Happy Birthday, Oscar!

To celebrate Oscar´s birthday this year (May 18th), we invited some friends over and I prepared a miniature American dinner: mini hamburgers, mini hotdogs, orzo salad, french potato salad, spinach-tortellini salad, birthday cupcakes and browines.

For the hamburgers, I used a combination of ground beef and pork instead of just beef and it was delicious. I made them about as big as the palm of my hand but pretty thick so they wouldn´t get too well-done. I pan-fried them for about two minutes on each side and then put them on a baking sheet and topped with cheddar cheese. When the guests arrived, I popped them in the oven to heat through and melt the cheese. Then I used media-noches, which are small rolls similar to an eggknot roll, as the bun and piled on lettuce, tomato and red onion. I inserted a tooth pick to keep them together.

For the hotdogs, I boiled traditional Oscar Meyer dogs just until almost done then crisped them up in the pan with a little olive oil and butter. (A trick I learned from Rachael Ray!) Then I used refrigerator pizza dough for the bun. Oscar helped me roll them up and I brushed with egg wash and popped them in the oven while I was assembling the hamburgers. They only take about 10 minutes.

I pretty much followed the salad recipes. Except I didn´t add mint to the orzo salad. The spinach-tortellini salad was inspired by a Rachel Ray recipe that Angela and I have perfected. Also, for the browines, I didn´t add coffee because Oscar doesn´t like the flavor. I have tried it in the past and think it is a nice complement to the chocolate. This time my brownies were very dry and crumbly but they tasted good :) I am still getting the hang of different ovens, ingredients, and cookware.

The most important thing to remember when hosting a party is to have fun and be a guest. Nobody wants to spend the party in the kitchen. It always helps to have a double oven, or at least one that will cooperate (the one I was using is not up to par but works). The good thing about the salads is that you can make them in advance. I recommend not adding the dressing until you plate right before your guests arrive. And, when using spinach as the base of your salad, make sure to add it last because it will wilt in the fridge.

Oscar liked the cupcakes so much that I made another batch with chocolate frosting for him to take to work to share with his friends :)