why not make it easy for yourself? I have assembled some of my favorite store bought or easy to make dishes that can feed a crowd or just and intimate gathering. I believe that the guide to any successful gathering is made up of no more than 5 different items to eat and 2 desserts. Drinks of course are unlimited.

The Food
Crispy shrimp dim sum you "made"consisting of spring roll, wonton and shrimp purse complete with an authentic Thai sweet chili sauce. Courtesy of Phillips and a toaster oven set to 300 degrees until GBD (golden brown and delicious).

crispy dim sum
Second mini bite: Sliders. perfect one handed classic burgers on the grill with mayo, ketchup and raw onions. Here's the how. Take your ground chuck or sirloin and shape into 1 inch patties. season liberally with Kosher salt and pepper and grill until desired doneness. The meat must have fat. I used a 85/15 fat to lean ratio for moist burgers you can assemble and cook when party arrives. Or better yet let them do the cooking.

Sliders

Third mini bite: Salad. To help with the richness of a burger or fried anything. Take your favorite lettuce and season with olive oil and balsamic vinagrette salt and pepper. Add a squeeze of orange for some sweetness. Crisp and refreshing. A nice alternative to any vegetarians at your party.

Salad

Fourth mini bite: Shrimp Cocktail. No party is complete without it! You can purchase it from a fish monger or supermarket chain. But if you have some time during the day, you can prepare the flash frozen shrimp yourself at more than half the cost. Your choice. The sauce can be from a jar or using ketchup, hot sauce, horseradish and some lemon juice you can make your own.

Shrimp Cocktail

Fifth mini bite: Can be any assortments of potato chips and dips. Try to get baked chips and use salsa instead of creamy based dips. You will want to save the calories for dessert!

Chips and salsa

The Drinks: Have no less than 3 types of beers: Dark, light and a standard brand. For liquors, vodka works best as it can be combined with anything. Or use a rum, My fave is Bacardi, it pairs well with anything. And for the SATC loving ladies, you can buy Smirnoff's apple martini blended. If you have wine afficionados, get one quality white and one red. You don't even need to spend over 10 bucks for each. A great white Ecco Domani Pinot grigio 2007 is 9 dollars.

Cheap White Wines

Corona beer 

The Dessert: Saving the best for last. Here may I strongly suggest you forgo the "homemade" You know cake from a box and spend a couple of bucks at a great Italian bakery or restaurant. My pick: Edgar's Cafe. Get the birthday girl or boy or bring over to a house warming a chocolate mousse or tiramisu. Just in case someone does not like either, bring some Ben and Jerrry's. 

Chocolate Mousse

If you get people to do some of the work themselves, then you can actually enjoy your next birthday or gathering. Put on a great CD or watch a cheesy flick and have fun!

Cheers