skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Attendees: Martin, Jake, Athena, Julio, Simon, & Peanut (Gop stopped by to wish Peanut a happy birthday, too)
Cocktail: Manhattan
Hors D'Oeuvres: BLT Dip
Appetizer: French onion soup with Parmesan croutons
Main Course: Rib Eyes with Bearnaise Sauce
Side: Vegetable Tian
Dessert: Baba au Rhum
I can't count how many times Peanut's birthday celebration plans have been thwarted by bars closed for private Christmas parties. Although I may not have had much to worry about this year, I wasn't going to chance it. I would host an extravagant dinner party for him and some of his nearest and dearest!
Gop was in the 'hood and stopped by to wish him a happy birthday, too- and got a cupcake out of it, too!
I was so frazzled, though, that my food pictures aren't that good. Julio and Simon's gal pal Noel had us over for drinks a while back and made a BLT dip that Patrick loved, so I decided to copy her. It's a dip flavored with bacon and sun dried tomatoes, that I even served in a hallowed out iceberg lettuce head, per her suggestion.
He wanted French onion soup as an appetizer, which required that I saute 2 and 1/2 pounds of sliced onions.
Instead of a layer of thick Gruyere and soaked bread, which i typically find too heavy, I served it with finely grated Parmesan...
and some homemade Parmesan croutons:
Mmmmm..........
The side course that was requested was a Vegetable Tian, which is a layer of (more) sliced onions, covered by delicately placed sliced tomatoes, zucchini, and potatoes, and midway through baking, covered with some finely shredded Gruyere. In raw form, it looks something like this:
This is the second time I tried to make Bernaise sauce, one of my favorite ways to eat steak, and I do think that I am getting better. Be forewarned, though: It's somewhat of a cumbersome process and can't really be made too much in advance. I was so tired by this point that all you get is this blurry photo.
But I woke up again when it was time for cake! Patrick and I have really fun memories of enjoying Baba au Rhum when we were in Paris and the waiter brought us the bottle of rum syrup with the cake. I wanted to recreate that, and I did so in four stages of excitement:First Stage of Excitement: The cake rose (those are rum-soaked currants)!
Second Stage of Excitement: It came out of the kugelhopf mold with ease!
Third Stage of Excitement: Martin artfully displayed the candles (note the whipped cream in the middle)!
Fourth Stage of Excitement: Presentation!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEANUT!
Attendees: [Peanut], Ayopie, DJDoubleD
Cocktails: Pomegranate Cosmos
Appetizers: Pepper and Gorgonzola Bruschetta
Main Course: Dinner Spanakopita
Side: Caramelized Shallots and Salad
Dessert: Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream
Thank god a year didn't go by without having Ayopie and DJDoubleD over for dinner. These are some of the coolest cats on the planet: Ayopie helped keep me sane during my grad school stint in Balmer, and DJDoubleD has helped keep me sane in DC ever since I moved back! I love having these two in my life, and what a perfect time to celebrate!Preparation for tonight's dinner started mid-day with some feta:
That was incorporated into the filling for the spanakopita (a fun main course for a vegetarian dinner party)!
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. We started with a delicious bruschetta (no tomatoes AND gorgonzola? Count me SOLD!)
For a side, I thought I would try something different. The Contessa's caramelized shallots won rave reviews.
I love the taste of pumpkin, but actually don't enjoy the consistency of a pumpkin pie. So, when I saw the Contessa's recipe for a pumpkin roulade, I though: why not? It did NOT disappoint- this should be the new holiday staple! A special shout out to DJDoubleD, who was an integral part of the the presentation.
L.L. sent new place mats to Peanut for his birthday on Thursday (stay tuned)! They were immediately put to use.
Attendees: George, Peanut, Cliff (and via satellite, Sheree (yuck!), Lisa, Deshawn, Kim, and NENE!!!)
Cocktail: Water in a wine glass
Appetizer: Homemade pimento cheese spread with crackers
Main Course: Chicken and Sweet Potato Orange Dumplings
Side: Salad
Dessert... was a disaster! I tried Paula Deen's Lady and Sons peach cobbler, which was a complete and utter failure, so we had ice cream sundaesI was turned onto The Real Housewives of Atlanta a bit late in the season- what a delicious train wreck! Having no shame, and inspired by Anderson Cooper, I started telling other people about my love of this show and to my surprise I found many closeted fans, ranging from gay bartenders to child health policy researchers! When George told me he was a fan at lunch the other day, I knew that he and Cliff had to come over for the reunion special!I served water in wine glasses, in honor of our favorite housewife, Nene.
I went totally southern, and for an appetizer made homemade pimento cheese spread care of the Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. This entailed roasting a red pepper in the oven, which is one of my simplest, but most rewarding, culinary experiences.
The stock for the chicken and dumplings was flavored simply with onions, carrots and celery. Instead of potatoes, I again turned to Lee Bros. and used their recipe for sweet potato and orange dumplings, which seemed appropriately seasonal.
There's nothing like the smell that escapes from a pot in which you had just browned chicken when adding wine:
George was really excited to take pictures that I would post. Here is his snapshot of the main course, chicken and dumplings:
My sister-in-law, Peach, is from Georgia and her grandmother always made her chicken and dumplings with creamed corn for her birthday. I decided not to go the creamed corn route (it was a Tuesday! I didn't have time) and kept it simple with a simple salad.
No, here comes the disaster. I tried Paula Deen's "Lady and Sons Peach Cobbler." I made my own self-rising flour by combining baking flour, baking powder, and salt, but it just didn't rise to produce a crust (Peanut had even offered to go buy me the flour, but I thought I'd be economical). It was a disaster that I had to throw away :( Thank god George and Cliff are so forgiving.
Besides, we had ice cream, Hershey's syrup, Reddi Wip, and maraschino cherries. Combine all of the above and Voila!
Now, who do I have to contact to ensure Nene gets her own show? She deserves better than to be stuck with Kim and Sheree in Season Two.
Attendees: Peanut, Violet's Friend, Jack, Cindy, and Rick (3-B and Little Bird surprised me by visiting from NYC, but left before I could take a picture with them the next morning!!!!)
Saturday Dinner: Manhattans, Salad with Phylo-Wrapped Goat Cheese, Pot Roast, Moussaka, Potatoes Au Gratin, and Chocolate-Chocolate Cake (none of which was made by me)
Peanut's Sunday Brunch: Mimosas, Filled Mini Pancakes, Hash Browns, & fresh sausages I've been friends with this bunch for a very long time and was thrilled that they agreed to a beach weekend slumber party in Stone Harbor! All of them are cooks, and I know when there are too many cooks in the kitchen. So while they made dinner on Saturday night (and brunch on Sunday), I did other stuff like...
... watch a movie, and with my teammate Jack ...
... beat everyone in Scrabble with an amazing 7-letter (50-point bonus) word...
(ok, fine. Jack thought of it). All the while, Cindy was making a pot roast:
... served with potatoes au gratin...
... and goat cheese wrapped in Phylo (shown here on Peanut's beautifully arranged table).
Violet's Friend and Rick were also busy in the kitchen making a coffee cake...
... that amazingly turned into a chocolate birthday cake!
The next morning, we finally got to use the stuffed pancake pan loaned to me by a co-worker. We had two fillings: apple and pumpkin butter!
It was beautiful Sunday, so we got to eat outside:
It was a great weekend- thanks, A-listers, for making it so much fun!!! And now I know what to serve Violet's Friend next time she comes over:
