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My family moved after my freshman year in high school. We arrived at our new home a week before school started for me to try out for the high school tennis team. That first day of tryouts, I met the woman who would become my best friend for the next 15 years.
From that first day, we were two peas in a pod. We were both trying out for the first time, both of us having moved recently. We were both the oldest child, loved tennis, and ate peanut butter sandwiches (hold the jelly and jam, please) for lunch. We stayed close throughout college and after, were lucky enough to end up living in the same state.
Now my bestie is getting married. I’m so very excited for her – she’s the sister I never had. Since I was unable to attend her bridal shower, I hosted a very small lunch with a couple of her closest friends. When I was planning, I knew I wanted something light and elegant, with a couple of simple items and a decadent chocolate dessert. Plates were wiped clean, leftover cake was packaged up for the men who were left home. I call that a success! 
Menu:
Spring {Special Occasions} Luncheon for 5
Cocktails:
Champagne Cosmos
Appetizer:
Mediterranean Cucumber Bites (inspired by this Mediterranean Layer Dip)
Lunch:
Mixed Green Salad with Raspberries and Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
Crab Cakes with Creole Meuniere Sauce
Dessert:
American Beauty Cake (chocolate cake + chocolate mousse + chocolate ganache)
Sophie & I making Easter favors
Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a fantastic day with friends, family, and good food.
My hubby and I enjoyed our first holiday with our little Hazelnut. My brother came to visit for the weekend. Good friends of ours, whose daughter was born 5 days after ours, came over yesterday for dinner. I savored the opportunity to pull out the china and create an ambitious menu to celebrate the day. Everything was fantastic! I will be sharing a few of the recipes with you over the next couple of weeks, but unfortunately not everything survived to be photographed. I’ll be looking for opportunities to remake everything on the menu, so you may see a recipe in the future!
Appetizers:
Dinner:
Beef Wellington
Portobello Wellington
Hasselback Potatoes
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Herbed Bread
Dessert:
Favors:
Candy Carrots
Candy Carrot Favors: I made the carrots from Reese’s Pieces (although I considered using orange jelly beans). I used triangular-shaped treat bags from my local craft store, filled them with candy, and tied them with a thick green ribbon. Easy peasy!
Over the past couple years, I’ve become involved in the Susan G Komen Walk for the Cure. Two years ago, I completed the walk for the first time – 60 miles walked and over $3,000 raised to fight breast cancer. The walk was indescribable. Not only was it a physical challenge, but it was an incredibly emotional experience. If I had to only pick one word to describe it, it would be inspiring.
After crewing at the event last year, I’m excited to be back to walking this October with two of my closest friends as well as my aunt. We decided to tackle fundraising early this year, before training kicks in and our weekends become defined by the number of hours and miles walked (5-6 hours and 15 miles at the height of training). Our first fundraiser of the year (and hopefully our only one) was the most successful a couple of years ago – a Boobieque. We served food and drink donated by local businesses and raffled off items donated by friends, family, and more local businesses. Like two years ago, this year’s Boobieque was a big success.
A big thanks to our sponsors as well as family and friends who donated or supported us in another way. And thanks and hugs to my girls who participated in this event and will spend many hours walking with me over the next six months.
The Boobieque Menu, 2012
Crockpot Pulled Chicken: BBQ and Spicy
Crockpot Pulled BBQ Brisket
Orzo Salad with Grilled Vegetables
Fruit Salad with Vanilla Syrup
Chips & Dip
Chocolate Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting (instructions below!)
Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Ice Cream
Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soda, Wine & Beer
Serving & Quantities: We planned this menu for 40-45 people, making a triple batch of pulled chicken (9 lbs.), a double batch of BBQ brisket (8 lbs), a triple batch of the potato salad, a double batch of the orzo salad, a large bowl of fruit salad, 3 bags chips, a single batch of the ice cream cone cupcakes (24 cupcakes), a batch (24 cupcakes) of vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting, and two platters of cookies. Hot dogs were on standby for kids (and in case we ran out of pulled chicken/brisket).
We ended up having 30 people, and a good bit of leftover meat and a small container of potato salad.
Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
These are way easier than you’d think.
Take your favorite cupcake recipe or boxed mix. Get a box of ice cream cones – the sugar cones, not the waffle cones. Place the cone in a cupcake pan, one cone per place, just as you’d do with a cupcake liner. Fill each cone about 3/4 of the way full. There’s a little lip just inside the cone. Do not go past that lip otherwise your cupcakes will overflow. Bake per the directions on the cupcake recipe, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. (I think mine took 20-25 minutes.)
Frost and decorate as desired. I used pink and white ribbon sprinkles, but these would be super cute with a Maraschino cherry on top.
Last Halloween, my friends and I had a Clue-themed Halloween party. It was fantastic. We all dressed up as characters from the movie (yours truly was Mrs. White). We decorated a friend’s house with props from the movie – a set of keys, pumpkins with the weapons carved into them, the weapons (a lead pipe, two candlesticks, etc.) scattered about the house. Our hosts, Ms. Scarlet and Mr. Body, did a fabulous job of transforming their dining room table into a billiards table, which is where the food was served. Our menu was also inspired by the movie. I never issued a post with the menu, but here it is:
Ms. Scarlett’s Red Velvet Cupcakes
Mrs. White’s White Pizza
Soft frosted sugar cookies with the weapons piped onto them
“Monkey’s brains” (crab dip)
Red herring (bagels & lox)
Colonel Mustard’s homemade pretzels and mustard dip
Almond brandied pound cake (because they drink tons of brandy during the movie)
Mr. Green’s chips & guacamole
Professor Plum’s chocolate-covered plums
I had been eying this pound cake recipe for a while, and was thrilled for an occasion to make it. I was a huge fan. It was just barely sweet with a slightly crunchy top. It’s recipes like this one (and the almond poppy seed bread) that make me wish that I had friends over for tea, because I can’t help but think that this would be fabulous with tea or after dinner coffee. But even if you don’t entertain for tea or coffee, you should make this recipe. Make it for your coworkers for their morning coffee. Or hoard it for yourself. Either one is perfectly acceptable. 
Almond Brandied Pound Cake
Adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles, via The Novice Chef featured on Love & Olive Oil (wow, that’s a mouthful!)
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1¼ c. sugar, divided
- 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 Tbs. brandy
- 1 Tbs. almond extract
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1½ c. cake flour, sifted
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and continue whipping until the egg white form soft peaks. With the mixer still running, slowly add 1/2 c. of the sugar. Continue whipping until egg whites form stiff, glossy peaks. Transfer egg whites to a clean bowl and set aside.
- Clean stand mixer bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Beat butter on medium speed until soft and creamy, about 1 minute. Lower speed and add salt and remaining ¾ of sugar. Increase speed again, mixing until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl.
- In a small bowl (or measuring cup), whisk together egg yolks, brandy, almond extract and vanilla extract. With mixer on medium-low speed, add to butter-sugar mixture. Beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides of mixer as necessary, until thoroughly combined.
- Now we’re going to add the flour and egg whites with a rubber spatula. Alternate folding in ingredients: flour – egg white – flour – egg whites – flour. Flour and egg whites should be completely mixed in.
- Pour into prepared pan. Bake 45-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Top with be golden brown (if it browns too quickly, loosely cover with aluminum foil).
- Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Then, use a knife to loosen edges of cake from pan. Invert, removing from pan. Place back on a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve at room temperature.
Serving suggestions: with tea, coffee, or a dollop of whipped cream.
I love hosting our (almost) annual wine and cheese parties. I provide bread, crackers, and some other complimentary food. Everyone brings a wine and/or a cheese to share. A fabulous time ensues. Don’t believe me? How many wine and cheese parties have overnight guests?
To jazz up the table, I made little placecard holders out of wine corks to label the cheeses and sweets on the table. To make, use a X-Acto knife or Stanley knife, slice a thin strip off the bottom of the cork, so that the cork will lay on its side without rolling. (Make sure you have a cutting board, thick cardboard, or quilters or scrapbooking mat underneath so that you don’t scratch your counter or table.) Then, using the same knife, cut a deep incision into the top of the cork, carving out a place for the placecard to rest. My cut was in the shape of an inverted triangle (like this: ▼) because I found it difficult to make a a rectangle (▌) with the knife I was using. The incision should go about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down the cork. Place the card you’ll be using in the top to ensure that your incision isn’t too narrow or deep or wide or narrow, adjusting as necessary.
People arrived a little earlier than we expected so unfortunately the photo below is the only photo I have from the event (apart from a few close ups of the crackers and one cheese tray).
MENU: WINE & CHEESE TASTING PARTY
Assortment of Cheeses: Brie, Herbed Goat Cheese, Irish Cheddar, Jarlsberg, Parmesan, Pecorino Romano… Whatever anyone brought
Assortment of Crackers & Breads: “Everything” Crackers, Rosemary & Sea Salt Crackers, Whole Wheat Crackers, Triscuits, Baguettes
Other Compliments: Prosciutto, Salami, Dried Apricots, Almonds, Fig Jam, Coarse Ground Mustard
Sweet: Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars, A fruit tart-like dessert brought by a friend, Assorted Dove Chocolates
Drinks: Assorted Wines & Sodas
A WINTER DINNER MENU FOR FOUR
Buttermilk Dinner Rolls & Herb Butter
Chocolate Mousse
Chianti
The weather has been pretty wonky lately – 60°F one day and flurrying the next day. One lazy weekend, one where it was bitter cold and flurrying, I hosted my best friend and her boyfriend for dinner. I had all day to play in the kitchen, with no other obligations or chores for the weekend (a rare occurrence!). I put together the below menu, which brought coziness into a frigid day. Nothing about this menu is particularly difficult to prepare, although it is a bit time consuming with the chopping and long cooking time of the beef, the double-rising of the homemade dinner rolls, and the chilling of the dessert. However, it’s completely worth it. Doubt me? I made the entree twice in a three week period. I had very happy friends.
The buttermilk dinner rolls were easy to make and were fabulous served warm with a warm winter soup or stew. Next time, I might try adding a little fresh herbs directly to the dough for an additional burst of flavor.
Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
Adapted from Williams Sonoma Cooking At Home p. 415
Makes 12-18 dinner rolls
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 tsp. (1 package) active dry yeast
- 1.5 oz. lukewarm water (110°F)
- pinch of sugar
- 1/2 c. tepid buttermilk (90°F)
- 1 oz. granulated sugar
- 4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 to 2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
- cooking spray
Instructions:
- Place lukewarm water in a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water. Stir in pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (My water wasn’t quite warm enough, so I carefully microwaved the bowl for a few seconds. Fix!)
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium-low speed, combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, egg, salt, and 1/2 c. flour until creamy. Lower speed and gradually beat in another 1-1/2 to 2 cups of flour, until mixture thickens and forms a soft dough.
- Switch stand mixer to dough hook. With mixer on low speed, knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 1 minute. Dough will still be soft and will begin to pull away from the bowl.
- Oil a clean bowl and transfer dough, patted together into a ball, to the clean bowl. Turn to coat all sides, or, lightly spray the top with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a very warm place (i.e. near a warm stove/oven) and let sit until dough has doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
- When dough has risen, prep a new workspace – lightly flour a counter or cutting board, and spray a 8 or 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Turn dough onto prepared workspace and roll into a 18-inch long rope. Using a butter knife or pastry scraper, cut into 1 to 1-1/2 inch pieces, depending on how large you want your rolls to be. Working quickly, roll dough pieces into a ball and set into prepared cake pan, with the dough balls just barely touching. Cover with plastic wrap and place in your very warm spot to rise until puffy, 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake rolls until lightly browned, 18-22 minutes.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving warm.
Merry Christmas!
This holiday season is a full house for my family. The hubby and I spent the holiday with my family up north. For a week, we had friends and family in and out of the house every couple days. It made for a fun week, although a bit chaotic. It was hard to keep up with so many people coming and going, everyone at a different times. As a result, we kept our meals fairly informal and flexible. We stocked the pantry to accommodate a couple extra batches of cookies, and the freezer, which was full of ready-made appetizers and breakfast goodies that just had to be popped in the oven. Finally, family members volunteered to make a couple quick trips to the grocery store so that we could add two requested items (from this blog!). I just went with the flow (and tried to get Mom to relax and do the same).
In the end, the following ended up being the menu for the week – for most of the main meals. In addition to the below, we also had cranberry scones, orange pecan biscotti, and blueberry scones for breakfasts throughout the week.
CHRISTMAS EVE EVE (THE FRIDAY BEFORE)
Lunch for 9: Chicken Noodle Soup & Butternut Squash Soup
Dinner for 11: Chicken & Eggplant Parmesan, Penne with Homemade Marinara Sauce, Warmed Italian Bread
Dessert/The Week’s Sweets: Seven Layer Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Babka
CHRISTMAS EVE
Dinner for 11: Crab Cakes, Roasted Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta, White Rice, Roasted Asparagus
Dessert: Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce, Cranberry Pear Tart
CHRISTMAS DAY
Appetizers (for 5-11): Spinach-Artichoke Dip with Baguette, Assorted Cheese & Crackers, Mushrooms Stuffed with Pancetta
Cocktails: Champagne Cosmopolitans
Dinner for 11: French Onion & Fennel Soup Gratin, Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Sauce, Twice Baked Potatoes, Roasted Vegetables
Dessert: Leftover cheesecake, fruit tart, and cookies. Tiramisu, an Italian cookie platter, and a ginger-pear pie, compliments of our guests.
THE MONDAY AFTER
Leftovers & Chinese food. Mom and I finally get a break from the kitchen!
THE TUESDAY AFTER (round two of visiting family)
Appetizers for 18: Spinach-Artichoke Dip, Baked Fontina
Dinner for 18: Crown Roast of Pork with Apple Stuffing & Cider Bourbon Sauce, Roasted Vegetables
Dessert: Leftovers (Sadly. I’ve been dying to make a coconut cream cake, but we just had way too many sweets in the house to make it).
THE WEDNESDAY AFTER
Dinner for 18: Spaghetti & Meatballs
And because I can’t resist, a few photos of my favorite Christmas gifts :
1. A set of children’s books wine glass charms. I’ve never seen any book-related wine charms – can’t wait to try these out at the next book club dinner I host!
2. A gorgeous wreath made of pages from Jane Austen novels.
3. An ice cream maker with a copy of The Perfect Scoop – since my ice cream bowl for my KitchenAid began to ooze blue stuff this summer
4. From Plate to Pixel – so that I can work on my photography this year
This weekend was our annual holiday party. As usual, it was a fabulous time! We loved seeing everyone and are so grateful to our friends who took the time out of their very busy holiday season to spend a few hours with us.
This year’s menu was pretty much all new recipes for me. I know you’re not supposed to try new recipes out for company, but I always have cheese and crackers stashed away and grocery store down the road in case a recipe flops. I lucked out this year – everything got rave reviews. In fact, I think it turned out even better than usual. For the first time ever, almost everything was eaten!
A couple recipes are already posted (and linked to) and I linked those recipes that I won’t be posting, probably because I forgot to take photos. Any recipe without a link is something that I plan on posting in the next week or two. (Please let me know if you’d like any recipes sooner than others!)
Happy holidays!
2011 Holiday Party Menu
Savory
- Spicy Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatballs
- Slices of French Baguette
- Mini Crab Cakes
- Pesto, Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Palmiers
- Pear-Brie Tartlets
Sweet 
- Chocolate Bark Platter: Rocky Road Bark, Cookies & Cream (Oreo) Bark, Pretzel Toffee Bark
- Cranberry Cream Cheese Bundt Cake
- Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes
- Apple Pie Cookies
Nibbles around the House
Drinks
- Assorted White & Red Wine
- Assorted Soft Drinks & Lemonade
- Assorted Liquors
Serving Notes: I made double batches of the rocky road bark, the cookies & cream bark, the meatballs, and the crab cakes. This menu was designed serve approximately 50 people. We probably had closer to 60 people, many of whom look forward to this event and might save a lot of room in their tummies for whatever “The Bakery” might serve. I had had 5 cupcakes and a couple pieces of chocolate leftover – everything else was gone.
If you’re looking for more menu ideas, check out the 2009 Holiday Party or 2010 Holiday Party menus.
My family has never really had any big Thanksgiving traditions. Sometimes we would spend the day with my extended family, and sometimes my immediate family would eat a quite dinner alone. It’s just the way it was, with most of my family spread out across the U.S. I was never impressed with the holiday – I didn’t care much for most of the food and I couldn’t stand the football games that would play on the television through the day. My husband, on the other hand, always had big family dinners with the extended family (just about everyone lived within a couple hours of each other). And, the true southern family that they are, there was lots of football.
Since neither of our families live nearby, the hubby and I usually celebrate Thanksgiving among friends. We don’t usually host, since our big holiday party is in early December, and to be honest, I’m squeemish when it comes to handling a turkey. They’re big and slippery, and I hate pulling the innards out.
This year, we get the honor of hosting not only my family for Thanksgiving, but my hubby’s 
family as well. We’re thrilled to have everyone traveling to spend the holiday with us, and I’m thrilled that I will have a lot of people to delegate the turkey-touching to. (Hubby doesn’t know it yet, but he’s cleaning the turkey and brining it!). There will be 9 of us, including one vegetarian.
I put together the below menu, with what I hope will be a mix of the traditional foods from both of our families as well as some new favorites.
Happy Thanksgiving!
2011 Thanksgiving Menu
Serves 8-10
Appetizers & Cocktails
Cranberry Lime Bellinis
Spinach-Artichoke Dip
Deviled Eggs
Veggies with Ranch Dressing
Butternut Squash Soup
Dinner
Roast Turkey with Sage Butter
Stuffing with Pine Nuts & Fennel
Stuffing with Sweet Italian Sausage
Baked Sweet Potato Casserole
Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese
Italian Green Bean Salad with Asiago
Dinner Rolls
Salad
Canned Cranberry Sauce
Dessert
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Molasses Cookies
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie
Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie
Favors
A while ago, I received a copy of Williams Sonoma’s Cooking for Friends as a gift. Every month or so, I take out the book and look through it, my mouth watering at the delicious-sounding recipes and the incredible photos. However, some of the recipes are a little fancier than my crowd is used to, so alas, I never got around to making any.
For my birthday last month, I decided to raise the bar and fancied-things up, to include a recipe from this cookbook. Hubby and I had about 20 people over the house for cocktails. I went all out and made two birthday cakes (I couldn’t decide which I wanted more and the vote to my friends was split), a cocktail, and three appetizers. Here’s what the menu included:
Amaretto Sour with Prosecco
Almond Cake with Raspberry Layers & Amaretto Buttercream
Toffee Brownie Torte
Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms
Shrimp-Mango Salad
Baked Fontina & French Bread
I was excited to try the shrimp-mango salad – a little fancier than the usual appetizer and elegantly served in these mini-martini glasses. Neither me nor my guests were disappointed. It was nice and light, tangy and sweet, the perfect addition to our cocktail party.
Modifications: I used all shrimp instead of a combination of shrimp and crab, as reflected in the recipe below. I skipped the avocado because mine didn’t ripen in time (plus allergies).
Shrimp-Mango Salad
Adapted from Shrimp, Crab and Avocado Salad in
Williams Sonoma’s Cooking for Friends (p. 62)
Makes 12+ servings in mini-martini glasses
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. cooked fresh shrimp, diced (or combination of fresh cooked crab and shrimp)
- 1 mango, diced
- 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 c. fresh lime juice
- 1/4 c. cilantro, minced (plus sprigs for garnish)
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- sea salt
- ground black pepper
- 1/2 head butter lettuce, shredded
- 1 avocado, diced
- lime wedges
In a medium bowl, toss the mango, olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, and shallot until mango is coated. Season with salt and pepper. Add shrimp (and crab), tossing until coated.
In your serving glasses, line the bottom with some of the butter lettuce, followed by the mango-shrimp mixture. Top with avocado (I would have tossed it in with the mango and shrimp at the last minute) and garnish with lime slices and sprigs of cilantro.