Fun times are made of good friends, good beverages and great food. As a friend once said, to guarantee a stellar party make sure you invite people in the restaurant business. In particular, be sure to include a chef, a bartender and a few other partygoers who are naturally good at both. Anyone can clean up, but leave the important stuff to the pros.



The husband and I hosted our first barbeque of the season this past weekend in celebration of a friend’s birthday. It was either this or drive to Des Moines for all-you-can-eat Sunday crab fest at Anthony’s (birthday girl wish). This is how terrible I am. It was HER birthday, and I ended up making the decision as to how she was going to celebrate it.



This decision actually turned out to be a good one — for many reasons. First, I don’t know how this happened, but my refrigerator has been packed for weeks. Nothing like a good party to take care of too much crap and not enough people in the house to eat it.



I was able to create a nice basic cracker spread with whipped cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onions, capers and dill. Fresh mozzarella is nice to have around in order to create a quick caprese appetizer, and thawed frozen prawns paired with an impromptu dipping sauce (ketchup, horseradish, dill and lemon) provide your guests with a tasty shrimp cocktail. I seriously had all this already available without having to shop.



God bless my neighbor Steve and his “Backyard Garden of Wonder.” He gave me the most beautiful red lettuce for my salad and some homemade hot sauce that could peel the paint off of any surface it came in contact with. Seriously, one drop had me hating life and him. Who can enjoy that, really?



Chef Howie from Pour at Four brought a few of his peeps and an amazing ceviche with bay scallops, avocado, red onions and lots of cilantro. I’m not exactly sure why he left later with a good amount of it still in the bowl, because it was probably the best ceviche I have ever had. Howie, you are welcome to bring that again anytime. Sooner than later, please …



Next, this little soirée forced the husband to pull the gas barbeque out of its winter slumber and clean it up all shiny and pretty. Well, he was able to get it clean. There was a moment of concern about whether it would still work, but all was good once he replaced the empty propane tank. I think we might have one more summer with this bad boy, then it’s dumpster city. Thermos brand should stick to making beverage containers.



We had lots of good wine and beer at this shindig, but I needed to test my new adult beverage creation, the Pear-Pom-Basil Martini, on a discerning audience. Here’s the recipe: two ounces of Absolute Pear Vodka, a twist of lime, a few fresh basil leaves, shaken or muddled, pour into a martini glass and float about an ounce of Pom (brand) Pomegranate-Blueberry juice on top. It creates a really cool effect, and it’s damn tasty!



A few of those PPB martinis later and the husband was dancing around the front yard doing his best Mary Poppins impersonation, complete with one of my vintage coats and an old broken umbrella. Is there something I need to know? Oh, what the neighbors must think.



What fun we restaurant people have when we’re not slaving away for others. We work hard and play hard, so count yourself lucky if you get invited to one of our parties. Just make sure you have a designated driver and someone to clean up, ’cause we can make a mess.



Eat out, Tacoma. We need your love.