Party Panic!

As some of you know I threw Mister TS a 35th birthday dinner party a few weeks ago. Over the years of being together I have started to plan way in advance for his birthday as it falls just 5 weeks after New Years, a week before Valentine's Day and now during the week of our wedding anniversary. When he tried on and admired a watch back in December while we were Christmas shopping I bought it quickly without him knowing and kept it hidden successfully. While resting on my laurels I invited his 2 best friends from college and their wives for dinner on the saturday of his "birthday weekend" and when all said they could make it I sat back and relaxed about the birthday plans. Mister TS gave me the new Thomas Keller Ad Hoc cookbook for Christmas and was dying for me to make something from it. I chose a menu included some of our favorite things: butter lettuce salad with bacon and blue cheese dressing (mine), buttermilk fried chicken (his) and something we had never tried Leek bread pudding. That is where I think I lost my mind. Fried Chicken for 6 fried chicken lovers? And I had never done it before? I had confidence, probably too much.

A few weeks before the party one of the wives mentioned that her Mister was going to the Super Bowl. What? It turns out he forgot about the birthday dinner!! I then enlisted my closest friend and her husband to keep it a group of 6 (more festive than a group of 4) and she was happy to oblige and loves fried chicken perhaps more than my husband. Two days before the party I received an email from the forgetful friend saying that he cancelled his trip due to the crazy weather and would be able to attend! Now it is a group of 8 and I begin to truly panic. I decided at that moment I needed some help so that I could prep it all and have someone else fry the chicken when necessary. I started to come to my senses a little bit and asked a fellow school mom who is a private chef if she knew of any students that could come help me. She asked around but did not have anyone! It is now friday morning, the day before the party and I have a morning class and meet up scheduled with some of our Mamas and Masters and a client to see in the afternoon! Luckily plans that morning changed (as plans with the Masters frequently do) so Master D and I went to Whole Foods together and got everything we could possibly need for the weekend menus. The fried chicken and butter lettuce salad became our meal for Super Bowl Sunday and I bought a beef tenderloin for 8, greens and the ingredients for the leek bread pudding.

At 1:00 pm friday the chef friend emails me and suggests I call the French Culinary Institute to ask if they have any students that can help. I call right away and a very nice woman takes my call as if this is a routine matter. She takes my information, what I need and puts a message on the school and alumni message board. By 1:35 I had 2 phone voice mails. I decide to call 1 over the other because I like his name and voice best. It turns out he graduated 2 years ago and is working as a private chef. He has worked at a few nice restaurants in the city (including Jean Georges) but prefers private chef work. He has the Thomas Keller Ad Hoc cookbook and likes and is familiar with my menu! At this point I am so relieved and happy I hire him to cook the whole meal start to finish and clean up. He came at 4:30 (after a trip to Whole Foods for a few last minute ingredients I didn't have) and left at 10:30 with my kitchen spotless while we were eating birthday cake. Everyone stayed until 1 and loved the meal, especially and most importantly Mister TS. And for the first time of my lengthy dinner party history I enjoyed every minute of the evening and even got to partake in the cheese and wine before we all sat down. It was heavenly and not expensive. This is a great way to have a dinner party for a special occasion rather than getting a private dining room or large table somewhere. We saved a lot by drinking our own wine and even with the food and chef costs still wound up ahead(as compared to a restaurant.) I highly recommend for your next special occasion!