Marlene

Or you can be like me and buy it at William Sonoma. Seriously, now that I've mastered confit, stocks and demi glace are next on my list of things to master this winter. We're expecting a lot of snow up here this year. I'll have time.

Squares are also seen in Canada, at least here in Oakville. Especially on our party size pizzas.

Don't forget, a lot of my guests will be unadventerous, so from that standpoint you did very well. If I was entertaining only my clients the selections would be a lot different. I'll keep my choices to myself until a few more people weigh in here.

Ok, here we go. Let's plan my party menu. This party is one of two major parties we through every year. One at this time of year and one in the late spring/early summer. I will send out 75 invitations, but they are couple based, so assume 150 people. Of those, probably 76 - 80 people will attend in total. However, the invitations must be sent in order to be politically correct and not insult the wrong people . These invitations are formally written out in elegant script. We will have a bartender, an on-site chef and two or three servers depending on our final numbers. The caterers will supply all the glasses, plates, utensils etc and many decorations to complement my house which will already be fully decorated for Christmas. I have two ovens for the chef to work with and a 6 burner cooktop. The party will begin at 7:00 with cocktails and Hors D'oeuvres, with the full buffet menu to follow around 8:30 or 9:00. With the following options, keep in mind that the majority of those in attendance will be accountants who are not noted for their adventursome eating. My clients on the other hand, are funky and willing to try most anything. Of my guests, I have one who is allergic to peanuts, but not deathly so, and a few Jewish people, none of whom keep kosher, but don't eat pork. I have no vegetarians at the moment that I know of. For the Hors D'oeuvres, I need to select three or 4 of the following. These will be passed around by the waitstaff. pick 2 hot, 2 cold Cold Asiago, Proscuitto Cheese Twists Roasted Pepper with Basil Aioli Crostini mini corn bread muffins with jalepeno chicken salad Salmon, Scallop and cucumber Ceviche Brochette Trio of Pita Crisps wiht roasted pepper humus Lobster salad in Phyllo cup Hot Spring rolls mini baked potatoes with proscuitto, scallion and parmesan Beef Roulade - either teriyake or cracked black pepper Candied Almond & Brie tartlettes bacon wrapped oyster with roasted garlic aioli Smoked Mozzarella & chicken puff pastry purses For the main Hot Buffet: pick two vegetables from the following: Basmati rice with Onion green bean Almondine Lyonnaise Potatoes Rice Pilaf Whipped Sweet Potatoes Glazed carrots with honey Pick one beef dish: beef stroganoff Prime Rib Tournedos Stephanie Beef Thai Noodles Pick one Pasta dish: Manicotti Tortellini Alfredo Penne with Hot Italian Sausage and peppers Pick two Salads Mandarin Almond greens Broccoli with a sesame ginger dressing Tomato Provalone Spicy Ginger with cashews Marinated Antipasto Tabbouleh Pick two Desserts Crepes Chocolate Fondue Strudel Bars and Squares Cheese tray Fruit tray. I have a general idea of what I think I'm going to order, but I'm curious to see how many of you think the same way I do, given the information above.

I only got to eat out twice while I was there. The rest of the time it was boring conference food. I already posted about the New Yorker. In fact, I tried to talk my group into going to the Metropolitan on Wed night, but since only one of them could even be remotely considered a "foodie", it was not selling well. Instead we ended up in the wine bar at Baci, where we still had a great meal. I had a carpaccio starter, and a veal parmesan. The carppaccio was above average, but not stellar, but the veal was pretty much awesome. A round of cappucinos and several bottles of wine, we were pretty happy. I'll be back in SLC probably in about 6 months as I'm giving a course there, so when I get there, I'll definately come down and visit you

Jamie, this is awesome, thank you so much! On another note, I am now in the midst of planning our very larged catered party. I will post my proposed menu over the next few days and let everyone pick it apart

Your hand, Dave's hand, they all look the same to me . Since we most definately will not be bringing the RV this time, I'll be wanting to take over your kitchen for the butter tart square makings. Perhaps we'll come a day early so I can be out of everyone's way

The whole thee days, all we ever saw was Dave's hands cooking something.

You're sick men. Both of you.

I'm thinkin this girl will be passing on this particular stew.

I will be. And I'm open to suggestions on how to do that

I'd just like to point out that for some of us non US folks like we Canadians, Labour Day (please note the proper spelling ), has been a National Holiday here for a very long time. Labour Day works for me.

Those burgers look amazing Anna! And isn't Sick Kid's hospital just the best? My son spent several weeks there when he was three,and it was discovered he couldn't stand up one morning, so I can relate to the heart in the mouth concept. Best wishes for Miss Jess and a full recovery. Beautiful blog by the way.

Ah. It's colder here in the East Jamie. My guests get snowed in a lot.

This is usually about the time I run the tip of my index finger through the mandolin and have trouble locating it in the scalloped potatoes. Conundrum: Do you tell your guests? Answer: Only if they ask why you're having rice. Thoughtful of you to provide pillows. I had (mistakenly) thought sleepover dinner parties were a strictly Canadian invention, given the vast distances up here and all. Way cheaper than having a designated pilot too. Question: Horseradish or Keen's mustard? Jamie ← Um , I am Canadian Jamie Horseradish sauce

All my eGullet friends would be welcome at one of my parties I'll try the havarti with the Crown Roast of Pork I'm planning for my next party. Never mind that I haven't done a Crown Roast before. What are guests for other than to experiment on!

Like this???? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4332308233&rd=1]176.99 on ebay, "buy it now" ← We have a a rule in our house about this time of year. We can't buy anything for ourselves until after Christmas, otherwise Santa will have nothing to bring us.

Someday, I'll figure out the multiple quote thing Woodburner, that sounds awesome. I would not have been able to eat your mushroom stock reduction, but it still sounds good. And yes, it's confit season again!

What's a vegetable?

Beef is good for you. Especially if you are laying floors that might make you dizzy The frosting Story: Well, I thought I'd be smart since I didn't have time to decorate the cake. I figured I'd add a layer of whipped cream to the middle along with the frosting. This, I thought, would be asthetically pleasing besides tasting good. Well, um... I did that, then proceeded to put the top layer on the cake and tried to frost the top and sides. Oops. The top layer kept sliding off and whipped cream was oozing out everywhere. Since I had about half an hour before my guests arrived (somehow, I got started later than I had planned yesterday ), I took the top layer off, scraped all the whipped cream off, and put the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes to re set the frosting. Which is why I ran out of time to get fancy with the decorating. In the meantime, I was standing there enrobing the brie, in my fuzzy slippers and cake splattered shirt when I realized I had about 10 minutes to get dressed, get the cake frosted and bake the brie. Oh and the timer went off for the bread right around then. I'm not telling you about the pillows. We throw good parties

Around this time of year, my entertaining kicks up 5 or six notches. I do number of dinner parties through out the year, but from now until Christmas, I'll likely be doing at least one at least once a week. This season culminates for me in a catered party for about 50 people in our home in Nov. and then the family dinners start. We kicked it off last night with a dinner for 6. To begin I tried the Brie in Phyllo Leaves. I've never done this before: Working quickly, I used a total of 10 leaves to enrobe the Brie. It doesn't look fancy But it sure was good! A couple of scotches of note were offered as well as various other libations The one of the left was brought from Scotland for my husband We began dinner with French Onion Soup. This soup is made using Onion Confit as a base The main course is naturally, Prime Rib. In this case, it was a boneless Prime Rib which we had intended to spit roast, but the weather sucked Convection roasted at 300 degrees, for 18 minutes a pound, it was beautifully rare. Note the crispy bits in the upper corner of the plate This was served with Parisianne Potatoes, that I had marinated in olive oil, garlic and rosemary and tossed into the roasting pan And French Bread. The dough was started in my bread maker, then shaped and baked in the oven. The wine chosen for the night to accompany the meal The meal was finished off with a Devil's Food Cake. I just didn't have time to decorate this like I would normally try to do. The cake isn't really leaning, it just looks that way. There is a story to frosting the cake, but I'll keep that for another time. Dinner was finished off with coffee and liquers and pillows for all.

Fifi. This may give you some idea of the black and white checkerboard effect. the floor This was a house we looked at but didn't buy.

Have I mentioned I like to plan in advance? ANything you need Dean.

Bless you my child. My work here is done. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go have a word with Santa about a Red KitchenAid

I'm there. There is no way you should have to pay for this. Didn't we say that last time? And didn't some Suthurn hospitality get in the way? Y'all just let us know what you need Dean, and it'll be there for you.