Friday, February 7, 2014

Is this thing on?

Yep.  Let's pretend this five month delay never happened.

New things happening in my kitchen: the baking edition

I was asked to make cookies for a friend's "we got married so let's have some people over and not call it a reception because it's not a reception but it's a reception" party.  I made three dozen classic chocolate chip (from this recipe which has never failed me and which I have ever so slightly adapted) and three dozen cranberry white chocolate chip cookies (using the same dough as a base).  I also made three dozen sugar cookies frosted with white royal icing and adorned with the new couple's initials (those took forever but they looked great).  I am never quite happy with the taste of sugar cookies but I've tweaked this recipe according to some of the comments and now am pretty satisfied.  They always look great though, even if I spend hours frosting them -- the crowd reaction is worth it.  Finally, I made some amazing pecan squares from a recipe in the Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook by Christopher Kimball.  

I also co-hosted a baby shower for a friend and made most of the food.  Here is the menu:
-bruschetta (homemade tomato topping, toasted the bread)
-caprese toasts (with basil picked from my window plant, thus far the hardiest of all my plant projects and still going strong)
-steak bites (marinated in soy sauce/worcestershire/pepper/garlic)
-giant cheese plate (brie, jarlsberg, goat cheese, with dried fruit and crackers and apricot preserves)
-meatballs in marinara sauce (cheated, used frozen meatballs and jarred sauce)
-sliced sausage in BBQ sauce (cheated, cut up some sausage from the store and used bottled sauce)
-pasta salad (pasta, olives, sliced salami and pepperoni, red onion, cherry tomatoes, in a balsamic dressing)
-finger sandwiches (three varieties: cucumber, egg salad, and blt), crusts cut off of course
-mini-wedge salad skewers (iceberg lettuce, cherry tomato, bacon, with a bowl of blue cheese dressing for dipping) (these were a huge hit)
-potato chips with ranch dip
-veggie tray with hummus
-fruit plate

And the desserts:
-mini chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting (cheated, used box cake mix and canned frosting)
-chocolate chip cookies
-cranberry white chocolate chip cookies (people love this flavor combo)
-sugar cookies shaped and frosted like daisies, butterflies, and tulips
-raspberry jam sandwich cookies (used the sugar cookie dough for these)
-a massive cake (I did not make this but it was really really good)

If there's anything this shower taught me, it's that I love cooking for a large crowd.  I also love assembly line style baking and a big project.  I also hate cleaning up.

That's all for now.  More later on recent kitchen adventures, unless I am again afflicted with mysterious amnesia that causes me to forget my fledgling food diary.