The BIG 21!

...well; not as big as I thought it would be actually.
I haven't been actively bloggin the past couple of days due to busy hours in the kitchen, excessive alcohol and piles of cleaning up to do all over the house. I've got a 'helper' downstairs with the cleaning now; so I have my hands free to get on the computer for a few minutes *evil* Haha.There's lots worth mentioning...so I'll try to get organized in segments ;)

My 'Thank You's
A big BIG thanks to Pinky and Amrit for helping me out! You guys are the best!! They took pity on my 2 days of slogging and self destructive ideas of having a HEAP of different finger food and fiddly details which I should have probably left out. I guess I wasn't going to be satisfied with just ordering pizza and handing everyone a roll of garlic bread each. It was my own way of showing the guests how I appreciated their presence. *smiles*. Which brings me to the next big thank you to everyone who showed up! It meant alot to me and artem...thanks for dropping by to wish us well on our 21st.
And of course...how could I forget...thanks Dad+mom for the huge budget on the party! Although I only managed to spend a small fraction of it on the party, it felt great to have permission to go nuts!
The Preparation3 bruised fingers, 2 tired housemates and 1 sleep deprived cook later; the party looked marvelous! I just wished I had more extra time to make myself look as marvelous before the party began! I pop into my favorite comfy curdroys, smudge on some eyeliner and was on my way back into kitchen to finish up the last minute dishes. *The first door bell rang*. And I was convinced that I had enough food to feed a herd of hungry bulls! *tsk tsk* I was soo wrong...

The Food
We handed out invites to about 50 people in total and I predicted that only 20-25 people would actually turn up. I had to make provisions for those who would be "sick","busy", "tired","sleeping","forgetful" or...well *shrug*; they probably have never had Su-Yin-cooked-food *wink*Haha. I'm actually quite happy we didn't exceed 30 that evening; our tiny townhouse was getting a little cramped and the food wasn't even enough to feed 20! *gasp* Our party began around 6.30...we started eating at 7.15...and table filled with food was almost completely wiped clean by 8pm! Several guests who arrived late didn't have a chance to have most of the better stuff as the early birds devoured their second, third, fourth helpings! I felt a little guilty for not providing enough for everyone; but I guess those who came later didn't really expect to have much food left. I only made 30-ish slices/pieces of many intricate and dainty delicacies and I guess they were the firsts to go.
Menu:
2 HUGE pots of Pasta - 1 with an olive bolognese sauce+ boccocini and the other with a cream based sauce (Pinky helped me Make these!!!) *hugs*- they were yum!
Saganaki- deep fried haloumi cheese cubes on skewers
Chinese Dumplings- With turnip, shallots and minced chicken+pork
Barwan - Deepfried spicy vegetable fritters made with tumeric, coriander and dried shrimp
Roast Pumpkin Salad- This is the first time the guests actually ate their GReenS at our parties! LOL. Usually nobody touches the salad.
Salsa in lavash cups- They were daintily presented with the help of some mini plastic cups.
Beef Stragonof pastries- Made these at the very end; didn't get to take a good picture before it was all gone. I personally don't eat beef but I heard from the others that it was delicious! Here's a picture of one disappearing into Qimyi's tummy.
Egg sandwiches- with a little mint leaf and tomato slice hidden within (AMrit made these! They turned out delicious! Despite how she's had 0.5% experience working in the kitchen. Lotsa *hugs* Sandhu...thanks :))
Smoked Salmon and cream cheese crackers
Made some on soft white bread too- the little herbs are Dill
Baby boccocini's wrapped in prosciutto
Grilled asparagus spears rolled in prosciutto

Turkey and mustard roll ups- I used whole grain mustard and small shreds of gourmet lettuce in between.

Cupcakes - I had SO Many MaNY many cupcakes. Flavours: Lemon poppyseed and Chocolate fudge cupcakes. I made the butterflies with chocolate and the flowers were dried pineapple slices.Coconut tarts topped with mixed fruit- they were filled with indulgent mascarpone cream
Trifle cups- with pineapple slices and homemade custard
Tiramisu cups- with yummy Kahlua liquor and ginger nut cookie crumbs on the bottom.
The CakeInstead of making 2 separate cakes for us each; I decided to just pile them up to make a MASSIVE one! I covered the cake in strawberries to form a huge mountain of fruit and chocolate covered road to our 21st @ key at the other end of the cake. The cake was layered in butter sponge and milk chocolate layers topped with white chocolate buttercream. I bought an entire box of strawberries for this one; but it was definitely worth it! I noticed guests having fun poking at the berries throughout the night. I did my share of 'picking' at the berries too *guilty*I made the cake toppers of me and Artem out of sugarpaste and sat them facing away from each other with berries in between so it wouldn't inappropriately look like a "wedding" cake. A cheeky friend of ours was dying to do some damage to the cake after we were done with the cake-cutting and distributing. *laughs* From the evil grin on his face; I could tell he was having lots of fun with Artem's sugar model. The Guests
Everyone was extremely generous with compliments on the food and it showed how much they loved the food when I had everyones belly bloated by the end of the night. Most guests came with alcohol and some with sweet thoughtful presents and cards...they really didn't have to; I was overwhelmed by all the attention. Thanks dear friends for providing the party drinks, the good wine, strong vodka, cases of beer, beautifully wrapped gifts, wonderful cards, pretty flowers, meaningful presents and sincere hugs. After food; the living room was getting a little crowded and guests poured into the stairwell and outside into the garden where the boys drank vodka and challenged each other to rounds of foosball in the cold weather. It wasn't like any of our other parties where everyone got drunk and could barely get up to leave; this time around I was probably the only one drunk, extremely happy and energetic as I combed through the house filled with friends, entertaining them with my verbal diarrhea throughout the night. And of course, I only discovered all of this the next morning. *tsk tsk* It was a good thing the party was over about 12...I don't think I would have lasted any longer before I did any major 'damage' *I blame shaun*...it wasn't the "White-Russian" this time...It was the "Black"! *laughs*
I would love to extend a special thank you and *hug* to a very sweet little girl who made me a birthday card@drawing; Caitlyn! I'm truly touched and I've have it permanently plastered on my fridge! *proud smile*