My Entertaining Season Begins

[Jake]

Marlen, I like Tanqueray 10 in a gin martini.

Your menu sounds lovely, but the not doing anything sounds even lovlier! Enjoy your day, enjoy the party.

BTW, I can't believe you're already decorated for Christmas!!! I'm impressed, I never get around to it until the first week of December, usually the END of the first week.

[Marlene]

First of the birthday luncheons for my mom is done.  It was wonderful.  It was perfect (I will be doing two more).  We have matched the guests perfectly.

So, I served mini-quiches (baked in phyllo in muffin tins) -- lorraine and spinach feta, popovers and a spinach and strawberry salad (strawberries I picked locally last summer and mascerated in a raspberry vinegarette -- rapsberry vinegar from home-picked raspberries).  I debated for a while on an appetizer, but one of my mom's friends called and said she was bringing sugar smoked salmon from Russ Kendall's in Knife River.  Pinot Grigio for all.  Special hit were the popovers.  Everyone loved them but couldn't remember the last time they had them.

Diana, Peter and I made the quiches the night before, chilled them on the deck, fridged overnight and reheated when the popovers were in the oven and I lowered the temp.

Dessert was peach pie (pie filling made from Colorado peaches in August and frozen).

The only problem was that my vaccuum blew it's belt in the am, and only about 1' into the vaccuuming, so I had to vaccuum the sun rooom and living room with the shop vac, and couldn't find the thing that makes it easier to vaccuum the floor.

Oh, wait.  The other snafu.  As I set lunch on the table, Heidi's teacher called, and she was throwing up.  So, I ran to get Heidi, got her home, laying quietly (on a few towels) and movie on (Gone With The Wind -- she's loves the beginning of that one), just in time for presents and dessert.

My mother was touched by the outpourings of love and expression, and everyone had a wonderful time.  I think they were very surprised that there were so few people for her 70th, until they realized what I am doing -- making sure that she gets to celebrate with special folks, a few at a time so that she can actually spend time with them.

Off to check on the patient.

Edited to add:  I also gave party favors, ala party for a kid.  I made beaded star ornaments.  Suitable for a christmas tree of hanging in a window.  They were all very touched.

←

Oh poor Heidi! I do hope she's feeling better. your menu sounds lovely Susan. Share the mini quiche recipe please? You know, people call me organized. They obviously haven't met you yet! Well Done girlfriend, well done.

Marlen, I like Tanqueray 10 in a gin martini.

Your menu sounds lovely, but the not doing anything sounds even lovlier!  Enjoy your day, enjoy the party.

BTW, I can't believe you're already decorated for Christmas!!!  I'm impressed, I never get around to it until the first week of December, usually the END of the first week.

←

The one thing that gets me motivated to decorate for Christmas is this party It takes us well over a week to get all the lights and decorations i in place so we have to start early.

The glasses, plates and cutlery were delivered today. Tomorrow, I'm off to buy gin and get organized!

[Dave the Cook]

There are a number of threads about gin, so you could check them out, Marlene. But if you're expecting to be doing mostly martinis, my preference is for a good quality but traditional gin, like Beefeaters or Bombay.

The menu looks great. What time am I expected?

[Marlene]

Yes, Dave, I'm sure there are. I just haven't had time to search for them. Besides the fact that I'm a lousy searcher!

About 7ish would be good

[NVNVGirl]

As a regular recipient of Marlene's 'experiments', I can attest to the fact that they are always delicious!

←

And that voice my friends, is the "late to the party" (I got him signed up here weeks ago), but always avid supporter of my egullet endeavours, my husband.

(we're both sitting at the kitchen counter with our dueling laptops.)

eGullet, say hello to Don.

←

HI Don! I just want to say welcome here and I am also an appreciative fan of your wife's recipes! How funny, Marlene, that the carrots showed up here I am making them for Thanksgiving and am so looking forward to it! Hope your dinner turns out absolutely flawless and nothing but fun for you both!

[NVNVGirl]

Marlene~ I'll add my .02 on the gin also....my favorite is Bombay Sapphire..but that's only when I want to just have ONE....it's like water it's so innocuous...but oh, so deadly, LOL. The kind of drink that when you've had too much, you think you're perfectly fine(until the next day and you wonder how you got home)......but for the normal everyday martini, I go with Beefeaters...like my late father in law, a winemaker, drank....he called it his "English chablis"....he was a cutie. . His wife, my MIL, drank Tanqueray...for me, it's too "juniper-y"....and I know that the gin of choice at some of the big places in SF is Gordon's. At least, that's what I read.

[NVNVGirl]

OMG, I'm so sorry to be blabbering here, but it's just one of those days

Marlene, I just saw the pictures of the food and it all looks fabulous! The pork didn't look THAT raw to me....but we eat our pork a little less done maybe. I do want to say tho, that after seeing the carrots I am even more excited about doing them and I MUST comment on your granite counter...it's absolutely a gorgeous slab of granite! Just beeeee u tiful

[maggiethecat]

Marlene: It's too late now, but I am infamous on these boards for recommending Seagram's gin for martinis. Keep the money in Canada, and the first sip of a martini should feel like a slap on the face! The caterers have done their thing, you've been to the salon and look gorgeous ....enjoy!

Susan:Your menu is beautiful, as is your foresight. But, in any busy happy situation, you can almost count on at least one kid throwing up. (Think hard: Girlfriend Weekend)

[Marlene]

Ok, we're a little tired, but the party was a smashing success!

The caterers arrived at 5 to begin the set up. We had nothing to do but hang out and watch

Our staircase is decorated up and down. This is the most time consuming part of our decorations for this party and for the season.

Valerie, our bartender for the evening sets up.

Setting up the Carving station and the dining room buffet

The Hor's D'ouevres

Beef Roulade

Asiago-Parmesan Sticks

Mozzarella puff purses and jalapeno chicken stuffed corn muffins

The main buffet

Tomato -Provalone salad

Broccoli ginger salad & manadarin orange salad

Breads

Tortellini, Basmati Rice, Green Bean Almondine

Our Chef, Colleen at the carving table. THe only picture we didn't get for some reason, was a picture of the Prime Rib. I can't figure why we don't have one, but we don't. But it was awesome!

Deserts included a Melon Ball fruit tree

Cheese Tray

and Crepes.

It was great. I may not have to cook at all this week, since we've got leftovers for days.

And kudos to my husband who managed to get through the party in one piece although he's been sick with a chest cold for well over a week!

We're done entertaining for about two weeks now as, starting on Saturday, we'll be in Las Vegas for a week. When we come back, we still have three dinner parties to go before Christmas.

The caterers, Keith's Gourmet Caterers, did an amazing job of setting up, serving and cleaning up afterwards. We have very little to do today in terms of clean up. Thank god. The caterers also took most of the pictures through out the evening, so there are a few I wish I had, but don't. Nor are some of them as up close and sharp as I'd like either. But you get the idea. All in all, I'm a happy girl with the way things went.

[jayhay]

And so you should be a "happy girl" Marlene. You, the food, & your home all look lovely! So much nicer hosting a large party in your home, if you can, rather than a hall.

[snowangel]

Since my last report, I have hosted two more birthday luncheons for my mom. Both were very successful, and menu ideas inspired by the crowd. The weather, having turned more November/early December like, struck me as soup and spicy. And, the two groups of women were the right women for this.

#1: Guaq and tortilla chips. Yes, I did get to the mercado and got the fresh tortillas and fried them. Also served a salsa (homemade, ala Jaymes). Empandadas (filling was pulled smoked butt and some other stuff). Posole. Make posole two days beforehand. Mine is limp if not allowed to "meld." We toasted with Marguartias. Lime sorbet was dessert.

#2: Summer rolls, tot mahn (sp? - a fried fish patty I learned to make many years ago in Thailand) and Tom Yam. We washed this down with Thai beer and some of that really sweet coffee they serve there. Birthday dessert for this one was a squashy custard baked in the squash.

These luncheons have been wonderful. Having several small ones has been a lot of work, but not too much work for my mom, who has done more for me in the past few years than is imaginable. It was also way more fun to do several small things than one huge thing. Food for a smaller group is more managable, and more important, the guest of honor actually gets to interact with all attendees, on a more serious and fun level, than the "handshake and thank you for coming" level. The way to go, IMHO.

[lovebenton0]

Susan, lovely menus. Once again -- or twice I should say -- you won the day! Your mom is lucky she had you!

A request, if possible -- would you share your recipe for the tot mahn? Please?

And, Marlene, OMG woman! Your party was beautiful and the food looked fantastic, as well as you and your house. What a treat for everyone. Thanks for posting all the pics.

[snowangel]

I had a lot of fun doing these parties for my mom. We were very careful when we planned guest lists, and I suggested grouping based on not only the women, but what they would want to eat, and I do say I did a magnificent job. I have received actual thank you notes from more women than not. And, it gave my mom a chance to actually spend time with those she dearly loves.

I will say that the first one was the toughest. It didn't help that I felt the most pressure with this group, that I felt I needed to paint the laundry room, that Heidi's teacher called as I was putting lunch on to tell me "she's throwing up, just how soon can you come and get her?"

The "Thai" lunch was great. Knowing this group of women like I did, it turned into a lesson on making summer rolls, and subsequent tales of Thanksgivings at grandma's house, making Christmas cookies, childbirth, and all of that stuff that gets loosened when women cook together. It was my favorite of the three.

I would urge anyone who is considering hosting something for a significant event to consider hosting a few smaller do's. Much more intimate and memorable. And, these last two were a piece of cake. I had shrimp stock in the freezer. I assembled the stuff for the tot mahn the day before. Posole? Mine is limp and weak if not made at least 2 days before hand. Empandas? Make dough and filling ahead of time. Plus, with smaller gatherings, seating is usually easier. Everyone fit around the table (holds 10) and I didn't have to worry about putting up card tables and borrowing dishes and folding chairs from work.

Edited to add: My orchids and Xmas cactus are blooming, so I didn't even have to buy flowers.

Edited December 8, 2004 by snowangel (log)

[Marlene]

Susan, that was beautiful! Congrats. All this amidst the bustle of Thanksgiving, house renovations and three children. You're rapidly becoming my heroine.

We've a small dinner party for friends this weekend. I'm thinking of trying the crown roast of pork again, because I want to get it right and perhaps Dave's molten potatoes or Maggie's madelaines. What I'm looking for is something different to serve as hors d'ouvres. I adore the brie in phyllo and it's rapidly becoming a favourite, but I'd like to try something new and different this time. I don't want to fuss too much, and my friends don't do "ginchy" really well, but I'm open to suggestions here.

In addition, we'll be celebrating my son's and husband's birthday again since we were all away on the actual day. My son is having a friend sleep over and he's requested steak but I can probably talk him into the pork. I guess I can make a birthday cake!

[snowangel]

Marlene, thanks for the kind words.

For an appetizer, have you thought about something more vegetable oriented? Many years ago, I had an appetizer that was cream cheese mixed with a packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing. Smeared on crackers (a combo of triscuits and carrs) and topped with a thin slice of cuke. It was wonderful, but too salty, so when I make this now, I take the cream cheese, add some minced garlic and a bunch of whatever spices seem to grab me. Or, a roasted red pepper spread with crackers? Or bruschetta (all to common, but if done well, a real treat)? Crunchy and vegetables seem to go over very well.

[Marlene]

I like the roasted red pepper spread idea. I'm also thinking I'm going to step completely outside of my box here. 98% of the time when I entertain, I do a roast of some sort. So..........I was thinking:

I'm leaning towards a lasagna served with Ceasar Salad and garlic bread. For munchies up front, I now like the idea of the roasted red pepper spread, but also, I have this deep fryer I've never used. I'm thinking Saturday would be a great day to break it out, overcome my fear and try my hand at a "blooming onion"

What do y'all think?

[Jake]

I think you're brave! Seriously, we were at friends a couple years back who tried this at home, one soggy, oily onion was the result. I think perhaps the fryer took too long to come back up to temperature after the addition of a large onion. They tried it three time. After much laughter we settled on cheese & crackers.

One of my favourite appetizers to serve is english cucumber sliced on the bias as you would baguette for crostini, a dollop of wasabi creme fraiche, topped with a large shrimp and a small dollop of caviar. (Use the cheap stuff) It's really quite yummy, very easy and a nice presentation as well.

Or you could serve crostini with any number of toppings although you may not want to do that if you're serving bread and pasta as the main course.

[Marlene]

I think you're brave!  Seriously, we were at friends a couple years back who tried this at home, one soggy, oily onion was the result.  I think perhaps the fryer took too long to come back up to temperature after the addition of a large onion.  They tried it three time.  After much laughter we settled on cheese & crackers. 

One of my favourite appetizers to serve is english cucumber sliced on the bias as you would baguette for crostini, a dollop of wasabi creme fraiche, topped with a large shrimp and a small dollop of caviar.  (Use the cheap stuff)  It's really quite yummy, very easy and a nice presentation as well.

Or you could serve crostini with any number of toppings although you may not want to do that if you're serving bread and pasta as the main course.

←

Yes, I tried this once or twice with my old deep fryer. The fryer couldn't get hot enough. I have a Waring Pro now, which gets hotter and is 1800 W, so I'm hoping maybe, just maybe it will work better this time.

[snowangel]

I'd do a test onion.

If it is a go, it is a go. If not, fall back on a roasted red pepper spread, or what Jake suggested (which sounds divine).

Yes to lasagne. Time to branch out, break out of the mold.

Are you aiming for a great evening with good friends or to impress?

[Marlene]

This one is definately an evening with good friends. This couple have been my guinea pigs more often than I can count.

[snowangel]

OK, Marlene, since they are good friends and have been test subjects in the past, don't fret so much about the menu. Just fix what you feel like fixing!

One of my mosst successful dinner parties with really good friends (tasting subjects, so to speak) was Eggs Benedict!

With good friends, there is nothing wrong with something homey (sp?) or something that requires little "ala minute" attention. I think that's what made my posole luncheon for my mom so successful. Everyting was done in advance and heated. We allowed ourselves to put our feet up, and shed those social cloaks.

[Marlene]

Ok here's the menu. We're going to try the onion thiing. Why not! In case it doesn't work, I've made a walnut encrusted cheeseball. We'll have lasagna, ceasar salad and garlic bread.. I made the croutons today, and will make the bacon bits and dressing tomorrow. I ordered a Yule Log from the phenomenal bakery around the corner from me and I think I'm set. Pics tomorrow.

[snowangel]

Marlene, I wished I lived down the street from you. I'd invite myself to all of your parties (and help you clean afterwards).

[Marlene]

You would be most welcome at my house anytime Susan! But no guest of mine ever cleans up.

It's been an interesting afternoon in the kitchen. A real comedy. Or perhaps just a comedy of errors. I'm finally ready, and in 15 minutes our friends arrive. I'm going to find a drink. I really really need one.

[Marlene]

Have you ever had one of those days where you should just stay out of the kitchen? That was more or less my day yesterday. I started off by making the salad dressing which broke three times before I managed to get it right. In the process, I used damn near every bowl in the kitchen.

I moved on to bacon bits which were more or less painless except for the slicing of my finger part of the process. When I make bacon bits, I pre cut the bacon into "bits" before frying. Apparently my finger wanted to be a "bit" as well.

Fortunately I had made the croutons

and the walnut encrusted cheeseball the day before

I'd had high hopes of getting the lasagna made well in advance, but the dressing tribulations put me way behind schedule. It was getting close to the time when our friends were going to arrive and I hadn't even made the bechmel sauce. In my haste, I managed to forget to add the nutmeg to the lasagna, and the meat sauce was way too meaty (as per Don's instructions!) so I ended up with two layers of noodles instead of three. Fortunately, no one noticed the ommission of the nutmeg except me. In addtion, I kept running out of ingredients. Fortunately my men folk were out running errands for me, so every few minutes I'd call Don with another addition to the list. "um sweetie, could you pick up some extra cheese, and oh, I don't think I have enough oil for the deep fryer. Gee I don't think your sauce is going to be meaty enough, maybe you should grab some extra sausage while you're at it. . . ."

The lasagna was served with ceasar salad

and garlic bread. Some with cheese and some without

For dessert, a chocolate yule log from the bakery around the corner. Given the way things were going in my kitchen yesterday I was rather glad I didn't attempt this myself

But the big experiement of the evening was the bloomin onion of course.

Alan prepares himself for the onion ordeal (these two have been our onion guinea pigs for a long time now) by doing a side by side "blind" red wine taste test.

First of course the onion had to be sliced. Using the handy dandy, WS Steakhousse onion slicer,

We sliced, boiled then ice bathed the Videla Onion I picked up earlier. Well, ok Don did.

This rapidly turned into Don's Onion Show.

We had buttermilk and seasoned flour to dip the onion in

Although Don decided to put the flour into a ziplock bag and shake the onion inside it. It looks kinda deformed here, but who am I to argue with a guy armed with a deep fryer?

Deformed or not, it was ready to hit the deep fryer.

And voila! An almost perfect deep fried onion.

The top part didn't quite get done, but I have to say this was the best result we've ever had. I was very very pleased with the deep fryer. It heated up quickly, and recovered very quickly after the onion was put in. I now love this deep fryer so much, we made french fries tonight.

The onion was served with a creamy chili dip

The next time, we're going to try this with a beer batter, but for the first time we decided to follow the instructions on the box of the cutter.

Don was so overwhelmed with the success of the onion that he damn near fainted half way through dinner, but that's another story.