Hosting with the Most Zing!

Last night I hosted a Ladies Night Potluck I called a Taste of Thailand.  I have mentioned deeming a theme for gatherings before, but only half believed it myself.  It seems the “themed” dinner party is much more of a West coast (or Southwest Coast at least) phenomenon than is so on the East Coast (or at least the Southeast coast, where it’s more like: y’all wanna come over and eat?).  But I myself am finding I like hosting a theme party for a few reasons.

One reason is that it gives both me and my guests a focus.  That is to say, rather than having this open ended question looming about what to make, or what to bring…you’ve narrowed the scope by at least saying “Bring your favorite Thai dish.”  Or, “Bring a Thai dish you’d like to try making.”

In the E-vite I sent out, I let my guests know the theme as well as what I’d be making, asking them to respond with what they would be making.  Not everyone immediately had a dish in mind.  Those that did, posted it.  Those that didn’t knew what guests were bringing, so we ended up with lots of variety.  Among the dishes were Larb, Pad See Ew, Tom Kha, Basil Eggplant, Masaman Curry, Sticky Rice, Salad with Mango and Pineapple, and a Grilled Beef Salad.

And after a trip to my local, Asian supermarket, I was even able to find some Thai Beer in the spirit of the event.

What truly made the event however, more so than the beer or the food, was that everyone was genuinely enthusiastic.  The stars were aligned just so last night because all the ladies got along great!  Not that I typically have cat fights break out at my house, just that everyone really chatted and got to know one another rather than grouping with people they already knew.  Also, everyone really embraced the theme and I think they truly enjoyed making their dishes and sharing them too.

And while the energy was high and the conversation flowing all night, I knew the dinner was truly a success when guests started talking about what country’s cuisine we should explore next.  There was also mention of throwing in a board game at our next dinner, and even an offer by one of my guests to host at her house.  And just like that, a weeknight potluck dinner might launch the rotating supper club I’ve been dreaming of.  <Sigh> that sounded a lot less dorky in my head…

I took a bit of a hosting hiatus there for a while, but am back in full force.  I found myself becoming a little bitter about the fact that I was the only one ever hosting, as most of the friends I’ve made here neither share my love for hosting, nor my love for cooking.  Am I crazy for enjoying having people over and cooking?  Anyway, a light bulb went off when I thought…”You know, the best way to meet other people who like to cook, might actually be to go where people are cooking.”  Duh, and so I started looking for cooking classes in my area.

There is a culinary arts school in Laguna Beach called Laguna Culinary Arts.  They have a whole series of “Home Chef Classes” and the first one I signed up for was called “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

We made:

Gougeres Sauce Mornay (cheese puffs with gruyere cheese sauce)

Thon a la Provencal (marinated, seared tuna with garlic, tomato, and herbs)

Riz Pilaf (rice pilaf)

Timbale au Epinard (spinach custard)

Souffled Crepes with Orange Sauce

The cheese puffs and the spinach custard were my favorites!  So yummy.  We paired the cheese puffs with a French Chardonnay.  The tuna…eh.  If I recreated the recipe I would definitely use a meaty white fish.  The tuna was overcooked for my taste, but the tomato, garlic topping was pretty good.  The rice was just rice, but you know…we cooked it in the oven (which I never even knew was possible) and the texture was perfect.  I’m not sure why it is I usually screw up rice, but the next time I make it, I’m definitely using the oven method.  The spinach custard was so good.  It was a lot like a crustless quiche, only not quite so eggy, more spinachy.  We paired this with a nice, dry French rose.  The crepes were a bit of a disaster as far as cooking method and presentation go.  Our teachers had not tested the recipe before class (I bet they’ll think twice before they wing a recipe again) and so many of the students were stationed at saute pans trying to scrape burned crepes off the pan.  Some were burned, some were under cooked, but the ones that made it were yummy.  Delicious in fact, but nothing pretty to look at.  We paired these with an Asti Spumante.

The set up was very cool.  A big kitchen space where we all (about 10 of us) had our own little stations with knives, cutting boards, etc.  All the ingredients were laid out around the kitchen and we all have a stack of recipes which were all from Julia Child’s book: The Art of French Cooking.  The teachers walked us through each recipe and we all took turns chopping, mixing, etc.  After the appetizers were ready, we all filed out to a dining room table and sat and ate together like a big happy family.  Then, back to make the entree and sides, then back to the table to enjoy the food, then back to the kitchen for dessert.  So much fun!  It felt like a big dinner party with 10 or 11 girlfriends.

Now, my philosophy about these classes is that when reading the menu we are creating I have to feel that the recipes are something that I couldn’t make on my own just by reading the recipe.  And because I cook alot, I can make most things just from reading the recipe.  I took the French cooking class because I’ve never made crepes or any kind of pastry dough, which is pretty easy after all.

I did meet some great ladies, and will keep taking classes in hopes of seeing some of the same ones again.  Who knows?  I may even end up wrangling together a rotating supper club <fingers crossed>.

Lately, every time I go to the gym and reveling in access to basic cable, it seems like Every Day Italian is always playing.  I used to skip over this show when it came on.  Though Giada is definitely easy on the eyes, I distrust a chef who uses butter and cheese in just about everything she makes and still maintains a size 2 waist.  The last two shows I’ve watched have inspired me to try some of her recipes.  I really love how she makes multiple courses that pair well in the same show.  Even her food has sex appeal.

The episodes I watched most recently had the following menus I plan to try out:

Menu 1

Onion Soup with Fontina and Thyme (Very easy.)

Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree (Don’t be scared by the fancy name. It also looks to be an easy recipe.)

Italian Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (These look to be a little time consuming and don’t get the high ratings that the other two recipes do.  I may have to read all the less than glowing reviews before deciding to make these.)

Menu 2

Butternut Squash Tortellini with Browned Butter Sauce (I wouldn’t say these look easy (but totally worth a little elbow grease), but you do use wonton wrappers instead of homemade pasta which saves time.)

Sweet Pork with Onion Marmellata (This looks easy and delicious!)

Pear Gorgonzola Tart (This is really more of an appetizer, but I LOVE cheese and would gladly eat this for dessert.)

If you’ve already tried any of these and have an opinion on them, let me know.

Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday, but admittedly I’ve never thrown a Halloween party myself.  I get a little too uptight about the prospect of people not dressing up and me screaming something like, “What are you?! Too effing cool to dress up, A-hole?  Get out!”  That’s definitely what I’m screaming on the inside when I go to a Halloween party and people aren’t dressed up.  That’s the whole point.  Anyway- I enlisted a friend to help with this post.  For as long as I’ve known her, she’s been throwing huge Halloween parties annually.  She always has a great turn out and everyone has a blast.  So, from an expert Halloween Party Thrower:

Dressing Up:

- What we do is just let everyone know that dressing up constitutes in winning prizes.
- We give out: 1st, 2nd and 3rd as well as Best, Scariest, Cutest and Funniest.

Prizes:  Keep it small, but cute. 1st place gets the big prize-which has been a bottle of Vampire Vodka (www.vampire.com). It’s really not difficult getting people to dress up for Halloween Parties, because it’s not fun if you don’t. And it’s important to be creative. I’ve seen some really good costumes that people have just made up.

One of the Hosts with the Most, herself

Prizes

Music:

- We make cd mixes of JUST Halloween music. I have cd’s upon cd’s of Halloween music.
- Hallway music, consists of, screaming sounds, wolf sounds, insect noises and such.
In the hallway, I’d hang black trash bags and put a black light in the light, for the effect of a “cave”.

Decorations:

- At our last Halloween party, it just so happened our friend’s uncle owned a hearse (like actually drove it around regularly) and he let us borrow it for effect! With coffin and all. It’s good to have special things like that.
- We go ALL OUT on decorations! Without spending a crap load of money.
- We’ve made a grave yard in the front yard.
- LIGHTS are very important, to us. We change every single light in the house to a Halloween color. Red Lights, Black Lights, Green Lights. EVERY light in the house has to be changed. And the bathroom is usually red. We have a Freddy mirror cling that we put in the bathroom mirror.
- Hang streamers. Any where and every where. Purple, Black, Red, Green and orange.
- Candles! We get Halloween candles (finger tapers, dripping blood or brains candles) tea lights and such and light them all around the house.
- Specific decorations, we have gotten a hanging head that screams, Freddy clings, mirrors that look back at you, skulls that’s eyes pop out, pictures of people that change when you pass by them into corpses, a mad scientist (that was on top of a fan so he moved) with mad scientist materials, a dead guy on a stretcher, the hearse and coffin and a man sitting on the front porch with a tales from the crypt mask. To make these “men” you just take old cloths, masks/wigs whatever, and stuff them with
newspaper.

Food/Beverage:

- My jello shots in syringes are a hit! And I only make Halloween colored flavors. Like: Cherry, Lime, Black Cherry, Orange and Grape. And I’ve been know to fill the entire fridge with ONLY jello shots.
- We get a couple kegs.
- Little bottles of liquor. We put the little bottles of liquor in (Halloween) buckets (that you can get at walmart) throughout the house.
- It’s for our birthday so we have a Halloween inspired cake. Or cup cakes. Last year a friend made mummy cup cakes. One year my sister in law’s aunt made us a cake that looked like a grave yard with our names on the head stones. One year Tracy and I just made a cookie cake with pumpkins and ghosts.
- Finger foods is usually what we prepare. Salsa and chips, stuff like that.
- And for the peeps that don’t drink alcohol, I get a soda that is dark. One year Pepsi had a special on Midnight Soda (I think that’s what it was called for 99cents a pop).
It was perfect!. Cool Aid (cherry) would do.
- And we have Halloween wine glasses (they’re actually plastic) for the wine drinkers. We have Halloween martini’s plastic cups too. We’ve just continued to receive them as birthday gifts throughout the years.

Jell-o Shots

Thanks, Tara.  If anyone would like to add any tips, please do.

Oh the horror!  Is there anything more torturing than cooking for and hosting guests and watching them eat and drink as much as they want all night long while you sit, nursing your pre-measured cup of carrot sticks?  Sure there is: Getting fat.  So, as I’ve been dieting lately and still continuing to have people over for dinner, I’ve come to rely on a few tricks that help me to still feel good about myself as the last guest leaves.

-Ration my calories- I happen to be doing the Weight Watchers points system, a plan that allows you a certain number of Flex points each week.  I’ve read about and/or tried other diets like Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle that have something like “cheat” days or days where you are actually allowed to consume more calories.  With that in mind, all it takes is a little planning.  I pretty much have to plan my whole week out in advance.  And I don’t mean knowing what each meal is for the entire week, but I do have to know that my wine group is meeting on Thursday night and Saturday night I’m going to a birthday party.  Then I am able to split my allotted calories over the two events. And, if I want to make something entirely decadent when guests are over, I can do so as long as I’ve planned.  I can also measure my portions out before guests arrive so I don’t look like a freak when I whip out my 1/2 cup measure for each side item or appetizer.

-Eat at Home-  Having people over to dinner rather than meeting them at a restaurant has been a big part of counting my calories.  It’s no secret that I love Cooking Light, and one the the main reasons is that all the calorie information is right there for you.  Also, the recipes are fantastic!  Cooking Light recipes rely on natural ingredients and as a magazine, they have a strict policy of not compromising flavor to save a few calories.  So far I’ve never had any dinner guests seem disappointed when I serve them a Cooking Light recipe, and I never even have to use my Flex points when cooking.  I can save them for my weekly date night or dining at someone else’s house.

-Drink Sparkling Water- I’ve read a lot of dieting tricks that say you should drink lots of water while dieting to keep yourself full.  That doesn’t work for me, but sparkling water does.  Obviously, the carbonation has a filling effect, so I can pass on beer or seconds on dinner as long as I keep my glass full.  But, I also like adding a little cranberry and citrus which makes me feel like I have a cocktail without consuming all the calories in a glass of wine or a margarita.

-Don’t Punish My Guests- Since I am talking about hosting, I should definitely point out that I try my best not to punish my guests when I am dieting.  Most dinner guests are happy to have a healthy meal, but there are plenty of others who would scoff to know there is low-fat sour cream in the casserole or tofu in the chocolate mousse.  Plus, I love to cook, so I would never be like, “Hope everyone is ready for some delicious celery and carrot sticks tonight!”  I also never make myself special “diet” food and serve my guests something else.  Instead, I might eat a smaller portion or make a tried and tested recipe that I know is low in calories and still tasty.

I’m sure I’ll have even more tricks and tips to pull from as I have another 10 pounds to lose which is sure to take another 5-6 weeks.  If anyone else has pointers for me, I’d love to hear them.  I need all the help I can get.

Football is upon us and while I don’t really watch sports, I believe I am in the minority.  What I do love about sports-viewing is how it brings people together who might not otherwise have an ounce in common.  And what I like even more is the compulsion to watch sports in large groups, occasionally at a buddy’s house.

Obviously the easiest thing to do on game day is to order pizza and wings, grab a bucket of chicken, or some subs.  If you’d like to put a little more effort into your menu, might I suggest making your own sandwiches?  And do I really need to provide instructions here?  You’ve all been to Subway and watched them make your sandwich, right?  I will recommend to buy choice ingredients: premium cold cuts, cheese sliced at the deli counter and choices of spreads…there, that was easy enough.

To step it up another notch, I’d say nothing says football like chili.  And aren’t too many one-pot meals out there that are more delicious or substantial than chili.  And chili recipes are as wide and varied as the splendid peppers for which the dish was named.  That in mind, I’d like to proved some recipes to span many tastes and dietary restrictions:

This first recipe is my husband’s favorite and while the card he wrote it on says “Jim’s Chili” I would rename it “Cave Man Chili” for its sheer lack of fiber/veggies.  I know that my husband did not invent the recipe, so I have modified some ingredients slightly since I am unable to cite the source.  This is a Cincinnati style chili and I will admit, it is delicious over spaghetti noodles, topped with diced onions and cheddar cheese.

Jim’s Cave Man Chili

Ingredients:

*2.5 lbs ground beef
*2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
*1 5 oz can tomato paste
5 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp black pepper
.5 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion salt
2 tsp steak sauce
1 cup water

Brown beef lightly. Stir beef and all other ingredients together in crock pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours.   Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles and top with chopped onions and cheddar cheese.

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I have a favorite chili that I make as well.  I never measure, and sometimes the ingredients vary, so if you like to wing it in the kitchen, here are some guidelines.

You’ll need: about a pound of ground sirloin, 1 chopped onion, olive oil, 1-2 cloves of garlic (chopped) or garlic powder, jalapeno peppers (finely chopped), salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, a little sugar, tomato sauce, tomato paste, canned and diced tomatoes, 1 can of kidney beans drained and 1 can of red beans drained.

Saute the onion for about 5 minutes, then add garlic, and jalapenos and cook another minute.  Stir in about a pinch of all your spices and stir until fragrant.  Stir in your ground beef and brown, seasoning the beef with your remaining spices (except the sugar).  I use sirloin so that there isn’t much fat to pour off, and in fact, usually don’t have any to pour off at all.  If you use a fatty meat, you may want to wait until after you’ve mostly browned the meat and poured off the puddle of fat before adding your extra spices.  Since I do all this to taste, I can add more spices as I go all during the cooking process.  They do integrate better when you cook them with the onions and the meat though.  Once my meat is ready, I stir in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes (drain them or not depending on how thick you like your chili) as well as my two cans of beans.  You can add the sugar now to balance some of the acidity of the tomatoes.  I then simmer this on low for a couple of hours, checking the flavor occasionally and adding spices along the way.  One pointer is that if you keep adding salt and still thinking it needs more, try a little sugar before you add too much.  Sometimes it just needs balance.

Variations I have tried and liked: Try different beans, add a half of a beer after browning the meat, add a can of sweet corn in place of the second can of beans, add chipotles instead of jalapenos for a smokey flavor

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Here is a ‘white’ chili for the less carnivorous of us.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to as soon as the temp drops below 85.

Chicken White Bean Chili
Joy Crane (http://www.kissindontlastcookindo.blogspot.com/)

This is my version of a soup we used to serve at a restaurant I worked at.  It is very easy and fast if you take the appropriate short-cuts.  Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

*2 Tablespoons virgin olive oil
*2 Tablespoons chili powder
*1 large onion, chopped
*6 or so dashes of cayenne pepper, or to taste
*32 oz free-range chicken broth
*1 (8oz) container sour cream
*2 (15.5 oz.) cans northern white beans
*1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
*½ can Rotelle
*Shredded jack or cheddar cheese
*The meat from 1 roasted chicken, torn into pieces
*Tortilla chips
*3 Tablespoons ground cumin

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Sauté onions and cook until translucent, aprox. 3 minutes.  Pour in chicken broth, beans, Rotelle, and torn chicken.  Season with cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper and salt.  Increase heat and bring to a simmer, simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.  Stir in sour cream and simmer an additional 5 minutes.  Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with cheese.  Serve with chips.

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I did try this vegetarian chili when a vegetarian friend sent me the recipe.  It is surprisingly good and serves as both a good bowl of chili and a great, hearty chip dip.  I used the leftovers to top nachos and froze the rest.

The Best Vegetarian Chili in the World

No chili is complete without a big wedge of cornbread.  I’ve been up to my ears in jalapeno peppers from my garden, and found a recipe that not only helped me get rid of several at a time, I dare say it is the best cornbread I have ever had in my life.  And healthy too! You don’t have to be crazy about spicy food either…seed the peppers and remove the ribs if you don’t like the heat, and leave in the ribs and seeds if you do.

Jalepeno Corn Bread

The possibilities are endless: make your own hot wings or jalapeno poppers.  Big trays of nachos can be served up in as little as 10 minutes.  Theme your food based on the teams that are playing.  And there is always a pot luck option if you don’t have the time or desire to do it all yourself.

Several weeks ago my Dad’s wife sent me an e-mail saying that she wanted to throw her dog(s) a party and asked if I had any ideas.  She said my dad just made fun of her and I thought to myself, “the apple doesn’t fall from the tree” but refrained from teasing her myself, because I know how brutal my father’s remarks likely were.  So, I told her I would think about it and have been occasionally mulling the thought over.

The problem is two-fold: #1 is I don’t have a dog.  #2 is I am not of the opinion that pets should be treated like people (not that there is anything wrong with people who do <gag>).

On topic #1- I have a cat.  And about the dumbest thing a person could do is to put a bunch of cats into one room together.  Especially cats who have never met one another.  It’d be more like Kitty Cage Match to the Death than a birthday party.

On topic #2- If this is just an excuse to get a group of friends together, I fully support it as I am always a supporter of throwing parties and getting folks together.  And at the heart of it, that’s really what it is, right?  Because if we are being honest with ourselves here and this is/was really about the dog and all his doggy friends, what you’d really want to do is dump a truck load of manure in your backyard and let all the little doggies commence rolling around.  Around that same pile of poo you might put little plastic replicas of fire hydrants for them to relieve themselves on after frolicking.  Oh, and be certain to move all the garbage cans outside with no lid, because what is more exciting to our canine brothers than an unattended garbage can?

I did a little research and found some other ramblings on the topic.  This site http://www.dog-birthday-parties.com/ is really more about getting you to buy stuff than anything else.  This one offers a pet registry, which I think is beyond hilarious http://www.petbirthdayparty.com/  Another ‘buy stuff’ site http://www.tailwagging.com/home.html  And I’m done with the research portion of my post now.

Since it is now evident  that I have no decent advice on the topic, I beckon you all to share your ideas and/or any pet birthday party suggestions you might have.  And I’d especially love any success stories.  I’m likely way too late in getting back to Shannon, so do let us know if you had the party and what all you did or ate.  I’m clearly out of my league on this one.

Okay, okay, calling everything a party is a little silly, but it’s shorter than typing “Pre” Get-togethers or “Pre” Dinner Parties, isn’t it?  With Labor Day upon us, I thought it would be worth mentioning that during the 4th of July weekend, we had a “Pre 4th of July Party.”  And all that was really, was an excuse to get together with some friends on a Friday night beginning a long weekend.

The best part was we knew that everyone would be going to bigger, more elaborate BBQs and parties all weekend, so it was really laid back and easy.  We just had 5 or 6 friends over, grilled out some burgers and played cards.  So simple, but it got the weekend off to a great start.

With Labor Day coming up, I’d venture to guess you might be able to round up a few friends with not a lot to do on a Friday night.  Fire up the grill, pop open a couple of beers and celebrate a long weekend as we bid farewell to summer.

For some seriously thorough grilling tips, go to:

http://grillingtips.com/

http://www.chow.com/stories/11081

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/grilling-tips.htm

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/grilling-tips.htm

I can’t claim any expertise on this subject.  I’m still very much a student of being a better host to out of town friends and relatives.  I’m fairly confident that I’m accommodating enough. The problem isn’t being a good host to my guests, rather managing expectations and making their time here go well for me.

When we first moved here, I thought working from home was the ideal situation for when out of town guests would be visiting.  (Those of you who have worked from home and had overnight house guests can stop laughing now.)  I was wrong.  You see, it’s very hard for most guests to realize (unless they too have worked from home) that you are not on vacation simply because they are on vacation.  Communicating this is very important.  Communicating all of your expectations and helping to guide your guests expectations is in fact, crucial.

When I moved here, my boss at work told me that he and his wife lived in California for a while, most of their friends and family residing on the East Coast.  His house became a favorite destination spot and when I asked him any advice he might offer about hosting out-of-towners he told me, “Make sure your guests know that you are not a maid or a tour guide.  You are gracious enough to put them up for free room and board, but not an all expense paid vacation.”  I laughed at his candid response, but after hosting a few folks, I realize he is right.

Learn from my mistakes…(a few things I’ve learned so far)

*Make sure your guests do their homework on what they’d like to do when they arrive.  Some guests will do so without guidance, others will seem confused when you don’t have a printed itinerary prepared for them upon their arrival.  I don’t mind making suggestions, but I can say that mine and my husband’s favorite things to do (go to nice restaurants, drink at wine bars and breweries, go to see live music in divey clubs) don’t always jive with what my guests like to do, nor are they even applicable if my guest(s) bring (a) child(ren).

*Set some expectations about the food situation before they arrive.  In the past I have gone about this all wrong.  Sometimes I have the foresight to ask about what my guests like to eat and pick up a few staples.  On some other occasions, I have bought groceries and planned elaborate dinners only to have visiting guests say they prefer to eat out while on vacation.  Lesson learned.  Even in instances where I pick up a few items they are often things my husband and I don’t/won’t eat and a lot of food goes to waste quickly once my guests leave.  I think the best policy is to determine which meals you’ll be eating together and to go shopping together once your guests arrive.  This is a good policy for alcohol too, unless you see fit to stock up before guests arrive.  That can get really pricey however if your friends drink as much as mine do

*Let your pet peeves be known.  What I mean by this is that if you are a relatively tidy person and you don’t express to your guests to keep common areas clean you could spend the whole visit with them fixated on the pair of socks they’ve left in the hallway.  Most people appreciate a little bit of “here are the rules” kind of communication so that they know what to do and what not to do.  If you have dishes that shouldn’t be used, point that out.  If you have food items that shouldn’t be eaten or towels that shouldn’t be used, let them know.

*Don’t spend every minute together.  Even if you can take a week off work, your guests will need space as much as you do.  Trust me on this one.

Some things I like to do…

*Of course I get the guest room clean, by tiding up and cleaning sheets.  I shouldn’t have to say this, but neither should a hairdryer have to have a warning label on it that warns: Do not use in the bath tub.

*My husband thinks it’s annoying, but I like to buy little mini tooth pastes, mouth washes and keep extra tooth brushes in my guests bathroom.  I also keep soap and shampoo and conditioner in the shower.  It seems sweet and selfless, but it’s really to keep them from asking to borrow my stuff

*Make at least one nice meal, I usually make 2.  One nice dinner and one nice breakfast.  Of course, I love having an audience to cook for.  I also like to buy one of my guest’s meals out.  Usually a lunch.  And I like to try and stock one grocery item of something special I know they like: a particular flavor of ice cream, home made brownies, a fancy cheese, etc.  This is just my way of trying to make someone feel welcome.  If I wasn’t into the cooking thing, I’d still try for something sentimental: rent a movie we watched together.  go see a band we both like.  If they like flowers, get a pass to a Botanical Garden.  You know….be sweet.

*Collect any coupons or discount tickets to somewhere they may want to go while they are here.  I also do at least some minimal research on car rentals close by or look to see if any festivals are going on.  Be careful with this one though as you can easily fall back into the unpaid tour guide category.

*RELAX.  My first guest to visit was my best friend, Judy from back home.  I was a bit of a stress case trying to fill every minute of every day and having not been here long, I wasted a lot of time on stuff that wasn’t even that cool.  At the end of the day, I think she would have been just as happy to sit around the house or by the pool playing Boggle.

I hesitate to write up a “How To Guide” for guests as I’m a little to close to the situation and most of my readers are friends I’d actually like to see make it out here some day.  I did find some pretty good guidelines in an EHowTo article on-line.

I’ve been hosting quite a bit lately.  Unfortunately I must report some inevitable failures along the way.  Nothing colossal… a burnt pizza here, a bland piece of chicken there, but mostly a few lessons about experimenting and how a little trial and error may not always yield the desired results, but serves as a lesson for doing better the next time.

The first recent night things went wrong was during a slumber party I threw for a couple of girl friends while my husband was out of town.  One friend had made the suggestion that we grill pizza and I quickly agreed as grilled pizza is a favorite of mine.  The problem was two fold 1) I have a small charcoal grill and 2) we were using raw dough.  The only way I’ve ever made pizza is by using pre-made Boboli (or some equivalent) crust.  So, basically, one would brush both sides with ollive oil and minced garlic, grill on one side for about 2-3 minutes, flip the crust, top with toppings and cover with the grill lid.  Voila! Pizza ready to go in about 6-7 minutes flat.  Raw dough…not so easy, although my friend had me convinced that it was.  She’d grilled raw dough a hundred times before, the only caveat was that she had done so on a gas grill rather than a charcoal one.  As you well know, one major difference between charcoal and propane grilling is the ability to control the heat.

So- the results looked something like this:

One was shaped something like a circle, the other, closer to a parallelogram.  Time is of the essence during such a cooking venture, so one thing I learned is that as soon as you flip that crust, you really need to top the pizza immediately.  The pizza on the left was topped with buffalo mozzarella (which didn’t melt), tomatoes (which got very runny) and basil and parmesan which went on after the fact.  The one on the right was topped with BBQ sauce, grilled chicken and a cheese combo of Gouda, smoked Gouda and provolone.  Spreading the BBQ sauce and sprinkling the chicken on took a couple of minutes, so the cheese did not melt quickly and the bottom of both pizzas were burned (though still edible).

A few night later, my husband and I tried grilling pizzas again, this time I new a little better as to what I was doing.  The results looked better:

LOL!  Okay, the one on the left can’t even be defined by any recognizable shape, I admit.  That one was topped this time with pizza sauce, goat cheese, black olives, assorted heirloom cherry tomatoes and fresh basil.  The one on the right was similar to the last one: BBQ sauce, chicken, cheese blend, only we added some red onion and chopped, fresh cilantor.  We actually split one dough ball in two which made the dough a little more managable.  We also had the toppings ready immediately when we flipped the crust.  Because the charcoal stays so hot though, the technique was still not perfect.  We plan to try again soon, this time transferring the dough to a cold pizza stone while we top it.  That should reduce burning the crust substantially.

At another dinner party recently, we were excited to try something new: grilled chicken breasts stuffed with prosciutto and Fontina cheese.  I was happy to wing it, but my husband was helping and he likes having a concrete recipe to follow.  We found the following on-line, and he followed the chicken breast portion to a tee, while I used the sauce recipe as a rough guideline:

Carrabba’s Italian Grill Pollo Rosa Maria

Our chicken did not look like this, but instead was solid white with grill marks

Posted by Chef Chad in Houston, TX at recipegoldmine.com

Chicken:
4 chicken breasts, split for stuffing
4 slices prosciutto ham
1/2 cup Fontina cheese

Lemon Butter:
1/2 cup clarified butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup white wine
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup fresh sweet basil, chopped
Lemon Butter Recipe (above)
1 lemon, juiced

Chicken: Open chicken breasts and place butterfly-style on grill over white-hot coals of live oak and pecan wood. Grill 3-5 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from grill. When chicken is cool enough to handle, hold breast halves together and stuff each breast with one slice of prosciutto and 1/8 cup Fontina cheese. Secure with wooden picks. Set aside in a warm place.

Lemon Butter and Topping: In a large saute pan over medium heat, combine clarified butter, garlic, and onion and saute until tender. Deglaze pan with white wine. Add unsalted butter, salt, and pepper. Add mushrooms to lemon butter and saute 1 to 2 minutes or until cooked. Add basil and lemon juice and stir to combine. Place chicken on a serving platter and top with mushrooms in lemon-basil butter and serve.

Yields 4 servings.

The results?  Bland.  Not bad, not burnt, not inedible, but bland.  And a whole lot of work for something to just come out edible.  And a whole lot of money too, as I went all out with the Prosciutto di Parma and organic chicken breasts.  The rest of the meal: cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto, an heirloom tomato salad with crust cracked wheat bread, rosemary mashed potatoes, and roasted baby squash with lemon and thyme turned out well.  I’m not sure if we will follow the recipe above again.  The sauce was okay, but did not pop enough to perk up the chicken.  If you try it at home and make modifications that work, please let me know.  I’d advise marinating the chicken at a minimum, perhaps in a nice balsamic marinade, or even making a balsamic reduction to brush on the chicken while grilling.

A few days later we hosted a dinned with another couple, one of which is vegetarian.  This dinner turned out to be delicious: a chips and pineapple salsa appetizer, Jamaican Black Bean Burgers (I add a little cumin to the mix and double up on the other spices.  I also leave about 1/3 of the beans whole for more texture.), a side of roasted corn that I mixed with roasted red pepper, diced avocado, cherry tomatoes, and green onion, sweet potato fries and a Rainier Cherry Crumble for dessert.  Everything was perfect.

My point is, sometimes experimenting is fun, but it isn’t always going to turn out the way you hope that it will.  No reason to throw in the towel though.  The same friends that we had over for the bland chicken had a mishap of their own earlier that week when D tried to grill some chicken that caught on fire.  She quickly moved the chicken to the oven, left it to cook through, only to find a billow of smoke escaping the oven, the chicken only flaring back up.  They had to scrap all of the chicken and go out for burgers.  D’s an excellent cook, but no one gets to be a better cook without a few disasters or disappointments along the way.  So, if that first souffle cake caves in, make sure to stop opening the oven on the next one.  If the chicken is dry this time, reduce the cooking time the next.  And if at first you don’t succeed…