Entertaining for Monkeys

Work baby shower

2009-02-01T18:20:00.003-05:00

Decorating a boardroom on a budget that would barely cover lunch at most Manhattan delis can be a little difficult, but we did our best. The pom poms are from good old Martha Stewart, which I'm pretty sure is also where I saw the circle and triangle garlands. I put two slits in each circle or triangle and threaded them onto white yarn, then waited until we were in the boardroom to move them around until I was satisfied with the spacing. Then I cut the yarn and we taped them up. We also used some blue crepe paper to spruce up the room.

Brownie cupcakes

2009-02-01T17:54:00.004-05:00

Martha's version

My version

I absolutely loved the latest Martha Stewart Living with the section on cupcakes. I decided to try the brownie cupcakes a few weeks ago, but I thought it was too soon for the Valentine's Day theme so I went with something a little more general.

Work party

2009-01-02T17:23:00.001-05:00

I volunteered to plan my department's work party, and was given two incredibly able assistants to whom I delegated most of the work. Three cheers for them!

With the economy being what it is, our party was pot luck and all of our decorations were made out of office materials that were headed for the trash bin.

Plenty of food, an entire table of savories and another full of sweets. We had people sign up so that we could make sure it would be roughly even, which it was.

Festive tables

And some of the decorations made from old crate stickers and old memos and such

A template for the snowflake can be found here

Christmas cookies

2009-01-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

I wanted to make sugar cookies for my department's Christmas party and I wanted to try a new recipe. This basic one was pretty good. I rolled them out half an inch thick and cut them out with a shot glass as I couldn't find my round cutters.

I coated them with a semi-sweet ganache and refrigerated them overnight

And in the morning I coated them with luster dust

They were perfectly soft and chewy and everybody loved the gold.

Cristi's cake

2009-01-01T17:20:00.000-05:00

Cristi wanted citrus and berries with her cake, so I chose Martha Stewart's 1-2-3-4 lemon cake which I'd been wanting to try for a while.

Martha Stewart's cake

My cake

Next time, I'll line the sides of the pans with parchment as well as the bottom. My cake didn't come out as gracefully as I'd have liked. That combined with my thin lemon curd meant that the cake simply had to be covered.

Then the seven minute frosting and I had a fight. The frosting won. This doesn't do it justice, but if you look closely you can see that the melted sugar didn't so much become one with the meringue.

Not the unqualified success I'd originally planned, but I was pleased all the same. And more importantly, the birthday girl seemed to like it just fine.

Perfect cookies

2009-01-01T16:18:00.000-05:00

What is the secret to perfect cookies? Okay, one of the many secrets?

These will turn this

Into these

Which end up looking like this

Which is, by the way, about four inches in diameter and an inch tall. Now that's a cookie.

Pumpkin swirl brownies

2008-12-21T17:24:00.006-05:00

Pumpkin swirl brownies from Martha Stewart, made sans nuts. Not my favorite, but still pretty good. I liked the brownie part more than the pumpkin part, maybe next time I'd substitute a different pumpkin recipe. And I'd be less careful with the swirling, it it was more like layers here.

Work bake off

2008-11-28T21:45:00.007-05:00

Or, a relatively successful attempt at a pumpkin charlotte. It needs work, but frankly, I found it irritating enough and not quite tasty enough, that I probably won't try again. At least not this year. Martha Stewart's chocolate-coconut charlotte was my inspiration, though I wanted it to be based around pumpkin flavors.

So I started with ginger cake (can't remember which recipe I used) and made a mess of things. If I'd done my research, I would have known that cake butter plus extra flour doth no ladyfingers make. Honestly, Ann.

The second attempt at making ladyfingers went a little better, turns out whipped egg whites really help. Adding pumpkin puree probably doesn't, but I wanted the flavor. I didn't use a specific recipe for those, which I bet would have been a good idea. I need some practice with piping, speaking of which I also need to find my proper tips, cutting the end off the bag isn't the best method.

I also piped discs, but apparently didn't photograph those. They were the layers, with pumpkin mousse (super delicious) and cream cheese mousse (good, but not great) alternated in between and these ladyfingers around the outside, then some whipped cream on top and a ribbon around it all. So maybe the ribbon sort of took over the cake, it was what I had.

I still don't know why my ladyfingers curled, and I should have lined the ribbon to keep the moisture from seeping through, but I'm over it.

As my first attempt at the charlotte didn't work so well, I ended up using those ginger layers and the left over pumpkin batter and mousse to make an extra little cake.

It definitely needed something to cover the mess, so I whipped up some seven minute frosting and I couldn't resist sticking a bow on it

I put them both into little cake boxes from the New York Cake & Baking Supply and they traveled surprisingly well.

I won an honorable mention for presentation. I really should have stuck with my initial idea of warm and gooey pumpkin bread, turns out comfort foods carried the day.

Blocked

2008-11-04T20:24:00.002-05:00

So, I don't have access to blogger at work anymore. So I don't really blog anymore. But hey, happy election day!

Consuelo Vanderbilt's wisdom

2008-10-28T21:52:00.003-04:00

In Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt, Amanda Mackenzie Stuart quotes an article Consuelo (who was, for a while, the Duchess of Marlborough) wrote for the New York Journal regarding entertaining. Apparently the clipping Stuart found was undated. The following paragraph is taken from the book, and combines quotes from the article with Stuart's summary.

"'To be a good hostess, one's dominant preoccupation should ... be the pleasure of one's guests, not the vanity of one's person. The woman who entertains because of her Lowestoft service, her lace tablecloth, her old English silver, her hothouse flowers, her epicurean meal and the vision of herself in her newest gown and jewels is not likely to produce happy reactions,' she wrote. The quality of the food was more important than the table décor, for 'hunger cannot be assuaged by a display of china.' A party of six or eight was the ideal number because conversation could be kept general. Music should not be an adjunct to conversation - this was an insult to the musicians as well as the conversational powers of the guests. Asked by the magazine to provide a perfect luncheon menu for a warm June day she suggested 'Cold madrilène soup, coubilac de saumon made with salmon, rice, eggs and pastry - a chaudfroid of chicken with a salad, and an orange dessert'. One could reduce the likelihood of problems by never accepting invitations one did not wish to return, and 'eliminating bores and bounders'.

I particularly enjoyed a few points made here:

1) the guests are always the primary focus of an event

2) 6 or 8 is absolutely the best number, I couldn't agree more. I love being able to have one conversation at the table, that way nobody gets left out. I think it's the absolute pits when you go to a large dinner party and everywhere you turn there is somehow already a conversation in progress, and you seem to be the only odd one out. Again. And by "you" I guess I mean me.

3) I have a very hard time hearing more than one thing at a time, so I always think of music as being highly distracting during a conversation. I love the idea that one can have great powers of conversation, and that they should be allowed to shine.

4) As for that menu, I don't even know what most of it is. I'll have to look it all up later. I like to think that she listed all that off the top of her head, barely pausing to collect her thoughts before she began.

5) Dude, whatever happened to the idea that invitations and visits were always returned? No wonder we're all so disjointed and dis-unified, we spend so little time in each others' homes and you never know if, after having somebody over multiple times, they will return the courtesy or choose to forget you ever existed.

6) And yes, those who have no sense of humor and those with no manners should certainly not be inflicted on congenial company.

Gaby's cake

2008-10-27T20:48:00.003-04:00

I knew when I saw the post on Smitten Kitchen about the chocolate peanut butter cake from Sky High that I wanted to make it the first chance I got. So, imagine my delight when I offer to make Gaby's birthday cake and she mentions chocolate and peanut butter being one of her favorite combinations. It turned out to be quite simple, as promised, quite rich, and incredibly delicious. I highly recommend it.

Troll 2: You Can't P*** on Hospitality

2008-10-13T17:48:00.007-04:00

My friends Kim and Ryan hosted a Troll 2 party last night, complete with a bevy of snacks and treats mirroring those in the movie. While none of us ate our double-decker baloney sandwiches, we all polished off our apple crisp and homemade vanilla ice cream! Did I mention that they even picked the apples themselves?

Thanks for a highly amusing evening, Ryan and Kim. You can be sure that none of us would ever dream of p***ing on your hospitality

ps- Troll 2 has been voted The Worst Movie Ever by imdb.com and most definitely deserves the honor. I've never seen a movie so fantastically terrible.

Blondie cupcakes

2008-09-24T12:32:00.010-04:00

Once upon a time, I arrived at my friend Collin's apartment to find a bunch of cookie-cupcakes on the counter. Apparently he'd grown tired of baking them the usual way (no surprise as I think he only had a pizza pan on which to bake them), and decided to go the cupcake route. I'd never had a cookie cupcake before and I was curious. They were terrible. Really terrible. So when I saw this Martha Stewart recipe for blondie cupcakes, I was skeptical to say the least. Maybe cookies just weren't meant to be made it cupcake form?
But, it was Aaron's birthday and this recipe was the workplace consensus, so I gave it a go. And they were delicious! I have since reminded Collin of that story and apparently it was just a family cookie recipe that is, shall we say, an acquired taste. His wife agreed. I think she has yet to acquire that particular taste.

Anyway, I generally prefer things slightly underbaked. Plus it was getting late, so I pulled these out a few minutes early. They were deliciously soft and many were totally sunken in the middle and it has since occured to me that it would be even more delicious to drop a scoop of ice cream in them and drizzle just a little bit of caramel or fudge on top.

Oh, but next time I'll be sure not to let laziness get the best of me and instead of dropping in liners (they totally stuck to the cupcakes), I'll actually grease the pan.

ps- I thought all toffee chips might be too sweet so I did half of those and half semi-sweet chunks, it seemed to work well

Nie Nie Day auction results

2008-08-31T22:25:00.003-04:00

Congratulations anonymous, you've won the baked goods, and Bri and Adam, you've won the shoes! Please don't forget to send me the receipts and your addresses.

Thanks!

Demelza Hill: RugBag

2008-08-30T20:43:00.004-04:00

While I was checking out the Snap and Dine I noticed her RugBag, which is also pretty nifty. In her own words:

Rugbag is a 2 in 1 picnic rug and bag uses simple folds and fastening to create a new functional option for people who enjoy eating outdoors. The shoulder bag has a large amount of space to transport your picnic in which unzips into a spacious rug. The waterproof underside of the rug also doubles as a wipe clean inner surface to the bag for food and liquids.

Now, I don't know how much room there is for food, but it looks perfect for slipping in a couple of snap and dine sets and it looks like it would hold enough food for two. The wipe clean surface is a definite bonus, as I assume it also acts as something of a tarp between you and the grass. I do hate sitting in the damp.

Demelza Hill: Snap and Dine

2008-08-30T20:35:00.002-04:00

Luke pointed me in the direction of Demelza Hill's Snap and Dine which I have to say is absolutely fantastic and are they for sale? I love the molded detail, I love the fact that it is for multiple courses, and I love the model airplane part concept. And I love how you can put it in your picnic basket and not worry about losing a fork.

Her description of the product is as follows:

Snap and Dine is a single use three-course table setting that integrates disposable cutlery with traditional silverware. The portable lunch setting expands the possibilities of eating outdoors in style whilst reinforcing the correct use of cutlery, which has been lost over time. This is achieved through the decorative qualities and formal setting which both are a visual reference to fine dinning. This product is fun and interactive whilst raising the standards of current eating on the go habits.

Now honestly, who wouldn't want this? If only it were made in bamboo...

Nie Nie Day Silent Auction: Baked Goods

2008-08-28T09:40:00.002-04:00

I am offering one batch of baked goods from the list below:

Chocolate chip cookies

Oatmeal cookies

Lelong Lemon bars

Paley Pecan bars

Butterscotch ginger cookies

Black-bottom cupcakes

Black and white cupcakes

Or anything else listed on this blog that can be mailed.

These will be shipping from Manhattan, so if you live here feel free to choose anything you like. The farther away you live, the sturdier the better.

How to Bid: Leave a comment in the comment section below with your bid amount. Bid increments must be no less than $1.00. Auction will close Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 10pm Eastern Standard Time. The winner will submit payment to the Stephanie Nielson Fund Paypal Account and send the receipt to me to receive their prize.

Nie Nie Day Silent Auction: Delman shoes

2008-08-28T09:30:00.002-04:00

I am donating one pair of Delman Bruna mary janes in a lovely shade of mandarin orange. They are brand new, never worn, in the box and with the dust bag.

Size 8
Heel: approximately 2 1/4"
Patent leather uppers, leather soles
Value: $275

How to Bid: Leave a comment in the comment section below with your bid amount. Bid increments must be no less than $1.00. Auction will close Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 10pm Eastern Standard Time. The winner will submit payment to the Stephanie Nielson Fund Paypal Account and send the receipt to me to receive their prize.

Nie Nie Day

2008-08-28T09:18:00.002-04:00

If you haven't yet heard, today is Nie Nie Day. Stephanie and Christian Nielson were in a horrific plane accident a couple of weeks ago. Stephanie has third-degree burns over 80% of her body and Christian has them over 30% of his body. They are in for a very long and incredibly expensive recovery, so Design Mom has declared today Nie Nie day to help raise funds, and there are silent auctions going on all over the internet, including right here. Design Mom has a full list of the auctions, which I highly recommend checking out, there are lots of super fabulous things!

They're not kidding

2008-08-27T19:29:00.005-04:00

photo courtesy of www.mickeyxtreme.com

So I was piddling around on msn the other day and they had a little story on non-traditional wedding sites and what should I see, but that you can have your wedding at Disneyland! No kidding. This is just the sort of thing I've jokingly planned out for friends for years, but this one is real. As in people do this all the time. It kind of blows my mind, but to each her own.
Anyway, my curiosity was piqued; I simply had to know what this entailed.

Sure, you can get married at one of their two hotels, but why do that when you can take Cinderella's carriage to the Sleeping Beauty Castle and then have your reception in Fantasyland?

image courtesy of bridalwave.tv

They have a couple of different wedding packages with lots of variables. According to the sample budgets, the weddings range from 15,000-45,000 and include such services as flower arranging, disc jockeying, wine service, full dinner, valet parking, and on, and on. Did I mention the strolling violinist?

image courtesy of cakella.com

But seriously, my favorite part is that there is a designer who works with Disney to create bridal gowns inspired by each of the Disney Princesses. Fortunately, the interpretations aren't too literal.

image courtesy of bridalwave.tv, designs by Kirstie Kelly

Pretty amazing, no? While you couldn't pay me enough to have my own wedding there, I totally want to go to one to see what it is really like. Any takers?

Chimney charcoal starters

2008-08-27T10:32:00.002-04:00

Over the past couple of years I have been surprised to learn how many people have never used a chimney charcoal starter whatsit. We didn't have a fancy propane grill growing up, we didn't even have lighter fluid. We had a chimney, and it worked just fine. Seeing as almost nobody else I know has even seen one of these before, I thought I'd post a link to an ehow tutorial. Really, everybody should know how to use one of these.

Sky High

2008-08-21T14:54:00.003-04:00

After reading SmittenKitchen's glowing recommendation (I seriously want some of that cake she made), I had to check out Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman. I'd love to go through the book and make every single cake, but I can't imagine the havoc that would wreak on my waistline (and my wallet), so I'll just have to patiently wait for appropriate occasions.

Shut. Up.

2008-08-14T10:20:00.002-04:00

Image of Julia Child from npr.org

Julia Child worked for the OSS during WWII, apparently one of her tasks was to help create a shark repellent so the poor things would stop bumping into our bombs under water. Read more about it here.

Someday

2008-07-31T19:55:00.001-04:00

central air from home.howstuffworks.com

Someday, when I have central air conditioning, or at least a backyard, I'll have parties in the summer, too.

Strawberry smoothie

2008-07-22T22:41:00.004-04:00

The other day I bought two pints of strawberries, cut off the tops and froze them. Tonight, after a long day of work, I put a large handful of them into the blender with some skim milk and sugar, blended it into super-tasty smoothie, put in Manhattan Melodrama, and relaxed. I love a good strawberry smoothie in the summer.

Pasanella place mats

2008-07-19T18:12:00.002-04:00

I have been looking and looking for information and/or pictures of some witty napkins and place mats we have at the museum where I work, but this is the best I could get. Seriously, Mr. Pasanella, why play so hard to get?I can't remember what the napkins looked like, but the place mats were essentially a blueprint, with outlines and labels for each piece of the place setting. Not only do I find them aesthetically pleasing and amusing in their own right, I would totally use them if I ever started that finishing school for all of those clueless business people.

Shower favors

2008-07-19T16:00:00.004-04:00

I knew I wouldn't have too much time for a complicated favor and most everybody I know enjoys a good M&M, so I decided to fill some small, plain white boxes with pink and green
M&Ms, wrap them up with green tissue, stick a pink tissue flower on top, and call it a day.

wrapped

unwrapped

ready to enjoy

To make the tissue flowers, cut out four larger circles, four smaller circles, attach them at the center (I sewed them), and fluff to your heart's content.

Lelong Lemon Bars

2008-07-17T19:57:00.003-04:00

I wanted something fruity and square to go with the chocolate and almond round cookies, so I went with my favorite old lemon bar recipe. I have no idea where my mother got this one, but it's the one I grew up making. In graduate school they were christened Lelong Lemon bars after Lucien Lelong, subject of our student exhibition and husband of Natalie Paley, for whom my Paley Pecan Bars are named.

Lucien Lelong, the modern master himself

Lelong Lemon Bars

Crust:
1c butter
2c flour
1/2c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
mix and pat into 9x13 pan and bake 15-20 minutes

Topping:
4 eggs
2c sugar
1/4c flour
1/4c lemon juice
1/2 tsp baking powder
Beat together, pour onto baked crust and bake 20-25 minutes or until set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar

I wanted these to be on the smaller side for the shower, but usually when I make them I double the crust.

Chocolate thumbprint cookies

2008-07-16T19:53:00.001-04:00

I decided to make some chocolate thumbprints to go along with the other little desserts. I used another Martha Stewart recipe, but I added some cocoa to the dry ingredients so that the cookie would be chocolate as well as the filling.

Next time I'll use something other than my thumb to make the indentation. Something bigger, stronger, and less sensitive to heat.

Using butter instead of cream to make the ganache made it set nicely so it was perfect for filling in the indentations.

I had some leftover ground almonds from the macaroons so I dusted half of the thumbprints with them.

French Almond Macaroons

2008-07-15T19:51:00.001-04:00

What finger food comes in green and pink and is super delicious? Why, a French macaroon of course! By which I mean the pretty, colorful little sandwich cookies, not those coconut whatsits. Anyway, I've been wanting to try these for a while and I decided to go with Martha Stewart's recipe because it looked the simplest.

Becca and Kendra mixing away

Becca, Kendra, and Tamara all lent a hand and we had a macaroon -baking party. Fortunately the recipe was indeed simple, though next time I think I might see if I can get the almonds even finer (we did our best) and take into account the fact that the almond will give them a beige cast. I kind of forgot about that so the color wasn't quite as vivid as I had planned, but it's all good.

I filled them with the swiss meringue buttercream listed with the recipe, but had to refrigerate it overnight. Sadly, the buttercream started to separate when I took it out of the fridge the next day and added the food coloring, but it wasn't so bad. Next time though, I'll do something a little different. What that will be, I haven't a clue, but I'm sure something will work out.

Sad buttercream, trying so hard to separate

I have since spoken to my friend Aaron, a pastry chef, on the subject and he recommends piping out the macaroons and letting them sit for a two or three hours before baking so I'll give that a go next time.

Pom Poms

2008-07-14T19:43:00.004-04:00

Tamara made Martha Stewart's pom poms to brighten up the room. They are super easy to make and look fantastic.

I tried hanging the first few, but that didn't work so well. Luckily, Leslie is a bit taller. All we had on hand was packing tape and that stuck relatively well, though we did lose the big green one a few minutes into the party.

This is the best shot I got of the pom poms before the green monster fell.

Martha Stewart's version, I love how the pom pom napkin holders match the big hanging ones.

Invitations for Carly's shower

2008-07-13T19:49:00.001-04:00

In keeping with the green and pink theme, I went to Kate's Paperie and bought scalloped pink cards for the invitation, plain cream cards for the guests to write down their favorite story about the bride, and then green envelopes. Printing the pink cards turned out to be more difficult than I'd anticipated, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing. Fortunately I know a professional and she was kind enough to lend me a hand. And by lend me a hand, I mean do them for me while I played with her puppy.

And yes, I know the picture is horribly out of focus. I actually did that on purpose to obscure the address and then I realized I should just smudge it out anyway, so now it's smudgy and out of focus. Lovely.

Carly's bridal shower

2008-07-12T18:55:00.012-04:00

Carly and I were roommates when I first moved to New York and she's getting married next month so a few of us threw her a bridal shower this afternoon.

We wanted some nice, festive decorations and of course plenty of good things to eat

I thought all finger foods would be the most convenient seeing as we sure didn't have table space for everybody and I am not a fan of balancing a plate on one's lap. Leslie was in charge of the tea sandwiches and raspberry/mint lemonade (and she was kind enough to let us all take over her house), Sarah was over the crudite and fresh fruit, I was on dessert, favor and game detail, and Tamara took care of the pom poms.

I wanted a sort of theme, probably colors, to unify everything (more or less) and thinking of Carly brought to mind a blush pink, what with the ballet and the being Southern and, well, she wears lots of pink. I thought a nice green of a similar tone would complement it well. So, whenever we could, we incorporated the green and pink. I enjoyed the effect, but I should have known people would assume they were her wedding colors, which they are not.

So, that was the basic idea, and I was pleased by the result.

Ms. Ireland's philosophy

2008-06-30T21:27:00.004-04:00

Domino magazine recently featured Kathryn M. Ireland, who owns a home in France where she hosts friends and family during the summer. She says:

"To watch one's children grow up amid a colorful, lively, rotating cast of friends and family from all over the world was a childhood dream I've been able to realize. Everyone knows I'm not an heiress; I work hard for my money. And when my accountant tells me at the end of every year how much my summer cost me, it's always a shock. But the reason I work hard is so I can splurge on houseguests for three hot, wonderfully long months and create beautiful memories for the people I love."

I couldn't agree more. Except I do my own accounting and would rather have a house in the English countryside. While I'm dreaming, I'd like an accountant with that.

Anne Hathaway's cottage would do, if I could clear out all the tourists

Cool ades

2008-06-29T16:54:00.004-04:00

Growing up in an area where severe winter weather meant rain, rain meant hot chocolate, curling up on the couch with a good book, and maybe even finding that scarf that had been hanging around the house since the late sixties, when my parents moved to Los Angeles from New York City.
So, what to do on a summer evening when it's pouring rain and still in the mid-eighties outside and for sure hotter than that in my third-floor apartment? I could break my broke-girl rule and turn on the ac even though it's the middle of the day and I have no guests (nope, holding strong),
I could pretend I was nineteen again and go run outside in the rain (absolutely not, it's dirty out there), or I could drink my last Izze and dream of the gamut of -ades listed in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living. I can't decide which I want more right now, the honey ruby red grapefruitade or the saffron orangeade.

Iron Man dreams

2008-06-28T00:08:00.003-04:00

If being a personal assistant meant that I could go to parties like this:

and dress like this:

(yeah, I saw those red soles)

Oh, and have a boss as good looking as Robert Downey Jr., I might be tempted to leave the museum business today. On the other hand, I don't think I've met a personal assistant yet who liked the job.

So, for now I'll settle for Franco Sartos and J.Crew (okay let's face it, more like H&M), and I'll throw my own little parties.

Mmm. Hamburgers.

2008-06-26T19:57:00.003-04:00

the jalapeno cheeseburger courtesy of bonappetite.com

Hamburgers = Delicious. It's true. So, imagine my delight when Bon Appetite has a whole feature on different kinds of super delicious hamburgers! Jalapeno cheeseburgers with bacon and grilled onions, Bombay sliders with garlic curry sauce, Andouille and beef burgers with spicy mayo and caramelized onions, not to mention all of the others. Mmm. Hamburgers.

Bottle wrap

2008-06-25T19:49:00.002-04:00

photo from marthastewart.com

Speaking of picnics, what to do with multiple bottles and a stray table cloth? This, of course. Efficient packing warms the very cockles of my heart.

Concerts in the park

2008-06-24T23:20:00.004-04:00

From the New York Phil's website

The New York Philharmonic's free concerts in Central Park (the next one is July 15th) are one of the great pleasures of living in New York City. Tons of lovely music, marvelously good people watching, a few fireworks, good times for all. They remind me of going to the Hollywood Bowl when I was growing up, except they're free.

I (heart) you, Hollywood Bowl

In my Hollywood Bowl going days, we used to pack picnics with all sorts of delicious drinks and sandwiches and I'm sure plenty of desserts. I showed up empty handed to the NY Phil the other day and kind of wish I'd had one of these, well stocked of course.

While I saw plenty of adorable picnic baskets being lugged around, I came straight from work via the gym and this just seems a bit more practical. Too bad it's a million dollars.

Tamara's cake

2008-06-22T09:27:00.005-04:00

It was my friend Tamara's birthday yesterday and all she wanted was chocolate. Well, that's all she wanted from me. Not being a big chocolate fan myself (I mean, I love the bar form but everything else is way down on my list), I had to search around a little bit to find a cake that sounded good to me and would still be chocolatey enough for the birthday girl. Yet again, food network came to the rescue with this recipe for chocolate fudge cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache glaze. It's got to be good if the first ingredient is three cups of brown sugar, right?
The cake was delightfully simple to make but murder to get out of the pans. I think I gave myself shaken baby syndrome. The vanilla frosting was also simple as anything and I loved frosting the crumbly cake knowing that it didn't matter in the slightest if the crumbs mixed into the white frosting as it was going to be covered anyway. That didn't stop me from trying, but the crumbs won that little battle. Now, the ganache was of course easy to make, but being the perpetual underestimator of time, I forgot to figure in just how long it was going to have to cool before actually staying on the cake when I poured it on. Numerous trips in and out of the freezer later, I had to leave and could wait no longer so I just let it puddle and called it a design choice. The fruit was only meant for the top of the cake, but I thought sticking it around the bottom might alleviate the awkwardness of the puddling and make it look more intentional. The ganache was also supposed to be opaque, but in its runny state was a bit more on the translucent side. Next time, right?
Anyway, I hear the cake was pretty good so I think I'll keep that one on file for future chocolate lovers.
As an aside, I have always known that the higher quality cocoa one uses the better the cake is going to be. My grocery store apparently doesn't believe in carrying the good stuff, but I was determined to have it so I went up a few blocks to the fancy pants store and found Droste Cocoa, imported from Holland, which did just the trick. Finally, a truly dark and chocolatey cake!

I (heart) ice cream bombes

2008-06-18T21:38:00.003-04:00

A recipe for a banana split bombe in the most recent Martha Stewart Living reminded me just how much I love a good ice cream bombe. Not only do they look fantastic all smooth and round, but what a lovely surprise everybody gets when you cut it open to reveal layer upon layer of different ice cream or cake or ganache or whatever you wanted to put in it. This one here has vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, ganache, pistachio ice cream, and banana cake.

The watermelon one is pretty fancy pants, but the one I used to love making involved lining the bowl with raspberries, then layering vanilla ice cream and raspberry sorbet. You get this lovely dome of berries, which is pretty impressive by itself, and then the ice cream surprise inside. I did individual ones once to see how that went and they were fine, but I think I preferred the proportions of the larger one.

Once you get the concept of the bombe down, the possibilities are endless.

All photos from Marthastewart.com

Black-bottom cupcakes

2008-06-08T20:36:00.002-04:00

Ann's (the other Ann, the tall Ann, the Ann with the orange KitchenAid, Ann H.) birthday treat request was for something chocolate, and as we were having a picnic in Central Park, it had to be something portable. Preferably with no frosting or glaze involved. So, what to do but make some black-bottom cupcakes? I looked up a recipe (originally from The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz) on Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food blogs, and away I went. I looked through her post and then some of the comments from other readers. Deb of Smitten Kitchen said she'd had a hard time getting the cream cheese filling blobs centered (yeah, at least hers sunk, my cream cheese goodness is all on top) and one reader suggested covering the cream cheese bit with mini chocolate chips. I had imagined a layer of chocolate over the cream cheese when really what was I thinking, I just got mini chips scattered throughout the uncontrollably spreading blob known as cream cheese filling. Which is fine, it looked okay and tasted good so I can't really complain. Maybe these cupcakes just aren't meant to be conventionally pretty.

Epicurean "I Do"

2008-06-05T21:15:00.003-04:00

Image from epicurious.com

Epicurious has an article on their website called "Delicious Ways to Say 'I Do'"
that covers all sorts of wedding-related food needs, ranging from what to serve at a bridal shower to a DIY wedding cake. I haven't read it all yet, but I flipped through the section on bridal showers to see if anything sparked my interest for a shower I'll be hosting next month. I think a lot of the ideas are out of my budget (for both time and money) but I'll see if there's anything I can adjust

Mmm, creamy

2008-05-21T21:43:00.005-04:00

The June issue of Martha Stewart Living featured cream pies, and maybe it's just because I was hungry and had a long train ride home, but I think I dogeared each and every recipe. I'm especially intrigued by the butterscotch-praline pie and the chocolate-caramel cream pie. Mmmm. The article, and all of the attending recipes, can be found here

Martha's manual

2008-05-20T22:24:00.003-04:00

The Martha Stewart website is currently running a slide show manual on how to be the perfect hostess. It is, shall we say, not exactly for my demographic, but pushing past that to the party ideas there is a bit on throwing a dinner party. According to the copy, as children we all had a mental list of adult accomplishments that included such things as driving, wearing lacy bras, owning a real couch, and throwing dinner parties. Are they dissing my used futon?
I don't think this little list of ideas and dos and don'ts is anything new and miraculous, in fact I may even have mentioned it here before, but it never hurts to brush up on those basics, eh?

The Butter Knife

2008-05-13T22:35:00.002-04:00

Today is apparently the 371st anniversary of Cardinal Richelieu's invention of the butter knife. As the story goes, on 13 May 1637, he'd had enough with people using their daggers as a table knife and tooth pick in one and had the tips of his blades ground down, creating the butter knife we all know and love. Or at least know.
You can read more about it at Wired

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T18:37:00.004-04:00

My mother's high school graduation photo

My childhood memories are punctuated by all sorts of parties my mother hosted in our home- formal dinners, backyard barbecues, small holiday gatherings and events for well over a hundred. She taught all of us by example the joy that can come from constantly welcoming people into your home.
Happy Mother's Day

Michelle Rago

2008-05-09T14:31:00.002-04:00

I saw Michelle Rago mentioned on another blog today and checked out her website and was delighted to see that she has a blog. Her company has planned weddings and events at The New York Public Library, Top of the Rock, and The St. Regis among many others, and I thoroughly enjoyed the photos they had posted.

Hot fudge sauce

2008-05-06T21:39:00.002-04:00

Super delicious and easy to make, foodnetwork's hot fudge sauce was just the thing to top the peanut butter ice cream. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the leftovers.

Peanut butter ice cream

2008-05-05T19:48:00.004-04:00

The recipe for the ice cream came from The Ice Cream Maker Companion by Avner Laskin

Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Makes 15 balls (whatever that means)
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
2/3 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter

1. In a saucepan, bring the milk, cream, vanilla bean, and half of the sugar to the scalding point over medium heat.
2. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and the remaining sugar with a wire whisk until smooth and uniform.
3. When the mixture in the saucepan begins to foam, reduce the heat and quickly stir in the yolk mixture. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds back into the saucepan.
4. Using a wooden spoon, stir the custard constantly and cook over low heat until it reaches 175 degrees.
5. Remove immediately from the heat and continue stirring, so that the custard does not overcook.
6. Pour the custard into a clean bowl through a fine mesh strainer, so that the liquid is smooth and lump-free.
7. While the custard is still warm, add the peanut butter and mix well. It is important to do this while the custard is warm so that the flavors are fully absorbed.
8. Cover the custard with plastic wrap and let cool slightly, then place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, until very cold.
9. Transfer the cold custard to the bowl of your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Now, I still don't understand the 15 ball serving, but I can tell you this, it isn't very much. I could very easily have fit a double recipe in my small ice cream maker, if not more. There was barely enough for the five of us, and nobody got a bowl full. Thank heaven I'd made hot fudge and whipped cream to make up for the tiny portions.
Oh, and I'm too poor to have vanilla beans sitting around the house so I just used vanilla.

Baked Ziti

2008-05-04T21:48:00.003-04:00

For dinner tonight I made some baked ziti, based on a recipe from foodnetwork. It is a simple recipe for ziti with marinara sauce and cheese, and as I wanted something a little more substantial I decided to add one pound of spicy Italian sausage, one medium-sized zucchini and a medium-sized crookneck squash. I was going to add mushrooms but I completely forgot. I sautéed all of that with the onions and garlic the recipe called for the marinara sauce before adding them to the canned tomatoes and herbs. Next time I make it I think I will add more mozzarella to the top of the assembled dish, I want it to be all covered and bubbly and gooey!

Dorie Greenspan

2008-05-02T20:23:00.003-04:00

I had an hour to kill before an appointment the other day so I wandered around Williams Sonoma. I'd heard about Dorie Greenspan's somewhat recent cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours but as the belt is currently tightening (in regards to both finances and sweets) I hadn't given it much thought. Until I saw it plastered all over the baking section of Williams Sonoma, that is. I had the time so I flipped through it and read her little bio. It turns out she worked on the recipes for both Julia Child and Pierre Hermé's baking cookbooks. Not half bad.
Plus, she has her own website, which promises to be a great resource.

Martha's May Day Baskets

2008-05-01T12:26:00.003-04:00

I guess I should have waited until today to post about May Day baskets. The Martha Stewart Craft of the Day is a simple version which I think looks lovely, simple and homemade but the flowers still look delicate and springy

May Day

2008-04-30T22:05:00.004-04:00

Dancing around the maypole in Buckinghamshire, 1948
Image courtesy of www.jamd.com

Happy almost May Day! If I had lots of time and lots of money, I'd have all my friends over to make May Day baskets to hang on people's doors. Maybe next year. But hey, if you read this, do me a favor and pretend I left a basket on your door. I think tomorrow I'll pretend the subway poles are bedecked with ribbons and all the sleepy straphangers holding onto it for dear life are actually dancing with flowers in their hair. Here's to the very end of winter!

Colour lovers

2008-04-28T23:04:00.004-04:00

Just after I posted about Pantone, I saw that Bluelines posted about the site www.colourlovers.com which, I have to say, is amazing and fantastic and magnificent and incredibly time wasting. I made this palette when I should have been doing my homework for my continuing ed class (ah, procrastination, how I love thee). It's roughly the colors of my apartment, which I painted after walking through Central Park on a spring day. You can even make patterns with your palette, and all sorts of other fun things I'd love to figure out right now but I really have to do my homework. Really.

Continuing Education

2008-04-27T09:41:00.006-04:00

I'm a big fan of continuing education and lately I've been trying to do what I can to brush up and improve skills I learned in college. I'm nearly finished with the flat patterning class I'm taking at FIT, and next up on the list is a French class, probably at NYU or the Alliance Francaise. Until I have the money saved up for that one, I'm trying to get back into things through pod classes and dictionary-aided reading.

But the point of all this is that I've decided that, seeing as it is incredibly unlikely that I'll ever be going to this finishing school, I should do the best I can writing a course for myself. Of course it will only be a sad little shadow of their course, but I'll do what I can. My first step will be reading Emily Post cover to cover. Frankly that's all I have figured out so far but as soon as I have some free time I think I'll work out a whole schedule for myself. Good times!

Pantone

2008-04-25T22:45:00.003-04:00

Now, who doesn't love a good Pantone color strip? I was about to correct myself and say there is no such thing as a bad Pantone strip but no, there is. At least, there are plenty of colors I find perfectly hideous, but that's beside the point.
I remember being fascinated by the color strips (and the color names, I mean seriously, who gets paid to come up with those?) when I was a kid, and then when I was in college I visited New York on a design field trip and got to visit the Color Association and I was so excited I just about jumped up and down. Actually, I probably did jump up and down. I for sure bought their book Living Colors: A Designer's Guide to 80 Essential Palettes from Ancient to Modern Times which I absolutely love and highly recommend. The authors go through works of art from various periods in history and make color palettes, it's fascinating to see how the trends change.
Anyway, I was thinking the other day about how helpful color can be in interpreting mood, and how color strips could be used to articulate the ambiance for which I am aiming when I plan something. No, I don't think I'll ever be swatching for a casual Sunday dinner, but I do love my parties to have themes, even if they aren't obvious to my guests. And I do love inspiration boards, though I have yet to make one for a party I've thrown. I'm afraid I'd get so sidetracked by the board making, I'd never get around to the party planning! In any case, the Pantone website is a great place to go to check out different colors and start getting ideas, or just to waste lots of highly valuable time. It isn't quite as fun as physically flipping through the stack of strips, but it will do in a pinch.

Stretching dinner

2008-04-22T23:13:00.005-04:00

I was intrigued today when I looked at ehow.com and saw a link to a new article on how to stretch dinner for unexpected guests. The article lists a few good tips, like serving the salad while you run around crazily finding more food, or simply adding a vegetable to make the plate look better with smaller portions. I thought the best advice was what to stock up on now so that if unexpected guests arrive, you'll have things you can throw in their direction (properly and politely served, of course). They recommended keeping things around to beef up a salad, and some of those canned roll things you can bake if you need to add more to the meal.
The one thing I didn't get was how they assumed you'd invited these unexpected guests. I mean, if you'd invited them, wouldn't you be expecting them? My main issues in the past, as far as stretching food is concerned, have been actual unexpected guests. As in, wait, who are you? Why are you here? That's the mental dialogue of course, all they ever here is oh hello! please come in and have a seat.
Speaking of, now that ehow has educated me on stretching a meal, what about stretching seating? As in, wait, I don't have a chair for you. Or a plate. Or room for a plate. What about that, ehow?

ps if you put unexpected guest into google image or flickr, just about all you get are gross bugs and random animals

Strawberry-rhubarb cobbler

2008-04-21T22:00:00.007-04:00

On Saturday my friend Carly took me to Yonkers and introduced me to the wonder that is Stew Leonard's. As I have no words adequate for describing this marvel, I'm going to borrow Wikipedia's, with a smattering from the NYT.

"The New York Times called Stew Leonard's the "Disneyland of Dairy Stores." The stores are not set up like traditional grocery stores; one must walk through the entire store (though there are short cuts), even to get a carton of milk. As customers walk through a path of aisles, they are greeted by different employees dressed up in costumes and by animatronic favorites such as Twinkie the Kid, the Chiquita banana, and Clover, a cow's head that moos when one pulls its rope. The stores also feature petting zoos and outdoor cafes in the warmer months and sell a variety of prepared meals year round. Customers are also offered an unusually large number of food samples for a supermarket, as well as free drink samples."

Yeah.
Wait, did they mention the animatronic cow family serenading you from above the shelving?

So anyway, there we were, wandering along the meandering aisle and dutifully trying every sample available and there I am going nuts in the produce section when what do I find but rhubarb.
Now, I don't know that I particularly like rhubarb, but I know my father does. So, whenever I see something with rhubarb, I think of him and feel bound to purchase it. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often. But there I was, with a bag full of rhubarb. I picked up a large container of strawberries and decided to give it a go.
I got home and looked through a few recipes, and decided to try and take advantage of the nearly-expired carton of buttermilk sitting in my refrigerator. And that's how I ended up with this recipe. So I put on the strawberry-printed apron I got when I was about eleven (so what if the ties go around my ribs instead of my waist, it was theme appropriate), turned on my favorite girly band album (Voice of the Beehive's Honey Lingers, released in '91 making it roughly the same vintage as the apron), and started mixing.
I'm trying to be healthy these days and that doesn't really include cobbler, but I just couldn't help myself and so used 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour to trick myself into feeling better about the whole thing. I didn't put on the crumb topping either, but mostly because I was tired and I would have had to wash my saucepan yet again. I guess some would call that lazy. Maybe they'd be right.
In any case, it was super easy to make and while I wish I'd put less batter on the bottom and saved more for the top, I think it worked out well enough. Plus, the batter is delicious, and that always bodes well.

It finished baking in about forty minutes, as the recipe predicted, but it did spill over a bit so I'd definitely recommend putting a baking sheet underneath it in the oven. And yes, as a matter of fact, the whole thing is quite tasty.

Yeah, I have no idea what they're doing in this video. Or what they're wearing.

Salad cocktail?

2008-04-17T23:33:00.002-04:00

Image courtesy of www.barbeque-food.info

My sister and I had a debate the other day about whether one could serve salad at a cocktail party. My answer was no and I stand by it. Finger food only, right? I mean, who wants to maneuver a plate, fork and knife while standing? And who wants to sit and balance a salad on their knees, thus risking salad dressing splatters on their cocktail attire? That's what I think, anyway. Any compelling arguments for the opposition can be forwarded to Lisa.

Good conversation = good times

2008-04-16T23:23:00.003-04:00

As those msn people are always reminding me when I try to watch a preview online, no one wants to look dumb. Or sound dumb. And why embarrass yourself like that when a quick bit of reading could help put you on the right path? No, I am not suggesting Msn's celebrity gossip and financial tips as a remedy, though I can think of a recent Sunday dinner where the conversation turned on the stack of US Weekly magazines on the table, I am thinking rather of a fantastic literary blog called The Millions. I mean, why spend all evening on Paris or Lindsay Lohan when you could be mixing in a little Ibsen or Machiavelli?

Black and white cupcakes

2008-04-14T19:09:00.008-04:00

It was my coworker Cassandra's birthday last week and as she was out of town, we celebrated today with some black and white cupcakes. Cassandra is a fan of the black and white cookie

image courtesy of wikipedia

and had a grand plan of making a cupcake that mirrored the cookie, only with the black and white in the cupcake and then with a solid white glaze. I was flipping through some blogs the other day and came across a recipe for Neapolitan cupcakes on the blog How to Eat a Cupcake. We weren't interested in the strawberry frosting, and Cassandra was a little disappointed to see that somebody had already come up with her idea (I never told her the blogger actually got it from Martha Stewart, I think that would have been one blow too many), but we were all curious and Caroline and I decided it would be a great surprise birthday treat.
So, I set about making the batters. The recipe is basically the same for the chocolate and the white cake, and is quite simple. As for the getting of both batters into one liner, well, this being New York I had it all balanced on my stove which is warm and so by the time I got all the white batter in there and started with the chocolate, it had all softened down into the bottom of the liner and I had to tip them on their sides and persuade them to stand up straight.

For the second batch I did one cupcake at a time, one scoop white and one scoop chocolate, and that worked much better.

They look great coming out of the oven, just like the cookies, and as we at work aren't the biggest fans of frosting anyway, we wanted to mimic the glaze on the cookie but make it somewhat transparent.

I covered them with a simple powdered sugar glaze (lots of powdered sugar and a little bit of water) and was surprised over and over again how much it took to cover those silly things, I think I had to go back and mix more oh, five or six times.

In the end the cupcakes were nice enough looking and tasting, but on the dry side. I've heard the Martha Stewart recipes are dry, and so I choose to believe the recipe to be at fault and not my baking abilities.

Completely unrelated

2008-04-13T16:04:00.005-04:00

So, I know this has nothing to do with entertaining, but I bought a new handbag this weekend. Isn't it lovely? It is nice and roomy on top of being attractive, which kind of makes a girl feel like she can take over the world. And what is entertaining if not taking over the world one well-organized party at a time?

Cake stands

2008-04-11T14:12:00.001-04:00

Someday, when I have a large kitchen with lots of cupboards and shelves and things (and am no longer vaguely considering a trans-atlantic move), I'll get as many cake stands as my heart desires. I'll have white ones, green ones, pink ones, blue ones, red ones, milk glass and clear glass, tall and short, large and small, and each will have a dome top. Okay, maybe I'm more practical than that, but don't they look lovely all mixed and matched?

photo courtesy of Oh Happy Day

This one is 6.5" wide and comes with a dome

Fenton stand pre-1970, spanish lace design, 12.75 x 5

Upside-down red thistle stand, 11 x 5.25, the top is smooth

Schmancy Fostoria stand from 1954-65, 11 3/8 x 4 5/8

Blue stand, 9 x 7

This lovely green hobnailed stand can flip over to serve chips and dip. Talk about multi-tasking!

A Cake for Christina

2008-04-10T23:30:00.006-04:00

Christina asked for a red velvet cake for her birthday this year, and I was only too happy to oblige. I used the amNY recipe again and was pleased to find it even easier than I remembered, and just as delicious. May I recommend the trimmings of the cake top as an especially tasty treat.
One of my goals this time around was to frost the cake without tons of red crumbs mixing into the white cream cheese frosting. Mission accomplished. A thin preliminary layer to cement down the crumbs helped, and I was very careful to keep the spatula clean and crumb-free. The next goal was to make the cake as straight as possible. I had the carrot cake disaster in mind there and let me tell you, that wasn't hard to beat. I still have no idea how those Martha Stewart peeps got that cake so cylindrical, one of these days I'll infiltrate the ranks and find out. Until then, I'll keep working on it.

I couldn't remember what recipe I'd used for the cream cheese frosting before, so I looked around and decided on these proportions but quadrupling it. I don't know what they planned to frost with that, two cupcakes?
Anyway, I decided to go simple with the decoration partly because of my minimalist aesthetic and mostly because I didn't have too much time. I thought the birthday girl might enjoy some bright yellow to complement the near maroon of the cake (well, it would show when it was sliced) so I bought some lovely little daisies to stick on top and around the bottom. Sadly there was only one bunch of the type I wanted, so I had to make do with the buds at the end there. But hey, stick that side at the back and who needs to know, right?

It would have been lovely on a milk glass cake stand, but a) I don't have one (I had to draw the line on seldom-used baking items somewhere) and b) I had to cart it down ten blocks on the bus and even my sad little cake carrier seemed better suited to that trip than milk glass.

Flipbook Genius

2008-04-08T10:55:00.004-04:00

April's Martha Stewart Living featured these little flipbooks. You take a video clip up to 30 seconds in length, send them the file, choose your book design, and they send you the finished product. Snazzy, no? These would make great stocking stuffers, party favors, place cards (you make one of each of your guests, make their name the title, and put it at the head of their place setting), or just a random little gift.

Chocolate Bar

2008-04-07T21:32:00.002-04:00

The door prizes on Monday night came from Chocolate Bar, down in the West Village. I didn't get an extra one for me so I can't say for sure that they were super tasty, but how could they not have been with flavors like key lime pie and salty pretzel? And I kind of love the packaging.

Mad Libs

2008-04-06T11:40:00.004-04:00

The big prizes of Monday evening were for the refreshments contest. The categories included best use of possible 72-hour kit or food storage materials, best tasting, and best stretch to fit into the emergency treat category. I bought a few different Mad Libs, including Prime Time Mad Libs, Nancy Drew Mad Libs (my personal favorite), Diva Girl Mad Libs, and Mad Libs in Love. The last two came in a spiffy double pack! I really wanted the Worst Case Scenario Mad Libs, but they were fresh out. Some other Emergency Bee must have beat me to them. Argh. I mean Bzzzz. Way to go Erin, Jeff, and Amy for taking the prizes! For sure you'll be the most popular kids (and by kids I mean mature and responsible adults) in town when we're all stuck in a shelter or quarantined or just plain bored on a Sunday night.

Libertini cocktail glasses

2008-04-04T19:33:00.004-04:00

My friend Ann has the most fabulous little cocktail glasses (the libertini by CB2) which we filled with tapioca pudding for our dessert. She has the green tinted ones, which I think are my favorite of the choices. I see that right now they are going for only $2.50 a piece, what a steal!

Asparagus

2008-04-03T23:01:00.002-04:00

Question of the day: Why don't more people/restaurants serve asparagus standing up?

Don't give me the old "it's impractical for cutting" or "it falls over when the waiter brings out the plate" or "I'm not supposed to eat the string, am I?"

I began to think I was imagining that it was done at all, but my supporters claim it was big once (think the 1950s) and is still done on occasion.

It just looks so nice, all bundled up and keeping watch over your entrée.

Pasta Primavera

2008-04-02T22:11:00.003-04:00

For Sunday dinner last week I made some pasta primavera to go with the strawberry shortcake. Not having made it in recent memory (if ever), I based it on a foodnetwork recipe by Emeril Lagasse. I put in onions, garlic, yellow squash (completely forgot the zucchini), carrots, asparagus, and maybe that was it. It made enough to feed a small army, but everybody (including me) got leftovers so I didn't mind. And what with it being so light, I felt no guilt about the strawberry shortcake! But I did forget to take a picture, as usual.

Egg-cup bouquets

2008-04-01T13:23:00.004-04:00

I saw this a little while ago on the Martha Stewart website. I don't particularly care for the actual place card bit (is this supposed to be for a kid's party?) but I love the idea of having small bouquets in egg cups at the head of the place setting. The arrangements will never be tall enough to obstruct conversation and a number of small arrangements are a much easier way to decorate a long table than a series of larger ones. Plus, there is still room in the middle for serving dishes.

You hive to bee prepared

2008-03-31T22:55:00.004-04:00

Tonight I threw a bash to help members of my church be prepared in case of an emergency. Anyone who wished signed up and I bought the supplies they need for a 72-hour kit. All they had to do was show up tonight and bring the money, and my team had their kits ready to go. Well, almost. There were some shipping mishaps and we didn't get everything in time so we'll be supplementing, but we did what we could.
The theme was "Bee Prepared" and I couldn't help it, the decorating scheme just had to be yellow and black. We tried to keep the budget low, but we were still able to get black and yellow table cloths, balloons, and some caution tape.

The kits waiting to be picked up. Don't they look classy?

As for the program, Sarah and Kalyn briefed everyone on what to do in case of certain emergencies. More information on that can be found on the New York Office of Emergency Management webpage.

Sarah and Kalyn

Amy did a presentation on food storage, and I handed out our fantastic booklets.

Many thanks to Rgs and none to Staples

Ryan was going to come entertain us, but he was called in to work so I donned his costume and did my best.

I did the serious part in real clothes, I promise

I had tons of help setting up, decorating, and taking down which was really lovely, I think the evening went well and hopefully made emergency preparedness a little easier and a little more accessible.

Strawberry Shortcake

2008-03-30T21:08:00.003-04:00

Aka the best dessert ever. Well, one of them. I use the Bisquick recipe for shortcake which is super simple and just as fast (and it's on the box):

2 1/3 c Bisquick mix
1/2 c milk
3 Tb sugar
3 Tb melted butter

Mix that together, drop some nice big dollops on a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake for about ten minutes at 450.

Slice strawberries, whip cream, and layer on top of the freshly baked biscuit. What's not to love?

Dinner games

2008-03-27T22:39:00.004-04:00

I don't suppose everybody would agree, but I think Boggle and/or Scrabble improve almost any party. Especially when trash talking is involved. I'm considering making it a part of my Sunday dinners, but I'm not sure if word games are as generally popular and well-loved as I'd like to think.

Flickr cakes

2008-03-25T19:39:00.004-04:00

I love seeing what other people do for birthday cakes, and flickr came up with 245,065 results for me.

Food & Wine 2008

2008-03-24T22:53:00.001-04:00

Some friends of mine just gave me this cookbook, I can hardly wait to try some of the recipes

Easter Traditions

2008-03-20T20:16:00.003-04:00

In the Poulson household, at least back as far as my memory stretches, Easter dinner meant about anything but ham and potatoes. Our family tradition was to choose a different country or region each year and enjoy their cuisine. I remember meals from Morocco, Provence, Mexico, and wherever else fancy struck. My first Easter at college I made Carribean food for everybody.
The second half of our tradition, which we did instead of Easter baskets, was to create a runner down the dinner table with that plastic grass and cover it with chocolates. We always had a few of the large, filled eggs from Sees Candy surrounded by a plethora of smaller chocolates.

Triple Berry Pie

2008-03-18T22:56:00.004-04:00

Another recipe from Joy of Cooking, this one is listed as Fresh Strawberry (or Raspberry) Pie.

I used the flaky pastry crust again, and then proceeded with the recipe

6 c berries

Rinse, dry, and hull the strawberries; cut any very large ones in half. Do not rinse the raspberries. Measure 4 cups of berries and set aside. Puree the remaining 2 cups of berries.

Whisk together in a medium saucepan:
1 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt

Whisk in:
1/2 c water

Stir in the pureed berries along with:
2 Tb fresh strained lemon juice
2 Tb unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, and cook for 1 minute. Pour half of the reserved berries into the c rust and spoon half of hte ot berry mixture over them. Gently shake the pie pan to coat the berries evenly. Cover with the remaining berries, spoon the remaining hot berry mixture over them, and gently shake the pan as before. Refrigerate the pie for at least 4 hours to set. This pie is best served the day it is made.

I didn't get to refrigerate it for the full 4 hours which may be partially responsible for the berry juice that dribbled all down Brook's leg, but I think the pie tasted good no matter what. Also, I didn't bother to measure the berries, I just guessed. I knew I wanted a tall, beautiful pie, so I just kept adding berries until I was satisfied. If I were eating this at home, I would stack on more berries, but this one had to be carried to Harlem so I tried to keep it reasonable.

Peach Custard Pie

2008-03-17T22:52:00.002-04:00

Another pie from Joy of Cooking, this one tastes particularly good the next day.

Preheat oven to 400

Whisk together until well blended:
1 large egg or 2 large egg yolks
3/4 c sugar
6 Tb unsalted butter, melted
1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Arrange in a single layer, cut side down, over the bottom of the crust:
3-4 fresh peaches, peeled and halved, or 6-8 drained canned peach halves (I used sliced peaches, I daresay it would be prettier with the halves)

Pour the egg mixture over the peaches. Bake the pie for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 and bake until the custard is brown and crusty on top and appears firmly set in the center when the pan is shaken, about 1 hour longer. Let cool on a rack.

Easy, no?

Apple Crumb Pie

2008-03-16T14:53:00.003-04:00

I never can seem to make a pie with a top crust, especially when a crumb topping is an option. This pie was based on a couple of different recipes. The crust was Joy of Cooking's flaky pastry dough, the filling recipe came from my sister, and the crumb topping was from Joy of Cooking's apple crisp. Next time I think I'm going to aim for a gooier inside.

Crust:

Using a rubber spatula, thoroughly mix in a large bowl:
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp white sugar or 1 Tb powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
Add:
1 c solid vegetable shortening or 1/2 c shortening and 8 Tb cold unsalted butter (I prefer this half and half method myself)
Break the shortening into large chunks; if using butter, cut it into small pieces, then add it to the flour mixture. Cut the fat into the dry ingredients by chopping vigorously with a pastry blender or by cutting in opposite directions with two knives, one held in each hand. AS you work, periodically stir dry flour up from the bottom of the bowl and scrape clinging fat off the pastry blender or knives. When you are through, some of the fat should remain in pea-sized pieces; the rest should be reduced to the consistency of coarse crumbs or cornmeal. The mixture should seem dry and powdery and not pasty or greasy. Drizzle over the flour and fat mixture:
1/3 c plus 1 Tb ice water
Using the rubber spatula, cut with the blade side until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls. Press down on the dough with the flat side of the spatula. If the balls of dough stick together, you have added enough water; if they do not, drizzle over the top 1 to 2 Tb ice water. Cut in the water, again using the blade of the spatula, then press with your hands until the dough coheres. The dough should look rough, not smooth. Divide the dough in half, press each half into a round flat disk, and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and preferably for several hours, or for up to 2 days before rolling. The dough can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months; thaw completely before rolling.

Filling:

8 apples
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c water
Boil and then add chopped apples

Topping:

Combine:
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Add:
8 Tb cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Cut butter into dry ingredients

My sister sent me a bunch of aspic cutters a little while ago and I decided to try fancying up my crust with one of them. It turned out alright, but I think I need some practice

Chocolate Cream Pie

2008-03-15T12:50:00.003-04:00

Being a fan of fruit desserts, I often tend to forget about chocolate. As I was planning all of the pies to take to Becca's, I thought a little chocolate would be in good order to go with all the fruit. I decided to try Emeril's Chocolate Cream Pie from the Food Network and while it was easy enough, I can't say I was thrilled.
I almost never do crumb crusts for two reasons: 1) they tend to be all crumbly, and 2) they look you cheated. And I hate looking like I cheated. Clearly I didn't buy this one, it would have stuck together if I had, but really. A real pie has a pastry crust. It just does. And then there's the puddingy filling. Yes I made it from scratch and yes it involved multiple steps, but yes it looks as though I poured Jello Instant Pudding into the crust. And I'm too proud to be okay with that.
As for flavor, I hear it was good. I can't say it tempted me.

Pi Day

2008-03-14T20:03:00.003-04:00

While Pi Day is wonderful in and of itself, to me it has the added dimension of being Becca Shim's birthday. Becca embraces the duality of her holiday by celebrating her birthday with pie. This year she is providing the salty (pizza), and I am providing the sweet. I made a variety of pies: apple crumb, peach custard, chocolate cream, and triple berry. Horrible photos and delicious recipes will follow.

Pingg

2008-03-11T22:01:00.003-04:00

I was never sure about evite, but I had to admit that the online invitation idea was tempting. I sent out my first evite last month and it went well enough, but I wasn't won over. I heard about Pingg the other day (thanks for sharing that Megan!) and decided to try it out. The verdict is in and I love it. I still prefer beautiful mailed invitations of course, but those aren't always quite the thing.
So why do I like Pingg? First of all, I love the clean aesthetic of the invitations. I love how the invitation itself comes in an email and is separate from the rsvp page, and how guests don't even have to go there, they can rsvp right in the very email. So much easier, so much cleaner, and so much prettier. And what's not to love about that?
As if that's not enough, let me tell you, Pingg is so much easier to use than evite. The process is faster and clearer, and you can import selected contacts straight from your email account. And get this, for a small fee, you can even have your little design sent out as a physical post card! Genius. Ooh, and you can keep your invitation and rsvp lists private, should you so desire. It just gets better and better.

Paley Pecan Bars

2008-03-09T16:02:00.006-04:00

It looks ugly I know, but once I put the chocolate on it looked better and the aroma more than makes up for the looks

In graduate school I spent some time researching Princess Natalie Paley, a French style icon of the late 1920s through the '40s, who also appeared in a few American films. At the same time I was doing this research, I had volunteered my services as baker for one of my classes. We met once a week and were always hungry, so my classmates would provide me with money for ingredients and every week I would bring a different treat. One week I made these toffee bars and they were immediately dubbed Paley Pecan Bars (I combined recipes and made a few changes, so I feel perfectly justified in renaming), to serve as pendant to my class's favorite of my recipes, Lelong Lemon Bars. Lucien Lelong was the subject of our group research and our eventual class exhibition, a sort of capstone project, and was Natalie Paley's first husband. The recipe for those will go up another day.

Natalie Paley

In any case, here is the recipe for Paley Pecan Bars:

Crust: (I prefer to double this part of the recipe, I like lots of buttery crust)
I c butter
2 c flour
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Mix and pat into a 9x13 pan, bake for 15-20 minutes

Topping:
5 Tb unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 c light brown sugar
2 Tb honey
1 Tb milk
1/8 tsp salt

Boil together, uncovered, for three minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in:
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups toasted pecans, chopped

Add to crust, bake an additional 17-20 minutes
Sprinkle with chocolate chips, about 1/4 cup
Let cool, cut and serve

St. Patrick's Day Feast

2008-03-08T18:56:00.002-05:00

Bon Appétit's March issue refers readers who may want to host a St. Patrick's Day party to their website for a complete menu and preparation guide with everything from recipes to a shopping list and timeline. I am especially intrigued, as usual, by the dessert, a rhubarb and raspberry jam roly-poly with a vanilla custard sauce.

ps- according to wikipedia, the New York St. Patrick's Day parade is the biggest in the world. Oh, New York, how I love you.

Eggshell votives

2008-03-06T23:39:00.002-05:00

I just love these eggshell votives from the Martha Stewart website, I think they would be a lovely accent down the dinner table.

Project Runway Finale

2008-03-05T23:52:00.007-05:00

My friends Doug and Tamara hosted a Project Runway Finale party tonight. Our pre-show entertainment was a design challenge - creating a gown with only the Village Voice and masking tape in only ten minutes. I walked in halfway through this challenge and joined Doug's team.

Meredith and Reagan consulting while Tamara worked busily, just out of sight

Doug and Kim's friend working on Kim.

With about four minutes left, I joined in and tried to help them a) realize their vision, and b) actually finish the thing. I did not succeed. So, we didn't quite make it work.

Kim and Reagan. Kim's dress is nearly trashed at this point, trust me it looked a little better once

Doug wanted puffed sleeves on it and the judge insisted on more of a skirt than we originally had, and I thought it could use some sort of bodice. I tried my best to pass all off as an homage to the Gibson Girl, but Ryan wasn't fooled. Alas.

Mickey Mouse Cookbook

2008-03-05T11:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday as my coworkers and I were talking about meatballs, I had a sudden memory of my first dinner party. I'm guessing I was about six or seven and my little friend Leslie and her mother were coming over for dinner. I have absolutely no memory of whether my mother instigated the invitation or if I did, but I do remember poring over this cookbook with her and choosing the Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti and Meatballs. I also remember how I felt as I was preparing for that first dinner party, all of the excitement and trepidation, and I have to say it hasn't changed a bit for me since then.

Mistakes I've made v.5

2008-03-04T19:42:00.003-05:00

Sunday's main dish was a little on the heavy side so I thought a light and tart dessert would be appropriate. I chose baked apples with brown sugar and pecans, and I was going to make a caramel sauce but I forgot. That didn't much matter in the end, as the mistake to which I referred in the title overshadowed the lack of an extra topping. When I took the lasagna out of the oven, I automatically turned it off. Normally this is a very good thing. The not so good thing is that, moments later, I proceeded to put the apples in and walk away. I was busy with my guests during dinner so I didn't even think about the apples until it was time to take them out, at which point I thought it was odd I hadn't smelled them yet. So to the oven I go, only to open it and discover that it is, indeed, off. And the apples are still raw. Unheated ovens always make me think of the scene in Sabrina when she fails the souffle course due to forgetting to turn her oven on. I couldn't find a clip of that by itself, but watching from 5:20 to 6:40 does the trick.

Vegetarian Lasagna

2008-03-03T22:36:00.003-05:00

Image from foodnetwork

For dinner this Sunday I made a lasagna with spinach, eggplant, portobello mushrooms, and a beschamel sauce. I followed Emeril's recipe except I added the eggplant, I just thought it sounded good. I took a couple of ill-advised shortcuts with the sauce, which weren't major but could have been responsible for the soupiness that became something of a joke at the dinner table. We decided that after the lasagna was gone, I could just purée the rest and have a lovely soup. The flavor was a little bland but I'm always a little on the stingy side with the salt and pepper in the cooking stages just in case, so that was probably my doing. In any case, I think it's worth another go, perhaps putting a little more cheese and a little less sauce next time.

March, finally

2008-03-01T16:08:00.004-05:00

I've had enough of this, thank you

I'd like some of this, please

Now that the dreaded month of February is over, my mind has turned to spring. It may still be in the thirties and probably won't warm up for another month, but the light is at the end of the tunnel now and I couldn't be more excited. Just think, soon it will be time for picnics, strawberry shortcake, camping, blooming gardens just waiting for me and my Polaroid (neither of the above images is mine, but both are of Fort Tryon Park), light jackets, strappy sandals, mani pedis, Mr. Softee, fresh peaches, Gotham Girls Roller Derby, and lots of sunshine. For the moment I'm going to ignore the accompanying humidity, dirt, vermin, tourist influx, and everything else I dislike about warm weather. Hooray for spring!

Leap Year

2008-02-29T11:09:00.005-05:00

So apparently leap year day has a publicist, and a website. They have party ideas, publicity ideas, all sorts of things. Who knew? I'm not doing anything special to celebrate the day, unless you count breakfast for lunch at the nearby cheap Greek diner.

I am most certainly not in the mood to play along with the idea that leap year is the one day women get to chase after men, maybe I'll be more in the mood after lunch but I kind of doubt it.

Image from Wikipedia

I did like this image of a leap year ball though, really I just love seeing those men benched!

Image from 1884 London News

Ooh, and I do like the idea that any man who turns down a woman's marriage proposal in a leap year owes her a kiss (on the cheek) and a silk dress. Perhaps I am feeling amorous after all...

Image from Wikipedia

Seemed like a good idea to me v.4

2008-02-27T09:55:00.004-05:00

At the beginning of the month I planned a super fabulous birthday party for a friend of mine. Sadly, the guest of honor had to bow out at the last minute due to illness so the party was canceled, but I maintain that it would have been one of my best parties to date.

It was entitled The Great Hedgehog Caper and was to involve a mini photo studio with caper-ish props and a vintage polaroid, a detective-style hunt for the guest of honor, delicious refreshments, and a hedgehog cake that would have beat last year's out of the water. Oh well, better luck next year.

Oscar Sunday

2008-02-24T15:55:00.003-05:00

The statuette

If I had a tv, or maybe even just a bigger computer screen, I'd host a party for the Oscars. It's one of my favorite events all year. There are plenty of fun things to do, Msn has an interactive create your red carpet look whatsit, and you can always print out a ballot to see right you were. I love doing that. Then there's Oscar night bingo. I would make up my own cards, but here is a ready made version. A little food, a few games, and a long (and hopefully entertaining) awards ceremony. Good times.

Seemed like a good idea to me v.3

2008-02-23T14:35:00.004-05:00

While I was mocking up a wedding for one coworker, we couldn't leave the other un-teased, especially as she is the farthest along the relationship track. She has never been one to dream about her future wedding, so we promised that if she was up for it, she could leave it all to us. We had the perfect idea: reusing all of the old acidic materials from work. We are pulling out sheet after sheet of acidic tissues and papers and who knows what else, papers that have gone from white to cream and in some instances brown, pink, or full on yellow. Some even come away imprinted from the dyes of the fabrics they were "protecting." Then we could add in some used polyfelt and some other bits here and there. So really, we could have a full spectrum of washed-out hues and a natural look to the whole thing. We only got as far as designing her wedding dress, which we think will be a nice a-line gown with a paper rose on a sash around the waist.
We pulled out some old materials just to see what we could do, and this was the result:

Okay clearly I'm going to have to work on the whole sideways picture thing, but right now a nap seems so much more pressing.

Seemed like a good idea to me v.2

2008-02-22T10:05:00.004-05:00

While my hands are very busy at work, my brain usually isn't. So, last year when a coworker was dating someone who was facing potential issues with his visa, I suggested they get one of those engagement visas or whatevers and that got us started on planning the wedding, completely putting all seriousness aside.

We decided on two themes right away. I know two themes makes one too many, but we couldn't help ourselves. The first came from the fact that, though they liked each other, the marriage would be on account of his needing a green card or citizenship or whatever it is you can get when you marry an American. Thus, making an actual green card a focal point.

According to google images, this is a green card

The second theme came from the young man's romantic notions, he had some ideal of proposing under a cherry tree.

Thus the preponderance of cherries. Now, this combination of themes could be difficult as cherry red + green card = Christmas, and that's not okay.
So, we started with using elements of the green card for the save the date, the invitation, and the place cards at the reception. Oddly enough, cherry-based invitations are easy enough to find but green card-based stationery isn't so popular, so that would have to be custom. I wonder if anybody would get any references to Green Card.

Anyway, cherry trees are incredibly easy to incorporate into a wedding, and I have to say I am a fan of this wedding cake.

The bride would wear a white dress, as usual, but with cherry accents such as these earrings

or these

maybe this necklace

This lovely bakelite bracelet (cherry red, but giving the actual cherry a rest)

and some lovely red shoes, maybe even a red sash. In fact, I'd only do one cherry accent and make the rest solid red.

As for him, I'd give him a cherry-red tie and then a pair of these cufflinks and call him good

The wedding favors would be little boxes of gummy cherries

And that's about as far as we went with that theme

Seemed like a good idea to me v.1

2008-02-21T12:35:00.009-05:00

A few years ago (2002?) I lived with my friend Christina and two sisters, Marin and Carole. Carole was in the midst of her first serious relationship and Christina and I loved teasing her. I admit, we could be a little ruthless, but she was a good sport. Our favorite method of teasing was to sit down at the kitchen table with her and then start planning her wedding according to various themes. I don't remember quite how many weddings we planned or what the themes were, but one does stick in my memory and I hope to see it realized one day. It was the Muppets wedding.

Miss Piggy had plenty of wedding fantasies/fake weddings, etc. (for a complete list, check out the wedding entry on muppet wiki). I remember basing Carole's wedding attire off the Muppets Take Manhattan costume

with this as an alternate ensemble

As for the reception, a Kermit and Piggy cake topper would be in order, I think.

Most of the decoration details we had planned escape me now, but I imagine lots of polyester lace and pale pink roses, and probably a large dose of fake pearls. The music would, of course, be provided by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

The final touch, and my personal favorite, was the installation at the back of the reception hall of a cardboard cut-out of a small balcony with red velvet curtain, in which we would install Waldorf and Statler, perfectly positioned to heckle the whole wedding crowd.

I mean honestly, who wouldn't want this wedding?

Miss Manners

2008-02-20T09:38:00.002-05:00

I have many fond childhood memories of sitting down with a large volume of Miss Manners columns and reading for hours. I thought she was absolutley hilarious, and I took her suggestions as gospel truth. Twenty years later I still refer to her wisdom and I still laugh. Today on the MSN homepage I saw a link to the Miss Manners column archive and that just about made my day.

Emergency Preparedness Extravaganza

2008-02-17T21:20:00.003-05:00

I am used to hosting dinner parties small and large, game nights and holiday fêtes, but coming up is something all new to me. I am in charge of an Emergency Preparedness fair for my church and, as I think everything is better as a party, a party it will be. I mean, who really enjoys being lectured on emergency preparedness? Judging from past response, I think it is safe to say nobody. So, the next six weeks will be spent focusing on what I intend to be the greatest (well yes, also the first) emergency prep party we have ever seen.
In the mean time, check out the great Amy Middleton's animated short on the topic.
ps- suggestions are welcome