Seven months ago I got married and at that moment I went from having three wonderful parents to having eight! Blended families are pretty much the norm these days, but I think my husband and I take this to a whole new level. I didn’t know it yet, but at that moment birthdays went from a weekend event to a month long celebration. All I can say is – I am not complaining!
Last night I celebrated my birthday for the third time this month at Ampersand 27. I tend to be the most adventurous family member when it comes to food, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was told to put together a charcuterie board for the table to start. I wanted to choose items that I knew everyone would enjoy and this is what we ended up with:
- Prosciutto de Parma
- Bison Smokies
- Appenzeller
- Pecorino
- Pickled Asparagus Spears
- Hummus
- In House Bavarian Pretzel
- Blueberry & Port Chutney
- Maple Grainy Mustard
I think it’s safe to say I chose well, because the food disappeared in about 2.5 minutes flat. My personal favorites were the appenzeller cheese (perfectly firm and creamy swiss style cow cheese), the bison smokies, and the pretzel with honey mustard (plus it was in the shape of an ampersand – how cute is that??). It was clear that the asparagus had been pickled using fennel, which is kind of unfortunate, as most of the table really dislikes the black licorice flavor it gives. But, overall a huge win.
The “Butcher’s Pride” feature was a meatloaf made with 90% bison and 10% beef, served with tricolor baby potatoes and kale. The “Captain’s Catch” feature was a seafoood green curry with scallops, shrimp, mussels and salmon over coconut rice. I instantly knew what I was going to order – I am a sucker for green curry! Between the five of us, we ordered two of the “Captain’s Catch”, two of the “Butcher’s Pride” and one Organic Free Range Chicken (Apple Hickory Smoke, Honey, Herbs, Little Gems and Vegetables).
Everything was delicious and we all left absolutely STUFFED. It was brought up that we were charged $1 per person for water, but when I saw this on the menu I was totally on board:
Just Add Fudge 