Unless they are organic, sweet and juicy perfect strawberries.
I have been in the chocolate fountains and chocolate events business since 2003. Nobody knows the strawberries I’ve seen. I have dipped until I dropped and I’m over even looking at them.
I’m also not a jam gal. Not so big on the sweets. But I love my condiments: relishes, chutneys, chili jams, etc. anything savory.
However I do wind up with strawberry leftovers and rather than try to give them away (Yes, picture me running after strangers with containers of strawberries), I’ve tasked myself with finding savory ways to cook them.
Come meet your favorite cookbook authors, food writers and food bloggers at the IACP Book & Blog Festival on April 1st! Schmooze with them, buy their books, get books signed and much more.
I’m definitely still full from our “Year Of The Dragon” Chinese New Year Potluck event. Two weeks later?! How much food did I eat?
While the food was PLENTIFUL and STUPENDOUS and while I definitely had my fill, I’m brimming from our friends who bring their enthusiasm and their best to every event that Ken and I host.
I love the lead up to this event: The #TigerCNYPL twitter feed lights up with questions like “What should I make?”; “What are you making?”; “Please make… !” speculating and scheming. I love being the keeper of the menu. It’s both sweet torture and a thrill each time I ring the virtual gong, adding each dish to the feast and announcing it on the feed.
As the menu grows bigger and the day of the event grows nearer, the anticipatory tweets get more frenzied. Everyone is excited about tasting each others food and getting to spend time with one another. A fun-filled feast and love fest—what more could you want?
Well, there is one moment, as the host, I could live without…
When you go to a party that’s hosted by a person who LOVES and makes GREAT food, you know it’s going to be a FABULOUS party because GREAT food makes a party.
But there’s a step up from this, and that’s when you go to a party filled with hundreds of people who LOVE and make GREAT food and there’s GREAT food and drink, to boot. That, my friends, is a FOOD LOVE FEST!
That was the scene at Santos Party House last Monday for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Launch Party for “The Fashion of Food” Program. In March 2012, the IACP annual conference is coming to New York City for the first time in thirty years. The theme of the conference is the The Fashion of Food: an exploration of where food, fashion and media connect.
It’s baaaaaack! By popular demand and because we had such an incredible time last year, Ken and I are hosting the “Year of the Dragon” Chinese New Year Potluck on February 4th, 2012.
Have you stood face-to-face with over a thousand cookies that you could eat and take home to feast on? If you haven’t, you totally should!
I had the absolute DELIGHT! of hosting NYC COOKIE Swap yesterday with Maggy Keets, Gail Dosik and Ken Leung. What a fun event! The local and not so local food community came out in droves with their A-GAME cookies and it was STUPENDOUS!
I made: Cranberry Pepita Rugelach with Apple Honey Jelly | Stained Glass Ginger Cookies | Peppermint Chocolate Bark Stars
On Twitter the other day, Mdvani (@LadiesWhoLunch1), who I believe is vegan, asked me how to make sweet potatoes on behalf of a friend. I tweeted three ways:
Peeled and roasted rounds with slivers of garlic on each slice in olive oil and S&P
Peeled and casseroled chunks with fresh apples, dried cranberries, maple syrup, butter and S&P
Whipped with milk or cream, butter, brown sugar and sweet spices.
Then I said, “Use coconut milk if you want them to be vegan.” That, was a moment of GENIUS! And that’s how I made them for Thanksgiving and they were FANTABULOUS!
I found this recipe, many years ago, for the Chinese Laundry Cafe’s “Feta And Garlic Pate” online and it had this explanation: “This funky little cafe is a regular hangout for Queen’s university students. Lucky students. This recipe comes from the owner, Ann Marie Rousseau.”
I loved the idea, but I finagled it… a lot. One significant change was increasing the amount and roasting the garlic and adding more scallions and anchovies. The original recipe had butter in it which seemed kind of European so I scratched that. Now it’s got balls—just the way I like it!
