Think back to your best birthdays, what did they all have in common? Most likely there was good food and your closest friends were in attendance. This is what Imgur user VikingWeightlifter had in mind when he planned his birthday soiree, but things did not go as planned.
The self-ascribed introvert shared that his plan was to cook a delicious homemade meal for a large group of his friends and move out of his typically solitary bubble. Well you can plan a good meal but that doesn’t guarantee that people will show up. Out of 27 invites only two of his friends showed up. Instead of following the “it’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to” route, VikingWeightlifter chose to take a more positive approach. Bored Panda has the full story below!
Imgur user VikingWeightlifter recently threw a birthday party and invited 27 people, only 2 of which, showed up
He not only shared his story but his recipe. Here is the finished product first.
The photo ain’t great, but the only non-original, non-homemade things here are the buns and the beer. Well, next time I’ll aspire to make both of those by hand… The buns being a bit easier than the beer, tbh ;)
Stage one!
Shishito peppers and onion rings. Olive oil and salt before grilling!
Stage two!
Mint sprigs, soaked in beer (North Coast “Old Stock Ale”, absolutely delicious) and dipped in a mix of corn starch, granulated sugar, and white flour, before being deep freid.
Stage 2.5 – the resultant deep-fried mint sprigs
These are used as a crunchy topping on the burgers!
Stage 3 – Lamb Seasoning!
Before being BBQ’d, the lamb burgers are mixed with garlic, shallot, curry, mint, sesame, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika!
Stage ????
Salad – I think this one is a bit out of place, because nobody ended up even eating any salad, so, whatever, f*ck it.
Stage 4 – BACON
Smoked over Hickory & Mesquite – Slow Cooked – Flash Fried – Fat-Drained & Set to Cool – Warmed in the over before serving.
Stage 5 – Seasoned Curly Fries and Truffle Fries
Spiraled by hand, and hand cut, respectively. Each was twice fried, twice seasoned, and baked a third time, with rosemary, garlic, and basil from my home “garden” in the back yard.
Stage 6 – Grilled onions
These weren’t home grown, but are local to AZ. I chopped them, oiled them, salted them, and grilled them.
Stage 7 – Shishito peppers
I love shishito peppers, but I have yet to find any locally grown ones. These were acquired from the local super market, cleaned, chopped, lightly oiled, salted, and charred on my grill ’til they were black and tasty.
Onions & Shishitos waiting to be warmed for serving
Stage 8 – Sliced Heirloom tomatoes with the following homemade toppings
Sun-Dried Tomatoes, – Garlic Dill Pickle Slices – Sweet Wine Pickled Onions
I do labels cuz I’m cute like that
The making of da sauce
Oh, this too
It’s pretty easy. Salt, Pepper, Lemon, Lime, Mint, Sour Cream, Olive Oil, Egg-Whites, Dill, & Sriracha. Blitz it ’til tasty.
All the labels
Every of the labels
Fries. All the Fries
Peppers
Bacon
The Lamb Burgers
Charred over hot coals, once per side (no overcooking and multiflipping) with a sour aged cheddar on all except one for my ole ma, who can’t have melted cheese ;/
Another finished-result photo
It might not look pretty, but at this point, considering only TWO people showed up, we’d demolished a significant portion of the strong-AF craft beer I’d bought, and we were pretty plastered.
At the end VikingWeightlifter summed up the whole experience
Here’s what people had to say about it
