Trick or Treating Savories

It's not all about the candy!  Before the trick or treating, it's equally festive to have savory snacks to fuel the big night.  I teamed up with Jenni Kayne and Amy Blessing to make a pumpkin themed party with a menu perfect for a holiday gathering.  While my family tradition is chili on Halloween, it was fun to do a twist with pumpkin soup.  The kids carved out their pumpkins to use as bowls and then picked from an array of toppings: avocado, corn chips, pepitas & dried cranberries.  To compliment their soup, I made ghost toasts (with the kids placing currants for eyes) and pumpkin and almond butter tea sandwiches.  Nothing quite says fall like apples which were served in the forms of spiced cider and caramel covered.  It turns out, eating pumpkin soup is really just a transaction a child will make when promised the reward of the sweet caramel covered apples (my recipe, featuring maple syrup can be found here).  Amy and Jenni, both masters of making all things chic and beautiful, created pretty decorations to make the day special.  Check out all of my recipes and more photos of Amy and Jenni's festive table on Rip Plus Tan.  Happy Halloween!!

The Menu

Sips

spiced cider

Snacks

apple slices

ghost toasts

almond butter & pumpkin butter tea sandwiches

pumpkin soup with 

cranberry, pepitas, corn chips & avocado

Sweet

caramel apples

caramel corn 

Easter Egg Hunt

This year my friend Leah went all out with a kid's fantasy Easter: an egg hunt, egg on spoon relays and pin the tail on the bunny.  It was a pleasure to create a menu that lived up to all of the fun.  Bunny and chick shaped finger sandwiches accompanied bunny mac & cheese and bunny snacks (aka carrot sticks).  The kids provided the dessert by sharing treats from their Easter baskets and decorating sugar cookies.  If you've ever wondered who likes Peeps, think no further: kids (they freak out for them!).  There were treats for the adults as well: starting with spicy Bloody Mary's and rhubarb fizzes.  A Greek Easter Luncheon was a great buffet for a day of grazing.  Grilled leg of lamb filled pitas with plenty of dips, sauces, veggies & a big Greek salad.  The whole day got me excited for warmer weather and days filled with good food, good drinks and great friends.  Lots of parties to come...

The Menu

sips

pink lemonade

rhubarb fizzes

spicy bloody mary's

snacks

stuffed grape leaves

spinach & ricotta spanikopita

curried deviled eggs

kids

buttermilk chicken tenders

bunny pb & j's

egg shaped turkey & cheese

bunny mac & cheese

carrot sticks

to share

grilled rosemary leg of lamb

hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush, tabouli, eggplant caviar, parsley mint sauce, honeyed onions & currants and pita bread

swiss chard with tahini yogurt sauce & pine nuts

smashed fingerling potatoes

little gems with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, french feta, kalamata olives & red wine vinaigrette

sweet

Easter baskets

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Gathering a group of friends for 'off' holidays seems to be my and Greg's new tradition: President's Day, Oktoberfest, and now St. Patrick's Day.  There is something inherently festive about these parties (not that St. Patrick's Day needs any help in the festive department).  With a built in theme of all that is green and Irish, there is nothing to fret over with a St. Patrick's Day party.  After all, is there really any reason to mess around with as good of a thing as corned beef and cabbage?  Throw in some potatoes and spring carrots and call it a day.  And while serving Guinness is a perfectly suitable beverage for such an affair, Greg upped the anti by creating a signature drink: "The Leprechaun."  He showed off his drawing skills with a visual aid for guests to follow his recipe and make their own drinks (no one should have to play bartender at their own party).  The result was a tasty concoction of Jameson, shamrocks (for real!), cucumber and lime, topped off with a splash Harp.  And after years of experimenting with St. Paddy's Day desserts (e.g. Lucky Charms treats, chocolate stout cake, Guinness ice cream & beer floats), I've landed upon a new tradition: little pots of gold in the form of butterscotch pots de creme (topped with whipped cream and edible gold, of course).  Hope everyone recovered well from the Irish antics: Slainte!!

The Menu

sips

The Leprechaun

irish whiskey, shamrocks, cucumber, lime, harp

Guinness, Harp & Jameson

snacks

sour cream & onion chips

green crudités: snap peas, cucumbers, green peppers, asparagus, green beans, cornichons & olives

tarragon dip & english pea pesto dip

irish cheddar, green apples & crackers

to share

corned beef & cabbage with parsley mustard sauce & horseradish creme

buttermilk smashed fingerling potatoes with melted spring onions

roast baby carrots with thyme

irish soda bread with irish butter

sweet

pots of gold aka butterscotch pots de creme

I Heart Valentine's Day

For what other occasion could I make such a girly Valentine's Day meal, than for a ladies luncheon?  It was fun to flip through all of Martha Stewart's books and February issues of Living for inspiration, and then to do my own takes on pink and heart shaped food.  The salad of artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, heart shaped beets & croutons with a pink peppercorn champagne vinaigrette was especially fun to prepare (maybe tied with the crudites!).  And, of course, the whole meal was even better served at Amy's pretty table, a white take on Valentine's Day with cut out hearts and classic roses.  Hope that everyone had a sweet Valentine's day; if Instagram is any indication, it looked like a good one! xoxo

The Menu

sips

pink champagne

snacks

pink & red crudités: radishes, currants, goji berries, red peppers, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, dried cherries, red delicious apples, red carrots & radicchio 

savory coeur a la creme with cucumber hearts

pink radish tea sandwiches with french butter

to start

salad of artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, heart beets, heart croutons and baby kale with a pink peppercorn champagne vinaigrette

savory

lobster risotto with tarragon & fennel

sweet

strawberry shortcake

Holiday Hostess Gift

 

This holiday season I've cooked for a dozen gatherings but attended very few.  Luckily, this invitation carried the weight of many parties and filled me with inspiration for the entire month.  My very special friend threw a dinner that was put together for Alex's Lemonade Stand.  Suzanne Goin (my culinary idol), Nancy Silverton, April Bloomfield, Giada De Laurentis, Sherry Yard and, drumroll please, Alice Waters all came to her home and prepared our dinner, each serving and presenting a course.  The food was, duh, delicious (Alice's sunchoke and celery root soup with black truffles was the star), the room gorgeous (thanks to Amy's special touches) and the company of the guests was truly delightful.  What I loved the most was the spirit of the evening.  We all wandered back and forth from the table to the kitchen to see the chefs' preparations and to watch them all assisting one another with their dishes.  Really a dream come true.  What does one bring as a hostess gift for such a once in a lifetime experience?  Well I could have driven myself crazy trying to come up with the most perfect of all perfect gifts; instead, I brought my go-to gift: breakfast for the hostess.  Granted, this was a slightly tricked up version with Amy packaging the cinnamon maple syrup and granola for me and using her pretty jars for the fig jam and yogurt.  Alongside the basket of goodies, I brought a sausage & spinach frittata with oven roasted tomatoes (Christmas colors).  Since this party was over the top, so was the basket.  But I also like bringing a dozen fresh eggs, great bacon and a loaf of bread for toast.  If you want to make one thing, I suggest granola and then put yogurt and honey in jars to accompany it (or do as Amelia did and buy addictive granola from The Granola Project).  Depending on your hostess, bloody mary's or bubbly might be on the menu.  Choose your own adventure.  Thank you Judith for such a magical evening.  One that I will never forget.  xx  

 

 

The Menu

sips

freshly squeezed orange juice

good coffee

savory

sausage & spinach frittata

homemade yogurt

gingered granola with cranberries

cinnamon maple syrup

fresh fruit

apple spice muffins

fig jam

sweet

ginger cookies

chocolate espresso cookies