Popcorn Birthday Cake
Our family tradition continues. The birthday person gets to choose the shape of their birthday cake. My son chose a popcorn bucket in honor of the movie birthday party. Fruit leather was the stripes and we made sticky popcorn for the top!!
Dessert Buffet
Here is the beautiful dessert buffet that Summer created for a baby shower. More on the shower to come but I had to get this picture up there!
Rustic Wedding
Last spring we were the event coordinators for a wedding here on the central coast in Templeton California! Summer and I helped the bride and groom design, create flower arrangements and coordinate the big day. Here are some pictures we hope you enjoy.
The bride loved succulents and had a picture of a bridal bouquet that she loved. We got our inspiration from there and expanded. An urn with a large bouquet was on each side of the door at the front of the aisle.
The boutonnieres and corsages were designed with succulents grown by the bride several months before the wedding, and the matron of honor carried a bouquet similar to the bride’s.
The bride walked down an aisle covered with rose petals. The ceremony was in front of the hacienda under the trees. The guests sat in a semicircle around the bride and groom.
The reception was in the back of the Hacienda overlooking the hills. Cocktail tables with simple centerpieces were scattered around the patio. We took three wine bottles, wrapped them with lace and green jute and filled them with roses and some fill.
Appetizers and desserts were served after the wedding. Brownies, cookies and wedding cake decorated the table under a pergola. A chandelier hung over the table. Tara Stumph did a fabulous job with appetizers. It was nothing short of spectacular! Hostess du Jour designed the dessert buffet.
The cake was a work of art done by Amanda Craner. The lace from the flower arrangements and succulents from the garden were used to decorate and the cake was displayed on the dessert table. Flowers were arranged by Hostess du Jour. Photos were taken by Summer Schmitz. And the special moments were capture by Ryan Lee Films.
Thank you Jason and Lina for allowing us to be a part of your wedding. It was so beautiful. You both did a great job planning and designing your day. It was a beautiful reflection of you both. We wish you a lifetime of happiness and beauty.
Bar Mitzvah
We were so privileged to be a part of designing the decor for a bar mitzvah. The family was so wonderful to work with and we had a great time. We wanted to create a fun feel and add some elements that were more masculine as well as make the decor personal.
What better way to say fun than three foot balloons! We were so thankful for the help from Ryan and his mom Nancy for all their help!
The stage was full of the orange balloons. AMS Entertainment provided music and lighting – sadly we didn’t get a picture!!
For center pieces we made fabric squares to add some color (thanks Candy!!). We filled 12 inch fish bowls with teal water beads. We wrapped the vase with ribbon that secured the balloon. Orange carnations and a few orange craspedia filled the top of the vase. We inserted a red wire to hold different pictures of the guest of honor from his childhood. We finally finished it off with a light in the vase to illuminate the beads.
The front table had mandarin oranges with a small teal pin attaching a thank you note for each guest. Pictures as well as some artwork helped decorate the table.
The bathrooms had a few small touches.
A big thanks to Piper for giving us this opportunity! We had a wonderful time and wish you and your family the best.
Alice in Wonderland Wedding
Another fabulous opportunity to plan an event on the central coast! What fun it was.
The wedding was held in a friend’s yard. We built a pergola to frame the ceremony site, placed chairs and staked old windows into the ground to frame the back side. The front side of the windows was white and the back side was painted purple. Flowers were hung by ribbons in mason jars at different places on the windows. The pergola was adorned with handfuls of fresh cut flowers and large twigs as well as a pink chandelier.
Hostess du Jour was in charge of designing and coordinating the event as well as designing and arranging the flowers. Multi colored flowers were arranged in each centerpiece while the brides each had one single colored flower that matched their shoes. The groomsmen’s boutonnieres and ties matched their partner.
The bride’s bouquet was a combination of all her bridesmaid’s flowers with a little Alice in Wonderland flair. The centerpieces were a combination of multicolored bouquets in giant tea cups as well as tall vases wrapped in black and white wrapping paper.
The tables had white napkins creating the striped effect as well as multi colored lanterns hung over the whole reception. PVC poles spray painted with black and white spirals held the wire over the whole reception. Programs, favors and invites all had the Alice in Wonderland theme incorporated.
Food was provided by Auten Boy’s BBQ and Catering in Arroyo Grande. Appetizers were served in the font lawn while the bride and groom took pictures. Food was in the back with drinks and dancing. Cakes were provided by KKs Bunt cakes in Arroyo Grande. Video of the ceremony and reception was done by Ryan Lee Video and photos were taken by J. Andrew Photography.
Thanks to everyone who helped, the day was a big success. The bride and groom were beautiful. Congratulations to the happy couple and thank you for letting us be a part of planning your big day!
Snail Cake
This is the snail cake I made for my son’s fourth birthday. I made two six inch round cakes and stuck them together. Then I used pieces of a rectangle cake for the head and tail. Marshmallows on top of two broken off skewers for the eyes and stalks.
Baby Shower
The latest event planned by Hostess Du Jour was an evening baby shower in gray and yellow.
Flowers were done by Connie Sparks and Hostess Du Jour. Thanks Connie for all your help!
Old windows were bolted together and staked into the ground. Pictures of the parents to be as babies were nailed to the windows. Comfy chairs for the parents to sit in while opening presents added to the family room feel.
Dinner for the event was served after 45 minutes of hourdorves. The food was catered by Auten Boys BBQ and Catering. Dave’s food, as always, was fabulous. We had grilled chicken breast, asparagus spears and shrimp topped with hollandaise sauce. The entrée was served with salad and rice pilaf. If you have an event to cater, Dave is a great choice! Favors were chocolate truffles in tiny gift boxes placed at each person’s plate. Toasts were made by the grandparents to be, and there might have been a few tears in the touching moments.
The cakes were BEAUTIFUL, not to mention delicious. The cakes were courtesy of Amanda Craner. Chocolate (she does the best chocolate around), carrot cake and a lavender cake with lemon curd. Absolutely divine! Amanda is amazing.
Amy Wellenkamp photographers took pictures of the new parents to be and created a “belly book” for everyone at the shower to sign. Everything Amy touches turns to gold. The book was a work of art. She is one of the most talented photographers in the area. Thanks, Amy!
This was such a fun event to plan. Thanks to all who helped. We could not do these parties without all of you!
Bridal Shower
Summer and I just finished planning another event on the central coast. The event was a shower for a bride to be. We set up in Summer’s back yard. The theme was rustic, outdoors. It was so much fun to do. Since I am writing the post I think I will start with the food. (I have a little problem)…
The event was after dinner, so we served hors d’oeuvres. Prosciutto wrapped caprice sandwiches, beets with goat cheese, pine nuts and balsamic served on arugula, brie and fig tartlets, shrimp cocktail and marinated asparagus and bell pepper (not pictured). For dessert we served homemade brownies and lemon bars. Drinks were served in mason jars – lemon-lime aid and triple citrus mojitos.
The food table was in front of a fabric draped frame. A large branch that Summer found in a fire pit served as a base to wire small white flowers to and hang candles in mason jars. The drinks were in mason jars in buckets of ice to the left of the table.
The dessert table had tea, coffee and hot chocolate as well as a basket with blankets for people who were cold. The same white flowers decorated the dessert stands.
An old mirror invites the guests to use a blanket.
The tables were set with white linens and burlap. Homemade mixed berry jam were the favors. The white flowers served as a centerpiece. Lights were strung and we were ready for the event!!
Lots of fun kitchen gifts to start of the new couple’s home!
Thanks to all that helped! It was a great night.
Creamy Tomato Soup
I made a soup tonight that was good enough for my three year old to eat a bowl!
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1/2 C. dry white wine
30 oz crushed tomatoes (canned or fresh)
4 C. chicken stock
3 sprigs fresh oregano
1/2 C. milk or half and half
In a soup pan melt butter and saute onion and garlic about 6 minutes. Add wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, stock and oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 45 minutes. Remove oregano and process in blender as much or as little as you want. I blended all but about a cup of the soup so there were still some small chunks of tomato. Add milk or half and half. You can add more that 1/2 C. if you want it to be creamier. Season with salt and pepper and serve with cheese topped croutons. (recipe below)
Baked Cheese Croutons
1 loaf of focaccia bread cut into 1/2 inch wide slices
3/4 C. grated Gruyere cheese
3 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sliced bread on a cookie sheet and bake about 10-15 min until slightly golden and dry. Sprinkle bread with cheese mixture and bake 8 more minutes. The bread should be very crunchy. Serve immediately.
This recipe is an alteration of a recipe found in Martha Stewart Living.
Fondue Party
Remember that Fondue pot that you got for your wedding? It’s in the back corner of the cupboard. Pull it out and plan a fondue party! Don’t have a fondue set? No problem. Just pull out some small sauce pans and mix up some fun!
Cheese Fondue
1 garlic clove
1 C. dry white wine
1 Tbs. lemon juice
8 oz. shredded Gruyere cheese
8 oz. shredded imported Swiss
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1 Tbs. Kirsch or Sherry
Freshly ground pepper
Fresh grated nutmeg (optional)
Rub the inside of a fondue pot with the peeled garlic. Add white wine and lemon juice until gently bubbling. In a bowl toss the Gruyere, Swiss and cornstarch. Slowly add cheese mixture into the pot and stir continually until smooth. Stir in Kirsch or Sherry, pepper and nutmeg.
This can be served with bread squares, sausage rounds, blanched broccoli or asparagus. Pour cheese into the fondue pot and put it on the table. If you don’t have a fondue pot, you can put your saucepan directly on the table, but consider putting a low burning candle under the pot to keep it warm and keep the cheese from hardening.
For dessert, whip up a pan of chocolate!
Chocolate fondue (Rachael Ray)
1/2 C. Heavy whipping cream + 1/4 C. reserved
15 oz. Milk chocolate (or bittersweet or white)
2 Tbs. Amaretto (optional)
Heat cream in a saucepan until it comes to a low boil. Remove the cream from heat and add chocolate. Let the mixture sit for 5-7 min until it softens. Whisk the chocolate and cream together. Stir in liquor if desired. If the mixture gets too thick, add more cream.
Serve the chocolate with pound cake squares, salted pretzels, bananas, strawberries or fresh pineapple.
Enchiladas
I know there are hundreds of great enchiladas out there… Rodney’s and Cory’s to name a few. What drew me to this recipe though was the homemade sauce. It turned out really good. You can put whatever you like in the enchiladas. I made mine vegetarian, but I think chicken or carne asada would be great. I also think the sauce would be good with a little heat. My kids have a hard time with that so I didn’t try it, but some of Christie’s dried peppers would do the trick!
For Sauce, in a medium pan heat
2 Tbs. oil
Add
1 tsp. cumin
¼ C. flour
¼ C. tomato paste
Cook, whisking 1 minute. Whisk in
14 oz. vegetable (or chicken) broth
¾ C. water
Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. For filling in a large bowl combine
8 oz. Jack cheese
15 oz. black beans, rinsed
10 sautéed mushrooms
4 scallions thinly sliced
1 tsp. cumin
Place filling in
7 flour tortillas
Roll tortillas and place in a greased 9×9 baking dish. Top with
1 C. Jack cheese
Pour sauce over enchiladas and bake 15-20 minutes at 350o. Garnish with
2 thinly sliced scallions
Tomato, Mozzarella & Pesto Panini
I may have had one of the best sandwiches ever. It is worthy to post. Spread
2 slices of Shepherd’s bread with
2 Tbs. pesto
Slice and add to the sandwich
3 slices of fresh mozzarella (Trader Joes has a good fresh mozzarella. Fresh makes all the difference)
3 slices crisp bacon (optional but oh so good)
4 slices of large tomato (preferably from someone’s garden)
Grill the sandwich in a skillet, on a pancake griddle or in a Panini grill. This sandwich will get soggy very quickly due to the pesto, so you have to eat it immediately. Enjoy!! Courtesy of Martha Stewart magazine
Kids Playroom
Summer and I took a break from our party planning and decided to design a new playroom for my boys. We brainstormed all sorts of ideas and drew up some plans. This is what we came up with!!
As you walk in the door, you see the wall with the window. I ordered fabric online and made curtains. Summer drew silhouettes of some of the boys favorite toys and I painted them on a canvas.
Table and chairs that I have collected over the past year were spray painted in several different colors.
The wall to the right has the closet on it. The inside of the closet is painted orange and baskets ordered from Land of Nod. Closet doors are removed. Cork squares are hung on the wall to hold the boy’s work. We purchased the squares at Michael’s. They were thicker than the ones we found online.
The wall on the left has cubbies that Ryan made. You can find them ready to assemble at Home Depot, but they don’t fit the baskets from Land of Nod. The other cubbies are made for baskets from Martha Stewart that are in pastels. I painted an armoire white that I already had. This houses the movies and TV. I bought a large canvas for each boy and let them have at it. They are hung over the cubbies. The clock was purchased from Target.
Labels for the basket are made from name tags and clips from Office Max. I found images of each of the toys online and pasted them into a document with the names.
The door wall is painted green with a sofa sleeper from IKEA. The bed is really comfortable with an egg crate on top. The bed works like a futon, but the mattress is actually in two pieces so it doesn’t get folded and have a big bump down the middle. No crazy bar down the middle like regular sofa beds, and the mattress doesn’t slide down like a futon. It comes in several different colors.
The boys love it and they have lots of space to play. It was fun to design and it has a fun feel! Thanks Summer! Back to party planning soon!
Ode to Summer’s Flowers
Just a short entry here about Summer’s new found talent. She has been sitting in on a floral design class on and off through the last year, and this last party she designed some pretty spectacular floral arrangements that I think deserve their own blog. So here they are!
The boutonniere and corsage were for the honored guests. The low arrangement sat on top of the cake display and the other two were on tables in the house. I’d say she gets an A+!!
Engagement Party
Event planning has kept us busy! Some friends of ours are newly engaged, and we planned an engagement party for them. We invited friends and family to toast the new couple while we served dessert and wine. The dessert was three different cakes: Lemon cake with lemon curd filling, chocolate cake with vanilla cream filling and vanilla cake with triple berry filling.
We strung lights through the back yard lighting the way through the garden area and had several areas for seating.
Lanterns were strung around as well as several flower arrangements designed by Summer.
A simple banner was strung with ribbon in the party colors.
Congratulations to the happy couple! May all your dreams come true!!
Lemon Tassies
We planned an event for some missionary friends of ours here on the central coast. They wanted to do an informational talk about what they do in Africa, and invited us to plan the event as well as a dessert. A friend of ours made chocolate dipped mini cupcakes (yum!). The second dessert was mini strawberry shortcake triffles in votive candle holders. The last dessert we made were mini lemon tassies. They were outstanding! These would all be great for a tea party as well. The recipe is courtesy of Martha Stewart
Crust:
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for pans
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- Pinch of salt
Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in upper third. Lightly butter a 24-cup mini-muffin pan; set aside. Combine the flour and butter using a food processor or a fork. Pulse or mash until mixture is the consistency of fine crumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Process until evenly incorporated and smooth; do not overprocess.
- Divide the dough into quarters. Divide each quarter into 6 pieces. Shape into balls. Place each ball in a muffin cup; press down in the centers so that the dough fits the cups snugly. Make sure the bottom of each cup is pressed thinly. A thick crust on the bottom does not taste as good.
- Bake until lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Do not over bake as these will bake again when the filling is put in. Transfer muffin pan to a wire rack to cool.
- Make the filling: In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until completely smooth. Using a 1/4-ounce ice cream scoop, fill the cooled crusts. Bake until filling is set and just beginning to color at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer muffin pan to a wire rack. Let cool completely before serving. The tassies may be stored in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 days or frozen and defrosted at room temperature before serving.
If you are doing any event planning, this is sure to please!!
Beach Rehearsal Dinner
One of our latest events planned on the central coast was a rehearsal dinner. The hostess hired us to plan the event, purchase the necessary elements and set the party up. She came to us with the parameters that it was to be held at Avila Beach and she wanted all the food to be grilled on a stick or finger food. The idea was simple but elegant.
Our inspiration were teal colored preserved orchids. Summer found these online at save-on-crafts.com. This site was a great find. They have tons of great decor and crafts, but be prepared that what you save on the items themselves will be made up for in shipping. We tied the napkins and silverware with a raffia bow and hot glued the orchids onto the raffia.
The plates were made of bamboo, purchased from smartyhadaparty.com. This site has many creative options for disposable plates and serving dishes. We used their plates for two events we planned. The plates were such great quality we ended up washing them to use again for another party.
Burlap table runners ran down white table cloths. The center pieces were large vases with river rocks and shells in them. We finished the center pieces off with the sticks people were to use to roast their food.
Finally, we marked off the area using the painted PVC poles from a previous event we planned. We strung wire across the poles and hung small jam jars with wire handles by teal ribbon. We made the jars from wire we had in stock. We set the event up quite a bit earlier than people were going to show up so instead of using tea lights (two hour burn time) we put votive holders into the jam jars and used a full sized votive. The hostess of the event had some lanterns and shepherd’s hooks from her wedding and we used those to mark a path from the stairs people would come down to the area for the party.
The food table was prepared with bamboo trays of food. We used Summer’s big drink jars to serve smores. We tied two graham cracker halves and a piece of chocolate with kitchen twine and put those in one jar and marshmallows in the other jar.
On the other end of the table was an apothecary jar with sand and shells in it. We provided small scrolls of paper tied with teal ribbon for people to write a wish to the bride and groom. The bride and groom took home the jar to read at their leisure and decorate their new home.
We had so much fun planning this event. It was fun to create it and see it come into being. Thanks Brittney for letting us be a part of your family’s special time. We loved it!
Easter Egg Dye
A new egg dying idea from Matha Stewart! I tried it and it was really fun. First of all, I didn’t buy one of those egg dying kits, I just used 1/2 C. boiling water, 1 tsp. cider vinegar and about 10-20 drops of regular food coloring. The colors were so much more bright and fun than the packages you buy! So Martha’s idea was to dye the egg in a light color. If you use the recipe above, I would use about 5 drops of a color. Then let the egg dry for about 15 min. You can pat it dry with a paper towel if there are still some wet spots. Then, in a shallow bowl (about half an egg’s depth) mix up a darker color dye. I would recommend about 20 drops of a color. Add about 1 Tbs. olive oil to the bowl and whisk it up. Quickly roll the egg around the bowl once and remove. The oil and color will swirl over the base color. It is really fun and easy. I did it with my kids and they had fun picking the pairs of colors to go together. After the eggs are dry you can wipe the oil off with a paper towel.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the eggs after we swirled, but here is a picture of the eggs with the food coloring dye. I was able to get the deeper jewel tone colors by using brown eggs. I really liked this effect and I may go exclusively brown eggs next year!
Out-Of-This-World Brownies
I’ve done it!! I thought that there would never be a cake recipe or brownie recipe from scratch that is better than a box. Well, I found a brownie recipe that is worthy. (Still looking for that fine moist cake.) The best thing is that it is easy and fast. The recipe is from a book called Desserts By the Yard by Sherry Yard. A friend got it for me from Avila Valley Barn. It’s a really fun recipe book.
3/4 C. plus 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter chopped
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 C. sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a square baking pan. Sift flour and salt together. Melt the butter, unsweetened chocolate and bittersweet chocolate in a micorwave-safe bowl at 50% power for about 2-3 min. Stir until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool until warm – about 90 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer beat together the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Using a whisk, gently beat in the butter and chocolate. Fold in the flour. Scrape the batter into the pan and place in the oven. Bake for 25 min until slightly firm to the touch and a crust has formed on top. A toothpick will not come out clean. Allow to cool.
Notes on ingredients: I have made this recipe twice. The first time I mixed semisweet and milk chocolate chips together in place of the bittersweet chocolate and the second time I used only milk chocolate chips. The brownies came out great both times. The recipe recommends Michel Cluizel Noir Infini 99% as the unswetened chocolate and Scharffen Berger as the bittersweet chocolate. I have not tried either of these options. Let me know if you do!
Note on folding: If you do not know how to fold something into a batter: Pour flour mixture into the bowl. With a large spoon cut horizontally through the batter, scooping a big scoop off the bottom and drape it over the center of the flour mixture. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until the flour is all mixed into the batter. Folding helps the mixture not become tough and allows the fluffy nature of the batter created from the eggs and sugar to be retained.
Christmas Favors
We were asked to make the favors for a friend’s Christmas party this year. We had fun brainstorming all sorts of ideas. In the end we hand dipped oreo cookies in milk and white chocolate and then sprinkled them with sugar crystals of green and red. I found some sugar crystals that were pepermint flavor. That was fun. Summer designed a label for the clear bags and we attatched the label and finished it off with Christmas ribbon.
A tip if you try this idea at home. The back of the chocolate chip bag has directions for melting the chips to dip. They tell you to put them in the microwave and don’t stir them until the end. Being a food snob I turned up my nose at these direction and thought surely this would be better done on the stove. Nothing good ever came out of the microwave. … Twenty minutes later I had a hard glob of golden brown white chocolate in the trash can. I would recommend following the directions on the package…I will humbly check my pride at the door next time.
Roasted Mushroom Sauce
This sauce is to be served with the Pork Willingtons.
1/2 lb sliced mushrooms (4 cups)
1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. minced shallots
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 Tbs. all purpose flour
2 Tbs. butter
1 c. dry white wine
2 c. chicken broth
1 spring fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. truffle oil
black pepper to taste
Saute mushrooms with salt in oil over medium heat in the same skillet used to sear pork about 2 min. Add shallots to skillet; saute 1 min., then stir in tomato paste. Cook until tomato paste starts to brown, about 1 min. Add flour and 2 Tbs. butter; cook 1 min. Deglaze skillet with wine. Increase heat to high. Boil until liquid reduces and thickens, 2 min. Stir in broth, thyme, and parsley. Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until sauce coats a spoon, 12-15 min. Remove skillet from heat. whisk in 1 Tbs. butter, truffle oil and pepper. Discard herb springs.
Note: I doubled this recipe for the 10 Wellingtons. I would recommend doing this especially if you serve it with something like mashed potatoes. People will want to use more sauce. I also did not use the truffle oil which is expensive and the sauce was great just the same.
Pork Wellington
This is a FANTASTIC recipe. It comes courtesey of my friend Trish. It is an easy recipe that looks really fancy.
2 pork tenderloins trimmed and cut into 8 medallions
kosher salt and black pepper
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. red peper flakes
6 oz. fresh baby spinach
1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed
16 slices prosciutto, very lean and very thinly sliced
2/3 C. goat cheese
2 eggs beaten with 2 Tbs. water for egg wash
Trim white membrane from tenderloins. Slice each tenderloin into four 5-6 oz pieces, making a total of 8 medallions. Season each with salt and pepper. Sear medallions in 1 Tbs. oil in a skillet over high heat on both sides, 10 min. total. Transfer pork to a plate. Chill until completely cool, at least 30 min. Use the meat drippings to start the Roasted Mushroom Sauce (see next entry). Saute garlic and pepper flakes in 1 Tbs. oil in a large skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Add spinach, toss to wilt and season with salt. Drain spinach in a sieve, pressing with a spoon until dry. Coarsely chop spinach; cool completely. Trim off a 1 inch wide strip from 1 side of a pastry sheet; reserve for decorating cut-outs. Roll out remaining pastry on a floured surface to a 12 inch square, then cut into four 4 inch square. Repeat rolling and cutting with second pastry sheet. Assemble Wellingtons by first placing a slice of prosciutto on each pastry square, then topping prosciutto with a pork medallion. Top pork with about 1 Tbs. each of goat cheese and spinach, and then another slice of prosciutto. Brush corners of pastry with egg wash fold 1 pastry corner up to the top. Fold the opposite corner to the center, press folded corners together to adhere to each other. Tuck in the sides of pastry as if wrapping a gift. Fold up remaining pastry corners, gently stretching pastry over open areas to enclose the fillings. Transfer the pork Willingtons to a greased baking sheet. Decorate with pastry cut outs. Cover with plastic, and chill them 30 min. Preheat oven to 425 with rack in lower third. Brush Wellingtons with egg wash; bake until golden about 30 min. Let Wellingtons rest 5 min. Serve with Roasted Mushroom Sauce. (Next post)
Note: When I made this I cut each pork loin into 5 pieces and I like the ratio better than cutting each into four. If you do this, though, you will need two more squared of puff pastry, a little more goat cheese and spinach. Also, you can assemble this the day before and bake it the next day.
Our First Party
My parents hired us for our first paid party. The party was my dad’s 70th birthday in combo with a valentines party for their friends. We designed several different menu options and had my parents over to choose and sample some different foods. We then designed and sent out invitations for 10 couples for the dinner.
Appetizers started the party. We had three different stations around the house. Blue cheese and walnut spread, sundried tomato and artichoke dip and feta stuffed cherry tomatoes. We also had a wine table set up with several white and red options. The guests moved to the tables after some mingling time.
Dinner started with a salad served with salami and provolone slices, olives and tomatoes with a home made balsamic vinegret. Dinner was spaghetti, roasted veggies and home made sundried tomato bread.
Toasts were made and stories shared as we served dessert. Chocolate cups filled with vanilla pudding and raspberry puree with a raspberry on top. Everyone stayed around and visited. As they left, we had white boxes of heart shaped chocolate truffles as favors for them to take home.
Everything went really well. I was really happy with how everything turned out. We are looking forward to our next parties. We have a 50th birthday and a shower coming up. We’ll keep you posted!
Christmas Party
Our Christmas Party this year centered around a gift exchange and some fun hors d’oeuvres.
Menu:
Blue Cheese Walnut Spread
Chicken Satay
Prosciutto, Tomato and Basil Bruschetta
Marinated Asparagus
Artichoke Dip
Deviled Eggs
Cranberry Spice Punch
Egg Nog (With Rum!!)
Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Icing
The party was lots of fun. Everyone helped out. Steph brought the eggs and famous artichoke dip. (This dip is better than any restaurant artichoke dip). Christie brought the chicken satay and egg nog. The sauce was divine. You can always count on Christie to spice things up and think outside the box for what to bring. The kids had their own table in the back to eat and exchange their gifts. I got to use my grandmas plates for the first time. They are crystal rectangular plates with a little indentation for your punch cup. I had just enough for all the adults. Summer decorated, as usual with beautiful style and grace! Looking forward to next year.
