My version of an Aarti Paarti (Indian inspired shrimp, naan pizza, fig martinis and a lesson in Geography)

Whew! Now that you've gotten through the longest post title ever - let me explain!

If you've followed my blog for awhile, you know that I love to have "theme" parties, as evidenced, here, here and here. Well, I couldn't have been more thrilled when Aarti Sequeira won The Next Foodnetwork Star this year. I've watched it for the last 3 or 4 seasons, and knew from the first episode that they haven't had talent like hers competing on that show for a long time. Thankfully they chose the right person (I feel like viewers were owed this after sitting through an entire season and having Aaron McCargo Jr. win a couples seasons ago).

I've really been wanting to expand my cooking horizons into different types of cuisines, and Aarti makes Indian food more approachable. Even more important - she embraces entertaining and an Aarti Paarti is such a fun way to entertain. To clarify, I suppose the definition would be having your girlfriends over and making some Aarti recipes, but I guess its a flexible definition - this is just what I did.

My friends (well, some of them) can be somewhat skeptical of my theme parties from time to time (my first Mamma Mia party confused people when they saw what it was all about) - so I just invited some friends over for a girls night, and didn't tell anyone what it was about. I also didn't want people to be skeptical of trying Indian food. The night was a success, the food was delicious, and I will definitely be throwing more Aarti Paartis!

First up, my only non-Aarti recipe, was a fig martini. I've been wanting to try this since I had one in London. But figs are used a lot in Indian cooking (right?) - so I figured - close enough....



I don't have the exact measurements so here is how I made them (this should give you 2 martinis):

• 2 spoonfuls fig puree
• Shot of vanilla vodka
• Ice
  
• Cranberry juice (top off the rest of your cocktail mixer with this)

These were delicious and pretty close to the ones I had in London. A great way to kick off our party.

Next up was Aarti's "Friday night shrimp" which won oodles of praise during the Iron Chef challenge. These did not disappoint and were incredibly delicious and flavorful. This was really my first time cooking with Indian flavors so I was nervous I wouldn't like the tumeric and coriander - no need to worry - this will be one of my go-to party appetizers for some time!



Recipe - Foodnetwork.com

A word of warning - wear gloves when you are working with tumeric - at least if you have white nail polish on like I did - it will turn your nails yellow : )

Next up was the Naan Pizza Aarti made in her pilot episode. This was equally as delicious - the mango chutney used in the sauce really gives this pizza an interesting flavor. It was so easy to make, I used Trader Joe's frozen naan as the recipe suggested, and substituted queso fresco for paneer, as a lot of the FN reviewers suggested if you can't find it.



Recipe - Foodnetwork.com


All in all, my friends and I had a blast and enjoyed Aarti's recipes, I can't wait to try more of hers - I'm already planning on making the chicken and bread budding recipe from her lastest episode!

Oh yeah, and the geography lesson I mentioned - as we were discussing Indian cuisine, turns out some of my friends (and myself) were a little unclear on where India really is located. Thus ensued a ridiculous conversation about world geography that involved me pulling out a globe.


Even worse? I had invited a new friend over who is a colleague over from my company's London office. She grew up in Australia and is quite the world traveler so helpfully educated us on world geography. We wonder why Americans get the stereotype we do! How embarrassing.

Happy 30th Joe - and a lesson in Fondant!

When I asked Joe about a month ago what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, I was secretly wishing that he would say something easy - last year's German Chocolate Cake, while delicious, was pretty labor intensive. But since I've had another year of baking under my belt AND because its his 30th (!) birthday, I was prepared for whatever he would throw at me.

So when his answer was "I want one of those cakes with the really smooth frosting", I replied "Really, fondant? You know it tastes like crap right?" Oh no, he says, "I like the way it tastes". After a few minutes of silence, he then tells me "If you're going to make it yourself, you should probably make a practice cake before you do it for my birthday."

At this point, I'm convinced he's just trying to make my life difficult. No one actually likes eating fondant! And while I know I could have just ordered the cake (as he reminded me multiple times), that's just not my style. And - he was right, I did need to practice, so I did that with an egg cake for Easter. I don't have any photos and while I was reasonably pleased with the results, I am glad I practiced.

Now, what I couldn't have predicted when I took on the cake and planned a party for 30+ people, was that I would be leaving the country for a month for work - THE NEXT DAY.

That's right, as soon as I finish this post (and a piece of leftover cake), I need to pack enough clothes to take with me to London for the whole month of May and head to the airport.



All this week, I've gotten many different reactions from people when I told them what I was up to this weekend, ranging from "Why don't you just cater the party?" to "You are certifiable and need to be admitted to a mental hospital."

Well, a sure fire way to get me to do something is to tell me that I can't. And I really wanted to do something special for Joe's 30th. It was totally worth it to see his face when he saw the cake.



Luckily, a good friend insisted on coming over to help me, and Joe and one his friends pitched in right before the party to get everything ready.

The party was a success (of course, what else would it have been?!) - we had over 30 people here and NO BROKEN WINEGLASSES. This is a first for us, maybe its a sign that as Joe is turning 30, we are more responsible? I didn't get any pictures of the food, but had a great spread with lots of food involving bacon.

Oh - and I don't think I will be updating my blog for the next month - I don't think the Tesco Express meals I'll be heating up for myself while I'm gone will be all that blog-worthy : )



The fondant recipe and idea for the cake came from Annie's Eats. I made a basic white cake recipe with a strawberry and buttercream filling - YUM! The fondant recipe is a marshmallow fondant and definitely tastes better than most fondant I've had.

Marshmallow Fondant
Ingredients:
Vegetable shortening, for greasing bowls
16 oz. bag plain marshmallows, regular sized
2 tbsp. water
1-2 tsp. clear flavoring
2 lbs. confectioners’ sugar, divided
Pinch of salt

Directions:
Using the shortening, grease a large microwave-safe bowl, the bowl of the stand mixer, a spoon/spatula (or two), and the dough hook.

Add the marshmallows and water to the prepared microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds. Stir with the greased spatula/spoon. If not all the marshmallows have melted, microwave for 30 more seconds. Stir in the flavoring.

Reserve 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar and add the rest to the bowl of the stand mixer, along with the salt. Create a well in the center. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the well and turn the mixer on to the lowest setting. When the mixer sounds strained, turn the speed up one setting. Turn off the mixer once all the sugar has been incorporated. If the fondant is sticky, add the reserved sugar 1/4 cup at a time until it is no longer sticky.

Turn the fondant out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Rub a bit of shortening on the outside of the ball. Wrap tightly with the plastic wrap, place it in a Ziploc bag and let rest for at least 2-3 hours. Keep the unused portions covered when not in use. If the fondant becomes stiff, microwave for 20 seconds at a time until it becomes pliable.

Source: Annie's Eat's & Confections of a Foodie Bride

Close up of "Joe", made by my friend Katherine - thanks for the help Kat! (Somewhere along the line someone came up with the genius idea of putting a little cigarette in little Joe's mouth).

Joe, posing with his likeness.

Mamma Mia Reprise Party

So it appears that the Mamma Mia Sing-A-Long party may become an annual event for me. Ever since my party last year, my friends (who were reluctant at first) and I have been known to turn a regular evening into a night filled with ABBA songs, much to Joe (and my neighbor's) chagrin. This was easily solved by making sure Joe was far far away, and inviting said neighbor, who responded, 'if you can't beat em, join em'.

I was in London for work in January and got to see Mamma Mia (with some of the original cast!) at the Prince of Wales Theater. I went by myself, sat front row center and am not even kidding when I say this was one of the BEST experiences of my life! I was singing ABBA songs for weeks after seeing it and decided it was time for a reprise - hence the 2nd annual party.

This year, I timed it for when my sister was visiting me from Houston while the school she teaches at was on spring break. As you can see, she had a wonderful time (except for the part where she got out of the cab coming in from the airport and had to wait on the sidewalk outside my condo with her luggage and wait for Dancing Queen to be over so I could hear my phone ring - oops: )

As far as the menu went this year, since I had the party on a Friday and my friends specifically requested I make baklava again, I was a little constrained in terms of taking on any extra challenges. The one thing I really wanted to incorporate this year though was lamb, and I found an easy way to do it in the form of lamb meatballs (don't worry Mom and Dad, we didn't eat them until midnight since it was a Friday during Lent, I swear : )

Menu:

Olives & Feta

Pita with Tztatziki & Melitzanosalata

Lamb Meatballs

Spanakopita

Baklava

Last year, I had way too much food, so this year's smaller menu worked out perfectly. With a little pre-planning and the help of a friend, this was a totally stress free event to pull off.

I made the tztatziki and melitzanosalata on the Wednesday night before the party, and my friend Melissa came over to help with the baklava and meatballs on Thursday night. That actually translated to me rolling the meatballs (which took all of 20 minutes), then drinking wine and watching - I mean 'supervising' Melissa make the baklava for the next hour and a half. Worked for me, and while it tasted every bit as good as last year's, her final product was much prettier than mine. So hopefully that becomes an annual thing too....



I'll repost any recipes that I made again here this year.

Tztatziki
adapted from elly says opa

Ingredients:

1 16 oz low fat Greek Yogurt
1 seedless cucumber
4 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 lemon

Peel & seed the cucumber. Using a box grater, shred cucumber and squeeze out all the excess moisture (I used a towel, which Elly also suggests) - you really want to get it as dry as possible.

Mix together the yogur with the cucumber and grate the garlic over the mixture using a micro-plane (or you could make a garlic paste). Mix in the vinegar and lemon juice, then salt & pepper to taste.

Like I said, I made mine a couple days in advance, but Elly recommends letting it sit at least a half hour in the fridge to let the flavors marry.


Melitzanosalata
source: About.com

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
4 teaspoons of wine vinegar
3 cloves of garlic, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Pierce the eggplant with a fork and broil for 10-15 minutes until the eggplant turns black and is very soft. Set to cool and drain on a rack with paper towels underneath.

As soon as it can be handled, peel by hand (the skin will come off easily), and transfer to a bowl. Chop the pulp into small pieces with a knife, and mash with a fork. With a wooden spoon, stir in oil and vinegar slowly, alternating between them, until well blended. Stir in garlic, salt, and pepper.

Serve chilled or at room temperature, with pita wedges.

Spiced Lamb Meatballs
source: elly says opa



These little devils were heavenly - the cinammon and spices really makes for a rich flavor, I've been craving them ever since I made them!

1 lb. ground lamb
1/2 small onion, grated or finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper
olive oil for pan frying

I prepped these the night before, mixing all the ingredients together for the meatballs (except the olive oil) and formed the meatball, letting them sit in the fridge until I was ready to fry them the next day.

Using a dutch oven or heavy pan, heat up the oil for frying, and brown the meatballs until cooked through.

I served mine with the tztatziki.


Baklava:
source: Elly's recipe on bakespace.com


1 package phyllo dough (16 oz.)
1 cup butter, melted
1 lb. chopped toasted walnuts
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
2 tsp. lemon juice

Remember to thaw your phyllo before working with it! Your best bet is to put it in the fridge the night before.

Preheat oven to 350, and grease a 9x13 pan. Mix walnuts,cinnamon and cloves, and set aside.

Layer 1 sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the prepared pan, keeping a moist towel over the phyllo that you are not working with.

Brush melted butter over it and top with a second sheet. Continue this until you have layered 8-10 phyllo sheets.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture over the phyllo and then repeat the layering 2 times, ending with layers of phyllo. I cut mine into square inches. Bake for 45 minutes.

For the syryp, heat sugar, honey, water, lemon and cinnamon in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil to thicken slightly, and then remove from heat. Allow to cool before pouring it over baklava.





Until next year Dancing Queens.....

Marathon/Anniversary Party

This weekend, we had a lot to celebrate. Sunday was our first anniversary and after heading back from Cleveland where we celebrated my cousin's wedding, we had a post marathon party for two good friends who ran the Chicago marathon on Sunday .

Since my friend Melissa put off her marathon plans for a whole year in order to attend our wedding, I figured it was the least I could do to support her. When I asked her what she would want to eat post - race, her immediate reply was "Cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake."

Not wanting to disappoint, I planned a menu around her request (apologies in advance for the lack of "recipes" in this post, but its pretty basic stuff and kind of self explanatory) :

Sliders

Italian Sliders: Fried pancetta, mozzarella cheese, tomato, basil and pesto

Americana Sliders: American cheese, tomato and onion

Swiss Sliders: Swiss cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms & truffle aioli

French Fries with Dipping sauces

Honey Mustard: Equal parts honey and whole grain dijon mustard

Truffle Aioli: Mayo, a tiny bit of truffle oil, lemon juice (about 1 tsp), dijon mustard (about 1 tbsp), whisked together with olive oil drizzled in until desired consistency

Rosemary Garlic Ai0li: Similar method as above, mayo, dijon mustard, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic (minced very fine) and olive oil drizzled in while whisking

Pesto: Basic pesto recipe

Fries: Russet potatoes cut into slices, tossed in olive oil and seasonings. Baked at 400 degrees until cooked through and then broiled until crispy.

(Again, I did not really measure as I was making the sauces but just keep tasting till you get it right)

Milkshake Martinis

Made with mint chocolate chip ice cream and vanilla vodka!

Joe helped out by making one of his famous cheese balls, and (reluctantly) allowing our friends to share the top layer of our wedding cake.

Congrats Melissa & Lindsey on finishing the race!!! I'm going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for being a super spectator and making it to five different spots along the race - I'm exhausted : )

Greek Feast - Mamma Mia Style

So....first a few facts about to me to explain this madness:

1. I love 80's music
2. I love musicals
3. I love Meryl Streep

Every year at Christmas, my family gets one movie that we become obsessed with and watch it all week long - this year it was Mamma Mia.

Two of my brothers (who have a healthy appreciation for musicals), my sister, a reluctant Joe and I spent 4 days straight watching Mamma Mia over and over, while eating olives and feta (much to the chagrin of my mother when she went to make her Greek salad for a family Christmas party) and drinking wine.

Somewhere along the line, the idea was born for me to throw a Mamma Mia party back in Chicago and make a whole bunch of Greek food and force my friends and my brother who lives in Chicago to sing along with me! They were reluctant.....but it worked:

This was probably our 10th rendition in a row of "Winner Takes it All"

So as for the food, a BIG THANK YOU to Elly, of elly says opa. Elly's blog is chock full of authentic greek recipes, many of them handed down for generations - so if you want to make some legit Greek food, this is a good place to start. I asked Elly for help in planning my menu and she had so many great ideas. Most of the recipes I used came from her blog too.

Menu:

Olive Tapenade, Hummus, Melitzanosalata with Pita and Veggies

Olive Mix

Spanakopita

Tomata/feta/cucumber skewers

Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki

Baklava




Tomato/cucumber/feta skewers

Pretty self explanatory, just drizzle on a little e.v.o.o., red wine vinegar and oregano.



Olive Tapenade, Hummus and Melitzanosalata with Pita and Veggies

Tapenade

Ingredients:

• 20 pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 Tbsp rinsed, drained, and chopped capers
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp anchovy paste (optional)
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Just mix everything together in a food processor or blender.

Source: About.com

Melitzanosalata

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 4 teaspoons of wine vinegar
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Pierce the eggplant with a fork and char on the grill, or over an open flame (alternatively, broil for 10-15 minutes) until the eggplant turns black and is very soft. Set to cool and drain on a rack with paper towels underneath.

Source: About.com

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans (15 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons roasted garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Preparation:

In a food processor, process beans, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and oregano until desired consistency. If hummus is too thick, simply add olive oil in small increments(i/2 teaspoon) until desired consistency.

Source: About.com

Spanakopita



From Elly's blog. I love this "cheater" recipe that uses puff pastry rather than phyllo dough. After making baklava, I was happy not to have to use phyllo again!

These were a hit, and are for sure going to be one of my "go to" appetizers.


Chicken Gyros:

Also from elly says opa!

These were so delicous and easy, I just set up a little "gyro bar" for everyone to make their own!



Baklava:



From Elly, on bakespace.com.

So, yeah, this was a little difficult, but I expected as much. I've worked with phyllo before, but due to some poor planning on my part (regarding defrosting the phyllo) it was more difficult to work with than I've experienced before.



I ended up with one less layer than Elly's recipe calls for, but it still turned out delicious!

Thanks to my dancing queen friends, and my brother for being a good sport. We'll get Chiquitita out of our heads at some point....

Goodbye 2008 (A Dinner Party)

2008 has been a big year for me so I had to see it out in style. Beginning in February, I took my first overseas trip by myself to go visit my little bro in the Peace Corps in Senegal, Africa. In April, Joe and I bought our first place together and I became a home owner for the first time. Most importantly though, we got married in October!

Since it has been a year of a lot of firsts and new beginnings, it was fitting I threw my first real, adult dinner party in 2008. Well as adult that you could call a night that ended in paper towel mummies, someone climbing over one of our lofted walls and my friend sleeping at the foot of Joe's and my bed without us noticing until about 9 am this morning.



Anywho, I'm looking forward to a less eventful 2009 with more time to cook (maybe even bake) and of course, blog about it!


The Menu

Mixed Greens Salad with Lobster, Brown Sugar Bacon, Avocado and Grapefruit

Truffled Angel Hair Pasta with Wild Mushrooms

Tuscan Grilled Veal Chops

Buttered Green Beans with Almonds

Mint Chocolate Trifle


All recipes (except for the Trifle) came from Viking Cooking School in Cleveland. My mom, sister and I have started a tradition together in the last few years of taking a class together around the holidays. We took this class last week so it was perfect to have already tested out the recipes and see how the timing goes for everything.

I've taken classes from some other places in Chicago and I love the Viking classes the best, I wish they had one here.

Mixed Greens Salad with Lobster, Brown Sugar Bacon, Avocado and Grapefruit with Vinaigrette




This salad is AMAZING. By far my favorite part of the dinner, both at Viking and last night. It was also a great way to serve lobster but stretch your buck, since you're not serving them whole. I think the Viking recipe calls for 1 tail per person, but I did 4 tails for 8 people and it worked out just fine.

Ingredients:

mixed greens
shallot
avocado
grapefruit
bacon
brown sugar
lobster tails
chives
red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper

- The first thing I started was the brown sugar bacon. Umm.....this is heavenly. I think I'm going to be making brown sugar bacon for lots of other recipes. Super easy, just lay the bacon out on a non-stick cookie sheet and sprinkle brown sugar liberally over it. Stick in the oven at 350 and let it crisp up (or however you like your bacon, but crispy definitely worked best for this salad. When the bacon is done - leave it in the pan and DO NOT discard the juices!

- Next, I did grapefruit and avocado. Simply toss diced avocado and grapefruit segments in a bowl together and squeeze the remaining grapefruit juices over to keep the avocado from browning. Then I stuck it in the fridge to chill.

- Then I made the vinaigrette, again super easy. In a mixing bowl, start with chopped shallots, red wine vinegar (I honestly don't know how much, probably about 1/3 cup, but vinaigrette's are 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. Then slowly pour in the bacon juices and olive oil while whisking (the bacon juices are probably about 1/4 cup, then the rest is oil). Salt and pepper to taste.

- I did the lobster tails next, which don't take long at all in the oven. I just drizzled some olive oil on them and salt and pepper. They took about 4 minutes at 350.

- Once the lobster tails are done and slightly cooled, chop them up and arrange on top of the mixed greens with the avocado and grapefruit, pour the vinaigrette over top and garnish with chives.

Truffled Angel Hair Pasta with Wild Mushrooms

So the class at Viking was the first time I've ever tasted truffles, well truffle oil that is, and I love love love the taste. A teeny tiny bottle cost me $13 bucks at Whole Foods but it's worth it since you use such a small amount of it. I need to start thinking of other dishes I can use this in!

The Viking recipe just called for any wild mushrooms, I used shittakes and portebellas. I also omitted chicken stock from their recipe and used more white wine instead (hey, its New Years!)

Ingredients:

angel hair pasta (I used a box and half for 8 people, probably could have just used a box)
mushrooms (I used 6 big portebella caps and a box of shittakes)
truffle oil (1 table spoon)
2 shallots (minced)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 cup white wine
olive oil
thyme
parsley
parmesean cheese (used about 3/4 cup grated)
butter (half stick)
salt
pepper

-Saute the shallots in olive oil first, over medium heat, for a few minutes with salt and pepper, then add the mushrooms, garlic and thyme.

- Let saute about 10 minutes until the mushrooms begin to brown.

- Pour in the white wine and cook down

- While the wine is cooking down, add the angel hair to boiling water, it takes less than 4 minutes to cook them al dente.

- Once drained, mix the pasta with the cheese and parley

- Add the half stick of butter to the mushroom mixture and let melt. Once melted, add the truffle oil.

When plating, serve the noodles and pour the mushroom mixture over top. I added a little more parsley for a garnish.


Tuscan Grilled Veal Chops

Whenever my mom made veal when I was younger, I would dramatically claim that I was a vegetarian and refuse to eat it, because I thought what they did to the little baby cows was so cruel. Umm...I've gotten over it. Veal is amazing. (Animal lovers, please don't flame me).

The original Viking recipe actually called for a marinade and then cooking the chops entirely on the grill. The instructor varied this by only grilling them for the marks (about a minute on each side) and then finishing them off in the oven. Also, instead of a marinade, it was more of a rub, herb mixture type thing on top. This is placed on after grilling and before cooking in the oven:



Ingredients:

veal chops (order them at least one inch thick)
rosemary
sage
thyme
garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper

- Rub the chops with oil and season with salt and pepper

- Grill just about a minute on each side for the grill marks

- Mix chopped herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl and drizzle in a bit of oil for the herb mixture.

- Put the herb mixture on the grilled chops and transfer to the oven.

- Cook for about 20 - 25 minutes at 350, internal temp should be 140.





Buttered Green Beans with Almonds

Green beans (about a handful for every 2 servings)
butter (I used a half stick for 8 servings)
almonds (crushed)
salt
pepper

- Blanch the green beans in salted, boiling water for about 3 - 4 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them.

- Shock them in an ice bath

- Saute with butter and almonds till warm and season with salt and pepper

Mint Chocolate Trifle

The Viking menu had some kind of chocolate tart with a gelatin kind of fill that was mint flavored. I wasn't really feeling it since I don't like gelatin or baking. I registered for a trifle dish and love how easy it is to make simple, no bake desserts in it that still look great, so I decided to carry on the mint and chocolate them but do a trifle instead.

So this consisted of 3 major components:
- Chocolate mousse (recipe from allrecipes.com)
- Mint flavored whipped cream
- Mint Oreos (this was originally going to be Grasshoppers but Joe ate the whole package and Mint Oreos were the only mint flavored cookie the corner grocery store had)

For the mint flavored whipped cream, I just added about 1 tsp of peppermint extract and a teeny tiny bit (less than a tsp I think) of green food coloring. Start small with both of these because you can always add more. I used about 2 cups of whipping cream.

For the chocolate mousse, I followed the recipe exactly but made it for 6 servings. Not as difficult as I thought it would be!

I just crushed the cookies in a ziploc bag with a meat tenderizer.

As you can tell from the picture, the layering did not come out as pretty as I'd hoped. This is because I am very impatient (which is why I don't bake) and didn't wait for the mousse to thicken up in the fridge before I began layering, so you can see where it is running together in the layers. Also, the mint layer looks very white in the photos but it was greener.


I garnished with more whipped cream and mint leaves dipped in chocolate.



Regardless of how it looks, it was soooo delicious, and as light and refreshing as holiday desserts can go. mmm....I think I'm heading to the fridge right now for the leftovers.



That's all! Happy New Year!



Shout out to my friend Melissa for coming over early and being my sous chef and food photographer for the evening AND to my mom for the Viking class : ) - love ya both!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

We hosted an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party this year, it was a blast! Sweaters were optional (I opted out, it was not my idea) but accessorizing was a must. So many people pulled out the most ridiculous looking sweaters though.....such a good time.

We put out a big spread of appetizers including, bacon-wrapped scallops on rosemary skewers, crostini, stuffed mushrooms, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, pesto pastry, and peppermintinis.