Birthday Picnic -

This is a rare personal post on The Rose Table! I had the best birthday today with my friends and I wanted to share some photos with you guys. I spent all afternoon enjoying some of my favorite things (champagne, cheese, and horses) with some of my favorite people.

I didn’t want to cook on my birthday (shocking, I know!) so I did something I rarely do for picnics: I packed up a mini brioche baguette, four cheeses (gruyere, port salut, cheddar, and drunken goat), prosciutto, and Marcona almonds for a cheese board. I also found fantastic grapes and summer-quality strawberries (in January!) at the store yesterday so I packed those as well as sour cream and onion chips because, well, I love them and I won’t apologize for that.

Champagne Picnic Inspiration — I adore my new picnic basket that my sister-in-law got me for Christmas!

I have to point out my brand new coconut bowls! My mom got me a set of six for my birthday. I’ve had my eyes on these beauties for close to a year. They are 100% natural and handcrafted from real coconuts discarded as waste and given a second life as fabulous sustainable bowls. Each one is a slightly different shape and size and they’re super lightweight and durable making them perfect for picnics! You’ll be seeing a lot more of these here on The Rose Table.

For a real treat, I also took a bottle of Veuve Clicquot gifted to me by my dear friend Joseph last year on my birthday so even though he moved out of state, I felt like I sort of got to have him with me! The effervescence of Veuve Clicquot feels so luxurious, especially when enjoyed on a picnic blanket with prosciutto.

I baked cookies ‘n’ cream cupcakes yesterday to enjoy with my friends. I adapted my cookies ‘n’ cream cake and will post the recipe for you later this week. I think they turned out so cute! I’m a sucker for cookies ‘n’ cream and it’s often my birthday cake choice. (It doesn’t count as baking your own cake if you bake the day before, right?)

We had such a ball! So far my new year’s resolution to drink more wine (to enjoy wine is to enjoy life!) is going splendidly.

After the picnic, I headed over to my parents’ house for my birthday dinner. My mom made such a fuss and served the most fabulous dinner: a fig and marcona almond goat cheese to start, grilled tuna steaks, spinach salad with dates and crispy bacon, butternut squash and gruyere gratin (out of this world!), and a lemon chess pie with berries for dessert. Thanks, Mom!