4th of July

After about five years on the less convenient river [for me, the only one that matters] the fireworks came back to the east side (thanks, Mayor de Blasio!) so I decided to throw a party on my rooftop.  It was a great idea until I woke up to rainy skies.  The weather cleared up just in time for the sun to start setting so I cancelled the laying out portion of the party (like people really needed to be subjected to me in a bathing suit anyway) and people started coming over at 4:30 instead of noon.  Thankfully, that gave everyone plenty of time to get boozed up before the fireworks started at around 9:00 so no one really cared that they couldn't see them as planned since they moved all the barges alllll the way downtown.  I hardly cared, myself.  In fact, I didn't have a care in the world because this was the easiest party in party history.  I made the decision to pick up a couple buckets from KFC (or rather, I sent Albert on this chore) and then I made a few sides to round out the spread.

I wanted the menu to have an all-American feel, which to me means classic picnic food.  Fried chicken is a good centerpiece because it's just as good at room temp/cold as it is hot.  That means you can leave it out all afternoon and not have to worry about it.  It's a low maintenance food (if only I could describe more of my friends that way).  For sides we had:

• Corn and black bean salsa.  It's one of my go-to items because it's just canned corn, canned black beans, chopped tomato, chopped onion, cilantro, and jalapeno.  Serve with the Scoops type of Tostitos because they're the best.  This is actually rather healthy when you think about it, something I like to point out since we were eating extra crispy fried chicken.
• Spinach dip...from a jar.  Because why not have one more food item on the table?  I poured it into a real bowl and told everyone I slaved over it, naturally.
• Pimento cheese sandwiches.  I make my own pimento cheese since it's expensive and hard to find in NYC.  And because I think my version is bangin.  I always like to serve mine on mushy white bread because that's how I had it growing up.  That fancy whole wheat oat bread didn't exist in the Konter household til after I left for college.
• Potato salad.  The dressing for mine is 2 parts Greek yogurt with 1 part mayo.  I use the little red potatoes and mix in dill and scallions.  Since I use 0% Greek yogurt this joins the salsa on the healthy side of the table.  If the salsa canceled out the fried chicken, this should help counterbalance the pimento cheese.  
• Cake pops.  Albert gave me a cake pop maker as part of my Xmas/Chanukah present and this party was its innauguration.  I used blue cake mix (when you bite into the cake pop the inside is more of an electric blue than you would think from the pic) and covered with white chocolate and red sprinkles.  I had to get something patriotic in there.

I cooked off the cake the night before, but I managed to decorate them, prepare all the sides, do all the dishes, clean the whole apartment, and shower in about 2 hours.  Since pretty much the whole party took place on the roof, my apartment was nice and clean when I went back inside at the end of the evening.  It is such a good feeling knowing there is absolutely zero mess to clean up.  Cleaning up just doesn't feel American enough.

   

Valentine Shmalentine 2014

While I took a break last year because I was in Curaçao, I have developed a nice little single gal tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day by preparing a nice meal. Treat. Yo. Self. This year I wasn't single, but I didn't want to let my tradition go. I told Albert my plans would proceed as usual and he could join if he wanted. He said he would love to so I decided then and there that the meal would be spaghetti and meatballs. Why? Because that's what Lady and the Tramp ate and I  think they may be the most lovey dovey animal couple in history. Do we know of any other animal couples?

While past Valentine's dinners have been all about treating myself to an elaborate meal, this year was about treating myself in a different but just as satisfying way: by letting the store do the work. Sure, I boiled the pasta, but Whole Foods made the meatballs that I cooked with jarred pasta sauce and topped with fresh parm. For the vegetable I picked up Brussels sprout salad with bacon and blue cheese. But I can't forget that the whole meal started with a shrimp cocktail. Shrimp cocktail feels very 1960s to me. I'm not sure why, but I feel like it's a very Mad Men dish. Don Draper I considered quite the sex machine in that show so I now correlate shrimp cocktail with 1960s, which I correlate to Mad Men, which I correlate to sexiness. So that's how I thought shrimp cocktail would make a romantic Valentine's Day appetizer. Instead of cocktail sauce, I used remoulade sauce, also store-bought but a little different than the expected. 

No, we did not push the meatball across the plate with our noses like Lady and the Tramp. My single girl tradition may have been hijacked, but it was nice to be able to share a good meal with someone. 

Ringing in 2014

I know I must be getting older because I no longer care about going to an all-inclusive rager for New Years Eve.  Don't get me wrong, I still love the excuse to get hammered in a party dress, but I don't need to spend $150 to do so with strangers.  That's what we call maturity.

This year, I hosted a party at my apartment that migrated to a karaoke bar shortly after the ball dropped.  We still got wild, but on our own terms.  And my #1 term was that this party would be easy to pull together considering I was just getting back from a week-long ski trip with the fam.  The best way to make sure a party comes together with little effort is to take some help from the store.  More than half the food was homemade but I supplemented the spread with cheese wafers from my hometown's Byrd Cookie Company as well as 5-layer Mexican dip, mini chicken pot pies, sea salt brownies, and doughnut holes from Trader Joe's.  

Now for the stuff I made myself:  

First, I whipped up a cocktail because a signature drink always sets the party mood.  I mixed vodka with grapefruit soda and then added frozen blueberries.  The blueberries kept the drink cold without watering it down and also added some crazy color.  

Because New York has gotten quite chilly (I finally broke out the puffy coat), I thought everyone would love for the first thing they see as they walk in from the cold to be warm soup.  I bought tomato bisque from Trader Joe's but then made it my own by adding fresh basil and a homemade cheesy crouton.  For the crouton, I had the bakery counter slice up a baguette for me and then I just topped it with shredded gruyere and stuck it in the oven until it was nice and toasty.  The toppings took as much time to prepare as it took for the soup to warm (about 5 minutes).  

Next, I took a cue from my Mom.  My mother has thrown plenty of parties and no one ever leaves disappointed.  One of the ways she ensures such a result is by serving baked salami.  Mix brown sugar and mustard (dijon or whole grain) - there are no proportions, just mix it til it tastes right.  Pierce a salami (Oscar Mayer, Hebrew National) and then spoon the sauce over the top, reserving some, and bake in a 325 oven for 30-45 minutes.  Baste midway through with more sauce.  When it's done. slice it and then quarter each slice.  You don't even get your hands dirty and every piece will be gone by the end of the party.  My Mom made this every time my Daddy had poker night and now my brother makes it for his cigar club so in a world of mini quiches, this app is definitely dude-approved.

Caprese skewers have become a big hit over the last few years (I make them all the time), but I would like to recommend miniaturizing another Italian salad, prosciutto and melon.  Just crumple up some prosciutto and skewer it on a toothpick with a cube of cantaloupe.  This one was also gone by the end of the party, I think because it's so refreshing.

When I saw a sale on phyllo cups at the grocery store, I bought three packages.  They take no time to thaw and if you pick an easy filling, the entire appetizer will be complete in five minutes.  I stuck a piece of brie inside each cup and placed them in the oven for a couple minutes - just until the brie melted.  When they came out of the oven, I topped each one with a candied walnut.  It looks much fancier than it is.  

You know what else will make anything look fancy?  Caviar.  Caviar and champagne go hand in hand when you're rich and famous.  Since it was New Years, I knew there would be champagne so I seized the opportunity to pretend I was one such rich and famous person and got some caviar.  Robin Leach would be so proud...until he learned I bought the cheap caviar instead of the good stuff.  How bougie.  Anyway, I found blinis (mini savory pancakes) at the grocery store that required nothing more than three minutes in the oven and topped those with a little crème fraîche and the caviar and I had a lovely, festive appetizer.  The hardest part about that dish was opening the caviar jar. 

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams to all of you in 2014!

Gobble Gobble 2013

This holiday never gets old to me.  I get the warm fuzzies just thinking about all the tradition.  And as is tradition in my family, I am in charge of the appetizers.  Since the caramelized onion dip I made for book club was devoured, I decided that would be my backup.  I've learned to always have a backup.  Plus, the Konters are big eaters who warrant two appetizers.

For my second appetizer, I made a Brussels sprouts and parmesan crostini.  I used this recipe and it came out perfectly.  Four heads of garlic may sound like a lot, but you'll need every bit of it and it's sweet once it's all roasted.  Yes, there's parmesan in this but it's not a ton and that doesn't really count as a real cheese anyway so this is a great way to lighten up the regularly heavy, cheese-laden appetizer spread.  It was also super easy to put together.  The only thing that takes time is roasting the garlic, but that's not anything that takes any effort - you just stick it in the oven and forget about it.  I actually recommend doing it the night before so you really don't have to worry about it.  Once you've cut the sprouts into slaw, the whole thing takes about 15 minutes to cook and assemble.

My father, who complained all day while I was cooking that he hates Brussels sprouts and I should have prepared something that he would eat, actually said this was "actually pretty good."  It may not sound like a rave review to you but considering his extreme detestation, it was a pretty high compliment.

We had a smaller crowd for Thanksgiving this year, but we didn't really know how to cook any less than we always do.  In Konter fashion, we took that as a challenge to still go through just as much food with fewer people and this appetizer was no exception.

Grilled Cheese Tacos

Thanks to some hard partying at a bachelorette party on Saturday night, I was unable to rally for Cinco de Mayo celebrations on Sunday.  My Cinco party was therefore significantly downsized.  There were no margaritas, maracas, or sombreros.  But there were tacos and we all know that's the most important part.

I'm sure you read the headline of this post and thought, "grilled cheese tacos...isn't that a quesadilla?"  I thought the same thing when I saw the recipe title but, no, once I read through the recipe I realized it's not a grilled taco.  It's actually cheese that has been sliced and placed directly on the grill to then be used as the filling of the taco.  It's important that you use Mexican grilling cheese (similar to that flaming saganaki cheese from Greek restaurants).  I also like to throw the tortillas on the grill to give them a nice char.  For toppings you just need some avocado slices and homemade pico de gallo.  Or store-bought; I won't judge.  My cheese slices didn't get the grill marks I was hoping for, but the taste exceeded my expectations.

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo!

Super Bowl Sunday 2013

Because I had no vested interest in either of the teams playing in this year's Super Bowl, I didn't feel the pressure to do anything major.  Without a team I cared to root for, there seemed to be no need to go to a party and stay up late, only to feel exhausted on Monday.  That's not starting the week off on a good foot.  Of course I still watched the Super Bowl because I love the commercials and Beyonce as the halftime act.  Since I was devoting so much time to watching the annual sporting event, I felt like I should cook some special tailgating inspired food for supper, even though I was just watching by myself.

Though I don't like hot dogs, I like sausage so I prepared andouille sausage dogs, which I thought were fitting since the Super Bowl was being played in New Orleans.  I heated up the sausage on my grill pan while I got some onions nice and caramelized.  This dog really doesn't need anything else, but you could always drizzle some remoulade sauce over the top instead of traditional ketchup and mustard.  I didn't have any remoulade sauce or the forethought to prepare any but it still tasted just fine.  On the side, I made potato skins.  These are super easy to make, they just take a little planning because it takes at least 45 minutes to bake them.  While the potatoes cooled off to a point where I could handle them, I crisped up some bacon.  After hollowing out the potatoes, I filled the boats with the chopped bacon and cheese.  I put them back in the oven to melt the cheese and crisp the skin and then topped them with a dollop of greek yogurt that I mixed with salt, pepper, and scallions.

When you're eating good food, it's easy to forget that you're being lame and watching the Super Bowl alone in your apartment.

Ringing in 2013

I just realized I never filled you in on New Years Eve celebration!  I was surrounded by tons of my closest pals so we could have done anything and had a great time, but it just so happens that the events of the evening were fun as well.  A friend of a friend rented out the downstairs of Park Avenue Tavern so for a low price (by NYE standards) we had appetizers, open bar, and tons of fun hats waiting for us just a few blocks from my apartment.

Because people rarely eat at those things, I decided to have a little pre-party soirée so everyone could coat their stomachs before heading to the main event.  Once the party grew to 12 people, we were no longer talking about a sit down meal so I had to think of items that are as easy as apps to eat but heavy enough to be considered dinner.  Unfortunately, I was terrible about taking pictures so there's only one awful one to share, but I encourage you to use your imagination.

The first of the heavier dishes was the antipasto lettuce wraps I posted about recently.  The other more dinner-like dish was buffalo chicken sliders.  I set out slider rolls and then allowed everyone to serve themselves from the crock pot where I had let chicken, cream cheese, and Frank's Red Hot simmer away for hours till it was pull apart style.  I set up some blue cheese right next to the pot so they could assemble their sandwiches as they pleased.  This was the winner of the evening - people went up for thirds!  I made stuffed mushrooms using crab dip as the stuffing (basically crab, onion, mayo, cream cheese, old bay, lemon juice, and hot sauce), set up some hummus and carrots for munching, and made dates stuffed with manchego for something on the sweeter side.  Dates are a hard thing to get people to try.  They don't look very pretty (just look at that pic below), and they're not common enough in America to not be a little on the scary side.  Once people taste them, however, they usually enjoy them so I recommend giving them a chance.

Of course, it's not New Years without a little bubbly, as evidenced by the six bottles of champagne our group went through in about two hours.  I pre-loaded each champagne glass with rock candy to make it even more festive.  It looks gorgeous and will make even the cheap champagne drinkable.  After the first round, we started adding a dash of pomegranate juice to the glasses as well for a little extra flavor.  Drinking fancy cocktails while dressed in sparkles makes you feel untouchable - a great way to start the New Year.

 

Antipasto Lettuce Wraps

The full NYE recap will be in another post, but there was one dish I made for the New Years pregame I hosted that deserves it's very own post here and now.

You don't hear "lettuce wraps" without thinking of P.F. Changs.  I think even people who have never eaten at P.F. Changs know the two terms are practically synonymous.  Even outside of the upscale Chinese food chain, lettuce wraps have been an Asian thing for years.  However, things have taken a turn toward Italy in the Konter household.

Antipasto lettuce wraps takes all your favorites from the typical Italian appetizer platter but mixes them together instead of forcing you to peck here and there.  Just grab a head of iceberg lettuce and pick your favorites from the olive bar and deli counter.  There are plenty of options, but some of my faves are as follows:

• Basics (aka: The Musts):
• Cubed or Sliced Meat (I used a mix of salamis)
• Cheese (here, you can use mozzarella balls or cubed provolone/swiss - I went with mozz)
• Halved Grape Tomatoes
• The Add-ons:
• Marinated Artichoke Hearts
• Roasted Garlic
• Olives
• Hearts of Palm
• Marinated or Roasted Peppers

As long as you're picking most stuff out of the olive/antipasti bar, it will have more than enough seasoning.  All you have to do is mix it all together in a bowl and scoop it into your lettuce wraps.  This makes a great weeknight meal for the fam and could easily be used as a pot luck or picnic dish.

  

Oyster Roast 2012

I added "2012" to this blog post's title because after the success of this year's event, it's sure to become an annual thing.  Oyster roasts are commonplace in The Lowcountry for good reason - they're freakin awesome.  Basically, you create a pit outside and roast the oysters on a grate above an open flame (we roasted 5 bushels - each weighs about 60 lbs).  Once they're cooked, you pour them out on the table and get to shucking.  The best part (other than the oysters themselves) is that everybody has great conversation while they're hunched over the picnic table, sleeves rolled up, batting away gnats with their elbows.  It's a fabulous southern tradition and one that I'm happy my brother introduced to our Thanksgiving weekend tradition.

Before I left for Savannah, Mark asked me if I would make any apps since he knows that's my specialty.  Just as I did for Thanksgiving, I made one fallback (bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers) and one new recipe. The newbie this time was Brussels sprout prosciutto sandwiches.  It was way easier than I expected.  You'd expect something this easy to be ugly, but it looks nice and pretty - like a bowl full of shiny emeralds.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture so you can't see how good they looked, but check out this recipe to see where I got my inspiration.  I tweaked the original recipe a bit: I halved the sprouts, put them on a foil lined cookie sheet, and drizzled with oil and whatever spice blend I have lying around (big fan of Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning).  Once they were nice and browned, I tore prosciutto into manageable bits, sandwiched between two halves, and skewered with a toothpick.  The original recipe calls for cooked prosciutto, but I think prosciutto is best as is.  Next to the jalapeno poppers, this app was basically a healthy salad.  I'm sure I'll make them again soon and won't forget to whip out the camera.  Allison also made a bangin app, but I'm not going to describe it now because I already have plans to steal it and make it for book club next month (giving her credit, of course) so you'll just have to wait on that one.

Photo courtesy of Greg Greenberg

 

Gobble Gobble 2012

Now that we're in year 5 of Thanksgiving at Mark and Allison's, we've started settling into our own traditions.  When we combined the Sand and Konter families we kept some favorites from each side (two turkeys, corn and carrot souffles, cranberry sauce, etc.) and then incorporated some new dishes that have since become depended upon to fill out the spread (two types of dressing).  Each person in the family has their own dish and role in the meal, including me.

My dish, however, is the only one that changes every year.  I am always in charge of appetizers, but I always make something different.  I feel like Jeff Daniels' character in "Pleasantville," the soda shop owner who gets to paint the windows at the diner for Christmas.  It's the one time a year he gets to express himself and do whatever he wants.  My appetizers may not be as artistic as all that, but it is fun to play around, especially during a holiday that's all about tradition and doing things the same way each year.  I guess for my dish, the thing that stays the same is the fact that it always changes.  Did I just confuse you?  Good.

Like always, I made one dish that I've tried before in case the new recipe didn't work.  This year's fallback was bacon wrapped potatoes with hot sauce sour cream.  They went over just as well as they did at book club a couple weeks ago.  The new dish was a hot ricotta dip.  I absolutely loved this.  I used this recipe and it turned out perfectly.

You could actually pick out the individual flavors of the lemon zest and red pepper flakes as well as the herbs - oh, the herbs!  Rosemary and thyme are so perfect for Fall/Winter and the flavor of the fresh stuff makes a real impression.  I know you won't believe that a dish made entirely of cheese won't weigh you down, but this is not a heavy appetizer.  Ricotta is a lighter cheese by nature and once the egg is added it poufs up like a souffle.  In case you didn't know, souffle is French for "classy" so make this and you'll be one fancy bitch. 

   

3 on Thursday

As happy as I am to see my Dawgs secure the SEC East title this weekend, I was even happier to have a few more days of nice weather before the harsh New York winter makes its presence known.

I can't believe I forgot to share pics of my Halloween costume!  Though I usually throw a party, I took a year off since the holiday fell too close to my housewarming party.  Just because I wasn't hosting the festivities doesn't mean I took a year off from the holiday as a whole.  When it comes to Halloween costumes, I always make my own.  They are typically more cerebral (lots of wordplay) and always done on the cheap.  This year I went as 50 Shades of Grey.  The only thing I paid for was my manicure (a french tip with two different grey polish).  I used a skirt I had at home and then made a top out of paint samples pilfered from Home Depot.  Loved the result!

Before the power went out during Hurricane Sandy, Danielle and I started a Homeland marathon.  I am now obsessed!  Sadly, I got rid of my Showtime so I'll be finishing Season 1 via Netflix.  Lots of intrigue in this one!

Turns out, if you ignore the cold seasons, they still come anyway.  Not buying appropriate clothing in protest will not stave off the chill.  This weekend, I gave myself a budget of $250 and went out in search of Fall clothing.  I found two dresses at Coup de Coeur, a boutique by my apartment that carries trendy clothes at a reasonable price, a great pair of peeptoe snakeskin booties at Second Time Around, and the above pictured shirt at Pookie and Sebastian.  Pookie is usually a little too pricey for me, but I splurged after coming in under budget on the other items.  I'm so glad I did because this shirt is absolute heaven.  It is the closest you can get to wearing a sweatshirt and still looking cute.  It doesn't look super special in the pic, but when paired with bangles and cute ballet flats it made the perfect brunch outfit.     

Passover Picnic

Since Greg and Susan up and moved across the country, I decided to host this year's Passover Seder on Saturday night.  Once the RSVPs started pouring in, I realized what an undertaking this was going to be.  I immediately conferenced in my Mom for some menu planning assistance.  I was terrified about my first brisket - after all, brisket is the centerpiece of most Jewish meals and what ye be judged by all other Jewesses - but she coached me through it.  Other than the brisket, I made charoset, deviled eggs, salad, sweet potato casserole, and okra and tomatoes with quinoa.  I delegated a little bit and had some friends chip in when it came to fruit and dessert.  Based on the fact that there was no brisket left when I went to make my plate, I'm thinking the food was all well received.  It's always a good idea to use your Mom's recipe when the opportunity presents itself since they've had years to perfect it. 

After we did a little praying and a lot of eating, we sat around playing Table Topics.  Once you crack open this cube of conversation starters, everyone will get involved so it was the perfect way to bring my mixed bag of nuts together.  We were working with a 50/50 Jew/Non-Jew split and people from all different social groups.  By the end of the meal, everyone was buddy buddy and maybe even learned a bit about the holiday.   

The food was gobbled up by all 13 guests.  Yup, 13 people (plus a baby) squeezed into my little apartment.  Since I don't have a table large enough, I set everything up on the floor for a Passover Picnic.  I have such good sports for friends.  No complaints about sitting on throw pillows were voiced.  I made sure to decorate the floor just as I would a real dining room table with flowers in ribbon-accented mason jars, a table cloth, and party favors.  Usually you say, "next year in Jerusalem;" we said, "next year in a bigger apartment."  

As American as Apple Tart

It was so nice to have Monday off work for Presidents' Day so I could have an extra day to finish some errands.  But when life hands you a free day, you shouldn't just spend it running errands; so I decided to do a little cooking.  We all know I'll take any excuse to celebrate and a holiday as seemingly pointless as Presidents' Day is enough to get me thinking about a special dish.

I decided I needed to honor our presidents with something all-American and immediately thought of apple pie.  I was a little daunted by the idea of making a crust from scratch - that's too much baking for me and the type of thing I always mess up.  Instead, I decided to make an easy version of a French-style tart.  I unrolled some puff pastry (one of the greatest things to be found in the freezer section) and topped it with apple slices that I had peeled and tossed with lemon juice, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt.  Why did I use brown sugar instead of regular sugar and cinnamon?  Because that's what I had in the house and I found a recipe saying it would work so it meant one less ingredient to buy.  After arranging the apple slices on the pastry, I brushed the edges with an egg wash so it would get that gorgeous brown color.  Then I baked it for about 20 minutes at 415 and that was it.  

It's amazing how presentable this dessert looks for how little effort it requires.  Want to make it look even more impressive?  You have a couple garnish options: drizzle with caramel, dust with powdered sugar, a dollop of whipped cream here, a scoop of ice cream there...any combination of these accoutrements will work.  After I spotted a dark chocolate salted caramel sauce in the grocery store, I knew I found the perfect topping.  Soooo good and made even better by my sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Forget the prez; with this dessert, I'm pretty sure I could run the country.

Just out of the oven

After I scandalized it with toppings

Valentine Shmalentine 2012

Once again, I found myself single on Valentine's Day.  Not a problem here!  Just like last year, I used the holiday as a reason to prepare myself a special meal.  Last year's Valentine's supper was so delicious I knew I had to step up my game, which means it was theme time.  I decided to prepare three courses, each one featuring some shade of red or pink.  It's only "too cutesy" if you don't deliver on flavor.  My dishes not only fit the day but tasted great, taking this meal from cutesy to creative.

The salad is one I had not made before but will definitely repeat.  I used endive and radicchio as the base and then topped with sliced radishes, halved grapes, and blue cheese.  Grapes and blue cheese are a fabulous combination, made better with high quality blue cheese.  I like to read the little signs with descriptions of each cheese, and when I found one that read "The best blue cheese we have in stock.  If you haven't tried it, now's your chance," I knew it was the one for me.  Turns out, Whole Foods did not oversell.  This cheese was creamy, not too pungent, and evened out the crunchy radishes, endive, and radicchio.  All this salad needs is a light vinaigrette and you're set.

Half of the main course came already prepped from the fish counter - crab stuffed salmon.  True, it turns coral when cooked, but it starts pink.  And no, I didn't make it myself but 1) I couldn't pass up a full serving of crab stuffed anything for under $6 and 2) when you realize what I made as a side dish, you'll understand why I took the easy way out with the fish.  That's right, that is HEART SHAPED RAVIOLI next to the salmon.  Not only did I cut my ravioli into little hearts (using wonton wrappers as the noodles), I created that gorgeous fushia filling by mixing roasted beets, egg, parmesan, and goat cheese.  It's a little hard to tell they're heart-shaped in the picture, but believe me when I tell you this is a show-stopper.  Better yet, it tasted amazing.  Just top with a little butter/oil and parmesan and you will have your beloved eating out of the palm of your hand.  In this case, I was my own beloved but whatever - I turned out to be a great date.

For dessert, I tried to recreate a dish I had at a restaurant recently and topped fresh ricotta with raspberries, almonds, and honey.  Unfortunately, I used a new brand of ricotta that was unusually salty and I didn't candy the almonds like I wanted to (I got out of work late and had to make some sacrifices).  Those small blips aside, it was a good dish that I know would be great with just a few tweaks.

See what you're missing out on, boys?!

Amazing is Amazing

 Last night, a couple different groups of media folk got together with one of our reps to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  No, it's not one of the major American holidays, but I think it's a great excuse for a fun and different celebration.  Our rep is Chinese and has lived his whole life in Manhattan, growing up in the LES so he knew his way around the menu at Amazing 66.  We ordered so. much. food.  I have a feeling you'll get the best food if you come with someone who really knows this type of cuisine, preferably someone who speaks Cantonese.  We let our rep go hog wild and said we would eat anything and he accepted the challenge:

• Soup with vegetables and pork - very light not a ton of flavor, but I liked starting with something simpler
• Fried pork ribs
• Fried rice
• Fried oysters
• Fried shrimp and squid - each piece was huge
• Pea shoots
• Roast beef
• Steamed duck buns
• Braised pork belly - the sauce was sweet and garlicy and the pork belly almost fell apart when I grabbed it with the chopsticks
• Lobster in a butter sauce
•  Honey bar b que something (beef?)
• Crispy skin chicken stuffed with sticky rice - I have no idea how they keep the rice so sticky and get the skin so crackly, but this dish was unlike any chicken dish I've ever seen.  It has to be ordered a day in advance, but it's worth it.
• Fried Milk - yes, fried milk.  This needs to come to street fairs.  The gooey center is only slightly sweet so it's not too rich.  I loved it and wonder why it's so rarely seen.

Seafood

Fried Milk

Crispy Skin Sticky Rice Chicken

After all that food and too many bottles of wine to count, we headed to Winny's a Chinatown bar that I will have to keep in mind.  Winny's is a low-ceiling'd dive that primarily services Chinatown locals.  Everyone in the family run business is nice and actually wants to talk to the patrons.  Every once in a while they even sang along to whatever karaoke song was playing.  If you end up eating in the Chinatown area, don't assume your only bar options are the fancier Apothèque or a bar in a different, trendier nearby neighborhood.  Winny's is a great dive to stumble into.  If last night was any indication, the year of the dragon is going to be solid.

3 on Thursday

Well, I haven't done a "3 on Thursday" post in a while because the holidays got in the way.  There weren't too many thrilling things to write about when I was doing nothing but relaxing during my time off work.  But now that I'm back in the real world and on a schedule, I can revive this weekly series:

One of my favorite gifts this holiday season came from Sasha - homemade kahlua.  I don't even know how you go about making kahlua, but I'm glad she figured it out.  I decided to use it for white russians but instead of milk, I used cereal milk from Momofuku Milk Bar.  It made the drink extra special - a little sweeter and even more of a holiday treat.

This is may not the best picture of me, but hopefully it shows what a great time I had on New Years Eve.  It was pretty much the best NYE in recent memory even though until 7 PM I thought it would be awful since we had no real plans.  Linds and I started with dinner at Nolita House and then Amanda met us downstairs at Botanica where we killed time before apartment party #1.  We ended up not making it to the first party because we were having so much fun with our new Australian friends.  We did end up leaving when Matt and Karina finished their fancy dinner and we all headed to apartment party #2 where we had a little dance party (pictured above).  We hit up WXOU Radio Bar after that and then capped the night off with some pizza because it's not a good night if it doesn't end with a slice.  I was also really feelin my outfit.  Nothing says NYE like sparkles so I wore a new sequined skirt that I came across just like everything else on New Years - last minute.  The best part about my outfit was that every piece was on super sale.  Those Bloomingdales sales are no joke.  If New Years Eve is any indication, 2012 is going to be a GREAT year!

As an avid reader, I love Goodreads.  I love how by saving my own reviews on this site I can remember exactly what it was I did or did not like about a book.  I also love any chance to organize and make lists so I'm a big fan of their virtual bookshelves.  Most importantly, the reviews from fellow bookworms and personalized recommendations from the site have helped me discover plenty of gems I may not have found on my own.  Another new thing I love: in the spirit of New Years Resolutions, Goodreads has launched the 2012 Reading Challenge.  It's nothing more than a personal goal of how many books you plan to read this year.  When signing up, they gave me the benchmark of how many books I read in 2011 (14) so this year I made my goal 20.  It's lofty since it means I'll need to read more than a book and a half each month when I'm a busy girl, but I figure I have several trips planned that will allow me ample reading time.  Plus, I'm already 2/3 of the way done with a book I started at the end of 2011 which may be cheating, but I'm letting it slide.  Sign up for the challenge - let me know what your goal is in the comments!

Christmas Confidential

Last year Matt, Karina, and I began a Christmas dinner tradition over at there place that included all the Puerto Rican customs.  This year, we expanded the event to a two day sleepover extravaganza, starting Christmas Eve.  Most of the Puerto Rican traditions fell to the wayside except my favorite, coquito, Puerto Rican eggnog.  I sipped away on the creamy drink and watched my favorite Christmas movies while Karina prepared the rest of the meal.

The first things to come out of the oven were biscuits with Toscano cheese and fig butter.  This was a wonderful appetizer that was a nice step up from the rolls that you usually see on the Christmas table.  The sweet fig butter worked well with the firm, salty cheese.  Once we finished those, Karina had a tomato/mozzarella salad ready that was the perfect grab-and-go.  It was nice having something on toothpicks so we could run back and forth between the kitchen and the living room since watching movies like A Christmas Story, Love Actually, and Elf are as much a part of the Christmas celebration as Jesus.  The third dish was brussels sprouts in maple syrup with pomegranate seeds.  This was probably my favorite item of the night.  In addition to being a new, sweet preparation of the vegetable, it was just so festively red and green.  True, I intentionally dressed in Christmas colors for dinner, but it's nice to see the food did the same.  While we munched on the sprouts, I popped my contribution to the meal into the oven: an asparagus, onion, and goat cheese tart.  I'm a big fan of puff pastry these days because once it thaws, there are all sorts of things that can be done with it.  The middle of the tart didn't get as flaky as I would have liked, but I was pleased with the overall result.  The main course was cod and onions in a tomato, white wine, saffron, and pine nut sauce.  I will definitely be making this one on my own.  Saffron is an expensive spice, but it made all the difference in this dish.  There may have been six courses by this point (I'm counting coquito as a course because it's so thick and rich), but it was vegetable-heavy so we didn't feel overstuffed.  Finally, we each had a couple mugs of Matt's homemade hot buttered bourbon cider.  The cloves and cinnamon made the whole house smell like Christmas and the butter made the drink lip-smacking.  It wasn't long before the bourbon kicked in and we were all ready for bed.

But like I said, this was a two-day celebration: we woke up the morning of the 25th and opened Christmas/Chanukah presents in our pajamas.  The pajamas then stayed on all through Karina's fabulous brunch.  I have heard about her french toast but never got to try it since I have never found myself waking up in her apartment.  She makes it with challah and uses cardamom in the batter.  Instead of syrup, we topped it with strawberries that had macerated in honey and vanilla.  This was some ridiculous french toast.  I get why Karina likes to make it - she's really good at it.  In addition to the french toast, we had smoked salmon with pomegranate seeds that was a take on a raw dish Matt and Karina recently tried at the home of a chef friend.  It doesn't sound like that combo would work, but salmon seems to go very well with fruit so it was a surprising addition to the table and was better than bagels and lox.  After brunch, it was more lazy time before we decided to finally get dressed and go to an evening movie, which was the perfect end to a two-day Christmas feast.  This holiday is all about two of my favorite things: eating and family pajama time.  Can't wait til next year!

Gobble Gobble 2011

As usual, blogging has taken a backseat to family time while I was home for Thanksgiving.  Now that I'm back and attempting to reacclimate myself to normal life, it's time for a Thanksgiving post.  The usual suspects for the main meal were all there, but what changed were the appetizers.  For the fourth year in a row, I was placed in charge of the pre-feast snackies and while the rest of the Thanksgiving meal is steeped in tradition, I take the opportunity to mix it up every year. 

I usually prepare two apps, but this year I went with three.  No one who was at this meal attended my Halloween party so I reprised the crab dip, this time adding extra Old Bay, hot sauce, and crab (other ingredients: mayo, lemon juice, cream cheese, and onion).  The crowd devoured it.  I think this one will be making a regular appearance at parties from now on.  Appetizer number two was chorizo and manchego pinwheels.  Three ingredients: puff pastry, browned chorizo, and fresh grated manchego (four if you count the egg wash).  You couldn't ask for an easier recipe, and my brother declared it was the best thing I've ever cooked - a bold statement from Mark Konter.  If you get the legit Mexican brand chorizo, it will be quite spicy so if you'd like to tone it down a little, use hot Italian sausage.  The third appetizer was a refreshing and healthy veggie dip - a nice change of pace after the other apps.  I cooked onion, garlic, and spinach and then let it cool while I prepared the base of the dip.  I pureed avocado, Greek yogurt, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and then folded in the spinach mixture (that I had chopped when it came out of the fridge).  Since there was no mayo or sour cream, this dip was super healthy but had tons of flavor so I'll be making it again when I feel the menu is filled with heavy food.

This may have been the best Thanksgiving yet.  After four years, we've really gotten into the groove. 
In addition to perfecting the food, we have become quite adept at choosing the Thursday evening movie to rent on demand.  This year, The Change Up proved to be the perfect film to watch before slipping into my food coma.

 

Costumes Make Everything Better: THK's 3rd Annual Halloween Party

After taking a year off, I was back to hosting my annual Halloween party.  My friends and family called dibs on all the "real" holidays long ago since they're all married grown ups.  Me, the single girl, was left with the kids holiday, Halloween.  No mind, I completely embrace it.  This holiday is all mine, and I love it.

Because the GA/FL game was Saturday afternoon/evening, I knew that night was out and the party would have to be Friday night.  Since I was working on Friday, I had to pick a menu that I could assemble quickly in the short span of time between work and the party, while still leaving enough time to straighten the apartment and get dressed in my Double Dare contestant outfit.  Most of the menu was themed because I can't resist a gimmick:

• DEVILed eggs
• Bloodshot Eyeballs (raspberries stuffed with white chocolate - thank you, Pinterest, for the idea)
• Witches' Fingers (hummus on bell pepper strips)
• Mini Pimento Cheese Sandwiches (orange color theme)
• Crab Dip (this one wasn't really themed - I just wanted to try the recipe)
• Caramel Corn and Halloween Candy
• Polyjuice Potion (sour apple martini)

I'm guessing the food was well received because it was almost entirely gone by the time we headed to the bars.  The raspberries were probably the hit of the evening, which is good to know because they were so easy to make, I'll have no problem preparing them again.

Since the party was on a Friday after work, I didn't have much time to decorate, but there are a few simple touches I would recommend if you're planning a Halloween party in a time/budget crunch.  I bought about 10 mini pumpkins/gourds for $.50 - $2.00 each (mostly at the $.50 end of the spectrum).  I put a cluster of them on the patio table and another row of them on the mantle.  Next, I draped all the food platters/serving bowls with gummy worms and spiders.  Finally, it's all about mood lighting, so turn of the main lights and rely on lamps and candles.  Those three easy tricks are guaranteed to make your party terrorific.

Pie Practice

I wanted to bring a little something to Break-the-Fast and Greg and Susan told me I could be in charge of bagels.  I obliged, but also wanted to make something myself.  I wanted to put a little skill into my potluck contribution and picking up bagels doesn't require any aptitude beyond being able to de-code the cashier's accent at H&H.  I needed to make something that didn't need to be served hot or right away since I would have to drop my dish off early and let it sit while I was at dinner #1.  [Yea, that's right - I was invited to two Break-the-Fast dinners - can you ay POPULAR?!]  The timing constraints ruled out most of the appetizers I would have normally made, and I realized I was going to have to bake - scary territory for me.

There were going to be 12 people at the party, so one pie would not suffice.  I consulted my Mommy for my two favorite pie recipes: pecan pie and fudge pie.  She swore I wouldn't be able to screw them up, so I decided to give it a whirl.  Besides, I needed to get a little more practice because pecan pie is a Southern staple and I am told its perfect execution is requisite for making some man very happy one day.

I told Susan to tell people the pies came from Food Emporium, in case they didn't come out well.  Fortunately, they turned out good enough for me to take all the credit.  Perhaps I'll make some man happy after all!