Greg's birthday is today and since we are busy with something else going on tonight, he decided that he wanted a few people over for dinner last night. Initially, this suprised me because usually, Greg doesn't just have a birthDAY, but rather a birthWEEK. Every day in the week he reminds me that its his birthWEEK and thus things need to be extra special. Much to my delight, this birthday seemed to quell that impulse to be a birthWEEK brat. He didn't even give me the list of too expensive presents that he just had to have and instead told me that he just wants an updated Gazettier for his car and then he informed me that he was throwing some chicken on the grill and had invited two friends for dinner.

I inquired whether he would find offense if I just jumped in and took over dinner from him, it was after all, his birthday. So my menu grew from chicken on the grill to:

crabcakes with sage aioli on a bed of baby arugula
chicken poached in lemon and white wine
tri-colored tortolini with an asiago cheese sauce
sauteed baby asparagus with roasted red peppers

His birthday cake was a New York cheesecake (extra crispy on the top) with fresh strawberries marinated in dark rum.

I made my crabcakes with fresh crab, scallions, celery, cayanne, powdered mustard, light mayo, egg as a binder and panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) sauteed in butter. I was told they were very good, though I cannot back that up since I can't taste them without having an allergic reaction.

Enjoy,
Seth