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eG Foodblog: Eden - Italian Renaissance Banquet in Seattle

Eden

By Eden
in Food Traditions & Culture

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Eden

Eden

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The sugared grapes are SO easy! you wash & drain your grapes. cut them into tiny clusters, dip them in a simple syrup, then dip them into granulated sugar & let them sit on cooling racks for a few hours to set before serving. I chose black grapes for maximum effect, but I think red and even green would be lovely as well.

Do you suffer from Acute Culinary Syndrome? Maybe it's time to get help...

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Eden

Eden

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That's genuinely awe-inspiring, Eden.  And to do it on $7.33 per person -I just totally prostrate myself at your feet!

The only way this works is that I'm not buying the lovely carrots from the farmers market that I would get if I was making a dish for myself, or the pasture rasied beef, or the really good saba, but the cheap stuff in jumbo paks from the Costco or the Cash & Carry etc. and saffron's not so expensive when you buy it in bulk :biggrin:

I should have a little time tomorrow to answer any last questions. I do apologize if in the craziness of my week I missed anybody!

And now I'm going to go to sleep, and try not to think of all those projects I've been putting off till "after the banquet"...

Do you suffer from Acute Culinary Syndrome? Maybe it's time to get help...

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Chufi

Chufi

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Eden that was amazing. I am especially impressed that everything looked so beautiful, I know from experience that when you are cooking for large numbers, garnishing can suffer. You did a terrific job and should be really proud of yourselves!

Now go and play with the ferrets and then put your feet up! :smile:

Klary Koopmans

~ The Travels of Verjuice & Chufi

~ Eat cheap, travel far

~ Dutch Cooking recipe index

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Lori in PA

Lori in PA

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Wow and Double Wow. Do you have that benumbed, without direction feeling this morning that always hits me after the completion of a crazy-busy project's completion?

~ Lori in PA

My blog: http://inmykitcheninmylife.blogspot.com/

My egullet blog: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=89647&hl=

"Cooking is not a chore, it is a joy."

- Julia Child

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racheld

racheld

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And I---genuflections all round from an awed readership.

I can't imagine the hours, the research, the cutting and peeling (ah---those artichokes!) and all the prep and scheduling and plain old hard WORK!!!

It was a wonderful guidebook, with a lovely culmination and a glorious feast.

Your words and pictures could be published RIGHT NOW as a manual for future banquets. No Lady of the Manor (Villa? Castle?) could have entertained with such lavish style, such sumptuous foodstuffs and such aplomb, had she a houseful of servants at the beck of her bejeweled fingertips.

Now go take off your Impossible-To-Fill shoes, rest your tired feet, and let some ferret-love wash over you. Thanks for the fabulous week.

Brava! Bravissima!!

Fairy Tea

My Blog--Thanksgiving and Goodwill
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MarketStEl

MarketStEl

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That's genuinely awe-inspiring, Eden.  And to do it on $7.33 per person -I just totally prostrate myself at your feet!

The only way this works is that I'm not buying the lovely carrots from the farmers market that I would get if I was making a dish for myself, or the pasture rasied beef, or the really good saba, but the cheap stuff in jumbo paks from the Costco or the Cash & Carry etc. and saffron's not so expensive when you buy it in bulk :biggrin:

If you're fixing large quantities, I guess bulk saffron makes sense, but I thought it degraded fairly quickly. Does it?

All I can say is: Oh, wow! That was one impressive event! You don't do this often, do you? I can't imagine putting out Herculean efforts like this one on a regular basis, or even a semi-regular basis.

This has been a fabulous blog and an interesting departure from the more traditional fare. Thanks for inviting us vicariously to dinner!

Sandy Smith, Exile on Oxford Circle, Philadelphia

"95% of success in life is showing up." --Woody Allen

My foodblogs: 1 | 2 | 3

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Eden

Eden

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Thank you everyone for your kind words!

Eden that was amazing. I am especially impressed that everything looked so beautiful, I know from experience that when you are cooking for large numbers, garnishing can suffer. You did a terrific job and should be really proud of yourselves!

Now go and play with the ferrets and then put your feet up!  :smile:

That pretty food was all Team Garnish. And I can't tell you how much I respect what they do. I can throw a piece of parsley on a plate, but it would never occur to me to tuck gold dragees among the petals of a rose... I do sometimes give a little direction, especially if there's something in a recipe I'm trying to enhance, like asking them to put the candied rose petals & ginger on the cheesecakes, or in the case of the carrots the original recipe called for parsley as a garnish, but mostly I just let them do their thing & the results are amazing!

Wow and Double Wow. Do you have that benumbed, without direction feeling this morning that always hits me after the completion of a crazy-busy project's completion?

yes, that's pretty much how I felt all day yesterday. I actually had trouble sleeping saturday night because I could still hear everyone's voices in my head trying to get my help for stuff "Eden, where's the saffron?, "Eden, the beef isn't heating", "Eden, we're out of Ricotta", "Eden" "Eden", "Eden"... :laugh::laugh::laugh:

If you're fixing large quantities, I guess bulk saffron makes sense, but I thought it degraded fairly quickly.  Does it?

All I can say is: Oh, wow! That was one impressive event!  You don't do this often, do you?  I can't imagine putting out Herculean efforts like this one on a regular basis, or even a semi-regular basis.

This has been a fabulous blog and an interesting departure from the more traditional fare.  Thanks for inviting us vicariously to dinner!

actually saffron lasts longer than you'd think - I have a little bit of really excellent saffron lying around that's still stronger that stuff that's a full year fresher!

And goodness no I don't do this often. we do one really big banquet like this once a year (and usually even that isn't quite so lavish) and then 2-4 smaller projects each year. We also rotate who's in charge to avoid burning people out...

Thanks for coming along & watching, it was exhausting, but a lot of fun!

Do you suffer from Acute Culinary Syndrome? Maybe it's time to get help...

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Kouign Aman

Kouign Aman

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Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

All very lovely, and tasty looking. My feet hurt in sympathy.

And I lust for those green bowls in which the beef was served.

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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