Girls' Birthday Dinner

Cool olive dish with goodies from Whole Foods.

On Saturday I hosted a small get together in celebration of my friend Pamela's birthday. We enjoyed a quiet evening with good food, wine and friends. I made the hummus and the salad. The hummus recipe is adapted from a recipe I received from Joseph, a friend of the family. Here is the recipe:

adapted from Joseph's Famous Hummus

2 regular sized can chickpeas
1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
zest from those lemons
3+ cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
extra olive oil for serving
cayenne pepper or paprika for serving

In a blender put drained chickpeas (though you might add in a couple tablespoons of the liquid), olive oil, chopped garlic, lemon juice & zest and tahini. Blend, then stir, blend, then stir as the thick consistency it may not blend easily. Continue until you have a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle additional olive oil over hummus for serving. Garnish with cayenne pepper, paprika, cilantro, olives, parsley and/or cilantro. Enjoy!

Cheese platter with homemade hummus and grapes.

Apple Avocado Salad with Orange Dressing (adapted from this recipe).

Kimberly's Pesto Pasta.



Kimberly's made from scratch buttermilk cake with mocha frosting - yum!