J Crew: How-to Host: A Cheese Party

When I was little, I remember having themed birthday parties -- think Disney Princesses, Little House on the Prairie and countless middle school slumber parties. As I've grown older, I've missed the excitement of a themed birthday party. Thankfully our seminary friends are really good at having themed parties. Last year we celebrated our friend, Lauren, with a "favorite things" surprise birthday party. All of her favorite foods were there. Our other friend, Quentin, had a beard birthday party. So, when it was my turn, I thought about a theme for me. One of my favorite things in the world is cheese. I told Kyle that I would love to have a cheese party for my birthday, so we did just that. It was such a hit. Do yourself a favor, have a cheese party sometime with your friends (birthday or not). It's just too much fun! Here's the scoop and a little "how-to host."

Having a cheese party can be expensive to host if you're planning on providing all the cheese. So, we asked each couple/family to bring their favorite block of cheese along to share. With a little bit of communication, the result was beautiful. We ended up with Sharp Wisconsin White Cheddar, Extra Sharp New York White Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar, Brie, Gouda, and a Cheeseball. And my wonderful co-worker, Sarah, made me a beautiful strawberry cake to share with our guests!

As hosts, we provided crackers, baguettes, jam, marinated olives and sparkling cranberry lemonade. The following are my best recommendations and recipes!

- Trader Joe's Cracker Assortment (the peppered crackers are my absolute favorite!)
- Kroger Country Club Wheat Crackers
- Wheat Thins Tuscan and Herb
- Panera Bread Baguettes. The Seminary receives free bread every Monday, so I picked up four baguettes for the party and we really could have used more (to serve 16).
- Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves. Listen to me people, this stuff is straight from France. There's no messing around with Jam anymore. Bonne Maman is the real deal and you can even find it at Kroger!

Marinated Olives Recipe

What you'll need:
- 1 13 oz. jar of Kalamata Olives (pitted) or any olives that you'd prefer
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and minced
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (leaves removed from stem and chopped; discard stems)
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary (leaves removed from stem and chopped; discard stem)
- 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
- 1 tablespoon of freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:
1. Drain olives, then chop all olives and move to a separate bowl.
2. In a medium skillet, over medium-low heat, warm olive oil, garlic, herbs and lemon peel until fragrant (2-3 minutes).
3. Add olives into the skillet; toss until they're well coated and warmed through
4. Remove olives from skillet to a bowl and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until ready to serve.
5. Prior to serving, add Parmesan to the olive mixture and toss well.
6. Serve marinated olives with small toasts

Cranberry Lemonade

I don't have particular measurements for this. I just used a half/half mixture of lemonade and Cranberry Sierra Mist. I added cranberries and sliced lemons to garnish. Waaa la!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is that. The party was SO much fun. It was definitely one of my favorite birthdays. Wonderful company, golden baguettes, jam, cheese, friends, homemade birthday cards and flowers -- it was all so perfect. I'm so grateful for such a wonderful season at seminary and some really classy friends!