We had Richard's 40th birthday party on Saturday, and it was tremendous fun  - the house was full of people until the wee hours of the morning.  The food was very well-received and completely devoured.  I made:

beef empanadas
tunisian chicken skewers (marinated in garlic, ginger, mint, coriander, cumin, and turmeric)
two kinds of mushroom caviar (thanks, Yevsha & Morwenna!  I made both recipes and they both were highly yummy, although fairly significantly different as it turned out) with black bread and carrot chips for the gluten-sensitive
a fruit-and-cheese selection with a (purchased) date-nut bread
two pans of apple kuchen in lieu of birthday cake, of which there was not one scrap of leftover, which made me a little sad because YUM!

Sarah also brought bacon-cheddar popcorn, martini olives (marinated in vodka and vermouth), and bacon-peanut-chocolate truffles. 

Two things stand out about the party.  
One was the realization that parties will be so much better once the remodel is done, because the kitchen will double in size and triple in efficiency.  As it was, I had to chase people out of the kitchen every time there was work to be done, just so that there would be room to work.  *sigh*  Someday....   The other was my encounter with Non-Sequiter Lass, also known as David's daughter Ellie.  As I let the family in the front door, the conversation went like this:

Ellie: "Is it Richard's birthday?"
Me: "It is!"
Ellie: (without pause) "I'm a girl!"
Me: (with a noticeable pause) "So am I!"

That satisfied her, and we went up the stairs. 

It sounds a little weird, but it tastes yummy - like a smokey sort of pecan praline with salty deliciousness!

And if certain ill-informed people think it sounds disgusting and put wildly biased polls in their LJ to make it sound gross, all I have to say is, hmph.  Try it, then tell me you don't like it.   

Hmph.

Per request, here is the story of the anvil cake:

( how to make an anvil out of cookies )