buffalo wings and baby birds

Last weekend I catered a graduation party for my friends Ross and Jimmy. Their son was graduating from high school and they threw a backyard party for about 60 people. It was my first catering job post-baby and I was a little unsure of how I'd get all the work done, but somehow I did. It was more intense because I had to pack it all in to just a day and half, but having a baby really does make you budget time more effectively.

Plus, I had a little "helper" encouraging me from the sidelines.

I made "bombay sliders"- little mini turkey burgers with spices like cayenne and cumin and a garlic curry sauce. I made them for a party I had a couple of years ago and they were a hit. I didn't snap a picture of them because I was too busy setting everything up at the party when they finally got put together.

But here is the huge pot of meat I mixed up before rolling it into about 100 mini patties.

The one thing the guest of honor requested were chicken wings, a favorite of the high school aged crowd. I had never made them before and am not a fan of them usually, but I found a recipe that had a lot of good feedback and I was surprised at how good they turned out. I bet people went to town on them at the party. A friend who was there raved about them afterward. They were pretty labor intensive but totally worth it. They tasted just like the kind you get in a bar, only slightly better because mine were baked. Calling them healthy would be a stretch (they are dredged in a flour and spice mixture, then soaked in melted butter and hot sauce before being baked), but still better than deep frying.

In addition to the chicken and burgers I made three salads: herb potato salad (from Ina Garten's recipe), a couscous with roasted zucchini and peppers and a spinach salad with cannellini beans and a nice shallot vinaigrette. Again, too busy to snap photos of the finished products, but here are a few of the prep, with June supervising from her chair.

my other companion in the kitchen

I think my friends were really happy with the food and I am sure it was a great party. Now that my first post-baby catering gig went well, I think I'm ready to dive back in. Bring on the parties! If nothing else, I will be cooking for a crowd again next month for June's first birthday party. And I always want to throw a big party for Daniel's birthday but he almost never wants one, preferring instead to go camping or do something small. Boring.

In other news, my little girl is getting ready to walk!

And our screened porch is almost done! Sadly, not in time to beat the terrible storm we had the other night, but it survived. Just needs the door and we are good to go! I will be so happy to have a little bug-free oasis for me and my girl to hang out on.

And lastly, we spotted this mama bird in her nest steadfastly protecting her babies after a heavy rain exposed their home. After the storm, I saw the empty nest still in the tree outside our porch. I hope they made it safely to another location. It's been a pretty wild Spring in Tennessee.