Jewish Birthday Brunch for a Dear Friend from San Francisco.

At the Saturday Dinner Party,  

We gave this book for messages from guests who were there to celebrate

My longest on-going friendship is with non-Japanese friend. It is almost 30 years.
I met her in New York, when my English was almost nonexistent. Even though she has a PHD in Linguistics, she doesn't speak Japanese even now. 
I don't know how we communicated with each other, but we surely understood who we were from the moment we met. Maybe it had something to do with what we were wearing in those days. We have a long history.
I visited her in Princeton, Boston. 
We even met in Hawaii, and even in Paris for one of my big birthdays.
Now she lives in San Francisco with her husband and a cat in a Fabulous Edwardian House in Mission District.  When we visit SF we stay in the"Pink Room" on the second floor which next to the"Perfect Room". 
We have nicknames for every room in their house.
I have to talk about their house sometime when we go visit SF.
Her birthday was in March.  This year's birthday was one of the big ones. 
To celebrate this one, they planned to come visit New York City. 
They invited 22 friends from California to New York, some of guests came from all way from Japan and Thailand.
Since she was doing a Big Party at the restaurant on Saturday, I decided to throw "Birthday Brunch Party" on her actual Birthday. I told her that party was the Birthday Gift for her from Jonathan and me.

< Jewish Delicacies plus One >

Sauteed Mushrooms with Balsamic Vinegar reduction in Endive cups.

This was non Jewish Hors D'Oervres. 

Rosemary & Parmesan & Sea-Salt Matzoh.
   

Bagels and Cream Cheese with Scallions & Peppers.

Smoked Sable Slices on Cucumber Ribbons.

Smoked Salmon Slices on Cucumber Ribbons.

Potato & Kasha Cocktail Knishes

Since she is originally a Jewish girl from New Jersey, I chose to do it with her favorite foods in NY which she can't get in San Francisco.  We went to the Lower East Side to get Knishes and Smoked Sable and Scottish Salmon. 
She is almost a Vegan, but she loves smoked fish specially "Sable". 
To go with fish, I had to have "Bagels" for a Jewish Brunch. For Knishes I made Apple Sauce with Fresh Horse Radish that I found in the Farmers' Market.
She loves Vegetables, especially pickled ones.  So, I had to make more than one kind of pickle for her, hopefully they would go with Smoked Fish and Knishes. 
If I could get many vegetables for crudite basket,  I was more than happy to make a huge one, but Spring is not quite here yet. Choice of veggies at Union Square is very thin. So, I had to come up with somethings as Side Dishes. I tried to make as many vegetable dishes as I could for this very special Birthday Brunch. 

 < Trio of Pickles >

Pickled Carrot Slices with Meyer-Lemon & Ginger & Jalepeno  

Pickled Daikon Sticks with Orange & Ginger.

Pickled Cherry Tomatoes with Red Onion & Cardamon & Garlic.

There are dishes I must make for any Brunch or Dinner Party. 
Some things I served for many occasions during Fall and Winter became my signature dishes. As I said before, Spring Vegetables are not available yet at the Market.  So I need to repeat some of dishes I made and posted on previous Blogs. Mind you, those dishes were still new for the guests I had on Monday. Some of guests asked me for those recipes. And what kind of "Mandolin" I used for slicing. The answer for that was simple, very inexpensive plastic hand-held one which I got 3 years ago in Tokyo. Since then I'm using it to slice everything from Carrots to Watermelon-Radishes to Cucumbers. It is my most trusted Kitchen Tool I ever had. Believed it or not, it cost me only $15 at "Tokyu Hands"(my favorite store in Shibuya). They sells everything which has to do with DIY, sewing, cooking, crafts, carpentry, even gardening. 
I can spend hours in that store.....

< Staple Dishes for Fall & Winter >

Jerusalem-Artichoke with Orange Gremolatta.

Julienned Salad

Yaki-Onigiri (Roasted Soy glazed Rice-Ball)

By the way, the first time I tasted my favorite Winter Vegetable "Watermelon Radish" was with them at the Ferry Building's Farmers' Market in SF about six years ago.  For that reason, I had to use it for the Salad. 
"Watermelon Radishes" will loose colors when you cook them. 
So I prefer to serve them raw because they are very pretty vegetable as you know by now. 
I also had to have some Japanese Dishes to make guests know I did not lose my Japanese roots, even though I'm living here for long time.
"Onigiri" is the most popular snack in Japan like Bagels in New York. So I decided to make them with some twist. Oven Roasted Small Rice Balls would go nicely with my three pickles. That was my Japanese touch to the Jewish Brunch Menu for that very specials occasion.

< The Birthday Cake >

Cornmeal Cake with Rosemary Lemon Glaze.

Accompanied by Selection of Tea.