Marking the Next 50 Years : Heidi's Feast

We celebrated the next 50 years of our friend Heidi (she just turned 51) by gorging on all these food you can see. For our main dish, birthday girl Heidi brought this fantastic Chicken Cordon Bleu with a Creamy Cheese Sauce. I brought my ever present Pollo al Horno con Patata (please see an earlier post for the recipe) or Roasted Chicken, this time, however, I didn't stuff the chicken with the creamy mashed potatoes. Husband and wife, Tony and Jaena brought their scrumptious Chicken Asado. Notice that we had what I termed 3-Way Chicken : Cordon Bleu, Roasted and Asado.

For the symbol of long life in any birthday party, our friend May, who opened her house for this celebration, cooked her famous Pancit Pata, hmmmm sinfully delicioso. Janet brought some healthy seafood veggie lumpia which I plated for the eye to feast on. Heidi also brought thick and juicy pork barbecue.

For dessert, Janet cooked a whole pot of her luscious Ginatan. Jojo and Monet brought so many boxes of sweet and chewy cassava cake. Rusel brought grapes for us to munch on. Another friend Liz, based in the U.S. sent a Caramel Cake from Estrel's and wine to toast on. I wanted to have a lovely centerpiece so I made the Festive English Trifle (please also see an earlier post) this time using vibrant pink predominantly to match the occasion and my shirt. Now here's the recipe for my heavenly mashed potatoes:

CREAMY MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients :
1 kilo large baking potatoes, boiled and peeled
1/2 block of butter
1/2 cup all purpose cream
1/2 block of cream cheese, softened
salt and pepper to taste
finely chopped parsley

Procedure:

Mash the potatoes together with all the other ingredients. Mix thoroughly to avoid uneven saltiness. Place on a baking dish and garnish with finely chopped parsley. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.