Birthday Dinner

Today was Daniel’s birthday, so tonight we had a birthday dinner for him at our house. I told him the menu was up to him, and he requested gyoza (pan-fried dumplings) and mango piña coladas. To round out the meal, we asked the guests to provide Asian salads, Samoan chop suey, Chinese barbecued pork, Japanese curry, soft drinks, and cake.

We bought ingredients to make 120 gyoza, though I think we only had enough filling for 114 of them. They may have been the best gyoza I’ve ever made; the minced turkey filling seemed to be spiced with the perfect quantity of ginger and garlic and rounded out with just the right amounts of cabbage, mushrooms, carrot, and shallots. Daniel, Troy, and Kali formed most of them whilst I was busy first boiling and then pan-frying the dumplings. I also cooked up a big pot of rice to go with, and we had two dipping sauces, one quite traditional (soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and chilli paste) and one a bit more adventurous (with basil, mint, sugar, and fresh red chilli).

Once everyone was here with all the food, we had a blessing and began our feast. Once again our dining table was loaded down under a mountain of good eats. There’s simply nothing better than communal eating: Everyone contributes a little, and somehow there’s more food than anyone could conceivably finish off in one go.

After everyone had finished eating, it was time to whip up the piña coladas. We’d gotten a great deal on mangos at the markets earlier, picking up four huge ones that had been marked down because they were a bit overripe—perfect therefore for tossing into the blender with pineapple juice, sweetened coconut milk, and ice. Nita helped me by scooping out the mangos (a task I’m never too keen on since I hate getting sticky), and together we blended three full jugs worth—about six litres. Amazingly, the sixteen of us managed to polish off every last drop.

People had been playing Guitar Hero throughout the night or just sitting in groups and talking. We got three more free dining chairs last week, so, between our lounges and our chairs, we almost had enough places for everyone to sit this time, lacking just one seat. That’s very cool, especially considering how little furniture we used to have just a couple of months ago.

After more Guitar Hero and good conversation, it was time to cut the cake. We had no candles, but I struck a match and stuck it into the top of the cake, and then we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ as fast as we possibly could before the match could burn out. The cake was awesome—dense and chocolaty with a fudgy icing.

As always, I’m immensely glad for good friends and good opportunities to celebrate together.