KW's surprise birthday lunch

Sometimes I feel bad for the Mister. With marriage and parenting, his frequent catch-ups with his friends have taken a back seat (next to the toddler car seat) and his work doesn't allow him to squeeze in lunch meet-ups. On top of that, a recent business trip before his birthday put a damper on his birthday plans.

Determined to set things straight, I decided to surprise KW and arranged for a couple of his oldest friends to come over for lunch on the day that he came back from Houston.

 Cantaloupe Salsa
 (recipe here)

These days with our disturbingly warm weather, light appetisers are the way to go. A refreshing, sweet cantaloupe salsa
 from Smitten Kitchen did the trick nicely though I am sure I overdid the shallots when I eyeballed the amount.

 Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli (recipe here)

Broccoli, affectionately known as "Brocs" in our household, is a go-to vegetable side dish for me. I decided to borrow this recipe, "The Best Broccoli of Your Life" by Amateur Gourmet, who borrowed it from The Barefoot Contessa Who Lives on the Hamptons with Jeffrey and Her Gay Posse aka Ina Garten. 

Naturally, I am not someone who can adhere strictly to recipes (I think it must be a disease) so instead of pine nuts, I used cashews which, in my Hamptons-humble opinion, works better than pine nuts. 

Chicken Enchiladas with Red Chile Sauce (recipe here)

For our main dish, I made chicken enchiladas. I am not sure why I decided to make them. I have only had them max twice in my life and it's not like I was hankering for Mexican. But I am glad I tried them out because boy oh boy, they were goooood.

Runaway cheese trails that did not escape muh fork...

I used a rotisserie chicken, which meant half the work done, and mixed some gouda with cheddar for more depth. Enchiladas don't make pretty pictures but they make pretty awesome party food. Make them now.

On top of being just wonderful people to be around, the fellas even picked up the birthday cake, Mango Rhapsody from Patisserie Glace, KW's favoritest cake in the entire universe of our tiny red dot.

A fruity paradise consisting of sliced sweet mangoes, fluffy sponge and refreshing pear chunks perched atop an frangi-pane tart shell. A perfect end to a glorious catch-up!

We are off to Seoul tonight for our babymoon! See you later, lovelies...