Around the World for Love

A thoughtful friend. A bride-to-be. A theme. Holly is getting married and Holly loves to travel. So for her bridal shower, we did an around the world theme, featuring her ten favorite places on earth. A course for each place involved fun research; who knew that more green jello is sold in Utah than all other states combined? Luckily Scottie brought me back spices from her latest trip to Cambodia and I happened to take a cooking class in Hanoi! With a Thai honeymoon on her horizon, we wish Holly and her new groom, lots of happy adventures.

The Menu

Hanoi, Vietnam

beef spring rolls in lettuce wraps with vietnamese dipping sauce

Paris, France

brie and apple crostini on baguettes

Sydney, Australia

'shrimp on the barbie'

roasted shrimp with bbq cocktail sauce

Reykjavik, Iceland

gravlax, creme fraiche and dill on pumpernickel

Siem Reap, Cambodia

chicken satay with gingered peanut dip

Moab, Utah

green jello salad with kiwi

London, England

curried minted english pea soup shots

Interlake, Switzerland

cucumber and dill salad

Loreta, Mexico

mexican hot chocolate cookies

Skull and Bones

Hundreds of trick or treaters meant lots of snacks and cocktails, followed by a candelit sit down dinner. This was the way to do Halloween, grown up. Playful appetizers for hours as superheros, witches, cowboys and princesses pawned for candy, often ignoring the 'one piece' rule. The glutton in me can relate. And we did indulge: short ribs and mac and cheese. Our table glowed with black pumpkins, skulls and bones. Happy Halloween!!!

The Menu

passed for 'trick or treat'

spiked hot cider

spinach 'eye' balls with sweet hot mustard

curried 'devilled' eggs

pumpkin filled black ravioli with sage browned butter

lamb meatballs with 'vampire-fighting' roasted garlic dip

black and orange cheese platter

smoked cheddar, mimolette, poppyseed rubbed sheep's cheese, persimmon, carrot sticks, dried apricots, black olives, roasted orange peppers, black grapes, black figs, black plums, roasted pumpkin seeds, quince paste

to start

roasted butternut squash soup with candied pumpkin seeds, asian pear, creme fraiche and fried sage

followed by

"skulls and bones" braised short ribs with horseradish creme

'ghostly gooey' five-cheese mac and cheese

spooky swiss chard

to end

"devilishly" dark chocolate birthday cake

dulche de leche ice cream

pumpernickel toasts

Pumpkin Carving Party

Halloween has been dead to me for many years. I lost interest when the allure of charming DIY costumes (um, Anna Blessing starring as ketchup and I as mustard) was replaced with slutty insert-noun-here costumes out of plastic bags! But this year is different. Halloween rebirth. For our pumpkin carving party, we ventured into projects usually judged as 'Who really does that?!' Amy set up stations for each guest featuring pre-hollowed pumpkins, incredible carving kits, black bibs and plenty of stencils and other tricks for inspiration. We had snacks (chicken liver mousse on crostini with bleeding shallot jelly--had to have an offal for Halloween!) and cocktails (black vodka martinis with dry ice!) while carving and then moved in to the living room for an autumnal dinner. With everyone's newly carved pumpkins on display, alongside Amy's more show-off detailed white pumpkins, it was a spookily lit affair. And on their way out, everyone got Trick or Treat take-home bags filled their toasted pumpkin seeds, both spicy and sweet, respectively. Happy Halloween!

The Menu

black vodka martinis on dry ice

bleeding heart martinis with pickled beets

passed

hot artichoke crab crostini

aged gouda, fried sage, black grape crostini

chicken liver mousse with shallot jelly crostini

bacon wrapped figs

to start

puree of wild chanterelle soup

followed by

braised duck legs and smoked breast

pinot noir sauce with black pepper and dried cherries

parsnip and asian pear puree and wilted purple kale

to finish

pumpkin praline pie

flourless chocolate cake

spiced whipped cream

brezn, bretzel, pretzel

Amy and I celebrated Oktoberfest late this year with a little shin dig at her store Apartment Number 9 . Shoppers enjoyed a variety of beers and hard cider while trying on cozy cardigans. Though mini caramel apples and caramel corn may not have been the smartest of snacks (um, little kids, sticky fingers, luxurious fabrics...), they certainly are festive. And if you've never made homemade soft pretzels, do it! Martha Stewarts were very simple and kind of out-of-control good. Greg and I just had pretzel sandwiches with sweet hot mustard, Tillamook sharp cheddar and crisp asian pears. Not sure it gets much better on a rainy Sunday (in Los Angeles!!!).