Monday, May 23, 2011

"The Stars at Night...."

                                           WANTED: For serving too much delicious food!

THE STARS AT NIGHT: Jennise & Kristin
.SO. much. DARN. fun. It was our first outdoor dining event and the evening was filled with such yummy food, laughs and beautiful weather!!! It rained the day before, and the day after-- but Texas knew it was the special guest that night and Mother Nature made sure to keep the skies clear. We missed 2 of our beautiful ladies... Courtney and Bonnie. {HUGS}
Thank you to Jennise & Kristin for a wonderful evening under the stars!
The Texas Tablescape
Look at all the fun detail. Our appetizers were served on the cute tins and we were able to fill them up with leftovers to take home. I will be honest, I was not shy about my doggie-bag portions!
Kristin and Jennise had fun quiz's & information about Texas for us...
What is the state animal-- anyone? anyone?



Dressing for the occasion!


Ambiance




The Menu



The "watering hole"
Those little hay decorations are so darling!


Appetizer Buffet
Texas Caviar w/Bagel Crisps, Sweet Potato Fries, Cornbread with Honey, Buttermilk Biscuits with Butter & Jam

Chewy Praline Recipe
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2 cups sugar
2 cups white corn syrup
1 lb. butter
2 cups whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla
7-8 cups chopped pecans
Instructions:
Ingredients:
Cook sugar and corn syrup over medium - low heat
until candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees.
Remove from heat.  Add butter and stir until melted.
Add whipping cream(unwhipped) slowly. Return to
heat stirring constantly.  Cook until thermometer reaches 242 degrees. Remove from heat.  Add vanilla and pecans. Drop on foil sprayed with Pam. When cool, wrap pralines in saran wrap.
                      Delicious chewy treats!



Texas Caviar (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 (8 ounce) bottle zesty Italian dressing
  • 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
  • 1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, mix together onion, green bell pepper, green onions, jalapeno peppers, garlic, cherry tomatoes, zesty Italian dressing, black beans, black-eyed peas and coriander. Cover and chill in the refrigerator approximately 2 hours. Toss with desired amount of fresh cilantro to serve.
  2. We served with Bagel Crisps with sea salt.
    Cousin's Cornbread (from the Essential Mormon Cookbook)
    1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
    1 cup sugar
    2 eggs
    1 cup yellow cornmeal
    1 1/2 cup flour
    2 tsp. baking powder
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1 1/2 cup milk

    Cream butter, sugar and eggs. In a separate bowl blend cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Combined creamed mixture, dry mixture and milk. Blend. Bake in a greased 8X8 inch pan at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. I used an 11X7 pan to make more and it still works.

    Biscuits (from the homesicktexan.blogspot.com)
    Ingredients:
    Two cups of flour
    1 tablespoon of baking powder
    1 teaspoon of sugar (can add more to taste)
    1/2 teaspoon of salt
    1 stick of butter, cold (8 tablespoons)
    3/4 cup of buttermilk, cream or half-and-half

    Method:
    Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
    Mix all the dry ingredients together.
    Cut the stick of butter into pieces, and work into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs.
    Add the liquid, mixing until a bit loose and sticky.
    Pour dough out on a floured surface, and knead for a minute. Dough should be smooth and no longer wet. You can sprinkle more flour on the surface if you find it’s sticking.
    Take dough into a ball, and hit it with a rolling pin, turning it and folding it in half every few whacks. Do this for a couple of minutes.
    Roll out dough until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick, and then fold it in half.
    Using a round cutter (can use a glass or a cup if don’t have a biscuit cutter) cut out your biscuits from folded dough.
    Place on a greased baking sheet close together (so they rise up not out), and bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
    Makes 10-12 biscuits.

    If you don’t want to roll and cut them out, after kneading and beating the dough you can drop the dough onto the baking sheet with a spoon. They’re not as symmetrical (dropped biscuits are also known as cat head biscuits) but they’re no less delicious.

    Sweet Potato Fries
    Cut sweet potatoes into long slices, coat with olive oil, then in a bowl with parmesan cheese, garlic salt, salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 400 until at the crispyness factor you desire!

The Main Course
BBQ Brisket, Chile Cheese Grits, Stemmed Green Beans with Nana's Fruit Salad

BBQ Brisket
Select a brisket (or skirt steak, The briskets you buy in Texas are usually what is known as a packer cut—this means that it’s the full chest muscle and it’s usually covered in a generous layer of fat and weighs anywhere from seven to 11 pounds.)
Wrap the brisket in foil and pour Claudes' brisket marinade, and some Claude's BBQ brisket sauce on the meat(http://www.claudessauces.com/p_claudes_brisket_sauce.html), it will be sitting in the sauces. Place it on a pan with sides like a cookie sheet, and bake at 250 degrees for 8-10 hours or over night. You can let it marinate over night, then bake it. Then slice it while its warm. 

Chili Cheese Grits
Cook 1 cup grits in 6 c. boiling water (follow the package directions on how to cook grits)
Then Add:
1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cut up
1 cube butter/margarine
2 tsp. seasoned salt
3 eggs beaten (to avoid the eggs from curdling, beat the eggs into a smaller bowl, add a little of the hot grits slowly to the eggs, and keep adding a spoonful at a time  then when they are warm add them to the grits in the pan)
1 can chopped green chile
tabasco sauce to taste
Stir until all the cheese is melted and Pour into a greased 9X13 pan.

Bake at 255 for 2 hours.



Dessert
Mom's chocolate Sundae Pie, Fresh Peach Pie, & Pecan Pie with fresh whipped topping.. mmmm.



                                 Have you ever seen 2 more beautiful "cooky's"?  Love you gals!!


Our fun take home!!! Along with our Texas place card cookie & tin full of leftovers-- we were given the cute little bag above filled with goodies! Yummy pecan caramels, a sweet little bracelet to remind us of our evening under the starts & and a Texas ornament. Oh! And there is a peak Kristin & Jennise's rustic invitation that was mailed to us all the way from Texas!!! It was so fun to get mail from the Lone Star State. (FYI... NOT the largest state in the U.S.)



YOU SCREAM, I SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR....
Root-beer floats? Yes, folks, Rootbeer.
We are missing two of our beautiful country-gals. We Love ya Bonnie & Courtney!
Thanks again  Jennise & Kristin for all the country fun!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Bonnie & Janell
 "Happy Unbirthday!"

Check out our cute 'hosties' in their fancy aprons!! Janell's mom made them for the event--what a sweet lady she is. We are loving how family members get involved in the planning and preparation for these wonderful evenings. I'm convinced that every gal should own at least one frilly apron.

Check out the photos and recipes below to taste a little of our fun evening.
Thank you for the very merry un-birthday delight, Bonnie & Janell-- it was fabulous!
Pay close attention to the decor detail-- it was EVERYWHERE! So fun!!!
Our place settings were frames with birthday subway art that we were sent home with. Our place tags were found by the cute pinwheels with our birthday's on them! We were also sent home with those treasures.

We were spoiled! That is for sure!!

Cute take home gifts included taper candles as seen in our sweet desserts; some fun wrapped mentos that I popped in my mouth as I was browsing pictures after the party; & a very adorable ring that was used as a napkin holder.
AS I mentioned-- attention to detail!

The Menu:



Everything was so yummy.
Our first courses were delicious-- from the  dip to the sweet curry soup and every little bite in between... I am salivating remembering all the yummy-ness!
I confess-- I was too enamored with the grilled parm that I neglected to get a picture. I didn't realize that parmesain prepared this way is called "Frico." I love frico!! The crisp texture and cheesy flavor and was such a fun compliment to the Spinach salad.


I did need to include a picture --- I adopted one from another website boasting frico. *YUM*
Recipes coming!
The sweet curry soup was really flavorful and surprising with raisin's as the "sweet" in the recipe. Really tasty!!

SUMMER DRINK
1 can OJ concentrate
1 can lemonade concentrate
10 C. water
1 1/2 C sugar
1 tsp. almond flavoring
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
1 large bottle 7-up
Add 7-up just before serving



POPPYSEED SALAD
3/4 C sugar
2 T mustard
3/4 C vinegar
dash salt
1 1/2 T poppy seeds
1 1/2 C oil
1 1/2 T green onion
Romain Lettuce
Iceburg lettuce
1 red onion, sliced
1 lb. bacon, crumbled
1 1/2 C. cheese, shredded
1 C fresh mushrooms

SWEET CURRY SOUP
1/2 C butter
1/2 C chopped onion
2 large carrots, shredded
3 tsp flour
3 tsp curry powder
8 C chicken broth
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed very small
3/4 C white rice
3/4 C golden raisins
S&P to taste
two pinches dried thyme
1 C heavy cream
Sauté onion and shredded carrots in the butter in large pot. Add flour and curry cook five more minutes. Stir in chicken broth and ring to boil. Reduce to a simmer for 30 min. While simmering, cook the chicken pieces in a fry pan. Add chicken, apple, rice, raisins, thyme, salt and pepper to soup. Simmer for 20 more minutes until the rice is done. When there is about 2 minutes left, stir in cream.


Main Course:
Garlic Chicken Farfalle with Roasted Asparagus
 
Garlic Chicken Farfalle w/roasted asparagus
Courtesy: www.slcgourmetgals.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
            16 oz. Farfalle pasta
            1 c. heavy whipping cream
            3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
            2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed
            1 Tbsp. pepper*
            1/2 c. butter
            1 lb. bacon, crumpled**
            1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
            1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with limejuice
*Seems like a lot of pepper, but it has a wonderful flavor when everything mixes together. If you're apprehensive, do less pepper. You can always add more.

Directions:
            **Cook my bacon in the oven (400 degrees, convection). Way less messy. And it's crispy every time. Time varies, so you just have to watch it. I think it's usually around 30 minutes. Allow to cool and then crumple.  Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and shred (I pull it apart). Set this aside. Discard remaining marinade.  About a half-hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.


What a fun spring menu. The chicken in this dish was so flavorful-- you're going to have to try out this dish for your next pasta night!

You might wonder how we can fully enjoy dessert  after such wonderful dishes....
Well... take a look and you will see just how... yum{EASY}yum ...it can be!!


See what I mean? How can you resist. Do you see that luscious looking cookie with the pink icing calling your name? It's too bad we can't just reach into the picture and snap it right up. I wasn't expecting the flavor that came from my first bite of that cookie. It was one of those "died and gone to heaven moments."
Imagine this: Cream cheese frosting mixed with RASPBERRIES. Heavenly goodness, folks.

CHOCOLATE SOUR CREAM BUNDT CAKE
Book: My favorite desserts
Chapter: Desserts
Serves: 12
1 pkg Chocolate devils cake mix
1 box chocolate pudding mix, (small)
1/2 cup oil
3/4 C warm water
3 eggs
1 C sour cream
1 C chocolate chips, semisweet
1 16-oz carton chocolate frosting
Mix all ingredients together except the chocolate chips and the frosting. Beat until smooth. Add chocolate chips. Grease bundt cake pan. Bake at 350* for 45-50 mintues. Cool & frost.

SUGAR COOKIES W/RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE ICING
1/2 C margarine
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking pwd
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract (or vanilla)
Mix all the ingredients well then stir in 2 to 3 cups flour.  IF the dough seems too sticky to roll out, add more flour until it is the right consistency.  Dust a large surface with a little flour and roll the dough out to about 1/8 in. thick. You don't want to roll too thin! Cut out chapes with cookie cutter place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes (don't overcook). Makes approx 15 large cookies.
FROSTING:
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 C margarine
1 lb pwd sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C. frozen raspberries
Mix well. If too runny, add more pwd sugar.