Battle Cindy

After Rick beat Cindy in the last Tinfoil Chef, he was supposed to next go up against Violet's Friend. But then Cindy's man, J.G.G., asked for a surprise birthday tinfoil chef challenge featuring "Cindy's Favorite Things" on Saturday, Violet's friend had to work, so I was roped in to challenge Rick. This was all, of course, much to Peanut's chagrin. I decided that rather than try to remember Cindy's favorite foods, I would go with a thematic approach and prepare dishes that reminded me of her, her past, and her personality. Here were my feature raw ingredients:





Cindy has a very... um... embarrassing? no... vibrant... past, that includes re-enacting the Civil War. So, the first thing I made Saturday morning was some hardtack.



This is a very hard and dry bread that Civil War soldiers ate during battle, and looks like this:

But, that was served only after Peanut and I transported all of our food to Rick and Jack's house, and started the evening off by making Cindy a Flirtini (should be obvious why I chose this drink- it's made with 2 parts champagne, 2 parts pineapple juice, and 1 part vodka- Rick made sangria, but I forgot to take a picture!!!):



For my appetizer, I served Shrimp Bisque. Why does this remind me of Cindy? Well, it was the appetizer she made when she beat me at the first tinfoil chef almost a year ago. I served the hardtack with the bisque.



Rick, on the other hand, started things off with a with his own muffaletta (a sandwich native to New Orleans), with his own homemade muffaletta bread and a small cup of delicious French onion soup!


On her actual birthday, Cindy and I had drinks together at Rick's place of employ where we discussed, among other things, our support for the Palestinians in Gaza. I decided to break out my Axis of Evil Cookbook and make a traditional Palestinian dish: Maqlubeh, which is an upside-down meat and vegetable rice casserole made with lamb, zucchini, peppers, and cauliflower and is quite delicious!


Rick, on the other hand, pulled a true Cindy and made quite an amazing citrus infused pork loin.


Then came dessert. Rick bought special materials and made (i.e., deep-fried!!!) cannoli's.


This is where I begin to suspect foul play- look who helped him fill the cannoli's?


I, on the other hand, took a more... low-key (?) approach and make Cindy a dessert that I thought she would especially enjoy: dirt. This is the famed dish of layered Oreo crumbs and vanilla pudding, with gummy worms throughout, served in a flower pot, and decorated with homemade flowers:



The Result? I lost. Again. BY FIFTY POINTS! And before you think I was shafted because it was hosted at Rick's while I had to transport everything, Jack made it clear that I lost mostly in the taste category. Phew! That was a relief (yes- that was a hint of sarcasm). I didn't get a pic of all of the judges who conspired against me, but please give a hard time to at least the following culprits:

ZERO:


ANNI-FRID & PEANUT:


LADY, EMILY, & EMILY'S PARENTS:

Cupcakes are SO 2008

Before they become passe, & with Mountie's help, Peanut and I decided to have some folks over to ring in the New Year with cupcakes and cocktails (not that I expect the latter to go out of fashion any time soon). We started making them Tuesday night: Peanut couldn't have been happier:



Javier came over in the afternoon, after we went to the gym, to lend a helping hand. He described putting the glaze on the mini marscapone cupcakes like "painting a doll house, uh..., I mean, toy plane".



I named each of the seven cupcakes after a particularly person, and came up with labels to help describe them. For example, the "Classically Cliff" are chocolate with vanilla frosting. It looked like this:



And so, we had (in NO particular order, though Peanut claims his were the crowd favorite):

1. Peanut's Petit Fours: Marscapone with strawberry glaze



2. Holy Javier!: Banana with maple glaze



3. Classically Cliff: Chocolate with vanilla frosting



4. DJ Double D's Delight: Chocolate Orange with Limoncello frosting:



5. Martin's Missed Maturity: Vanilla cake with fresh strawberry frosting baked in an ice cream cone



6. Jack's Joy: Red velvet with cream cheese frosting



7. Mountie's Maple Mayhem: Pumpkin with maple cream cheese frosting.



I was too slow to get pics of the other folk who brought cupcakes, though think there was a peanut butter theme: Thanks Mountie, Lady & Emily, Billy & Scarlet, and Gregory & Big D!

And then, we popped the bubbly!

PARTY PICS!!!

I can't believe Martin actually posed like this :



So I quickly had to call on Vixen to de-nerdify my camera.



Peanut designated himself as bartender (with Tom with his sexy new stache in the background)



I was happy to be called upon to introduce our international guests to the concept of cupcakes: Jean Claude with Mountie.



Guy with my gym buddy Lou, who's still looking good even though I'm not there to crack the whip!



I was forced to pose like this for this picture to prove that I was wearing JEANS, not TIGHTS.



I was so lucky to have THREE of my yoga teachers in attendance! Anni-Frid with yoga teacher TranquilTim.



Yoga teachers 2 & 3: Billy and Scarlet.



Where's Peanut? Javier and Ozzie.



George and Cliff- sad that I didn't make coconut cupcakes, they found an alternative.



Dancing with Anni-Frid and Agnetha!!!



Cute pic of Lance and Charles:



A riddle: Which of these three people actually has a twin but has been previously confused as MY twin? Emily, Lady, and Zero:



Sparkles couldn't find any Whitney Houston on my iPod to dance to :(



How adorable! Whitey and James:



Peanut sandwiched by Anni-Frid and "wishes he could cook, and dance, better than me" Zero (as in, Zero Mostel).



Larry and Guy leaving:



So, the doorbell rang after everyone had left. I was still happy to see my boys Wesley and Elmer!

May 2009 be filled with many more dinner parties with family and friends!