Comfort Chic, or Happy Birthday to Me! cont.

Over the weekend I threw a dinner party - I went a little overboard and got way too much food, spending about $200 at Berkeley Bowl, but at least no one went hungry! I was going for comfort food that was slightly elevated (hence, comfort chic, ha).



The menu:
- Antipasto w/ roasted red bell peppers, hummus, roasted garlic, roasted balsamic pearl onions, olives and chili peppers, roasted tomatoes and Acme bread
- Baked sweet potato fries with chipotle lime mayo (same as before)
- Truffle crab mac n cheese (gruyere, cheddar, and pecorino romano). Because of the oil spill, I had to use canned crab, which worked fine.
- Chanterelles and other misc mushrooms with leeks and roasted chicken from Costco. I wanted to save time! Plus, Costco chicken is pretty money.
- Fried brioche (or, donut holes) with 6 dipping sauces: spicy Mexican hot chocolate, dulce de leche, espresso creme anglaise, peanut butter sauce, huckleberry-blackberry compote (Berkeley Bowl ran out of huckleberries so I had to improvise), and a cranberry-orange compote.

There was kind of a mess, as you can see.

* Update: Here are some less messy pictures. I also forgot to mention the salad, which consisted of arugala, Bartlett pears, toasted hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds, and ricotta salata.