Ok, enough about the past- it's too long and boring to write about. Here's what I've been doing recently in the food world: being an out of work teacher, I had to rethink of what I'm going to do with my life. What are my passions? What do I love? When am I happiest? Those answers were easy- food! I'm happiest on Saturday or Sunday mornings when I'm baking or when I'm researching dinner for the next week. So, I started looking around for intro foodie jobs that a non chef could get. I found one at a local speciality food store that was the assistant to the chef during cooking classes. One email and one interview later, I was hired! I don't start until July, but super excited and nervous.....more on that when I actually start.
The other things that have kept me busy- catering. My mom loves to throw parties and she loves to serve non traditional food at her parties (non traditional according to the small town she lives in- that means anything other than hotdogs, texas sheet cake, and ranch dip). So, yesterday I spent all morning cooking and decorating her yard for a small cocktail party she had. The menu was, of course, all Ina's recipes: chicken skewers with satay dip, roasted shrimp and cocktail sauce, ham and cheese in puff pastry, sun dried tomato dip, green herb dip, and various veggies and crackers. Dessert was the most fun though- mini chocolate ganache cupcakes with edible silver and a recipe all of my own- champagne and strawberry cupcakes. Basically, I make a pretty traditional white cake recipe (cake flour though, not all purpose) and substitute champagne instead of milk into the cake batter. Then I fill the cooled cupcakes with a homemade strawberry sauce (slice fresh strawberries and put them into a pot with sugar and water and cook until the strawberries are soft. Then, put a jar of strawberry jam into the mixture and puree. Taste for sweetness, cool, and you've got strawberry sauce!), and top each cupcake with white frosting made with, yep you guessed it, champagne! The frosting was giving me fits though because since I used champagne instead of milk or cream, it was really loose and kept melting quickly. I'm going to have to work on this to perfect it, but overall, not a bad recipe. It's gotten rave reviews thus far, so I think I have a winner.
Easy menu, but also elegant at the same time. I haven't heard the verdict yet, but I'm hoping it was successful....more to come on that.
I'm prepping for the next party that will occur on June 11. So far, the menu is olives, crackers, and cheeses to start, arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette and shavings of fresh Parmesan, paella, and individual chocolate chip cookie icebox cakes. Gee, guess what, all of those recipes are Ina's too (well, with my own twist on them :) Thank you Ina!
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