Showing posts with label Foodie Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foodie Friends. Show all posts

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Oscar Party 2012

I know... I know... Long time no see right? Yes. It has been a while. Why you ask? Well.... this, that, the other thing... AKA... LIFE! LIFE is happening. Kids, work, school, housework, dishes, bills, divorce, cleaning, dinner, soccer, t-ball, homework... It takes TIME and leaves me little time or energy for this blog. But I miss it. I miss all of you. But the good news is I have cooked a few times, thrown a few parties and gone out with some good friends! Life is nice...

And so... I had my annual Oscar Party! I really didn't get the best photos. But here it is. The idea was to go all black and white including the food but that was NOT an easy task. The dessert table was pretty easy... Cheesecake with blackberries, Oreo "Cake", popcorn, black and white candy... with a little red too!

The other food was more difficult. I decided on a white bean dip with pita bread and black tortilla chips. But it wasn't that white. I also did my Cream of Leek Soup which you can find here! One of my sisters brought a cheese tray with black olives and purple grapes. The other brought a crisp and fresh cauliflower salad. A friend brought chicken cakes with horseradish dipping sauce. I made simple pomegranate martini's and there was of course plenty of wine!

The other dish I thought would be good was a sort of dirty black rice with creole shrimp! I looked at a few recipes here and there but pretty much just threw stuff together. It was closest to this recipe though. It ended up really pretty good and even better the day after! But hey, with that much butter.... how could it not?

The main ingredients are butter (a lot!), garlic, fresh lemon juice, Worcester sauce and Creole Seasoning. I then served it over the black rice I made! Do give this a try sometime. It really was easy and sooooo delicious! Have some French bread handy to soak up the seasoned butter sauce!

Set up took some time but I was lucky to get to borrow some linens, serving pieces and a few decorations from the Hilton! A friend of mine is an event manager there and was so kind as to help me out for the decor! Thanks Leah! I also found a red carpet at Home Depot and had real movie lights in the front of the house and a few inside to set the mood of the red carpet event!

It is a lot of work to host a part in style but it is so fun! I just love it! Stay tuned for an update on the gourmet group and a food and wine event I will be attending this weekend!

Happy cooking! Merry Entertaining! Cheers!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Buzzed on Food Blogging

While part of me still feels very new at this whole blogging thing and I still feel that I have a lot to learn, it has come to be part of my life and part of who I am. It is no secret that I love food and cooking and here I have a forum to share and talk about it. And all of you are so good as to come and visit and comment from time to time.

One of the great things about blogging is visiting others. Learning about their sites, lives, talents and recipes. There are so many interesting, creative and talented people within this community. But last week it went even one step further.

Thanks to Foodbuzz, I was invited to a dinner with several other Southern California bloggers. There were about 20 total and all had so much to offer in the way of knowledge, food and personality. It was an amazing and enlightening evening. I am so fortunate to have finally met some of you and gained some new friends! I also really enjoyed meeting our two hosts from Foodbuzz, Kristen and Ryan. You girls are so much fun and did such a great job. Boy! What a job you have. I am envious. It is so fun for you. And thank you for making us all feel so welcome and at ease. Thank you Foodbuzz for the great food and wine!

The lovely event took place at Blanca in Newport Beach. It couldn't have been a better setting with the water at our side and the twinkling lights of boats as we sipped our wine. The night was warm and the company warmer. Here is a list of some of those I met. DO check out their blogs. I know I will be stopping in for plenty of visits!

Blog URL Name
An Easy Recipe http://aneasyrecipe.com David
Eat in O.C http://www.eatinoc.com/ Daniel
Griffin Eats OC http://www.griffineatsoc.com Griffin
I Nom Things http://inomthings.blogspot.com/ Ila
LA and OC Foodventures http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com/ Hiu Chung
Orange County Mexican Restaurants http://ocmexfood.blogspot.com/ Christian
Pleasure Palate http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/ Abby
Rasa Malaysia http://www.rasamalaysia.com/ Bee
RumDood http://www.rumdood.com/ Matt
The Delicious Life http://thedeliciouslife.blogspot.com Sarah
This Man's Kitchen http://thismanskitchen.com Hal
Wandering Chopsticks http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/
Go Eggless http://goeggless.com Sarah
Panini Happy http://www.paninihappy.com Kathy
Gourmet Pigs http://gourmetpigs.blogspot.com


MENU

First Course
Asparagus Salad
Burrata cheese, toasted hazelnuts, arugula, truffle vinaigrette

Main Course
Roasted Dover Sole (pictured above)
Tuscan white beans, Spanish chorizo, market carrots, parsley espuma

Roasted Flank Steak
Whole roasted garlic, Taleggio cheese potatoes, red wine reduction, herb salad

Dessert
Manjari "Grand cru" chocolated decadence
Salted caramel, ice cream, coffee chips, Spanish almonds