Post by mccjeff on Sept 19, 2016 15:34:34 GMT -5
My buddy John turned 60 this weekend. This is the guy that collected all the wine for my 60th birthday and took me to Belgium so the party had to be good. But throwing him a party is hard to do. I know, we could have a hot air balloon come and give everyone rides. Nope, he's done that. Twice. Helicopter rides at the party? Done it. Pony Rides? Done it. Give a car as a gift? Done it. Have guests dress up as cows and spell out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"? Done it. Pumpkin cannon? Done it. Like I said, hard to top. So we threw him a surprise birthday party AT HIS HOUSE! Totally caught him by surprise. So much so that he had a contractor come and start his kitchen renovation 3 days before the party. We had to scramble and contact the contractor to make sure he left it in good shape. He did.
Friday morning his fiance took him to Pinehurst for a round of golf on No. 2, dinner and a night at the resort. That is when we got to start on transforming his farm into a party. They came back into Raleigh in time for a bite of lunch at Calavera Empanadas where he was greeted by 30 friends in masks yelling "SURPRISE!" He was so flustered by it that he recognized me but not his son who had flown in from Denver until he hugged him and stepped back and he pulled his mask off. Incredible moment. We had a little lunch then went on our local version of The Amazing Race in downtown Raleigh with all the clues tailored to him and his passion for travel. Every other clue and up at a bar where we all gathered for a drink. Bonus points were awarded for taking selfies with dogs. Hilarious.
After finishing up at NC State in the Free Expression Tunnel where his sister & Brother-in-law had spray painted messages of love to him we went back to the farm. It had been transformed into a place of magic. Dinner for 30 under the stars with a wall of photos of him, a play list compiled for him, lights strung everywhere and games galore. Horseshoes, Polish horseshoes, Can-Jam, Cornhole, a giant chess set, frolf, Operation, Chutes & Ladders, checkers, three legged race etc etc etc.
Then we got serious about eating. He loves the event but equally loves telling other people the story of the event. (As do I) Combine that with the fact that he has never met a story that couldn't be improved and you can see what we were up against. We wanted to be so over the top that he wouldn't even bother to exaggerate. I was in charge of the menu and did the majority of the cooking. I wanted it to be beyond believability so here is what we did...
20 lbs 21-25 of Head off Shrimp
(Stumpy Point, NC)
14 different dipping sauces
Creamy Lemon Dipping Sauce
Cucumber Dill Dipping Sauce
Melting Pot Curry Dipping Sauce
Spicy Brown Mustard Lime Dipping Sauce
Smoked Onion Remoulade
Tangy Garlic Tartar
Yum Yum Japanese Steakhouse White Sauce
Agent Orange Habanero Mango Dipping Sauce
Alton Brown Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce
Bantam & Biddy Piri Piri Dipping Sauce
Chimichurri Dipping Sauce
Italian tomato & Anchovy Dipping Sauce
John Spivey Hot Pocket Cocktail Sauce
Tamarind Dipping Sauce
500 oysters including 100 ea of
Pamlico Sound’s Bounty (Lowland, NC)
Chadwick Creek (Bayboro, NC)
Rappahannock River (Topping, VA)
York River (Yorktown, VA)
Olde Salts (Chincoteague, VA)
4 dozen each of
Oysters Rockefeller
Oysters with Leek Ragout
4 different Hummus
Hummus with Toasted Pine Nuts
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Roasted Jalapeno & Garlic Hummus
Roaster Red Beet Hummus
4 Smoked Pork Shoulders
(37 lbs)
Marinated and Grilled Beef Tri-tip
Potato/Green Bean & Cherry Tomato Salad
Macaroni salad
Coleslaw
Mac & Cheese
Roasted Beet Green Salad
89 ears of Silver Queen Corn from Willow Springs, NC
10 types of Olives
8 types of Cheese
Prosciutto
Sopressa
Varzi Salami
Black Mission Figs
Cantaloupe
Starwberries
3 tiered cake for 60 shaped like suitcases with a globe on top and fireworks for candles
5 gal of Honey Wheat Homebrew
2 100 qt coolers full of probably 20 different kinds of beer
2 cases of assorted red wine
1 case of assorted white wine
Champagne
3L - 2012 Caymus 40th Anniversary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
1.5L - 2007 Tikal Locura Mendoza, Argentina
1.5L - 2008 Anderson’s Conn Valley Estate Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
175ml – 1988 Niepoort Colheita Porto
What's he going to do? Say there were 15 dipping sauces?
Friday morning his fiance took him to Pinehurst for a round of golf on No. 2, dinner and a night at the resort. That is when we got to start on transforming his farm into a party. They came back into Raleigh in time for a bite of lunch at Calavera Empanadas where he was greeted by 30 friends in masks yelling "SURPRISE!" He was so flustered by it that he recognized me but not his son who had flown in from Denver until he hugged him and stepped back and he pulled his mask off. Incredible moment. We had a little lunch then went on our local version of The Amazing Race in downtown Raleigh with all the clues tailored to him and his passion for travel. Every other clue and up at a bar where we all gathered for a drink. Bonus points were awarded for taking selfies with dogs. Hilarious.
After finishing up at NC State in the Free Expression Tunnel where his sister & Brother-in-law had spray painted messages of love to him we went back to the farm. It had been transformed into a place of magic. Dinner for 30 under the stars with a wall of photos of him, a play list compiled for him, lights strung everywhere and games galore. Horseshoes, Polish horseshoes, Can-Jam, Cornhole, a giant chess set, frolf, Operation, Chutes & Ladders, checkers, three legged race etc etc etc.
Then we got serious about eating. He loves the event but equally loves telling other people the story of the event. (As do I) Combine that with the fact that he has never met a story that couldn't be improved and you can see what we were up against. We wanted to be so over the top that he wouldn't even bother to exaggerate. I was in charge of the menu and did the majority of the cooking. I wanted it to be beyond believability so here is what we did...
20 lbs 21-25 of Head off Shrimp
(Stumpy Point, NC)
14 different dipping sauces
Creamy Lemon Dipping Sauce
Cucumber Dill Dipping Sauce
Melting Pot Curry Dipping Sauce
Spicy Brown Mustard Lime Dipping Sauce
Smoked Onion Remoulade
Tangy Garlic Tartar
Yum Yum Japanese Steakhouse White Sauce
Agent Orange Habanero Mango Dipping Sauce
Alton Brown Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce
Bantam & Biddy Piri Piri Dipping Sauce
Chimichurri Dipping Sauce
Italian tomato & Anchovy Dipping Sauce
John Spivey Hot Pocket Cocktail Sauce
Tamarind Dipping Sauce
500 oysters including 100 ea of
Pamlico Sound’s Bounty (Lowland, NC)
Chadwick Creek (Bayboro, NC)
Rappahannock River (Topping, VA)
York River (Yorktown, VA)
Olde Salts (Chincoteague, VA)
4 dozen each of
Oysters Rockefeller
Oysters with Leek Ragout
4 different Hummus
Hummus with Toasted Pine Nuts
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Roasted Jalapeno & Garlic Hummus
Roaster Red Beet Hummus
4 Smoked Pork Shoulders
(37 lbs)
Marinated and Grilled Beef Tri-tip
Potato/Green Bean & Cherry Tomato Salad
Macaroni salad
Coleslaw
Mac & Cheese
Roasted Beet Green Salad
89 ears of Silver Queen Corn from Willow Springs, NC
10 types of Olives
8 types of Cheese
Prosciutto
Sopressa
Varzi Salami
Black Mission Figs
Cantaloupe
Starwberries
3 tiered cake for 60 shaped like suitcases with a globe on top and fireworks for candles
5 gal of Honey Wheat Homebrew
2 100 qt coolers full of probably 20 different kinds of beer
2 cases of assorted red wine
1 case of assorted white wine
Champagne
3L - 2012 Caymus 40th Anniversary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
1.5L - 2007 Tikal Locura Mendoza, Argentina
1.5L - 2008 Anderson’s Conn Valley Estate Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
175ml – 1988 Niepoort Colheita Porto
What's he going to do? Say there were 15 dipping sauces?
