Grocery Lists and Schedule

zucchini wrapped in prosciutto
antipasto tray - ordered from Nundini
veggie tray
mini quiche
spinach puff pastry
cream cheese and raspberry compote spread with crackers
finger sandwiches - ordered from Central Market
pasta salad
tres leches cupcakes

Grocery List:
shortening
unsalted butter
evaporated milk
2 - sweetened condensed milk
coconut milk
zucchini
prosciutto
cream cheese
crackers - Cars for dip
wheat pasta tubes
fresh mozzarella
fresh basil
cherry tomatoes
red onion
frozen spinach
puff pastry
Monterrey jack cheese
Ritz Crackers
Swiss cheese
bacon
green onion
eggs
carrots
celery
cucumber
sour cream
plates
napkins
silverware

Alcohol is being taken care of courtesy of Kelly. I have also asked the guests to bring a bottle as well.

Thursday - go to grocery store
Friday - make spinach puff pastries and place in freezer, make cupcakes and pasta salad
Saturday:
10:00am - pick up tray from Central Market
2:00pm - pick up tray from Nundini
2:30 - set table
3:00 - start cutting veggies for veggie tray
4:00 - ice beer, make quiche, thaw puff pastry, sear zucchini
6:00 - make puff pastry and set table

Deidra's Upcoming Birthday

Okay so here is the menu for Saturday:
zucchini wrapped in prosciutto
antipasto tray
veggie tray
mini quiche
spinach puff pastry
cream cheese and raspberry compote spread with crackers
finger sandwiches
tres leches cupcakes

The antipasto tray I will order from Nudini and the finger sandwiches will come from Central Market. I will probably place the orders today. My game plan is to make the spinach and puff pastry's as well as the cupcakes Friday evening and the rest Saturday afternoon before the party starts. Should be an easy game plan as I am only expecting roughly 20. I will publish my grocery lists later in the week.

Updates

Okay so I have four events I am planning currently. I will start in order of events.

First Event: Finger Happy Hour
Date: March 14, 2008
The event starts at 6:30 at my house. It is a gathering of current and ex-finger employees. This is a bring a dish and bring a bottle of wine event so not much planning here. I will provide the plates, napkins and silverware. I am going to make my artichoke spinch puff pastries and bring a bottle of Chandon sparkling wine


Second Event: Deidra's Birthday
Date: March 29, 2008
So far I haven't done a whole lot for this. I am waiting on the guest list which I should have tonight. Once I have the list I will send out an evite and start thinking of a menu. This will be held at my house at I am probably looking at doing an array of finger foods.

Third Event: Jimmy and Donald's Housewarming
Date: April 19, 2008
I am sent the evite out last Monday and so far there are about 15 guests. This event is being held at Jimmy and Donald's house. Jimmy has planned quite a menu that he will prepare. I am providing my goat cheese spread.

Fourth Event: Elizabeth's Disco Bridal Shower
Date: May 2008
I am cohosting this event with Kim and James. We met at Shade http://www.shadeheights.com/) over brunch on March 2. They have an excellent brunch menu and I would highly recommend the eggs benedict. They roast Roma tomatoes and top the english muffins with the tomatoes, canadian bacon, poached eggs and a homemade hollandaise sauce. They serve there breakfast dishes with a side of potatoes and fresh fruit. I always have a bloody mary and upgrade from the house vodka. I like that they serve there bloody marys with a pickled okra. A very southern touch.

Anyways I digress... the event will be hosted at my house. We are currently working on a menu as well as invitations. Since this is a disco mexican theme the menu and decorations will center around this.

Welcome Home Party Aftermath

Another party has ended and all the dishes have been done. Tom and Miriam have officially moved home from Malaysia! I would say over all this party was a great success. The guest list was about 25 which makes for a more manageable group. I was definitely less stressed this go around.

I started Saturday morning with preparing the brie. This took about 20 minutes and then I placed in the fridge for storage. Then I was off to get my haircut, which by the way I chopped 6 inches. Then when I got back I started the remainder of the food preparations. I made the quiche, breadsticks, gnocchi, eggplant stacks and then ended with crab cakes. This way the crab cakes and eggplant would be hot when the guests arrived.

We started this party a little earlier than I normally do since we had a bit older crowd and kids were welcome. The party started at 5:00 and the last guest left at approx. 11:30.

The most popular item was the crab cakes followed by the eggplant stacks. The least successful item was the gnocchi again. I have to say that means that I won't be making any more gnocchi for parties. I was also disappointed in how the breadsticks turned out. They were quite dry and didn't have a whole lot of flavor so I won't be making those again either. Despite this I really feel the menu was perfectly planned as we didn't have to many left overs. Below is the recipe for the crab cakes for those interested.

I would say total cost of party was approx. $400 which is about $16 a person. Not to bad since that total includes alcohol. Which by the way we had the perfect amount.

The next party to plan is the bridal shower, a birthday party and a housewarming. Busy times around the corner. Cheers!

Crab Cakes
courtesy of Paula Deen

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Yield: 4-6 Servings

1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
1/3 cup crushed crackers (recommended: Ritz)
3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt Dash cayenne pepper
Flour, for dusting
1/2 cup peanut oil
Favorite dipping sauce, for serving

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and peanut oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes.

Serve warm with preferred sauce.

Upcoming Dates

February 23 - Adrianne and Pete's Birthday Party/Crawfish Boil: Just doing a cake and decorations.
March 29 - Deidra's Birthday
April 5 - Sports Party at friends
April 19 - Housewarming for Donald and Jimmy

I also have a bridal shower to work on and the date is yet to be determined for this one.

St. Patricks Day is on a Monday this year and I am working every weekend for the Rodeo so I may have to miss festivites.

More posts to follow soon.

Various Updates

Two more parties to work on, a house warming in April and a birthday party in March. We are also approaching St. Patricks Day and Rodeo time so lots of activities buzzing about.

In other news.... In preparation for Saturday I dropped by World Market and the liquor store. I ended up at the Mandola liquor store on Richmond. They average about $3-4 more per bottle. I was trying to save time so I figured the cost was worth it. Since we have a group of 16 coming I bought 4 bottles of white (Clos Du Bois Chardonnay), 4 bottles of champagne (Chandon) and of course vodka (Absolut for mixing and Kettle One for martinis or shooters).

I won't be able to do any preparations tonight since I have plans at Max's Wine Dive. I will publish more informaiton as the event approaches.

Cheers!

Shopping Lists for February 16 Event

I have changed the menu for the 16th. Here is what I have:

Brie en Croute with Mushrooms
Mini Onion Quiches
Crab Cakes
Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Stacks
Cheese and Rosemary Breadsticks
Smoked Salmon
Spinach Dip
Gnocchi with Basil Pesto
Assorted Desserts

Here are the stores and prospective lists:

Specs List:
Vodka
Club Soda
Dry sherry?

Costco:
Brie
Crab Meat (2lb crab meat)
Wine - white
Champagne - 3 bottles
Plates
Flowers
Smoked Salmon

Kroger:
Onion
Mushrooms (1/2lb)
Ritz Crackers – 1 box
Green Onions – 2 bunches
Milk
Swiss Cheese
Dry mustard
Flour
Lemon
Peanut oil
Cocktail sauce?
3 large eggplants
Balsamic vinegar
Garlic
Frozen spinach box
Cream cheese (for spinach dip and smoked salmon)
Sour cream
Ranch dressing pack
Chives cheese aloti pack
Parmesan
Gruyere
Breadstick dough (2 container Pillsbury)
Limes
Crackers for dip
Eggs

Central Market:
Nutmeg – fresh
Tomato (4 large)
Pesto – 1 medium container
Fresh mozzarella – 1.5lbs
French bread loaf (for salmon and spinach dip)
Rosemary

Cost Plus World Market:
Gnocchi – 4 packs

Bakery
3 dozen cookies

Arnies:
Silverware
Napkins