A Menu Fit for Entertaining

Do you watch HGTV? Have you noticed how often people on their shows say how much they "love to entertain"?

"We are shopping for a house and we need one to entertain in."

"This room is perfect for entertaining."

"We like the open concept because it's great for entertaining."

Who are all these people that love to entertain so much? I guess they are the same people that go on a TV show to shop for a house.

The Table

My hubby and I don't particularly like to entertain. That's not to say that we don't like hanging out with our friends and family. We would just rather do it somewhere else than our house. First there's the making our house look presentable - getting rid of the piles of mail, magazines and newspapers that litter the tables and countertops. Then there's the cost, buying lots of food and booze that takes our budget over the top (but I couldn't think of a better way to splurge than on our loved ones). Then I always worry about my cooking. I have this fear of giving my guests food poisoning. I know it's irrational. I've never made my husband or myself sick with my cooking, so why would I make my guests sick? I guess we all have our issues.

The one thing I do like about entertaining is creating the menu. I love deciding which dishes will go together and picking out seasonal foods to serve. I threw a small dinner party this past weekend for my hubby's birthday and as a part of the Allrecipes Allstars program. So the first dish on the menu was Barber Foods Stuffed Chicken. The best part of this was that it was free! One of the perks of being an Allstar. I also got to hand out coupons for free chicken for my guests. If you are familiar with my blog, you probably know that I like to cook naturally and with whole foods. So, while the chicken was delicious, I knew I wanted to offer some other delicious, but natural dishes.

Maple-Bourbon Glazed Salmon

Since starting my Clipped Recipes Project, I have been picking out more recipes from magazines. There are some great recipes out there! One such recipe is Maple-Bourbon Glazed Salmon from Better Homes and Gardens magazine. What a fabulous recipe! And perfect for the fall season. Just make sure the sauce doesn't boil over. Fortunately, my little niece Sophie was the only one who really noticed when the smoke started billowing from the stovetop. Seriously, I saw sparks! Luckily, all my guests were getting along so well and talking so much they didn't even notice that I almost set fire to the kitchen.

Butternut Squash Salad

Next on the menu were the salad and rolls to start the dinner off. I had just read a recipe in my Real Simple magazine earlier that week for Butternut Squash Salad. It sounded perfect. I love roasted butternut squash and salads with blue cheese and vinaigrette. I decided to replace the hazelnuts with sugared pecans. I took a chance making a new recipe for guests, but I was pretty confident it was an excellent recipe and that I could pull it off. It turns out I was right. I highly receommend this recipe!


One of my most favorite dinner roll recipes is Sweet Dinner Rolls from Allrecipes.com. It's an amazing recipe - beautiful dough, gorgeous rolls. Most of the work is done by your bread machine. They are also great for sandwiches the next day.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

The last two recipes are from Ina Garten, my favorite celebrity chef. I love her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. In it she has a recipe for Parmesan Smashed Potatoes. It's perfect for entertaining because you can make it ahead of time and then heat it up topped with more parmesan cheese in a casserole dish. It baked at the same temperature as everything else, so I just popped it in the oven. The last dish was Ina's Roasted Asparagus. I was a little disappointed with this recipe because the asparagus came out limp. I know it's not asparagus season, so that may have been the reason. Either that or I overcooked it. It still tasted good though, just not as firm as asparagus should be.

Finally, it was easy to decide what to make for dessert. Turtle Dove Cake! It's what I make for my hubby's birthday every year. And of course, I wrote in my last blog about what I served to drink: The Apple Crisp.

I think the dinner party was a success. Will we do it again soon? Probably not. We had a great time and enjoyed the company, but I'm exhausted!

October Cocktail: The Apple Crisp

A dear friend sent me this link for fall cocktails from the Huffington Post. The first one immediately caught my eye. It's called The Apple Crisp. Only I thought it would be much better with spiced rum instead of whiskey. So I had to have a taste test. It's the only way to really know which one is better! Hands down, the rum was the best. It made the drink so smooth. It really tastes just like an apple crisp!

Not surprisingly, the cinnamon simple syrup was really simple to make. Just boil some cinnamon sticks in water for 10 minutes and then add sugar, cook until dissolved. I found the recipe here on FoodNetwork.com. It also makes your kitchen smell super yummy.

Cinnamon Simple Syrup

I decided to serve this drink at a small dinner party I was hosting. I made a pitcher of it, chilled in the fridge and then served in martini glasses. It was a huge hit and perfect for a lovely, warm fall evening. You can also serve this warm in a mug, which would be fabulous on a cold night. (Hmmm, I'm feeling a bit chilly tonight, I might have to go fix a mug when I'm done writing this blog.)

The Apple Crisp
(my version adapted from Huff. Post)

4 oz. apple cider
1 oz. spiced rum (such as Captain Morgan)
1/2 oz. cinnamon simple syrup
cinnamon stick for garnish

Mix in a rocks glass with ice, or shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. To make for a crowd, replace the ounces with cups (i.e. 4 cups apple cider, 1 cup spiced rum, 1/2 cup simple cinnamon syrup), mix in a pitcher and chill. Garnish with cinnamon sticks.

The Richest Cake You'll Ever Make

There's one cake I make only once a year. For my husband's birthday every year I make Turtle Dove Cake. It is so rich, once a year is about all we can handle of this cake! My husband was first introduced to this cake at his job in college. His boss made it for his birthday one year and he declared it his most favorite cake ever. She was kind enough to share the recipe with me (Thanks Jean!) and I've made it for his birthday ever since.

The only thing I've changed with the cake is that instead of chocolate chips, I use chocolate chunks. It makes it even richer, if that's possible. It's always hard to get a good photo of it, because it is so gooey and messy. But it's oh so delicious! This cake makes us so happy. And I'm happy to share the recipe with you.

Turtle Dove Cake

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients to make cake according to package directions

14 ounces individually wrapped caramels (about 50 caramels)
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1 (11.5 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 (16 ounce) can chocolate frosting
Colored sprinkles (optional, but recommended!)

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease the bottom of a 13”x9” baking pan. Unwrap caramels and place in a medium saucepan.

2.      Mix cake mix according to package directions. Pour half of the batter into the prepared cake pan (I like to pour the batter into two identical bowls, so I know I’m dividing in half evenly – you want to have enough batter to spread on top.) and bake for 15 minutes.

3.      Meanwhile, combine the unwrapped caramels, evaporated milk and butter in the medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until caramels are melted, stirring often.
4.      Remove bottom portion of cake from the oven and spread caramel mixture evenly over cake. Sprinkle with chocolate chunks. Pour remaining batter over top. Bake for another 16-20 minutes.
5.      Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

Leaves and Pumpkins

It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, I'm not talking about Christmas, I'm talking about my favorite season - autumn. I love when the air turns crisp and cool and you can smell leaves burning in the air. I love the beautiful oranges, reds and yellows of the trees. Seeing pumpkins, squash and apples at the store.

I've always loved fall, but it really holds a special place in heart because it's when I first fell in love with my husband. I love listening to music that reminds me of that time of our lives. I've made a playlist of my favorite music that I first listened to in fall or that evoke feelings of fall. I actually love the cold, gray days, when I can snuggle inside with a cup of hot tea, a pumpkin muffin and a good book. I don't have much else to say about fall, except that I love it. Here are some of my favorite photos of autumn.

Leaves, Munsinger Gardens, St. Cloud, MN

October 2010
(click here for more photos)

Quarry Park and Nature Preserve, Waite Park, MN

October 2011
(click here for more photos)

Pumpkins on display outside the store I work at.

October 2011

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
from allrecipes.com

Clipped Recipe: Pumpkin Corn Bread

Comfort food was a must this week. What with being sick and the weather getting more cool and brisk, I needed some good warm food. I've been wanting to try a recipe that I clipped from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine November 2009 issue for Pumpkin Corn Bread. I love corn bread and all things pumpkin, so I knew this would be a great recipe, especially for fall. Chicken noodle soup was exactly what I needed to help get over my cold. My mom always made corn bread to go with soup when I was growing up. It's such a warm and comforting combination, either when you're sick or if it's really cold outside. We always eat our corn bread warm with maple syrup.

The unique thing about this recipe for Pumpkin Corn Bread is that it is gluten-free without even trying. It calls for masa harina or corn flour. I didn't want to buy a whole bag of corn flour just for 2 tablespoons, so I just used regular all-purpose flour. But if you need to eat gluten-free, corn flour is the way to go. I changed a couple of other things about the recipe too. I reduced the salt from 1 tsp. to 1/2 tsp (an excellent decision) and doubled the pumpkin pie spice.

I choose a very easy, but still homemade, chicken noodle soup called Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup from allrecipes.com. It is very similar to a recipe I made up years ago. This time I tried a new product we sell at the store, Mrs. Miller's Organic Egg Noodles. These noodles took the soup up a notch and made it taste really homemade. Someday I would like to try making a truly homemade chicken noodle soup, the kind where you make your own broth by boiling chicken and veggies together. Maybe some weekend when I have a lot of time I will do that, but for now packaged organic chicken broth is good for us.

I searched online for the Pumpkin Cornbread recipe, but couldn't find it, so I will share it with you here, with all credit being given to BH&G.

Pumpkin Corn Bread
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2009

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (or masa harina or corn flour for gluten-free)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup buttermilk
1 8-oz. carton sour cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1. Heat oven to 350º F. Melt butter in 12-inch cast iron skillet over low heat.
2. In a large bowl combine cornmeal, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Measure out 2 Tbsp. of the melted butter from the skillet and add to another bowl; add the buttermilk, sour cream, egg and pumpkin. Whisk this mixture into the cornmeal mixture.
3. Brush the skillet with the remaining butter in the skillet and pour in batter.
4. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted off-center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack; serve warm with butter, maple syrup or your choice of topping.

Recipe for Disaster

Oh dear me, look what I've done now. You see, this has just not been a good week for me. I was supposed to go to the zoo with my niece this weekend and I was looking so forward to it, but I got sick with a nasty cold and had to cancel. Work is really busy and stressful right now. And now I made a huge mess in the kitchen.

I was planning on writing a blog about this wonderful banana bread that I made, instead I'm writing about how to clean your oven. I put the pan of wonderful batter in the oven and went to watch the lastest DVR'd episode of "Castle" with my husband. After a while I started to smell something burning. I don't know how it happened, it had to do with halving the recipe and thinking it made only one loaf of bread. I thought the pan seemed awfully full...... Turns out it makes two loaves of bread, even after halving the recipe. I blame it on the congestion making me not think as well as I normally would. At least that's the story I'm going with.

When something like this happens, you should turn the oven off right away, so the gunk doesn't get baked on even more, and turn the exhaust fan on high. If it sounds like I'm speaking from experience, unfortunately I am. You can then dump out what overflowed or spilled, head to the store for more ingredients and start over. Or you can do like I did and say a couple of choice words and walk away in a huff. Either way, don't get too upset. Just chalk it up to another learning experience. In this case I learned to make sure I know how many loaves of bread a recipe makes.

Now THIS is Chocolate Cake!

My sweet niece Sophia celebrated turning two years old a few weeks ago with a family party. When asked how old she is, she says, "My Two!" So because of her two, I had to bake a cake. She takes after her mom and auntie, therefore she loves chocolate. When asked if she wants chocolate or vanilla, she always says "choc-at" without hesitation. That's my girl!

Chocolate cake it was! I decided to go for the powerful combination of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I've made chocolate cake from scratch before, but was never too impressed with the results. After doing some research, I found out that cakes made with vegetable oil instead of butter come out better. I've always made cakes with butter and they turn out dry and not very chocolaty. I wanted a CHOCOLATE cake! Deep, dark, and moist. I did a search on allrecipes and found this cake: One Bowl Chocolate Cake III. Despite its simplicity, it was the best chocolate cake I've made from scratch. Combined with Caroline's Chocolate Fudge Frosting, it was a lethal combination. "Now this is chocolate cake!" my dad exclaimed while eating it at the birthday party.

While the cake tasted great, there was much to be desired on my decorating. For some reason I left the decorating to the last minute, so I was rushed. Plus, I hadn't practiced in a while and messed it up. Usually the writing is the part I don't have much trouble with, but I couldn't get it right this time. I ended up scraping it off and trying to smooth out the top again. It looked OK. Sophie didn't mind a bit! As you can see, she wholeheartedly enjoyed it.

My husband and I only got to eat one slice of cake each, but hubby loved it so much, he asked if I would make one for just us. So I relented. After the difficult week we had last week, I decided we deserved a little chocolate cake. I made half a cake and baked it in 8" pans, with 3/4 recipe of the frosting (pictured in my first photo above). It made a cute little cake for just the two of us!