Event Planning
Pumpkin Carving 2013
Hey everybody! Happy Halloween! I just had my annual Pumpkin Carving this past weekend. Sure it was cold and it did rain a little bit, but I think everyone had fun. We even did it up a little bit and put some bales of hay around the fire pit so folks could carve and still stay warm. And we did have a fire extinguisher on hand because having a bunch of dry straw next to an open flame isn’t exactly the safest thing to do.
Folks brought some stuff to share like a nice rice salad and a yummy warm spinach dip. We provided the pumpkins and made a big batch of chili. I baked a whole bunch of stuff as well:
Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Pepita Lavender Brittle
Savory Pumpkin Rugelach
Ciderhouse Whiskey (Saveur)
I also made a Harvest Spread, but that was from a mix (I know). I’ll get the recipes up as soon as I can. Well, maybe not the Brittle recipe because I have done a Lavender Pepita Croquant before and the recipe is very similar. On a weird side note, apparently I am the country’s leading expert on Pepita Croquant. I did a Google search to do some research and there I was — I took up the top three spots. Weird and unexpected, but still kewl. Anyhoo, keep an eye out for the recipes and be safe during the holiday!
Fall is almost here!
Fall is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it — the smells, the cooler days, the crisper nights, the colors, the pies, Halloween, Thanksgiving, volleyball and football start up again — what’s not to love? Alright, I admit there is one thing I don’t like — cleaning up all those damn leaves on my property. I own about an acre of land with maybe 20 giant oak trees. So the leaves can pile up and pile up quickly. And unlike in some neighboring cities, I can’t just push my leaves into the road, so I either have to do it myself or hire someone else to do it. But that’s a whole other issue. . .
Anyhoo, I saw this the other day on Facebook and wanted to share. This appeared on my feed from the magazine Midwest Living. This sums up everything that is awesome about Fall and I wanted to share it with y’all. What do y’all like about Autumn? Just let me know — either here or on Facebook! I gots a recipe for some Gluten-Free Rocky Road Brownies coming up later this week, and hopefully some other fun stuff.
Stay tuned!
Watermelon Punch
It’s August and Summer is in full swing here in Michigan. Actually, with the weather we’ve been having here the past few weeks, it feels like Fall. Not that I mind the cooler temperatures; I’m just hope the mild summer is not going to translate into a brutal winter. But enough about that — nothing says summer quite like a nice boozy watermelon punch.
I did just have my summer shindig recently and made this again. I usually have 4 big get-togethers each year when I invite my close friends (actually I consider these guys to be family) and treat them to some free food and booze. Sure this explanation is a little simplistic, but y’all don’t need to get into my big bag of crazy when it comes to planning and prep. I actually don’t remember what else I made, other than stuff on the grill. But I did remember this! Making this concoction this time seemed a lot easier, but last time I was face down in my backyard all afternoon so who knows what my recollection can actually count for. And, of course, I could not find my old recipe no matter how much I looked around for it. So this is a whole new deal.
Now I really like this recipe. I didn’t think it was overly sweet and you could still pick up on all the ingredients. And if you are like me, you may just have a couple of portions of mint syrup just hanging out in the freezer for emergencies.
I did hollow out the watermelon and use it as a serving utensil, which is completely optional. I like the presentation. If you were interested in serving it this way but don’t know where to get a spigot like this, you could check out your local brewer’s supply shop. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 watermelon (medium-sized, I guess. Use the pictures as a reference)
- 1/2 – 1 c. vodka
- 1 c. cachaça
- 1 1/2 c. rum (I used a dark 8-year-old rum)
- 4 oz. Midori
- 6 limes, juiced
- 2 c. mint syrup
1. Take your watermelon and see if it’s able to stand on its end. If not, just cut off a small slice to level it off, making sure not to expose any of the inner flesh.
2. Cut off the top couple of inches of the watermelon to expose some of the red flesh inside (wow that sounds a little macabre). Using an ice cream scoop, start scooping out the fruit (berry?) and place it in a food processor. Pulse it in batches until smooth and run the purée through a fine sieve set over a large bowl.
3. In a large pitcher or jug, combine the vodka, cachaça, rum, Midori, lime juice, and mint syrup. Stir to blend.
4. Add the strained watermelon juice and stir to combine. You can refrigerate this overnight, just be sure to mix it before hand.
5. Pour yourself a little happy. Add some ice if you like!
Notes — you may want to run the watermelon through a very fine sieve. you could just line a sieve with some paper towel, but that sounds like a long process. . . if you cut off too much on the bottom to level the watermelon, it’s not the end of the world. just be sure not to hollow out the watermelon too much or you will have a boozy, leaky mess on your hands. . . also, be careful not to take out too much of the pulp (is that the right term?). if you are overzealous with your scraping, the hollowed out shell might crack and there’s another boozy, leaky mess. . .
Quick cocktail party appetizers #3 — Gluten-Free Black Forest Cakelets
Yes, yes — this isn’t an appetizer; that’s confession #1. But this is Part 3 of my “series” about a not-so-recent bourbon tasting / cocktail party. This was my dessert offering and it’s gluten-free! Confession #2 — this really isn’t a Black Forest Cake. Actually this is a version of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Chocolate Feather Bed, which is the background image of my blog. One variation is that I have a middle layer of cherry preserves — so not a real Black Forest cake. I do make a mean Black Forest Cake though! And Black Forest Cake Day is on March 28th (which is my blogiversary in case I didn’t mention it before 🙂 And I think I’ve figured out my blogiversary give-away, but more on that later). Confession #3 — it’s not exactly quick. The cake itself bakes in 16 minutes, so that part is quick, but there is a lot of chilling involved, which takes time.
In my opinion, this cake is definitely better presented pre-sliced, as opposed to whole. If it was whole, it would look like a giant chocolate slab covered with chocolate curls. Which might not be too bad, if that’s what you’re going for. But again — just my opinion. It might be nice to have a giant chocolate block on your table; it could be reminiscent of the monolith in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. What a great theme party!!! Everyone could wear space suits or ape suits, you could use one of those pod things as an entry portal, or maybe make one of those warp-light-tube thingies, and just play the Blue Danube on a loop. But I digress, here’s what you need:
For the cake: (you will need 2 batches)
- 4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
- 6 eggs, separated
- 1/4 c. sugar, plus 2 T.
- 3/4 t. cream of tartar
- chocolate curls (for garnish — I used dark, milk, and white chocolate just to add some visual interest)
- Cherry preserves
1. Coat a half sheet pan (17 1/4″ x 12 1/4″ x 1″) with shortening and line with parchment with a 2″ overhang. Spray parchment with baking spray with flour (like Baker’s Joy or something like that).
2. Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and allow to heat for about 20 minutes, which should be more than enough time to put together the batter.
3. Melt the chocolate in a bowl (either in the microwave or over a double boiler). Allow to cool until still fluid but no longer warm to the touch.
4. Beat the yolks and 1/4 c. sugar in the bowl of a mixer on high for 5 minutes, until ribbon stage. Scrape the chocolate into the bowl and mix on medium until fully incorporated, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as needed. Transfer to another bowl.
5. In a very clean bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. With the beater off, add the cream of tartar; beat on medium until soft peak stage. Raise the speed to medium high and gradually add the 2 T. sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.
6. Mix in about 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten. Gently fold in the rest of the meringue and when incorporated, scrape into prepared pan. Level off with an off-set spatula.
7. Bake for 16 minutes; until . In the meantime, prepare the batter for the next cake so it is ready to go when the other cake comes out of the oven. Cover with a dry towel and allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
8. Gently remove cakes from the pans using the overhang to lift. Stack the parchment-lined cakes one on top of the other and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. This makes the cakes easier to work with.
For the chocolate whipped ganache:
- 8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped fine
- 2 c. heavy cream
- 1 t. vanilla
1. In the bowl of a food processor, chop chocolate until very fine.
2. Scald the cream and with the motor running, gradually add the cream to the chocolate. Process until smooth, just a couple of seconds. Chill until cold, either in the fridge or in an ice bath. Stir while chilling, about every 30 minutes; if using an ice bath you need to stir frequently. Ideal temp is around 65 degrees F / 20 degrees C. If it is too cold, it will not aerate well; if it is too warm it will not stiffen.
3. In the chilled bowl of a stand mixer, add the vanilla to the cream and beat on low for about 30 seconds, being careful not to overbeat.
Assemble the cake:
There are a couple of ways that you can do this depending on what you want to do. You could assemble this on a serving plate and treat it as a regular cake (hold it in place with some frosting and then assemble). I just kept the bottom section on the parchment, trimmed it after I assembled it, cut it into slices, and then served it. Rose trims the cakes before assembly; I do it after because I wanted that very very clean edge. Again, all depends on what you want.
1. Using a sharp knife, cut the cakes into equal rectangles so that you have four equal layers. Dislodge the cakes using a long metal spatula.
2. Spread a layer of the ganache about the same thickness of the cake on top of the first layer. Top with a second layer of cake. Spread with a layer of the cherry preserves. Top with another layer of cake, followed by the ganache, and the final cake layer.
3. Spread a layer of the ganache on the top of the cake. I sliced it into servings / cakelets at this point and then covered the tops with the curls. You could just keep it whole and cover everything with the curls. Serve!
Be sure to visit my page on Facebook! You get access to exclusive content! Jeez, I can’t say that without laughing. But I do some quick posts, share some links and resources, and share some local events / retailers that may be of some interest to folks. My bakery has a page as well; stop by there for a quick visit too!
Quick cocktail party appetizers #2 — Cheese and Endive
This is round #2 of my cocktail party appetizers. Now I don’t necessarily recommend making all of these at once, especially if it’s just you hosting because there is a lot of assembly involved with everything I made (check out my last post for the full listing). Even if all the prep work is done, getting things to look right takes time. But taking these in small steps and you should be alright. Or you could be better at planning than me even though timing really was a non-issue since everyone was at least an hour late!
Anyhoo, the quick recipes in this post revolve around goat cheese. One is a double cheese Napoleon and the other is Endive with Herbed Goat Cheese. What makes this easy is that the goat cheese filling is the same for both! So I don’t know if this then actually qualifies for 2 recipes, but I’m going with it.
Endive with goat cheese.
The big step here is making the herbed goat cheese. Which, again, is also a step for the napoleons, so essentially one step = 2 appetizers. And it’s not even a big step — you just mix everything in a bowl. This one I adapted from Martha (again! but that’s a good thing!). Here’s what you need:
- 1 11-oz. pkg. goat cheese
- 1/2 c. cream
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 1 T. chopped herbs (I used oregano and tarragon)
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 4 heads endive, washed and separated into leaves
1. In a medium bowl, mix together the cheese, cream, and oil until smooth. You can use a food processor if you like or even a hand mixer, but I didn’t want to have to wash extra things afterwards.
2. Gently mix in the herbs, salt, & pepper. Place a teaspoon on the individual endive spears and serve.
Double Cheese Napoleons.
The two cheeses here are parmesan and goat cheese. You make tuiles of parmesan and have some herbed goat cheese in between the layers. I am not really sure how I came up with this one, but i really wanted something with some height. These look a little rough, but again, I felt pressed for time since I had several things to assemble. No real specifics here; I just grated some parmesan and kept on making crisps until I ran out. You can use any extra ones as croutons on salads or in soups. Or just eat them as is. Here’s what you need:
- herbed goat cheese (see above)
- grated parmesan
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Drop 1 t. grated parmesan onto Silpat lined baking sheets. Slightly flatten the cheese and bake for about 5 minutes or until nice and golden.
3. Allow to cool for about a minute and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Assemble napoleons starting with a parmesan crisp. Place a small amount of the goat cheese, about 1/2 teaspoon. Gently press another crisp on top and repeat until you have three layers of each. You can put a garnish of herbs on top, but I just served them as they are. If you want to be extra fancy, you can use a pastry bag with a star tip to place the goat cheese.
Quick cocktail party appetizers #1 — Tartlets and Bourbon
So I’ve been a little preoccupied lately (and that’s why, but that’s because I’ve been busy planning a cocktail party). But I’m back now and these are some of the things that I came up with. I wasn’t sure what to serve even got some suggestions from other bloggers like The Breakfast Bachelor (I ran out of time to make his suggestion of Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries). Since it was a cocktail party I wanted to do things that were easy to eat — finger foods, really. Here’s what I had decided on serving (in addition to 2 big main course type things [pulled pork sandwiches and tater tot casserole] which I hope to discuss soon) — smoked salmon tartlets, leek and artichoke tartlets, double cheese napoleons, salami crisps, endive with herbed goat cheese, chocolate dream cake — black forest variation, Deviled Eggs, gougère, and Kale – radish – fennel salad. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures for everything, but I do for most things.
Here, I’ll focus on the tartlets. These are easy and quick to make. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll already know how to make the shells (so visit me on Facebook). But since that includes only 13 of you, I will go over it here. This idea I adapted from Martha, but she used mini cupcake pans and cut the wrappers into small circles. I don’t bother with cutting and I use a standard cupcake / muffin pan.
Here’s what you need:
- one package wonton wrappers (square or round), mine had 4 dozen in it
- vegetable oil
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush both sides of the wrapper with oil and stuff it into the cups of a muffin tin.
2. Bake for between 8 – 10 minutes until golden. If you use a darker pan, it will darken faster. Allow to cool on a rack before filling.
For the artichoke and leek tartlets:
This is a quick and easy version of an artichoke and leek lasagna that I make. Here’s what you need:
- 4 leeks
- 1 jar marinated artichoke hearts; chopped, drained, and rinsed
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 2 – 3 T. olive oil
1. Cut leeks in half lengthwise and then cut into 1/4 in slices. Soak those in water to make sure that you clean out any sediment and then spin it dry.
2. Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the dried leeks. Stir to coat; add salt and pepper.
3. Cover and cook for five minutes on medium heat. Uncover and raise the heat to medium high and sauté for about 10 minutes or until tender. Add the artichokes off the heat and allow mixture to cool.
4. Spoon into prepared wonton cups.
For the smoked salmon tartlets:
No real recipe here. I just made a batch of my smoked fish spread #1, but omitted the capers. Instead I put slivers of pickle on top. It would have been better if I used cornichons, but I don’t normally have those in my fridge. Besides, those are just small pickles anyway.
March Foodie Holidays
Happy March everybody! It’s another big month for foodie holidays — including my 1st blogiversary (can’t believe that it’s been a year already, not that that’s a foodie holiday). I was thinking about having an anniversary giveaway but I’m not sure yet. Maybe I’ll post something on Facebook (11 likes so far! check out the bottom of the side menu)! More on that later, but check me out on Facebook anyway. Anyhoo, here’s what we have in store for this month (check out some of these links): Celery Month, Flour Month, Frozen Food Month, Noodle Month, Nutrition Month, Peanut Month, and Sauce Month. Now here are some of the special days that we can celebrate in March:
1 Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, Fruit Compote Day
2 Banana Cream Pie Day
3 Cold Cuts Day, Mulled Wine Day
6 Frozen Food Day, White Chocolate Cheesecake Day
7 Crown Roast of Pork Day, Cereal Day
8 Peanut Cluster Day, Agriculture Day
10 Blueberry Popover Day
12 Baked Scallops Day
13 Coconut Torte Day
15 Peanut Lovers’ Day, Pears Helene Day
16 Artichoke Heart Day
19 Poultry Day, Chocolate Caramel Day
20 Ravioli Day
21 French Bread Day
23 Chip and Dip Day, Melba Toast Day
24 Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
25 Lobster Newburg Day
26 Waffle Day (in Sweden), Nougat Day
27 Spanish Paella Day
28 Black Forest Cake Day, 1st Blogiversary!
29 Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
31 Clams-on-the-Half-Shell Day
February Foodie Holidays
So this is a little late, and I apologize. As I said in my last post, I’ve been having issues with the editing software on here. I did a little adjusting of the settings here and there and I think I’m set.
No pictures of Daisy or Cooper this time. But since Groundhog Day is February 2, I did include some pics from Punxsutawney, PA. We made a stop there on the way moving from Maine back to Michigan. It was a little bit out of the way (well a lot out of the way, and it was especially difficult driving a moving truck on those twisty mountain roads), but I couldn’t resist meeting the famous groundhog!
In addition to Groundhog Day, we celebrate National Cherry Month, National Grapefruit Month, National Hot Breakfast Month, National Macadamia Nut Month, and National Snack Food Month. Plus we get National Pancake Week during the last week of the month! Here are some of the fun holidays (along with some links, as always) we have this month:
1 – Baked Alaska Day
3 – Carrot Cake Day
4 – Stuffed Mushroom Day
8 – Molasses Bar Day
9 – Bagels and Lox Day
11 – Peppermint Patty Day
12 – Plum Pudding Day
13 – Tortellini Day
14 – Cream-filled Chocolates Day, Valentine’s Day
15 – Gumdrop Day
16 – Almond Day
17 – Indian Pudding Day
19 – Chocolate Mint Day
20 – Cherry Pie Day
21 – Sticky Bun Day
22 – Cook a Sweet Potato Day, Margarita Day
23 – Banana Bread Day
24 – Tortilla Chip Day
25 – Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day, Clam Chowder Day
26 – World Pistachio Day
27 – Strawberry Day, Kahlua Day!
January Foodie Holidays
It’s good to be back after taking a little bit of time off for the holidays. So I do apologize that this is a day late. Hopefully all the hangovers and “bad-decision juice” has been worked out of everyone’s systems. But with all the focus on physical recovery and recuperation, let’s not forget all those National Holidays that are taking place this month (there is another “National Pie Day” this month on the 23rd; the other one was last month). I know when we think of January, New Year’s Day is always on everyone’s mind. It is also National Hot Tea Month, National Oatmeal Month, National Slow Cooking Month, and National Soup Month. Here are some of the National Holidays that we should be celebrating this month:
2 Buffet Day, Cream Puff Day
3 Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
5 Whipped Cream Day
8 English Toffee Day
10 Bittersweet Chocolate Day
12 Marzipan Day
14 Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
15 Strawberry Ice Cream Day
18 Peking Duck Day (yum!)
20 Buttercrunch Day, Cheese Lover’s Day
26 Peanut Brittle Day
27 Chocolate Cake Day!
29 Cornchip Day
30 Croissant Day
31 Popcorn Day
Holiday Menu Planning
Entertaining and menu planning may seem tricky, but the execution doesn’t have to be all that intimidating. It just takes a lot of thought and timing. You have to take into account what the dishes are, how many people are attending, and when dinner is supposed to be served (along with a whole host of other things to consider). But all this planning can be spread out over a whole month. Now I just had my “Holiday Feast” the other day and here was my schedule. The day was busy, but I still got to spend time with my guests before dinner and take part in the festivities (i.e. – drink booze).
3 weeks prior: send out invitations. Hopefully you will hear back relatively quickly about who can and cannot attend.
2 weeks prior: finalize menu. Here’s what was decided: Roasted pork shoulder, marinated turkey breast, bread pudding with mushrooms and roasted peppers, roasted fennel and carrots, rapini with fried apples, egg nog, cranberry cheesecake, holiday biscotti, and sugar plums. Now that I actually see it written out, that’s a lot of food. Even more so because it was also a potluck. I will do posts on all this stuff soon with a focus on the more holiday-ish items first.
1 week prior: finalize attendees, buy supplies and groceries. Alright so it wasn’t completely finalized and it hovered anywhere between 12 -18. It finally ended up at 13.
4 days prior: clean house, iron table linens. Now cleaning the house is a daily thing, but I did a major cleaning on this day. I ironed the napkins and prepped them so that I could fold the “birds of paradise” relatively quickly. I like this fold because it looks nice and is relatively easy to do.
3 days prior: buy fresh ingredients (fruit and vegetables), make cranberry compote. The cranberry compote could even be made the week before.
2 days prior: make cranberry cheesecake, bake biscotti. Making this now lets the cheesecake set up in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Just cover it with plastic wrap after it cools. The biscotti should stay fresh for several days.
1 day prior: blanche rapini, peel carrots, make sugar plums, assemble bread pudding. The sugar plums need some time to dry out a little before rolling in sugar. The bread pudding can sit and all the flavors can marry while sitting in the refrigerator. Plus the bread can really soak up the custard.
6 hours prior: roll the sugar plums in sugar, fold napkins, set the table. At this point, I still didn’t know how many. My best guess was 12, which was nice because everyone could sit at the table.
3 hours prior: start holiday music playlist, attend to early attendees, make beer bread, drink beer. Now we asked folks to arrive at 3:00pm with dinner to be served at 6:00. Not everyone will show at the start which is fine.
2 hours prior: attend to early attendees, roast fennel and carrots, drink wine, eat cheese. Serve appetizer dishes that guests brought.
1 hour prior: attend to attendees, bake bread pudding, make egg nog, drink egg nog. Egg nog is usually a big draw because of all the booze 🙂 I use Martha Stewart’s recipe, which has 3 c. bourbon, 2 c. cognac, and 1 c. rum.
30 minutes prior: light candles on the table, make rapini and fried apples, place fennel in oven to reheat, finalize drink orders, drink more egg nog. Everything is coming together and all your hard work and planning is paying off. Hopefully you won’t be too tipsy at this point.
I know this looks like a lot and that you’ll be in the kitchen and not enjoying anyone, but everyone always ends up in the kitchen anyway so you won’t be missing out. You won’t really be missing out if you prep everything ahead of time. Just pop into the kitchen to take out the bread and pop some veggies into the oven. Then you have an hour to play with your guests before the next thing goes into the oven.
