parties

Summer birthdays

By in cakes, cape meals, dessert, parties 1 Comment

Labor Day 2016We close out every summer with a birthday celebration for my sister Anna. We either have steak or Mexican, and I almost always make a cake. This year was a steak year. But first, we had sidecar cocktails, veggies, dips, cheese, crackers, ribs from the smoker, shrimp cocktail, lots of family, 8 trips to the grocery store, an epic happy birthday song, and one husband almost lost at sea.

We really earned our sidecars that night. First, we had an awful lot of people and were just plain disorganized, thus the 8 trips to the store. Then, Shane decided to go for a nice kayak as hurricane Hermine approached.

Shane is a big, strong man, but he’s no match for a hurricane. While I decided whether to be mad at him for being dead, or mad at him for not showing up to make cocktails on time, my dad and Bob kept their wits about them. Dad and Bob drove around the bay looking for a big, stranded man and found him. He arrived back and made sure everyone had a sidecar in hand just in time for Sid to serenade his Auntie Anna.

Once we had everyone more or less intact, we sat down to steak accompanied by tater tots, Iceberg Wedge Salad, and ultimately Belgian chocolate Cake with Malted Chocolate Frosting (which some folks chose to eat as a Cake ‘n Cone).

I made Belgian chocolate Cake with Malted Chocolate Frosting for Anna’s birthday two years ago. It was amazing, but the filling—though interesting with white cake mix for flavoring—didn’t seem entirely worth the effort. This year I made it with just the malted chocolate frosting and 3 layers of moister-than-moist cake. It was a tremendous hit and I’ll be sure to make it again.

Thanks to all the folks who helped out with the kids and my mental state while Shane was off battling the hurricane and possibly dead. And happy, happy birthday Auntie Anna!

 

 

 

Easter, finally

By in family, parties

Ok, so it’s taken me a week to get around to posting about Easter. Or has it been two? Honestly, I don’t know, but here we go. Our annual Easter Saturday party was HUGE.

In advance of the weekend, it was seeming like we were expecting a lot of people to attend. Because of that, I excused myself from any planning whatsoever.  Not to say I didn’t help, I did some prep, some set-up and a lot of clean up but the credit, as always goes to my mom and dad.

The event was orchestrated and primarily executed by my mom, with a ton of help (and the littlest bit of griping) from my dad and a lot of help from everyone else. To eat there were several pies, many salads, Gail’s famous hot cross buns, strawberries, bloody Marys, mimosas and tons of candy.

We had over 50 people in attendance and 160 eggs for the kids to find. The party went from noon to night.

The favorite new twist was Pysanka, or Ukranian egg decorating. It’s a complicated process that involves several layers of wax meticulously applied to the egg and multiple dippings in vibrant dye. It’s awesome.

Happy Easter folks. Now for more snow.

 

 

Just another Cape birthday (not)

By in cakes, cape meals, parties

My little sister turned the big four-oh a few weeks ago. In a way, it was just another Cape birthday. We had a Mexican feast, we had Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake, we had a shitload of people.

The big difference this year—besides this being the end of her 30’s—is that my sister is married now! We all agree that it was worth the wait. Happy next decade little sis.

Golden anniversary

By in cape meals, parties

I have to tell you about my sister’s birthday dinner. But before that, I have to tell you about my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.

We had a small celebration on Cape Cod—the big one will be in a couple of months—to mark 50 years of wedded bliss. Kidding. This is the real world! But seriously, they’re a pretty awesome couple, we should all be so lucky.

Shane pretty much commandeered dinner, my mom did the decoration, and I made the cake (natch).

We ate homemade pizza, meatballs, roasted cubanelles and salad, on the beach by the fire pit at dusk. So not-bad. So very not-bad at all.

The meatballs were lamb and pistachio from the Polpo cookbook, and the cake was a Lemon Pound Cake with Poppyseed Icing from Joy the Baker. See photo captions for more details.

Happy 50 M&D xoxo

Post-wedding wedding party

By in cakes, family, parties

A couple of weeks ago, on Father’s Day to be precise, my lovely sister and delightful now brother in law Chris, tied the knot in a surprise ceremony at Chris’ parents house. Actually, they crashed his mom’s party with said wedding, but I’m pretty sure she was cool with it.

It goes without saying that the next time the newlyweds came to the Cape, we had a party.

Dinner was salmon baked in parchment with leeks, an absolutely amazing red rice salad with edamame, walnuts, lemon and herbs (see below) made by Ronni, and a yummy green salad to round things off. It was pretty highbrow for the Cape. And delicious.

For dessert there was a wedding cake made by my mom (aka the mother of the bride). Our family favorite, the chocolate mayonnaise cake with mocha butter cream between the layers to make things fancy, and beach rose embellishments.

See photo captions above and click on images for a bigger view.

• Red (or Black) Rice Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette •
from Bon Appetit

1 cup black rice (we used red)
Kosher salt
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice or 3 tablespoons regular lemon juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon agave syrup (nectar) or honey
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
4 ounces green beans, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350°. Cook rice in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, 35-40 minutes. Drain well, spread out on a plate or a rimmed baking sheet, and let cool.
Meanwhile, spread out walnuts on another rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven, tossing once, until fragrant, 8-10 minutes. Let cool; chop.
Whisk lemon juice, vinegar, and agave in a small bowl. Whisking constantly, gradually drizzle in oil. Season vinaigrette with salt.
Toss rice, walnuts, scallions, edamame, tomatoes, green beans, and vinaigrette in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Easter Saturday

By in parties

You probably know our Easter Saturday drill by now (but if you don’t, you can read about it here and here).

Easter Saturday is a day-long affair starting with a breakfast of hot cross buns, strawberries, mimosas and bloody marys. Then there’s a big egg hunt and after we’ve gorged on candy, an early dinner. Dinner is lots of savory pies, lots of good people, good times, and of  course good things to eat and drink.

Aside from the traditional assortment of savory pies, we had roasted tomatoes with burrata, beets with pesto, asparagus with anchovy butter and parmesan, pork & fennel meatballs with grilled bread, salad (natch), ricotta with fennel and radishes, and a leg of lamb.

This year I didn’t take pictures of the pies, or most of the desserts. I guess I was too busy having a nice time. The only dessert you’ll see here today is one of the most delicious French macaroons I’ve ever had (and I’m not saying that because it was made by an incredibly gifted 12 year old baker).

You might notice there’s something else very special in that dessert photo too.

Happy Easter Saturday!

Lately

By in cakes, family, parties

Salad
Lately, dinner prep happens while it’s still light out.

Penne
We’ve been eating Penne alla Vodka at least once a week.

Birthday
Shane had a birthday. Note: This delicious cake is easy enough to make the night before without having to stay up too late.

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We’ve been having this farro dish for dinner, and the leftovers for lunch.

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I have a new “helper” in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

Blizzard party: Part 2

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I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we’ve had a lot of snow here in Boston, with no end in sight. In the midst of it all, our good friends Ian and Britta, and their four (!) kids came to visit.

Ian & Britta thought we were brave and crazy to invite all six of them to stay with us (during a blizzard, no less). And we thought they were brave and crazy to come visit us with all those kids (during a blizzard, no less).

Aside from some sleepless nights and the fact that our parting gift to each other’s families was a stomach bug, a great time was had by all. Seriously, we had a great time. We always do with those guys.

On the second night of their stay, Shane decided to bust out the Smokey Joe we got him for Christmas and grill up some local organic burgers. He grilled them outside, in the snow, in sub-zero temperatures, while his ‘Gansett froze in his hand. What a guy.

Not to be outdone by himself, Shane also made “winter margaritas” and twice-fried french fries, in his Fry Daddy. My mom and I made a couple of salads to round things out and Ian grilled up some additional burgers on the stove top, while holding either one of two twin toddlers the entire time.

Hopefully I’ll get around to posting part 1 of the blizzard party soon.

Christmas 2014!

By in family, parties, traditions

Note: click on photos for a larger view, and click here if you’re wondering who all these people are.

We only had 20 people this year, which made it a relatively quiet Christmas dinner. Ha ha. (Read about previous Christmases here)

Really, 20 made for a more manageable group, but I wouldn’t say it was any less chaotic than usual. My mom wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dinner started with Crostini and three different toppings. A traditional fresh tomato topping called Piccanti, from the New Basics Cookbook. Muhammara, a Syrian spread made with toasted walnuts, roasted red peppers, tomato paste and a whole bunch of other yummy stuff. And a green topping, made with lima beans, mint and lime.

After crostini we had the Big Prize drawing for our annual Christmas Lottery. Christmas Lottery is not a Yankee Swap or a Secret Santa, like many think. It’s literally a lottery run by Shane, the kids and I.

There are two prizes, the Big Prize, which is the lesser prize, and the Grand Prize which is a big deal. Some of the Grand Prize gifts over the years have been: a whole prosciutto, a magnum of Jameson whiskey, an industrial bubble machine, Bacon of the Month Club, half a wheel of Parmesan cheese, you get the picture.

The Big Prize is a (much) lesser gift, that hints somehow at what the Grand Prize will be. This year the Big Prize was a $10 gift card for Dunkin’ Donuts. Can you guess what the Grand Prize was?

The main course followed the first segment of Christmas Lottery. We had pork, which I can’t tell you much about except that many people said it was the best pork ever.

Accompaniments were my late uncle Jerry’s stuffed peppers, made by his son Josh, buttery mashed potatoes by Shane, and later, a fennel and orange salad with spinach.

I loved that this meal followed my 5-dish rule, which is that no meal needs more than 5 different dishes. If you have more, you can’t really absorb all of the taste information and you recall it as a possibly delicious but generally un-remarkable “meal blur.”

(Note: there may or may not be some scientific evidence behind this theory, and dessert is excluded from the rule.)

The Grand Prize drawing for Christmas Lottery 2014 followed the main course. The lottery was won by Wayne who claimed the uncharacteristically un-foodie prize of a “Five Star Restaurant Fun Pack,” which is a pack of 5 chain restaurant gift cards including Olive Garden, Ninety-Nine, Outback, TGI Fridays and we’ve already forgotten the last.

Because my sister did not arrive early enough to make her Buche de Noel, Iris’ Kourabiethes and André’s Molases Chip Cookies were joined on the dessert table by a bunch of green-frosted donuts (from Dunkin’s!)

And that’s it, until brunch the next day (see last photo). Merry Christmas!

 

A weekend-long first birthday celebration

By in family, parties

People often ask me if I’m glad I had Sid, him being a surprise and all. If you’ve ever seen me with my son, you know that that’s a completely ridiculous question. A person could not possibly adore another person more.

With that in mind, we spent the entire weekend celebrating the little guy’s first birthday.

The party started on Saturday with a bagel and cream cheese brunch followed by Tunnel of Fudge Cake (recipe below) with whipped cream. Oh yeah, the kid likes cake.

That night, we had a totally over the top meal of Oktoberfest Stew,  Polpette Frite, pasta and salad.

A few hours after dinner, Shane served up some hot wings, because he’s never made wings before, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try his hand at them.

Sunday morning we had a hearty brunch of eggs benedict (florentine for the vegetarian) and pancakes with the “Drews‘” homemade maple syrup.

Dinner was ad-hoc soup by my mom who makes the best ad-hoc soup, after which we cleaned up and collapsed.

Happy Birthday baby boy, you are so worth it.

• Tunnel of Fudge Cake •
from Pillsbury
35 min prep time, 4hr 30 min total time

Cake
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups butter, softened
6 eggs
2 cups powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups all purpose or unbleached flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups chopped walnuts *walnuts are essential to the success of this recipe and must not be omitted

Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
3-6 tablespoons milk

Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan or 10-inch tube pan. In large bowl, combine sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar; blend well. By hand, stir in flour and remaining cake ingredients until well blended. Spoon batter into greased and floured pan; spread evenly.

Bake at 350°F. for 40 to 50 minutes or until top is set and edges are beginning to pull away from sides of pan. Do not over-bake or your cake won’t have the tunnel of fudge. Personally, I think you can’t go wrong taking this out after 40-45 minutes. Also, a cake-tester won’t work, since the center is supposed to be all gooey. Cool upright in pan on wire rack 1 1/2 hours. Invert onto serving plate; cool at least 2 hours.

In small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Spoon over top of cake, allowing some to run down sides. Store tightly covered.

 

 

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