Birthday 26

Happy 26th Birthday to me! Well, technically I won't be 26 until tomorrow, but we celebrated on Saturday.

I once again decided to go with an Iron Chef theme. I have thrown myself a birthday party for many years now (ever since I went off to college). This is because when I was a kid, I only got a party every other year. Then, when out on my own, I decided that I would not wait for someone to throw a party for me ever again. I would throw my own parties and they would be amazing! And they have been. Themes from past parties include: Becky's Bestest Birthday Bash, Superheros/Villains, Prom, and ... well I don't actually remember the others. But, two years ago, I held an Iron Chef party with an Orange theme (the fruit, not the color). This party was a success and I had finally found a lasting theme.

Thus, this year was once again an Iron Chef party with the secret ingredient being Coconut! Everyone was instructed to bring a dish containing coconut to the party.

We had a ton of food! The key ingredient to every good party. Everyone was able to eat, judge, and enjoy. There were a lot of fun dishes this year. I decided to vary from my previous decision to make my own birthday cake this year and I made a savory dish instead. I made coconut crusted crab cakes with lime sauce. I thought that they were really good, but the judges did not put them in first place. Matt made coconut shrimp with peanut sauce that also turned out really well.
But, the dish that won (supposedly) were these hamburger cupcakes. They didn't actually contain any meat, but had mounds of frosting in the middle. But, upon reviewing the tally sheet the day after the party, I realized that there was a mistake! Someone misjudged the cupcakes and scored them out of 10pts for plating rather than 5pts. Thus, giving them an extra 4 pts! Aha! I was very pleased with this discovery because even though the cupcakes were very pleasing to look at, they were yucko.

So, I am proud to announce that the winning dish was actually *drumroll* Coconut Chicken with sweet sauce submitted by Anne Aguilera! Congratulations Anne, your dish reigned supreme and you ARE the Iron Chef.
We actually had a really good turn out. About 30 people and a gaggle of children showed up to the party. And, even though the chicken ranked highest, my favorite dishes were the coconut curry submitted by Laura Brockbank and the pina coladas by Marie Mecham (very refreshing).
Everyone seemed to have a good time except for Nicole who was very upset by all the people at her house. But, I enjoyed myself and I think that that is what matters most.