Side Dishes to Drool Over

I've been making some new-to-me side dishes to see what trips my palate trigger. Different types of starches are easy to mix with poultry, beef, fish, and sauteed veggies- like quinoa, couscous, risotto, orzo, pierogies, and polenta; and let the fun begin. I like adding some cheese and seasonings for creaminess and flavor. Those side dishes have become tastier than the main dish. Try 'em all, branch out, take risks! Life is short!

Not quite the Grilling Season

I'm so ready for grilling, but, the weather is not always cooperating when I'm actually ready to cook. So, until then, I've been making some meals that seem summery to me. I bought thinly sliced skirt steak that I cooked up on the stove with seasonings. Next, shred some Havarti cheese (oh so yummy, it melts right through the beef!!), some sauteed onions and pepper- all on a hoagie roll. Perfect Philly beefsteak to curl my toes. Earlier this week, on a chilly, windy night, I decided to make kabobs--out came the chicken, shrimp, onions, peppers, mushrooms and sweet/sour glaze...all mouth watering sensations for my hungry tummy. I baked it in the oven, giving it a few turns and WOW! Surprise, Surprise! Even without the smokey smell, it was fabulous and low in fat! Until that warm weather hits for good, I keep trying to fake out my not-to-patient palate with some warm weather, whip-together meals.

Missing, but not out of action

Yes, I've been missing in action for 3 months. It started with major computer issues that escalated to printer problems and ended with all new products which took a while to get into place. Now, I'm finally back online.
One thing that has always been a part of my cooking is the semi-homemade aspect. When you work several jobs, time is critical. Buying ready made sauces or dressings has worked for me. I've found making pierogies and mixing them with sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, pancetta and a dressing of choice (mine was garlic caesar) is the easiest dinner. Bear with me, I've been keeping track of some fun recipes coming your way!

A new year begins...

I've been taking it easy for a few weeks. Now, the orders begin to roll in. One of the great things about catering is the ability to make people happy with one bite. I'm making two lasagnas for a birthday party- a beef and cheese lasagna for the kids and spinach and cheese for the adults. The party is being held in a barn with all kinds of farm games and such. They wanted minimal, but filling food. Lasagna is perfect for that. The cake will be made in a bakery. The client didn't even want appetizers or sides. I had to beg for salad or bread. She went with bread. There you have it...bing, bang, bun-- and we're done.

New Year, New Recipes!

That's right! I've been using the last couple of weeks to work up some new recipes to tickle my taste buds. One is a chicken sandwich with less carbs-- Bake a seasoned chicken breast, set on a 4-inch round piece of bread, texas toast, or english muffin, using a little mustard or ranch if preferred, and topped with a warm salsa and melted cheese. Two is a delicious veggie salad with asparagus, onion, tomato, bacon, and a drizzle of raspberry vinaigrette. Thirdly, I pulled out my new crepe maker, whipped up a bunch of crepes, layered them with homemade pudding and poured chocolate sauce over the top. A little whipping cream and I'm full!

A Little Taste of Heaven!

If you read my blogs often, you'll notice many of my menus include something "mini". As I continue to plan menus and adjust recipes, I've found most of my events are casual- not the formal sit-down type. So, hosts/hostesses like finger foods and small portions. These work for young children, teens, women's groups, corporate meetings, seniors clubs and everyone in between. I've gotten quite the list of "mini's". It includes cheesecakes, quiches, breads, muffins, tortes, pies, potatoes, cookies, meatloafs...and the list goes on. I find that a cheesecake, a quiche, and a loaf of bread look lonely on a table. But, plate out numerous platters of mini delights and it not only feeds more people, they tend to eat less! Aaahhh, less IS more!

Tis the Season!

Just like anyone else, this is the craziest time for working, shopping, wrapping, and partying. But, for a caterer, this can be the best time financially, and the worst time for personal organization. I have the hardest time getting my own Christmas festivities to occur without staying up until midnight. My busiest orders weren't for events...but for truffles!! I was shocked. What does a good caterer do...roll with the punches (or truffles as it was). I was dipping truffles by the hundreds. I'm actually looking forward to working on actual food recipes and leaving the truffles alone for a few weeks. Some day, I hope to have the time to enjoy shopping, wrapping and baking for family and friends- all while getting to bed by 10:00pm (A girl's face needs 8 hours of sleep to look good)! Some day...

Keeping warm in the frozen winter.

Unfortunately, where I live has been horribly cold this past week- like 6 degrees during the day. Nasty, because it's usually 30-40 degrees. I had scheduled an office party with an open menu--LOVE THOSE!! Makes my world much easier to cook what I'm in the mood for; which happened to be warm food. The people in the office all eat at different times, so it was requested that I make some crockpot food. I made a fabulous green chili, some mini sour cream muffins, crockpot dumpling soup, crockpot peach cobbler, and a crock full of hot chocolate. I know what you're thinking...yes, I do have 4 crockpots!!

Macadamia Nut Fever...

Yes, that's what happens when you spend a little time in Hawaii. I spent the last 10 days in Kauai sleeping in, roaming the island by day and eating with a sunset by night. What caught me was the many ways to cook with macadamia nuts. Whethter they were whole or crushed, we ate them in salads, potatoes, as breading for mahi mahi or mixed in with rice. Amazing texture and crunch for a variety of menus. Of course, our favorite...toffee and chocolate covered nuts! Can't beat those; we ate one bag and stashed one in the luggage for home savoring. I now have a few new recipes to experiment with...my first is the grilled mahi mahi sandwich with a rub of crushed macadamias mixed with butter, pepper and parsley, covered with sliced tomato, avacado, and lettuce. I can only hope to find that fabulous flavor that my tastebuds remember!

All Ready for Thanksgiving?

I'm heading off on another trip- I know, again? -- but, this is special. Taking my Mom to Hawaii...it was the one thing she requested before she dies. So, life has been busy getting ready to go and prepping for some parties I have coming up for the holidays. Tomorrow is simple, my sister's cooking!! Yeah, now that's what I'm talkin'about! I'm doing a slight amount of support as in steamed green beans with crumbled bacon, pepper, garlic and butter. Then, I've been hunting for something different with sweet potatoes...I came up with a mixture of several recipes. I wanted to make a sweet potato pie, but mini-pies. I found a recipe on food network and made it my own by using puff pastry shells and cooking the sweet potatoes with butter, spices, and a little cream cheese. Let's hope the family likes it! I'll be checking back in soon, and we'll be having holiday party fever!!

Pumpkin Anything??

A very easy catering request...pumpkin anything. Ok, I need a little more detail. A client asks for a couple of desserts for a dinner she's having. She cooks, but doesn't bake. So, I come up with a few ideas for her: pumpkin sour cream coffee cake, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie bars, or my favorite these days- pumpkin truffles. She chose the pumpkin pie bars and the truffles. No problem, no carving needed!

Falling Back Into Action

I took a little break as catering calmed down and I played a little. Now, I'm back in action with an office party. Requested: pasta and sweets! Well, that leaves me with an open menu. I made angel hair pasta mixed with sauteed fajita chicken, green onions, mushrooms, garlic and a little melted butter...light, flavorful and filling. A layered salad of 3 lettuce types, chopped onion, celery, water chestnuts, tomato, and green pepper; each layer drizzled with a mayo/honey mustard dressing and topped with finely shredded parmesan; callypso baked beans- what? never heard of them? 4 types of beans slow cooked with BBQ sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, onions, bacon and pepper; sour cream mini-muffins; banana-chocolate chip mini-loafs; and warm apple crisp with vanilla bean ice cream. You should be hungry! Did I make extra for me???

Fried (actually baked) Pickels

Here's something I haven't tried before...fried pickels. I know some people will fry anything. Well, I'm not one for frying, you know, healthy living and all that...so, I was out with some friends and along came the order of fried pickels. Here's the trick, use very fresh pickels and a breading that protects the food inside. The goal is to have the pickel crunch when you take a bite. I'm working on my own breading and dipping sauce. I couldn't get the exact recipe for the dip, so it's still a work in progress. It goes something like this: pesto mixed with honey mustard dressing and some cilantro. I know...but, WOW! terrific flavor! The breading is also a trial and error to find the right, light, fully covering batter. It'll happen...thankfully, pickels don't go out of season.

Fall into Soup!

As fall descends upon us, I begin to work on new tasty recipes for my menus. I came upon a wonderful potato/leek soup that stunned me with it's brillance! Not too salty, simply creamy and delicious. Ahhh, a warm bowl of soup with some oyster crackers was just the perfect, light dinner I needed. Note to self: file this in winter soups as "a must-have for cold, snowy nights".

Re-creating a Zinger Cake

I'd do just about anything for my sister...until now. My sister finds this recipe that is a re-creation of the chocolate Zinger from the 70's. Even though she has great baking skills, she realizes the time this is going to take, sooooo, a little begging later and no deadline; I decide (of course) to take on this challenge. I spent 4 1/2 hours today making what is basically a cake with filling. Granted, the cake is absolutely one of the best I've ever tasted. But the filling and frosting are crazy time-consuming. The end product is very yummy- filled with calories and not something you want to eat every day (it has shortening in the filling). But...I think I like having my sister indebted to me for at least a month!!! As for a new catering product- not so much. I'll keep this as a special family/friend recipe.

Dessert Truffle Research

So, the cake balls I've been mentioning, are now called dessert truffles for my catering business. For some reason, the word "balls" didn't go over real well for some people when it came to eating...
My plan for the holidays is to research and develop various flavors for the Thanksgiving and Christmas party plans. I've come up with Thanksgiving flavors of carrot/spice, butter pecan, pumpkin, orange. For Christmas, mint chocolate, peppermint, red velvet, and chocolate covered cherry. I've made the mint chocolate and, ooooohh baby!!! Fabulous! I used a triple chocolate cake with mint flavoring and mint chocolate chip frosting. The pumpkin is still a work in progress and the cherry may have brandy included for better flavor enhancement. So far, these babies are a huge hit...I just hope I don't get carpel tunnel from all the wrist action!

A Caterer's Dream- Two Similar Recipes

Could it get any better? I love having options. Don't have the exact ingredients for one recipe, but, yippee!, I've got the items for a similar one. Another experiment proves yummy. Here's the details: I have a recipe for a spinach pie- the indiviual type. Make a filling of spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, onions, pine nuts and spices. Fill phyllo dough, cut and wrap similar to egg rolls. No problem, right? Well, no pine nuts and mozzarella comes up short. I found a similar family recipe that I adjusted to using the phyllo dough rather than pie crust, skipped the pine nuts, and added cream cheese instead of mozzarella. Wow!! They were to die for! And the next day...magnificent!

Throw It Together and Delish!

So, that's exactly what I did for dinner tonight. Home for 1 1/2 hours between work and appointments. I had to come up with dinner with some leftovers. Searching the fridge and freezer came up with a "throw it together" meal that was outstanding! I started with sauteing mild Annaheim peppers in olive oil, adding frozen, grilled onions and mushrooms, a little black pepper, frozen hash browns, and fajita chicken strips. This was a one-dish wonder! The smell...fabulous! I ate on the back patio and the neighbors called over the fence for invitations for dinner. Thankfully, they were kidding, because I wanted this for tomorrow's lunch!!

Back to the Basics with Meatloaf...

Yes, meatloaf. The old standby to throw something together and have it taste great. I've gotten a request to cater a family dinner for 12. The Mom and hostess wants to spend time with family and not hang in the kitchen, (a room she secretly hates). So, as we talked, she states her family is very picky and don't like any new-fangled (her word) flavors. She wants 2 meatloafs, one no onions, mashed potatoes, buttered corn, side salad, cheese biscuits, and apple pie. Wow, that's right out of middle America! I grew up on that meal! Easy as the apple pie!!! So, instead of looking through my bank of recipes, I grabbed my family cookbook and pulled out the recipes Mom used to make. I hope they love it as much as I did!

Lasagna Heaven

One of my favorite catering events is a party wanting lasagna. There are so many ways to make lasagna that you can please every person attending with a few different variations. I was asked to cater a reception for a company board meeting. There were 20 people and all I had to do was drop off the food and pick up the pans the next day. They had the dinnerware and drinks. Could it get any easier?? The request: 4 lasagnas; meat, vegetarian, chicken, and gluten-free; salad with vinaigrette; garlic bread; and some red velvet cake balls. What a great dinner! Thankfully, they did not ask for one to be cheese-less...that would have been a challenge. All went well and not one board member went home hungry- my assumption since the lasagna pans were picked clean!