Last night's dinner: beef tenderloin, broccoli and wild rice.
The tenderloin recipe was from a recipe booklet handed out my sister's cooking-themed bridal shower. Everyone submitted recipes to me ahead of time and I created a book of recipes for the guests to take home:
Here's the beef tenderloin recipe--it's really simple to make and is so delicious:
And here's the final result:
And, here the final result:
Last night we had a barbecue at our house. A lot of people attended--more than 35. The weather cooperated quite nicely--there was a brief bout of thunderstorms earlier in the day, but it cleared up and was beautiful out by time everyone began to arrive.
It turned out great---good food, good people, good times.It was a lot of work, but well worth it.
The menu: Feta burgers with grilled red onions (recipe), hot dogs and Italian sausages; Asian cabbage salad (recipe); Caprese salad; Black and White bean salad; and Tortellini salad.
I served Lemongrass Mojitos from my cousin, Heather Antonelli's cookbook, Haute N the Kitchen, along with strawberry daiquiris, wine, and beer.
First, a picture from the deck of the party in progress:
A picture of the mojitos:
Next a picture of the buffet table:
The Asian cabbage salad (I used red wine vinegar since we discovered at the last minute that we were out of balsamic vinegar-it tasted fine, despite the change):
The Caprese salad:
The Black & White bean salad--first a picture of it as I was preparing it, and then the final result:
The Tortellini salad:
The meat platter:
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of putting on a baby shower for my sister-in-law.
First, setting the scene. My styling tip--buffet tables and any other table that is to be the focus of an event should have items on display on varying levels. Doing so prevents a "blah" feeling and creates visual interest. Pedestal cake stands and stacks of books covered with a piece of cloth are a simple and inexpensive way to create this look.
The shower was held at my parent's house in Fayetteville, NY. We served mimosas and then brunch followed by a light dessert.
The buffet table--flowers arranged and styled--just waiting for the food. Notice the cake stand flower arrangement, which is resting on top of a short stack of books covered with a cloth napkin.
The gift table--styled and just waiting for the gifts. The flowers would have looked better in a slightly more substantial vase, in my opinion, but I worked with what I had available. They are resting on a mixing bowl flipped upside down, which is covered by a scarf from my mother's closet. The cloth draped over the table is a pashmina of my mother's:
The shadow box that I made for my sister-in-law:
And now for the food.
A view of one side of the buffet table. I contributed the cheesy leek strata, which looks great, tastes great and is a really simple dish to make. It is especially appealing because it can be prepared the night before and baked on the morning of the event. The recipe can be found here:
On the other side of the buffet table, you'll find the spinach salad, which my mother made. It's delicious and simple to make. The recipe can be found here:
For dessert, I contributed biscotti and raspberry buttermilk cake. The recipe for the biscotti can be found here and the cake here. Once again,for visual variety, the cake is on a cake stand.
