Mezze Plates for a Mid-Summer Birthday Party

When I decided to do a dinner party for my daughter's 25th birthday, I wanted to spend time with the guests rather than in the kitchen, so I decided to do a whole meal of appetizers. This is one of the meals from "Vegetarian Suppers" and I decided to do it up big. You can scale down and just select a few if you're trying to use up leftovers and leave the oven off during the summer time, or you can dress it up and make it elegant. For the party, I opted for a combination of elegant and playful - fancy cocktails, flowers, party hats, play dough, temporary tattoos, and bubbles.

Here's the spread I provided for my guests (10 people total). Click on hyperlinks to go to the blog post for that item:

From the Garden

Cherry Tomatoes

Sliced, salted radishes

Pickled carrots

Roasted red peppers

Cucumbers with salt, lemon, and dill

Fennel slices

Green beans with herb vinaigrette

From the Pantry and the Fridge

Tamari Almonds

Humboldt Fog Blue Cheese

Bread from the local bakery

Tiny dill pickles

Make Ahead Salads & Other Recipes

Cool Rice & Cucumber Salad

Baked Kalamata Olives

Cabbage Leek Gratin with Mustard Cream

Watermelon Mint Feta Salad

Fried Halloumi Cheese

Feta & Ricotta Skillet Pie

Romesco Sauce (Went great with the bread, the feta and ricotta skillet pie, and the fried cheese - maybe other things, too)

Beverages & Dessert

Julie-O cocktail

Wine & beer

Birthday cake from a local bakery

Smores around the campfire late in the evening.

And here's the happy birthday girl!