SUPRISES + SWEETS + SAVORY CHEESECAKE
I’ve always had a penchant for throwing parties— especially themed parties. And although none were too elaborate, I’ve thrown a few surprise parties. It’s always fun to celebrate friends’ birthdays and it’s even better when you can surprise them!
This is Ellie. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. Not only is she one of my best friends, she’s also one of my sorority sisters.
Because we now live in different states and she’s in medical school, we don’t get to see each other nearly as often as I’d like. But for her short summer break, we decided to go on a three-day road trip.
To kick off this road trip, however, I decided to throw her a surprise birthday party the day before we left. Unfortunately she couldn’t arrive until late in the evening so there was much less food, fanfare and friends than originally planned.
To be exact, only one friend ended up being able to make it after 10pm but hey, Ellie was still surprised so I’d count that as a win.
This surprise party was by far the smallest I’d ever hosted but it was the most complicated food-wise.
There was cornbread because Ellie had once had it in my house back in middle school.
There were raisin scones because we had baked a massive amount of scones at her house a few years ago. (And we also had high tea back in London.)
There was a raspberry brownie cake with a Biscoff-cream cheese frosting, as a nod to the Biscoff milkshake we drank back in France.
And for the pièce de résistance, a savory bacon-cilantro cheesecake combining Ellie’s love of bacon, cheese and cilantro.
(The recipe will be forthcoming as soon as I make it again for Ellie and can take photos in daylight )
She loved the savory cheesecake so even though the menu was significantly smaller than planned, I think the celebration was a success.
We’re leaving very early tomorrow morning to head up to Vermont and traverse the Vermont cheese trail. Keep an eye out for our New England Sites and Bites Road Trip adventures.
See you in a few days!