I mentioned that we had a special birthday party for La Señora. Several years ago, we had a 50th birthday party for my friend Scott, the whole shabang, Mariachi, food, wine etc.
We had many of his friends fly down ( good excuse to come down to Mexico) and we were able to pull of a sort of surprise party but nothing like what I was able to do for my lovely wife the other day.
I had told her that we were invited over to the home of one of my friends that owns a small family winery in Sonoma County. We had often gone there for dinners where I would bring one or two of the items for dinner. So on the premise was that we were invited, I mentioned that I was going to do the prime rib and salad for the group. That explained why I was running around the day before and getting some things together.
I had asked my wife's mother to invite as many people as she wanted, basically her immediate family and I invited a couple of her friends. I think I counted a total of about 30 people feasting.
We hadn't had a grand party like this for over a decade so this was a good chance to have a small blow out.
In the past I have cooked a suckling pig for friends' birthday parties or weddings so this would be a grand time to cook one for her. She always keeps telling me how she wants me to cook one. She especially likes the "crispy" skin and the grandeur of the presentation. You can see the before picture on the cookbook site.
On the day of the event I snuck over to the location and put the prepared oinker into the oven , timing it so it would be ready about the time we would return for the "dinner".
I then returned to the winery with my wife and she got the surprise that she deserved. Including a fine roast cochinito in the oven.
You can't have a grand old party without some music, so at the appointed time the local Mariachi show up, the group was called the Mariachi Tarasco, no not from Michoacan but from Santa Rosa.
Talk about being surprised , the look that she, and a few of the guests had made all the hassle and arrangements worth it!
We had a grand time and I think I may start doing this maybe a little more often, no not celebrate her birthday, but have a grand old party.
Maybe every couple of years we can ferry our friends down to Patzcuaro again for my next landmark birthday in 7 years....... If I am still around.
10 comments:
How do we get on the list?
If you promise to bring the pig, booze and band, no problem!
Check with me in 8 years for my 70th...
Why foil on the snout of the piglet?
I can supply my Secret Mojo with which to swab the pig.
(Now, I have to go and invent that mojo.)
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
You really know how to do it up right, señor.
Looks like a small pig - Have seen a number of them roasted in pits - but must take some doing in an oven?
Don Cuevas, I am sure you have lots of mojo's under your sleeve....the next bash will be a lot less expensive. You wouldn't believe the difference in budget.
Felipe, as you have professed before. If you are going to do IT, you gotta do IT right.
Leon, normally you would cover the ears, snout and tail since they will cook a lot faster and you don't want them to burn or darken too much. I already removed the foil from the ears when someone snapped the picture.
Calypso, the pit is actually harder to do. I have done a few, and between the labor of digging the hole, filling it with heavy rocks ( Hawaiian style) getting the fire going and tending the fire, putting the pig in a wire harness or sling of some sort, waiting for the fire to die out and rearranging the coals, lowering the pig, covering it up with leaves and some dirt, then digging it out and removing all the leaves etc..... The oven is a lot less hassle free. Just not the show! At this stage of life, I'll vote for hassle free every time. But will gladly tell someone how to do it....that goes for a lot of things.
This looks like so much work. Easier to just order out. It´s why God invented money.
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