Archive for the ‘Entertaining’ Category

These cute little pretzels are fantastic to make with kids but pretty enough to put out at your next Holiday  party.  I love these because just like  – no two snowflakes are a like, no two pretzels flakes are either!!

I have been thinking about making these since July – which sounds ludicrous until you think about how hot it probably was and how desperately I wanted a cold front to blow through.  So coming up with winter themed items in July doesn’t seem quite so crazy. 

I really like these little pretzelflakes because they are great for a number of things.  You could top a cake with them, shove them into the top of a cupcake or just put them in a bowl.  They would make good little gifts too. 

Ingredients:

1 bag of your favorite crunchy pretzels

white chocolate bark

food coloring

candy decorations of your choosing:  candy canes, sprinkles, m&m’s, crushed nuts, cinnamon, crushed graham, sea salt, caramel, chocolate.  whatever!

parchment paper

Directions:

Lay your parchment paper out on a clean surface.  Lay your pretzel’s in groups of 3 or 4 to create little snowflake shapes. 

Make sure you have all of your decorating candies out and ready to go before you heat the chocolate.

Heat the chocolate bark up according to the package directions but make sure you heat it up in a container with a spout for easy pouring.  Divide up the melted chocolate in seperate bowls for dying with food coloring.  (If you only want white ones then feel free to skip that step.) 

Begin pouring the chocolate over the pretzelflakes doing about 3 or 4 at a time.  Stop to decorate them inbetween each batch.  The candy will stick while the chocolate is still hot and melty but once it dries and cools it will not, so don’t coat too many at a time with the chocolate.  My chocolate came out a little thick so I ended up picking up the pretzels after I poured chocolate on them and placing them on clean parchment.  This way I could still see through the holes in the pretezels – which made them look more like snowflakes.  You can just dip the pretzels in the chocolate and then arrange them if that is easier for you.

Looking back at them now – I wish I had covered the entire pretzel in chocolate.  I think that would have been cuter.  I do like the coconut though!  It kind of looks like snow!

Allow for all of them to cool.  It should only take about 30 minutes for everything to fully harden.  By the time I was done with the dishes mine were ready to go. 

See, fun and easy!

Does anyone else feel like baking is becoming quite a trend?  First there were cakesters, then cupcakes, after that there were cakeballs and now I’m seeing marshmallows like crazy.  All these tasty treats are going out of style before I’m tired of eating them.  Can we slow down please people??  I’m still eating and baking over here!!

I’m jumping on the whole marshmallow thing now before I miss it completely.  This is the easiest fad to hit the baking market in a while so if you are not a baker, but love the sugar, than this is for you! 

Did your mom ever wrap socks and underwear in wrapping paper and tie bows on the end like a piece of wrapped candy?  Mine totally did.  There is nothing more disappointing then seeing  a gift wrapped like a giant piece of candy and then opening it to find socks….  I now need therapy due to this. 

For these little pieces of heaven I used the following ingredients but please feel free to shake it up and give it your personal touch.  I used what I had in the pantry!

White chocolate bark

Large Marshmallows

Crushed Graham Cracker

Crushed Candy Cane (chocolate mint)

Blue Sprinkles

White Sprinkles

Popsicle Sticks

8″ Small Clear Bags

Thin Ribbon (1/4″ works great)

Melt the white chocolate according to the package instructions in the microwave or over a double boiler.  (Do not put the chocolate in a pan to melt it.  I repeat do not put the chocolate in a pan to melt it.  It will burn and make your house smell like Santa’s Bakery caught on fire.  Trust me I know this from multiple experiences.  Yes, I keep forgetting…..

Crush up the candy and the graham and put them on small flat plates or little bowls along with the sprinkles.  Lay out a large piece of parchment paper next to the candy bowls.

Dip each marshmallow in the chocolate so that it is about halfway covered.  Gently shake off extra dripping chocolate and dip your marshmallow into any of the crushed candies.  Place the marshmallow, marshmallow side down to allow the chocolate to dry.  You can then flip the marshmallow and do the other side or leave it half covered.  Feel free to dye your chocolate fun colors and to go crazy with the toppings.  This is great to do with kids because there is no right way to do it. 

When the marshmallows are dry, skewer about three marshmallows on each popsicle stick.  Cut the closed end of the bag off so that both ends are open.  Place your skewer in the bag and tie a pretty ribbon on each end of the bag.

It would be very easy to put  a little tag on one end with a holiday greeting or thank you note.  Get creative!

I did a lot of research about how to make petit fours before I made these little cakes.  Everyone made it sound awfuly intimidating and time consuming and tried to talk me out of it.  Maybe they were just trying to be nice seeing as the last few from scratch baked items I made were EPIC FAILURES.  But being stubborn me,  I refused to listen.  I was really set on making these suckers because they will be perfect for my Halloween party.  I’m throwing an Alice in Wonderland themed party with a friend of mine and we wanted to have little petit fours that have little tags attached to them that said “Eat Me” just like in the movie.

When I was finished with them I really didn’t think they were that hard or time consuming.  I mean come on people.  Any time you make cake and icing from scratch and then plan to individually ice 50+ mini cakes it is going to take some time.  I kept reading peoples comments on other blogs about “this took forever!!!”  and I’m like duh!  You are icing all 5 sides of 50 mini cakes.  That is going to take “forever”.  So I decided to time myself.  I’m not super fast in the kitchen but I’m pretty efficient.  I have all my baking stuff in clear containers and all of my baking specific spices and flavorings in the same spot, together and easy to find.  I have small bowls and do my best to premeasure and prep before I get into baking.  I read the recipe through several times before I start so I don’t have to stop to check it after each step.  I also keep my cold ingredients cold.  I have found that my baked goods tend to come out a little better if my eggs are straight from the fridge instead of sitting on the counter for the last 20 minutes until I got to that step.  Same thing with the milk.  I finished making these in one sitting of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  So like just under 2 hours or something?  I also made pumpkin gnocchi in between waiting on the cake to bake and the icing to boil.  So I was pretty productive.  (This time frame also includes dishes!)

The actual cake part was really fluffy and had tons of crevices for the icing to seep into which made these little suckers extra yummy.  Next time I make these I will plan to double the icing.  I didn’t have enough to ice all of my little cakes and the sides still looked a little bumpy.  I think if I could have coated them all one more time it would have been better.  In the ingredients list I’m going to go ahead and double it for you, if it seems like a lot that is why.

Spooky picture!!

Adapted from mahalo.com how to make petit fours

Ingredients:

Cake -

2 eggs and 2 egg yolks

1 cup granulated sugar

5 tbs melted butter (cooled to room temp but still liquid)

2 cups baking flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbs pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup milk

Icing -

4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

2 cup water

3 cups confectioners sugar

candy thermometer

Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 and rub a little butter and flour on a 10.5″ x 15.5″ pan.

In a small bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice.  Set the bowl aside.  With an electric mixer, whip the egg yolks, eggs and sugar together until nice and fluffy.  This will take about 8-10 minutes and is very important to do correctly so that your cake is nice and moist.  Slowly add in the flour mixture and milk alternating.  Fold in these ingredients so that you don’t lose the fluffiness that you have created.  Add in the melted butter and combine.

Spread the batter out in the pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.  Place the cake on a cooling rack and allow to cool.

Slice the cake into 2″ square cubes, slicing off the ”crust” of the cake first so that all of your pieces are even.  Pleace each piece on a drying rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath to catch the icing drips.

Icing -

Combine the granulted sugar, cream of tartar and water together in a sauce pan.  Turn your tempature to medium high heat and stir the sugar and water together until the sugar fully dissolves.  Stop stirring and bring the mixture to a boil and allow it to cook until it reaches 250 degrees.  Allow the mixture to reduce down slightly keeping it at 250 degrees until it forms a light syrup.  You want it to be as close to pancake syrup as you can.  If this part of the icing is to thin, the icing will will be too runny and will not come out right.

When the syrup is ready turn the heat down to low and wait until your themometer reads 150 degrees.  Slowly add the confectioners sugar a little at a time stirring until it is completely dissolved each time.  Finally add in any food coloring that you might want and stir that in.  Allow mixture to cool before you begin icing.

I put the icing in a glass measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring.  I also had a wide mouth bowl (or plate) ready and poured icing in the bowl for easy dipping.  You want a very shallow pool of icing.  The cake is pretty fluffy and if you try to dip them too much the cake will rip apart with the weight of the icing.  Keep it shallow!

I dipped all 5 sides and then set the pieces back on the drying rack.  After I got them all covered and let them dry a bit, I went back and poured the icing over each one to get that fully covered glazed look.  You can use a flat spoon or spatula to help spread the icing on the sides of the cake for this second coat.

Be patient and remember “baking is fun!”

Good Luck!

If you missed the first two posts please click here and here for the decoration portion of this post.

So the party was a huge hit!  Everyone really seemed to have a good time and the last guest left around 3 am!  Crazy fun and totally worth all of the effort.  The food was tasty, the drinks were cold, and the guests were amazing!  This type of party is why I love to plan and cook and decorate the whole thing.  It just feels so good when it all comes together so well.  I will cut to the chase with this post because we just have too much to cover.

Green Chile Polenta with Mushrooms

I have made the polenta a million times and you can find the recipe here as well as the green chile sauce which you can find here.  I took the green chile sauce and the toasted almonds from the chicken and poured a small dollop on top of the polenta.   Natalie placed the almonds on top perfectly so these little guys looked super impressive.  This recipe is great because the green chile sauce and almonds can be made 2 days before and the polenta can be made the night before.  I would wait to make the mushrooms until the day of.

“Grown up Nachos”  or Tilapia Nachos

I added these the night before because I felt like I wasn’t going to have enough food and I’m really glad I did.  They were the favorite of the night.  Sugar and I ate them the whole next week.  These suckers are good!

4 Tilapia fillets

juice of 2 limes

40 – 50 large tortilla chips

2 cans black beans

3 tsp crushed garlic

3 tbs cilantro

1 tsp salt

3 shallots

olive oil for frying

flour for coating the shallots

Queso Fresco

raspberry poblano sauce (or any spicy sweet sauce you can find, Central Market has a ton of them)

I bought frozen Tilapia fillets and just followed the package direction for baking them.  Squeeze the lime juice over the thawed fillets before you bake them.  When they are finished allow them to cool to the touch and then shred them.  Set them aside.

Slice your shallots very finely and coat them in the flour.  Heat your olive oil to medium high heat.  Fry the shallots to crispy brown and set them aside.

Cook your can beans on the stove until they are hot and then transfer them to your blender.  Add in the garlic cilantro and salt and puree until nice and smooth.  Taste your beans to make sure they have enough salt.  Feel free to add more if they taste a bit bland, keeping in mind hat you are putting them on salty chips!

Preheat your oven to 350 and lay out as many chips as you can on a cookie sheet.  Smear a nice dollop of beans on the chips.  Do each chip individually so it is easy for your guests to pick each one up.  If you just make a giant pile of nachos it will look terrible and will be crazy messy.  Next place about a tablespoon of talapia on each chip topping them with all with the shredded queso fresco.  Bake them in the oven for about 8 minutes or until they are toasted.  While they are still hot top each one with the fried shallots and then sweep a little of the sauce on top.  These are soooo goood!

Endive and Spicy Potatoes

5-6 small red potatoes

2 tsp olive oil

2 shallots

1 tsp garlic

2 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

6 large endives

1 cup grated cotija cheese

Wash and dry the potatoes and chop them into small quarter inch pieces.  Heat a large pan with the olive oil.  When the oil is hot add the shallots.  Cook them until they are caramelized and then add the potatoes, chili flakes, cumin and some salt.  Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.  Make sure not to over cook them.  They should not be mushy!  While the potatoes are cooking wash the endive really well and separate the pieces.  Be sure to cut off the end or stem portion of the endive.  Fill the pieces with the potato mixture and grate the cojita cheese on top.  Serve at room temperature.  This recipe should make about 50 pieces.

White Bean Crostini

2 cans white beans (garbanzo beans) – drained

1 tbs garlic

3tbs cilantro

2 tsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 baguettes sliced about 1/2 thick

olive oil

1 bunch of arugula

1 cup grated cotija cheese

In a medium sauce pan combine the beans, garlic, cilantro and chili powder.  Cook the beans and then add the mixture to your mixer or blender.  Puree the mixture into a smooth paste.

Slice the baguette into 1/2″ thick pieces and lay them out on a pan.  Brush each piece with a little bit of olive oil.  Lightly toast them in the oven at 350 for about 8 minutes.  Pull out the toasted baguettes and spread the bean puree over each one.  Slice the arugula into thin strips and top each baguette.  Cover with the cotija and serve.

Chorizo Meatballs with Avocado Crema

3 lbs of good chorizo meat (Ask the butcher at your favorite grocery store what brand he recommends)

Roll the chorizo into bite sized balls and bake them in the oven at 350 for about 12-15 minutes.  Chorizo already had so many spices in it that you really don’t have to do anything else.  The avocado crema is a really great cool flavor with the spicy meat.

Click here for the Avocado Crema recipe.

I also made a giant 3 tier chocolate cake and every part of it was a disaster.  The recipe had me bake the cake portion for too long and it was over-cooked.  The icing never solidified and I ended up pouring it over the cake.  The icing was so runny that the top tier keep sliding off and landing on my counter top.  I had to take popsicle sticks and stick them through the cake tiers to make them stay.  I had icing on the ceiling ya’ll!  Sugar walked in the kitchen and all he could do was laugh because I was covered in chocolate icing.  The cake tasted pretty good but it was horribly unsuccessful!  I will not be posting the recipe.  I will admit that at 3 am when everyone was gone I took a giant fork to this cake straight from the cake stand.  It didn’t taste that bad but I’m still mad at it….

I made Trece Leches and it turned out really well.  I have made this recipe a million times so luckily it came out just as it was supposed to. )f course I didn’t get any photos of this either.  Whoops!  Click here for the recipe.

We also put together these great little take away gifts for everyone.  I ordered the tags from www.myownlabels.com and bought mini Hershey’s, Popsicle sticks, marshmallows and graham crackers.  S’mores are such a great summer time treat that I thought it would be cute to use them as take aways.  I stuck the marshmallows on the sticks to make sure the treats were ready to use.  My little tags say “here is to many S’MORE birthday’s to come”  get it, get it, hehe!

One of my best friends from college, Laura, is getting married in October.  She found the perfect guy who complements her SO well!!  It always makes me happy when my friends find their true love and life partner.  It really is a magical time and I couldn’t be more happy for her.  Plus, this magical time means lots of fun parties!!  You all know how much I love parties.  And weddings are definitely my favorite!!  So naturally I’ve turned this wonderful time in her life into something for me…throwing a bridal shower!

One of my other best friends from college, Allison, lives in Dallas near me.  She had the brilliant idea of throwing Laura a shower up here.  I jumped at the chance to co-host because I knew we could do something really fun and special for the bride.  Allison thought all of two seconds before a theme popped into her head.  Laura loves sushi.  I mean, LOVES it!  Every time we make dinner or lunch plans, she always suggests we meet for sushi.  We knew the shower needed an Asian-inspired theme with sushi as the main appetizer.

Allison knows and appreciates my party-throwing obsession, so she pretty much let me run wild with the decor and presentation.  We work well together since we both have a passion for design, so when it came time to decorate her house, we were both full of ideas.

Even though spring is long past, we decided to incorporate cherry blossoms and the color pink into our decor.  We wanted everything to feel light and airy.  Plus, pink just works great for parties!  I’m sure you all remember Emily’s branch centerpiece she designed last winter.  Well, I snatched it off her dining room table and we used it at the party stretched across the counter.  Allison also cut some bamboo out of her yard and placed it in a vase with small rocks and water for the other side of the counter.  Our table was going to be full of food, so we decided that instead of a centerpiece we would focus on having something hang above the table.  I turned to my favorite decor site Luna Bazaar and ordered a bunch of fuchsia and light pink lanterns, along with lots of folding fans.  I still had white lanterns from a previous party, so we incorporated those as well.

Sticking with the color scheme, we placed pink sparkling lemonade, Izze sodas, and pink prosecco into a tin container.  It was an easy way to pull the colors around the room, plus gives the guests more drink options.  We also served iced green tea and of course, water (we do live in 100+ degree Texas!).

On to the food.  We obviously served various sushi rolls, but we also had steamed pork dumplings, edamame, wasabi peas (for snacking), and a great noodle salad (recipe below).  The bites were light and tasty, which meant that the food was actually eaten!  While having leftovers is fine, I always want the food to disappear at a party.

Instead of a typical shower cake, I decided to make lots of little desserts for the guests.  I have really found a passion for baking.  I never thought I would have the patience for it, but the process sort of calms me.  Weird, I know.  After scouring the internet and cookbooks, I came up with the dessert menu.  I made lime-glazed mini bundt cakes, strawberry cake-balls, and raspberry fools.  A fool is sort of like a parfait; made with cream, creme fraiche, and soaked raspberries, all folded together.  It is heavenly.

I am a huge fan of guest favors at parties.  I mean, kids give goody bags, why not adults?  A little trinket is nice, but any sort of food treat is really the best.  For this shower, we bought little Chinese take-out containers.  I printed out “thank you” labels and we filled the containers with fortune cookies.

Overall the party was a success!  We all had a great time celebrating the bride-to-be and hopefully she left the party feeling more like a bride.  Congrats to Laura and Andrew!

Stir-Fry Noodle Bowl
Adapted from Rachel Ray

Salt
1 pound whole-wheat spaghetti or udon noodles
2 pounds mixed fresh mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, crimini, etc)
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 bunch scallions, chopped into 2-inch lengths
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup pea pods, thinly sliced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, diced
1 (2-inch) piece ginger root, grated
1 (10-ounce) package frozen shelled edamame
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons Asian chili sauce or hot sauce (to taste)
Optional garnishes:
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
toasted sesame seeds

Bring a large pot of water for pasta to boil.  Add salt and noodles, and cook to al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta water.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Coarsely chop mushrooms and place in a bowl.  Add the scallions, teriyaki sauce, and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Arrange on nonstick baking sheet and cook 20 minutes, turning once half-way through baking time.

Heat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over high heat.  Add peppers, red onion, pea pods, garlic, and ginger.  Stir fry for 2 minutes and then add the edamame, heating through 2 to 3 minutes more.  Add hoisin, the juice of 2 limes, hot sauce, and the reserved pasta water.  Add drained noodles and toss to coat.  Turn off heat and toss in any optional garnishes.