Partying like it's 2012

Just a few shots from my 35th birthday extravaganza in September, which included a picnic by the lake, dinner at Umami, shopping at reThreads west and dinner at Eno Vino, and dinner and La Brioche cake at A. + H.'s house. Oh, and the boy bought me my very own bocce ball set. I can't wait to try them out. Woot!

B.'s tutu transformed me into a birthday nymph

Delicious cake from La Brioche

Feting and Salads

Greek salad

This summer when it was excruciatingly hot, I was really into salads. I can't recall which recipe I used for the Greek salad, but here's one from Epicurious if you're interested in concocting it.

Salade Nicoise

Again, I can't remember which recipe I used for my somewhat modified salade Nicoise, but here's a basic recipe from Melissa d'Arabian of the Food Network.

Coq au Vin + Concord Grape Juice

Last week, I made an easy version of coq au vin and Concord grape juice with grapes from my backyard. To simplify the coq au vin, I used rotisserie chicken that I'd frozen, but even making it with regular chicken is dead simple. Who knew such a swanky-sounding dish is actually a breeze? I served it over whole wheat cous cous with steamed haricots verts (those slender French green beans). Delish.

Here are some shots of making the grape juice:

A thoroughly blurry shot of the coq au vin. (Sorry. I think I was too hungry to hold the camera still.)