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Brie Kisses.

They've been on our menu from the beginning. They're simple to prepare, they have a strong impact on the buffet display and they're always popular with our guests.

Over the years, we've made them with a variety of different jams, jellys and preserves. Pepper jelly. Fig preserves. Apricot jam.

Last summer I found a new (to me) product at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market that I thought would make great kisses at this year's open house: Strawberry-Chipotle Jam. Like Dancing with the Stars survivor Marie Osmond this one's a little bit sweet, a little bit sassy...far more than a sum of its parts. A definite keeper.

Resources used: Tierra Vegetables' Strawberry-Chipotle Jam

Technorati Tags: NaBloPoMo 2007

Several hits and a near miss

Those of you following the story of this year's open house are probably curious how it turned out.

We figure somewhere between 65 and 75 people showed up over the course of the afternoon and evening; the first guests arriving a bit before 2 and the last leaving shortly after 10.

In that time we served 6 pounds of pork tenderloin, 10 dozen tartletts, 16 bottles of wine, 2 cases of soda and water, 4 dozen ravioli, two cheesecakes. 4 pounds of cheese, a pound and a half of mortadella, three loaves of bread and two dozen Bostinis.

The final menu looked like this:

Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin (recipe doubled)
Crab & Wild Mushroom Cheesecake
Double Salmon Dip (recipe tripled)
Baba Ghannousj (recipe doubled)
Wild Mushroom Tartletts (recipe tripled)
Cranberry studded cheddar smothered in Cranberry Fool
Brie Kisses
Touvlach (recipe tripled)
Breadchick Mary's Fig and Blue Cheese Stuffed Phyllo Cups (recipe doubled)
Dom's Mom's Meatballs (recipe doubled)
Mixed Cheese and Charcuterie
Three-bite Coconut Bostinis in chocolate cups
Peabody's Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

I only got a chance to take a few pictures so we'll have to leave some of it for your imaginations... but visually it looked something like this:


Good food. Good friends. Good times. Looking forward to next year!

Technorati Tags: NaBloPoMo 2007

With four hours to go...

The good news: The floors are vacuumed. John's returned from Boccalone with a nice box of tasty salted pig parts. The meatballs are defrosting in the roaster oven. The serving table is set, the candles are lit, the ovens are hot, the wine is chilling, the cheesecakes are depanned and the tartletts are staged.

The not-so-good news: I haven't showered, there's still last-minute shopping for ice and charcoal, and if the invitation says the party starts at 2, John's parents will be here by 1:30. It's 11:00 now. And we're stuffing ravioli. A process that can take up to 4 hours.

At twenty after one I bailed on pasta production and made my way to Safeway. Sourdough bread, check. charcoal, check. Pita chips, check. Ice, check. Through the quick check and home for a shower by 20 to two. "Hello Mr. & Mrs. F... let me grab a quick shower... I'll be down in 15 minutes."

In the end we'd assembled about a third of the ravioli, packaging the remainder of the dough and the stuffing in the 'fridge for another day. The verdict? I didn't taste them, but they were a hit with our guests. So with a bit of planning, we'll put them back on the menu next year.

Technorati Tags: NaBloPoMo 2007

T-Minus Four: Prepping for the Future; Surrounded by the Past

First on this evening's agenda: meatballs. Followed by coconut and chai-scented bostini chiffon cakes. And pumpkin puree to be incorporated into cheesecake later this week.

The emotions evoked by my recent Apples & Thyme reflections are still with me...

I can sense Henri's approval with my onion dice... I'd have had no problem out pacing her at that quickfire challenge.

I can feel Mo hovering to ensure that my meatballs were uniform.

And Maria is almost certainly with me as I whip up the egg whites for the chiffon.

Come Saturday, I'll have an extra dry martini, a screwdriver and a glass of sherry set aside in the bar area to acknowledge their presence and in gratitude for their guidance. Several of our guests may think I'm a little off. But if Grandma Sylvia should make it (at 97 she's slowed down a bit), she will smile and nod in understanding.

Last year at this time, the kitchen looked about like it does today

Technorati Tags: NaBloPoMo 2007

Part of the process

Most of us don't spend a lot of time dwelling on this part of the process.

But with somewhere between 75 and 100 guests due to arrive a week from tomorrow for our 7th annual open house -- a celebration of good friends and good food -- we're focused just as much on the cleanup as we are on the food prep.

If history is any indication, over the next seven days we'll go through 3-5 bottles of wine and a half a bottle of dish detergent. We'll marinate 6 pounds of pork, assemble 4 pounds of meatballs, and run the dishwasher 8 times. We'll use 4-6 pounds of flour and 3 rolls of paper towels. We'll go to bed late and tired this week, but with a strong sense of accomplishment... of dozens of to-dos crossed off the week's list.

It's a lot of work, but this is one of our favorite times of the year... as this year's invitation reads: we look forward to each party from the moment the last dishes are done the previous year.

Technorati Tags: NaBloPoMo 2007

Seeking menu advice...

We're planning a party.

Our seventh annual pre-holiday open house is quickly approaching.

In two weeks, around a hundred of our closest friends will stop by for a glass of wine, a bite to eat, and a few minutes or a few hours to chat.

So I'm thinking about finger foods.

We'll certainly feature some of our proven hits. Dom's Mom's Meatballs. The Crab and Wild Mushroom Cheesecake. Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin. Tyler Florence's Wild Mushroom Tartlettes. Brie Kisses. And bite-sized coconut Bostinis.

But we're also searching for something new to entice our guests. And I'm turning to you my food-loving friends. Give me your go-to recipes. Our focus is on finger food, but anything that will work well on a buffet is fair game. Extra credit for anything that can be made ahead.

Gimme what you got. Post a link in the comments. Or send it in email (dolores dot ferrero at gmail dot com). I'll post a follow-up after the event with the recipes we used and our guests comments.

A year ago, we were climbing waterfalls in the Caribbean.