Petite Prince 1st birthday

What I want to know is, how can going to a 1 year old baby's birthday party be compared to going to a fabulous and amazing dinner fit for a king?  Well most cannot. Usually you can attend a party of this
genre and expect hot dogs, pizza, potato chips and sticky fingers of every participant under 4ft tall. Well this may be a slight exaggeration, but this weekend I had the extreme pleasure of attending a one year old birthday that resembled that of the birthday of the Prince of England, food wise that is,when he was that age.

There were no pizzas, hot dogs or sticky fingers. The array of scrumptious and tantalizing food laid
before every guest, including the birthday boy himself, who at such a young age has a very diverse palette,was fit for shall we say "a king" much older than only one year.

I of course was a guest to this great invite and need I say had to arrive a little late, after appetizers, yes appetizers were served, (because I as a responsible adult was working and earning a decent living so they say lol), any way, fear not because I was greeted by my friend, the mother of this child and her mother the royal and gracious grandmother, and was scurried in to be seated promptly at the dining room table.
Then, before me was placed an enormous plate of appetizers, yes once again fit for a king but presented
to a mere commoner. I enjoyed the sight and knew my taste buds would enjoy what I saw even more.
The plate was filled with appetizers from many other places around the world that they could call home.
One little section of my plate was a myriad of beautiful Mexican perfection called a Mexicali dip and some deep, dark blue corn chips used to capture this melting pot of flavors, to imprison  in your palette. The dip was layered in creamy pinto beans, rich green guacamole, bright red tomatoes, sweet white onions and snow white sour cream. When combined they formed the most addicting and pleasing taste that keeps calling to you like the wind among the trees at the advance of  a perfect thunderstorm.  Pure intense pleasure. Wow that was just one appetizer!

 Among the favorites were bruschetta with goat cheese, lemon zest and arugula. The tang of the lemon, the somewhat tart cheese and the crunch of the arugula created little beds of perfection! Then the most beautiful
of these, the Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Yes at such a royal occasion, this artwork was on display for all
and so gorgeous, it was almost too much perfection to eat, but I did my best! These were truly transparent, pillowy clouds filled with fresh carrots, fresh onion, fresh nappa, fresh cucumber and fresh roasted  slivers of chicken, all tucked in to be enjoyed in a rich brown hoisin sauce with every bite! Next on the appetizer menu were little puff pastries with smoked salmon, sour cream and lovely little green, delightfully salty capers! Just the right crunch of the pastry with the bite of smokiness from the salmon. One
yummy bite after another. I just didn't know which I loved more the fact that all these appetizers were heavenly or the fact that they just kept being placed in front of me.
Did I mention these were the only the appetizers and this was a birthday party for a 1 year old baby? Yes I
think I did, I had to pinch myself then and now just remembering where I was at that time. Well the list
of appetizers goes on and I was so enjoying myself, when someone mentioned dinner was almost ready.
Dinner, oh my I almost forgot that these were the appetizers as I loosened my jeans slightly, remembering the food filled weekend and oh how I will never lose five pounds eating like this.
Well the eating fest continues and my weekend of amazing food continues.
I should have also mentioned that I was not the only guest at this royal baby's party, there were in fact
about forty in attendance, and all the while the baby was being passed from arm to arm and containing
himself as if he was trained to be the prince some day. Oh by the way, this baby's family nickname is Petite Prince, so hence the royal references.
The weather was totally cooperating, which in Michigan is very unusual, because for some reason,
Mrs.Michigan Mother Nature, seems to want to rain on everyone's parade, party, wedding, graduation,
baseball game, picnic, you get the picture, well she was giving it a rest tonite. Maybe she went to
bed early, thank you ma'am, cuz daddy of this prince was grilling up a storm!  Yes more food on the
way via the barbecue. Chicken and onions, yes, another world dish to please the royal prince, this one from none other than Greece, Chicken Soulvaki--beautiful!

People were mingling and children, not too many children for some reason, and people of all shapes and sizes were there to honor this beautiful baby and that he is. I have told my friend numerous times that
I don't think I have seen a more beautiful baby, not even my  own, sorry kids, yes you were cute, yes
cute and pretty, but this baby is gorgeous. He is right out of the pages of Gerber baby food labels
only better.In fact he is so gorgeous, his picture was on the cake! It was a beautiful cake that is for sure, an Italian casada cake with canoli filling inside. Yumo as Rachael Ray would say. Waiting for cake was ages from now and I could only imagine how creamy and delightful it would be, and how full my stomach already was.
Okay the chicken soulvaki was ready! The buffet was set up on the long dark dining table set in a room
painted a subtle magenta, if magenta can be subtle. First the warm grilled pita, then the juicy, grilled and

seasoned shredded chicken, pile this all onto the homemade Greek pita bread and top with, grilled onions, fresh cilantro, and tatziki sauce! Kings dinner!
My foodie friend, was so concerned about having all her guests get the full experience out of this process, that she stood there directing each and every guest on which item should be placed where determined that all the flavors where combined in the right sequence and they would benefit from all the ingredients. It served the guests well to have a buffet "police" because following directions was essential. A fresh Greek salad and Vietnamese noodles also followed all homemade of course. It sounds like a crazy mix, but definitely extraordinary in some wonderful conglomerate way. This night was not only food for a king but it was also the greatest gift to be given to this handsome little one year old boy. A welcome to life in the most celebratory way, food and family!!! Hail to the King and hoorah for the food!

My amazing food week whirlwind

Shabbot Dinner
Did you ever have a weekend that was completely filled with great food and great people. Well this past weekend was one of those food, fun, people, food and more food weekends, which quickly melted into a glorious food week. 
There are times when I am just craving a great meal, but settle for a tuna sandwich for lack of time, energy, ingredients or an invitation. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear but an entire week of
invites and meals to just dream about.
It all started Friday night with a Shabbot dinner at one of my friend's home. She has these dinners on a regular basis and always has the dinner "regulars" whom all love the ritual of
bringing the food to the table as well as eating, conversing and then the quick clean up and the best part of the dinner, the desserts.
This dinner was especially wonderful, probably because this is the time of year when people start to feel
the desire to get cozy around the dinner table with dishes that warm the hands as well as the heart.
The suprise for this dinner was not only the menu but the guests. We had two newcomers who just
filled the room with energy and curiosity. Not only did they look like a celebrity couple but we thought
they were celebrities, because they handled all the interrogations like they were on the red carpet. She was poised and beautiful and he was charming and somewhat like a folk singer turned talk show host. Their newness and charm invited questions and conversation that was new and exciting. Not that our normal conversations weren't exciting, but something about a new guest gives new life to the usual comfort in a routine. Kudos to the hostess who always knows how to please her guests.
The conversation was continuous and laughter was rolling along with the summer end menu
of grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and the fall edition of lasagna, greek salad and roasted vegetables.
The grilled burgers and dogs put the right spin on the feel of the night, because everyone is always
sad to see the summer go. Here in Michigan we barely get a chance to see the summer, let
alone feel what it really should be like. So hot dogs and burgers helped to welcome the fall but
remember the feel of summer slowly leaving.
The culmination of the dinner is usually the expectation of something sweet and I of course was
summoned to bring dessert. So being the aspiring baker, pastry chef, and cook that I think I am
I deliberated as usual over what would be appropriate for this lovely gathering of friends and family.
My conclusion was my triple chocolate double layer cake with double chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Wow that was a mouthful----and yes it was if I must say so myself--amazing!! I surprised myself
with this devilish chocolate confection. If the new couple was a celebrity this was their celebrity's cake!
Everyone loved it---even me!!.   To all who want to have a wonderful gathering -have a Shabbot
dinner and invite someone new and someone dear but always serve chocolate cake, because Shabbot
dinners and chocolate cake could possibly be the answer to world peace!!!!

my amazing food week whirlwind to be continued on the next post.

Today I had one of the best lunches that I have had in quite some time. I went to a fabulous vegetarian resturant in Royal Oak, Inn Season Cafe. I went with a very new friend that I just had the pleasure of meeting at one of my many jobs. She is also a foodie, a personal chef, very energetic and most of all passionate about the art she loves, cooking.  Upon meeting we both struck up a great conversation and somehow realized we both had the same passion, loving to cook for the people we love and anyone else who would love to eat what we cook.
She is a vegetarian, but I really am not, I still love my chicken pot pies and my tuna salad sandwiches,
but I also can love a completely vegetarian meal, which at times I crave. We love the fact that we both cook to make people happy and the process of cooking itself. So many people find it hard to cook a meal, but there are some that find the entire process, from planning, to shopping, to preparing, to the last sizzle in the pan, quite a ritual of satisfaction. My personal pleasure is really seeing the finished product and the smile that it brings to the person I serve it to. I don't love to eat but I sure love to cook so everyone else can eat. I think my new friend and I share that love together.

We shared food pictures like we were sharing pictures of our children. There is something
wonderful about seeing a piece of carrot cake on a beautiful glass plate that just says
perfection.

The Inn Season Cafe had a great atmosphere, homey and cozy. Everyone there knew my friend,
which led me to believe that, one, she is a very wonderful person and two ,that the Inn Season is
a very small town everyone knows each other and everyone knows your name kind of place.

I had the bean quesidilla which was so full of flavor,so fresh, so delightful to put in my mouth that
I felt like it came right from Mexico. My friend had a beautiful stir fry that came in the most beautiful
classic white bowl, and it was piled with lots of veggies and both dishes looked like they were photos waiting to be printed in Martha Stewart Living magazine.

The tea we ordered was served in charming little classic teacups, each with beautiful designs and it seemed as though they had just reached into my grandmothers china cabinet to serve us. I was delightfully impressed at this little touch because when the cup was placed in front of me my heart
went ah-h-h-h!

We sat for quite awhile not realizing the time passing by and the rain outside, greying up the
streets, because where we sat, it felt like a garden filled with life and light from the people inside
enjoying the meals made from the beautiful vegetables that gardens provide. Despite the rain
Inn Season Cafe was truly a sunny experience.

Dining in when friends visit from out of town

I had a good friend stay with me from Florida this summer for three days. I can truly say all we did was
eat. She was tired from all of her work travels and really didn't want to be "out on the town" so to say.
So I decided to cook and cook I did!  So for two days in preparation for her short visit I cooked up a big storm.
The first nights' meal was a great summer dinner, fancy yet light. I made fresh houmous and pita for an appetizer, chicken grape pecan salad served

on cantaloupe boats, along side a mixed green watermelon feta kalamata olive salad and spinach corn couscous cakes with yogurt dill garlic sauce. Yummy! Who needs to go out. With a little patience and
following simple recipes you can keep your family home or keep your friends coming back.
Needless to say the dinner was was a hit and we sat all nite and just ate slowly and luxuriously.Then for dessert we ate out on the balcony with the flowers and night patio lights. I had made
 a fresh carrot  pineapple cake with lemon cream cheese frosting for dessert, of which I could eat the entire thing myself over the course of 3 days, gaining five pounds would follow immediately though. Fortunately my darling friend saved my from myself and shared much of it with me. She was taking pictures
of all the food as if she was a food reporter and sending them off to friends and family!!! Of course I was
tickled pink about this.  She also said it was better than her mother's carrot cake but don't tell her mother.
The next day we both went to work and we were going to go out to dinner but my friend was so impressed with the food, she was dreaming about it at work she admitted later to me. She wanted to go home and eat the leftovers!!! She said she had dreams about eating the carrot cake all during the night! Imagine that dreaming about cake instead of our men!!! Boy have we come a long way! Well we feasted again and it took all night, but the best part about cooking at home for friends and family is making them happy. The smiles and the "oh this is so good" make all the work worthwhile. We had a great time doing nothing expect eating and talking.
The last day of her visit we once again opted to stay home and I was delighted to cook a favorite dish
of hers, lamb and rice stuffed cabbage rolls. This dinner is not only easy to make but you have leftovers
that tast great. We sat at the table for so long languishing over all the food and talking about the last
time she was in town for a visit and I actually made the cabbage rolls that time as well. There is nothing better than sitting at the table long after the meal is done, without feeling you have to leave the restaurant for the
next set of customers to sit down.  We both laughed at how much carrot cake we both ate and how much we could eat, possibly the entire cake! Such a sinfully rich indulgence .

 Relaxing at home can be great and it can be learned, you can cook

  

 to keep them dining in instead of dining out.

Christmas Holiday



EGGPLANT CASSEROLE



SPINACH FETA CASSEROLE





APPLE CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING



SALMON CAKES

 

Christmas to me should only come every three years. Does anyone else feel this way? I mean before you know it Christmas has come and gone and come around again and I just took down the decorations and put them away. Or so it seems this way.

My children live out of state on opposite coast lines, so dilligent coordination must happen before any semblance of a holiday materializes.  We have phone call after phone call trying to coordinate the flights,
the times, the pick ups and the schedule of who is staying where and when we are eating and shopping and
wow I'm tried all ready.

I am not saying I don't like the holidays I just wish they came around lets say as often as leap year! It seems I need that long to deliberate over the Christmas dinner and Christmas breakfast. I have one child that it
a vegetarian and one that only wants one dish, because she will eat to much of everything else and I of
course want to make a huge glorious, elegant meal that would befit Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse.

Needless to say I start planning and thinking weeks ahead of time scouring the recipes I have, looking through all the new magazines, food websites and food television shows, hoping to find the perfect recipe
for my two wonderful adult children and all their requests.  I believe this has become just a hobby or should
I say an obsession though, because the "kids" are fine with one or two things. Macaroni and cheese and
eggplant casserole. I suppose I could make this numerous times and they would not complain.
But alas I have some figment in my imagination that Christmas dinner should be full of granduer and splendour and full of awe.  Did I say that? Yes I did. Who am I kidding. Maybe if you are the Queen of
England, but in this day and age even she may be saying Bah Humbug to Holiday dinner, pass me the
fries and vinegar.
Well maybe that is a little extreme. My dinner was somewhere in between, way in between. I finally decided on a menu that would hopefully satisify my dream and my children's distinguished appetites.
My menu started with crab cakes, eggplant casserole, macaroni and cheese, spinach casserole, stuffed grape leaves. Now I know this does not sound like your traditional or even a Christmas dinner, it looks like a buffet of casseroles, but you see I had to make a vegetarian meal, and lacking in meat but big on substance.


Well needless to say I cooked for days, and loved every minute of it. This menu was what I made to please
the kids, who are not so kiddish any more, they are more kids when home and adults when away.
My idea of Christmas dinner is far from what I made to make them happy, but on we go into the world of
home cooking. It really doesn't matter what you make, it is the atmosphere in which you eat it together that
counts. So cook a christmas pizza for your kids if that is all they will eat, but make it the tradition of sitting together that they remember. Make it along with your other dishes you love and as they grow up they will
surprise you and ask you to make them for these special holidays! That is how I ended up with this crazy menu, it is all of the dishes they love and relate to the happy holiday times!

Wow where did the holidays go?

As soon as the fall hits it seems like before we know it, it is January and we are standing in the midst of our slightly droopy  holiday decorations saying what happened to the end of the year?

Well I believe everyone has some kind of feeling like this the first two weeks of the new year.  Any way I certainly did, with children flying in and out of the state to come home, family and friends calling, I barely had time to look at the computer.

So what I am going to do is provide a recap of the meals and dishes I prepared through out all of the decorating, shopping, cleaning, airport trips and gift wrapping. And hopefully by next year I will have this
blogging thing down so well that I can blog while I am shopping or cleaning!!!

Thanksgiving............

Thanksgiving is my favorite holilday, and I love to cook for this holiday.  This year I ate at my dear friend.s
house. She was newly married a year ago and wanted to host thanksgiving with her husband. The dishes I prepared were, a brussel sprout au gratin, a cranberry cream dish, and an apple-pear praline pie.

The day was, should I say fabulous,  despite the turkey that had not been done on time, because of two major disaters that would be a newly married couple's worst nightmare!!! Actually it would be anyone's nightmare for Thanksgiving!  What were these disaterous events! ? The unspeakable, a fire in the oven!!! Not once but twice!
First a beautiful breakfast with your newly blended family, to start the day off perfect. Wrong!!!!  Somehow the breakfast casserole caught fire and boom the oven was on fire with everyone in a frenzy, smoke alarms going off and kids and babies running everywhere. Who knew you couldn't put bacon under the broiler for very long!!! Wow no turkey in the oven yet, only two hours behind!!
Okay, everyone recovered and no one was rethinking the day yet. That came later in the day after the second fire in the oven and the dishwasher flooding the kitchen floor!!!! Yes I said the dishwasher flooding! But like the true foodie and calm, levelheaded woman my friend is, she was walking in cirles and totally  frieked out like a new bride should be, after all we can handle anything(superwomen and all). Who said that anyway?
 That is when I arrived not knowing what I was walking into, expecting to see all the sides made, the turkey cooling on top of the oven, not still raw and in the oven. I thought it would be Thanksgiving bliss!!
What dream was I in? I have never seen my friend so happy to see me in all the years I have known her!  She promptly and with complete command, slammed the magazine recipe into my hand and said "here finish this! I can't think now."
I with complete surprise at here out of control demeanor, quickly sat her down on the kitchen chair where
she looked like a bewildered bird, who couldn't find it's nest and told her to stay there. She did not know what hit her!!  The kitchen was an example of a cooking class gone wrong and the instructor walking out on the student. Her husband was frantically and continually adding ingredients to the gargantuan pot of mashed potatoes on the stove and asking everyone if they would taste them and decide if they needed more cheese. No! Please no more cheese, enough all ready, as the potatoes were dripping over the side the pot that must have been 30 inches tall and big enough to feed the entire team of Red Wings Hockey players a dinner of just mashed potatoes! Who are we anyway--the world's biggest mashed potato eaters in the state of Michigan!!! During all this I kept thinking-the turkey, the turkey. My friend and her husband are great foodies and love exotic dishes and spices. They were experimenting on new dishes and didn't realize this is the biggest no no in Thanksgiving history, especially with 20 guests arriving all at once. It was like Dr. Suess
the Land of Whoville. Yes who is going to make all these unkown dishes and who knows what they will
taste like. Cindy lou where are you. Welcome to crazy holiday 101.
Dinner was only four hours away, no problem, the troops have arrived.  Moms from both sides came in just on time to restore the fantasy. I was dilligently trying to follow the recipe that was shoved into my hands upon arrival, and trying to scour the kitchen for the ingredients. Her mother was immediately made kitchen captain and head executive chef, and got everything going on track like she was elected to office and saving the troops, making the gravy with one hand and filtering through all the cooking paraphenalia to see the bottom of the kitchen counters. We all worked on getting everything prepared including my friend who was quickly restored to her usual self, after the cooking artillary arrived.  Heaven knows ,who could be normal through all of that on the first Thanksgiving you were hosting as a new couple for all those people!

Well at about 8pm we all sat down to a beautiful candlelit, well cooked turkey and an over abundance of
Thanksgiving sides and listened to my friend and her husband recount the events of the day that we all indeed can somewhat be familiar with even if ours were not as traumatic.  They were now officially iniated into the Thanksgiving Hall of fame, after experiencing all of this and hoping they can take a Thanksgiving hiatis, for maybe the next five years.
 We all decided we had so much to be thankful for, especially my friend, she was
just glad that dinner was over and they didn't burn the house down or wash away the cats in the flood!

I hope your Thanksgiving was less eventful, peaceful and happy!

The Everlasting apple pie!

Is there anyone out there in the United States of America that does not like apple pie?  Well I am
sure there may be someone, but as far as I know,
apple pie says home!  But what kind of apple pie?The good old fashioned, golden two crust pie. The scumptious vanilla ice cream on top kind. The  cinnamony, sweet, juicy pie we all know and love. 

Pies are something that come in all flavors of sweet
and savory foods. Everyone has a favorite.  But
today the apple pie is the one I will feature here.

Did you every notice the apple pie war silently
going on with Mom and Grandma and friend an
neighbor or anyone obssesed with the fact that they make the best tasting, best looking and the biggest
apple pie of all. For some reason the apple pie becomes the test of baking and competition to all avid
home bakers and maybe professional bakers too.  What is it about the apple pie that stirs this innate
primal competition to bake, and rebake to prove that "our pie is better than yours"?  Is it the fact that
the apple was the fruit that Eve took the first bite from and offered it to Adam. Hence the forbidden
fruit, therefore the obsession of making it into the best pie to win over the next Adam? I don't think
so, actually how primitive and maybe should I say how 1950's is that. 
Well whatever the reason, you never see anyone competing over the best rhubarb pie, yuk in my book.
(sorry to all you rhubarb lovers).  Well you all know the saying "As American as Apple Pie". So
let's get baking and see if your competitive spirit breaks free
Let's start with that golden brown crust. Who can make a crust that comes out perfect? Maybe our grandmothers or great grandmothers?  Well not today, I know so many of you are afraid of the "made
from scratch pie crust", but I have a recipe that is so easy, once you try it you will never buy a pre-made
crust again.
Following is the recipe for this fabulously, flaky crust and lucious apple pie. I hope you like it!

FABULOUSLY FLAKY PIE CRUST
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
16 TBS (2 sticks) cold butter
4-6 TBS cold water

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder. Cut butter into tablespoon size squares and add
to flour. Coat with the flour mixture. Mix with a pastry cutter or two forks till very crumbly. Add the water
tablespoon by tablespoon to keep it moist, so that the mixture can form into a ball.
Cut the dough ball into two pieces and flatten each one to a round disc, wrap each one in saran wrap
and refrigerate at least one hour.
On a floured surface or on a large piece of saran wrap place one of the dough discs, cover with either
flour or saran whichever you choose to roll the dough on.  I have just started rolling on the saran wrap
because it is mess free and easier to place in the pie plate.
Roll with a rolling pin in one direction but in a outward circular motion around the disc to flatten it and make it about 1 inch larger than the pie plate. Roll consecutively around the disc until it is the desired size. Example,
roll it like you are rolling out to each number on the clock, clockwise until it is the right size.
Now remove the top layer of saran wrap, and gently lift the bottom saran wrap, lifting the pie dough at
the same time. Lay the dough on top of the pie plate and remove the saran wrap. Gently fit the dough
into the pie plate to fit, pressing the edges onto the edge of the plate. You can use either your fingers
or a fork to press the edge onto the plate to form to the pie plate.

For the Apple Pie filling:
10-12 Cooking apples (I like Empire, but you can use Granny Smith,  or Ida Red or what you like)
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of flour
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground allspice
1/8 tsp of ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp of salt
3-4 TBS of butter
3TBS of melted butter
1TBS sugar
Peel and cut apples into thin slices. Place in a very large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.
In another small bowl mix together the flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt then add to
the apple and sugar mixture and mix together well till apples are coated with the spice and flour mixture.
Pour the apples into the pie plate with the prepared bottom crust. Place the 3-4 TBS of butter on the apples
in 3 or 4 different spots.
Go back to your second dough disc and roll out like described above.
Place that crust on top of the apple filling. Seal the two crust together around
the edge of the pie plate using your fingers or a fork to make a decorative edge.
Cut slits into the top of the crust with a sharp knife about an inch long in three or four places.
Melt the extra 3TBS of butter and brush along the edge of the crust and the top of the pie.
Place the pie on a large baking sheet to protect your oven from spills. Cover the edge of the pie crust
with foil for the first 25 minutes of baking.
Bake in a 350* oven for 25 minutes, remove foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes more until golden and
bubbly.
Yummy!!! Hope you love it!!!