Barb-a-licious and I somehow got a harebrained scheme to throw a Spring Formal. Basically, the idea was that we would get our friends to dress up and dance by plying them with liquor and wonderful food. It was a bumpy road, filled with unexpected trips and family obligations, but it all worked out in the end.
Several weeks ago, we decided to create our signature cocktail. The first attempt, which was basically straight booze, would have knocked a eight-hundred pound gorilla straight back on its rear. But, we were dedicated and tried and tried until we got it right. Dubbed a Blue Velvet, the drink is wonderful this time of year. Its a little fruity with a slight citrus-y note (and some fizz), which makes it the perfect spring drink. Everyone loved it...and we were glad to have stuck out the mixing and tasting through three versions, knowing that our research and perseverance would pay off with the creation of a new classic.
Barb shakes up and serves the Velvet...
Recipe: Blue Velvet
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup raspberry liquor
1 cup vodka
generous wedge of lime
splash of soda
Combine the blueberries and sugar in a sauce pan with 1 tbsp. of water. Simmer until the berries pop and you have a nice syrup. Chill until cool, then puree until as smooth as possible. Add raspberry liquor and vodka, stir. Fill a couple of glasses with ice, add blueberry/liquor mixture until 3/4 full, top with club soda and lime. ENJOY! (Yes, they're more purple than blue, but why quibble?) This recipe makes 4-6 drinks, depending on your glasses, but can easily be doubled for a crowd.
The menu was a little more tricky, but almost as much fun. Barb and I poured over cookbook after cookbook, trying to find the right combination of appetizers for a fun party. We eventually settled on these nine, plus cheese sesame sticks and nuts to round off the fare.
Food:
Hot Onion Souffle, which is served with crackers
Pesto Crudite Kabobs
Eggplant-Coriander mix on toast points
Caviart with sour cream on Buckwheat Pancakes
Apricot Thrones
Fried Potato Cutlets
Vegetarian Ceviche
Savory Rosemary-Parmesan Madeleines
Herbed Chevre Balls
Sweets were:
Dulche de Leche Fondue
Mocha Marscapone Cheese Spread
Assorted dippers
Mixed nuts and cheese flavored sesame sticks, of course.
The day before, Barb made the madelienes, which were good, but only made seven total. Whoops! The recipe called for MINI madelieine pans. While I do have an array of useless cookware and baking accessories, that is not one of them.
On Saturday, we had a major list of thing to accomplish in addition to trying to get everything made AND the place situated AND changed into our clothes AND the table set AND....well you get the picture. Everything was going pretty well, but time was of the essence and by mid-afternoon we were feeling a little panick-y. One of the last things to make were the potato cutlets. The recipe sounded good (basically seasoned mashed potatoes, dredged in breadcrumbs and fried. YUM!), but had numerous problems, the first one being that our potatoes ended up super pasty. Remember that Elmer's glue in the jar from when you were a kid? That's it. We tried to add some flour to pull them together and fried up a couple of samples, but blech, not good at all. "We can save them," we yelled to one another, "for we are cooking masters!!" I pitched the idea of lining a pie plate with the panko we were dredging them in and Barb suggested mixing in some cheese and a little eggs, both agreeing to bake for a bit and then slice into wedges. It seemed like a save, and we prematurely dubbed it Miracle potato Pie, but when we cut it and sampled it. Blech, double blech. The texture was horrible and the taste nothing to write home about. We served it anyway, but after a few of the Blue Velvets, I'm sure no one complained about our potatoes. Other than the potato fiasco, everything turned out quite good.
The ceviche was something I actually made once before, for Patricia's shower, but used a slightly different recipe. I kept reading about all of these wonderful ceviche recipes, especially in Calvin Trillin's latest book Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties from Kansas City to Cuzco, and I finally decided to try one of my own. Even before becoming a vegetarian I never cared for fish or seafood, but I thought that firm tofu would be a perfect stand-in for the fish that is conventionally used in ceviche. We served this on a long, black platter in little silver Chinese spoons--just one small spicy, juicy bite. (Also, thinly sliced kumquats are a nice addition if they are in season.)
Recipe: My Ceviche
1 lb. firm tofu, pressed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup ketchup
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 large garlic cloves, minced (two big scoops from the minced jar at my house)
1 small jalepeno chilled, cored and seeded, finely diced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
large pinch of cumin
small pinch ground cinnamon
small pinch of ground cloves
dash of Tabasco
1 medium red onion in small, thin slices (or finely diced, your pleasure)
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
2 tbsp. virgin olive oil
Place the tofu in a large bowl, add onion, tomato and cilantro. In a smaller bowl, combine ketchup and through Tabasco. Whisk together, then pour over tofu mixture, folding gently until mixed well. Add salt to taste, then chill for several hours. Serve in little spoons, endive spears, or small glasses with a celery garnish.
We even made a little backdrop in front of Barb's garage, with a baby blue piece of fabric and silver stars. (The stars are still there, denoting Barb's space.)
Barb snapping James and Julie.
Molly and Jamie say cheese.
And dancing, there was lots and lots of dancing. Mitchell made a series of great mix cds.
DJ Jazzy Hurricane
Dancing (note the disco ball borrowed from Anna)
Zuzana and the gang wiggle it.
The hosts shake it...
Next time we throw a party, you'll know better than to even think about missing it.
Mangez!
Several weeks ago, we decided to create our signature cocktail. The first attempt, which was basically straight booze, would have knocked a eight-hundred pound gorilla straight back on its rear. But, we were dedicated and tried and tried until we got it right. Dubbed a Blue Velvet, the drink is wonderful this time of year. Its a little fruity with a slight citrus-y note (and some fizz), which makes it the perfect spring drink. Everyone loved it...and we were glad to have stuck out the mixing and tasting through three versions, knowing that our research and perseverance would pay off with the creation of a new classic.
Barb shakes up and serves the Velvet...
Recipe: Blue Velvet
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup raspberry liquor
1 cup vodka
generous wedge of lime
splash of soda
Combine the blueberries and sugar in a sauce pan with 1 tbsp. of water. Simmer until the berries pop and you have a nice syrup. Chill until cool, then puree until as smooth as possible. Add raspberry liquor and vodka, stir. Fill a couple of glasses with ice, add blueberry/liquor mixture until 3/4 full, top with club soda and lime. ENJOY! (Yes, they're more purple than blue, but why quibble?) This recipe makes 4-6 drinks, depending on your glasses, but can easily be doubled for a crowd.
The menu was a little more tricky, but almost as much fun. Barb and I poured over cookbook after cookbook, trying to find the right combination of appetizers for a fun party. We eventually settled on these nine, plus cheese sesame sticks and nuts to round off the fare.
Food:
Hot Onion Souffle, which is served with crackers
Pesto Crudite Kabobs
Eggplant-Coriander mix on toast points
Caviart with sour cream on Buckwheat Pancakes
Apricot Thrones
Fried Potato Cutlets
Vegetarian Ceviche
Savory Rosemary-Parmesan Madeleines
Herbed Chevre Balls
Sweets were:
Dulche de Leche Fondue
Mocha Marscapone Cheese Spread
Assorted dippers
Mixed nuts and cheese flavored sesame sticks, of course.
The day before, Barb made the madelienes, which were good, but only made seven total. Whoops! The recipe called for MINI madelieine pans. While I do have an array of useless cookware and baking accessories, that is not one of them.
On Saturday, we had a major list of thing to accomplish in addition to trying to get everything made AND the place situated AND changed into our clothes AND the table set AND....well you get the picture. Everything was going pretty well, but time was of the essence and by mid-afternoon we were feeling a little panick-y. One of the last things to make were the potato cutlets. The recipe sounded good (basically seasoned mashed potatoes, dredged in breadcrumbs and fried. YUM!), but had numerous problems, the first one being that our potatoes ended up super pasty. Remember that Elmer's glue in the jar from when you were a kid? That's it. We tried to add some flour to pull them together and fried up a couple of samples, but blech, not good at all. "We can save them," we yelled to one another, "for we are cooking masters!!" I pitched the idea of lining a pie plate with the panko we were dredging them in and Barb suggested mixing in some cheese and a little eggs, both agreeing to bake for a bit and then slice into wedges. It seemed like a save, and we prematurely dubbed it Miracle potato Pie, but when we cut it and sampled it. Blech, double blech. The texture was horrible and the taste nothing to write home about. We served it anyway, but after a few of the Blue Velvets, I'm sure no one complained about our potatoes. Other than the potato fiasco, everything turned out quite good.
The ceviche was something I actually made once before, for Patricia's shower, but used a slightly different recipe. I kept reading about all of these wonderful ceviche recipes, especially in Calvin Trillin's latest book Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties from Kansas City to Cuzco, and I finally decided to try one of my own. Even before becoming a vegetarian I never cared for fish or seafood, but I thought that firm tofu would be a perfect stand-in for the fish that is conventionally used in ceviche. We served this on a long, black platter in little silver Chinese spoons--just one small spicy, juicy bite. (Also, thinly sliced kumquats are a nice addition if they are in season.)
Recipe: My Ceviche
1 lb. firm tofu, pressed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup ketchup
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 large garlic cloves, minced (two big scoops from the minced jar at my house)
1 small jalepeno chilled, cored and seeded, finely diced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
large pinch of cumin
small pinch ground cinnamon
small pinch of ground cloves
dash of Tabasco
1 medium red onion in small, thin slices (or finely diced, your pleasure)
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
2 tbsp. virgin olive oil
Place the tofu in a large bowl, add onion, tomato and cilantro. In a smaller bowl, combine ketchup and through Tabasco. Whisk together, then pour over tofu mixture, folding gently until mixed well. Add salt to taste, then chill for several hours. Serve in little spoons, endive spears, or small glasses with a celery garnish.
We even made a little backdrop in front of Barb's garage, with a baby blue piece of fabric and silver stars. (The stars are still there, denoting Barb's space.)
Barb snapping James and Julie.
Molly and Jamie say cheese.
And dancing, there was lots and lots of dancing. Mitchell made a series of great mix cds.
DJ Jazzy Hurricane
Dancing (note the disco ball borrowed from Anna)
Zuzana and the gang wiggle it.
The hosts shake it...
Next time we throw a party, you'll know better than to even think about missing it.
Mangez!