Day Three Hundred Fifty Three: Happy Birthday Favors

As part of the favors for my birthday dinner, I spent the morning of my birthday making one of Martha's favorite chocolate chip cookies: Jacques Torres's Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Since the recipe makes about 10,0000  100 cookies, it was no small task.  Even though I've made them before, I still love these cookies. I think I might have cooked a few batches a couple minutes long, but hey--a girl is sometimes too knee-deep in Downton Abbey to notice a timer chime.

I use an ice-cream scoop to make sure all the cookies are exactly the same size:

Once the cookies cooled, I put them in the favor boxes with the chocolate nut clusters, (minus the jam-filled muffin coffeecakes), along with a few other goodies. 

I tied them up with bakers string and topped the whole thing off with my personalized favor tag.

Even though my husband made fun of me for making them, I know several guests enjoyed them on the car ride home.

Happy Birthday to me.

Day Two Hundred Eighty-Two: Raising the Bar

We hosted a cocktail party on Saturday night.  This means setting up a full bar.  Luckily, Martha has some advice on Setting Up a Bar. 

According to Martha you just need a few items:  base liquors including bourbon, vodka, white rum, gin, and tequila; base mixers like vermouth, cointreau, tonic, club soda, orange juice, and grapefruit juice; red wine, white wine and champagne; garnishes including olives, cranberries, lemon and lime wedges, an ice bucket, ice, a wine cooler, seven-piece bar set including a cocktail shaker, two-sided jigger, bottle opener, bar knife, strainer, tool stand and serving tray. And you'll want something to put all those drinks in: martini glasses, highball glasses, double old fashion glasses, white wine glasses,  and red wine glasses.

Oh, and don't forget the beer.

Make sure you have a very large table.

Day Two-Hundred Seventy-Two: Mandarin Cocktail

I enjoyed Sunday's champagne cocktail so much I decided to try Martha's Mandarin Cocktail on Monday.  If you like mimosas, this is the same taste...only quite a bit stronger.

In other words, you probably aren't sipping these over Sunday brunch since the orange flavor comes from an orange liqueur, not orange juice.

Or maybe you are.  I'm not judging.  

At any time of day, these are amazing...

Day Two Hundred Seventy: Oh So Chic Mushroom Tart

I held a Sip and See for a friend and her new baby on Saturday.  Since my friend is vegetarian, I offered only meatless dishes, including Martha's Mushroom Tart.  Since it's made with puff pastry, all you do is saute the veggies and toss on top of the cooked pastry.  Sprinkle the goat cheese on top and throw in the oven.

Ridiculously simple...and gorgeous.

:pats self on back:

Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Nine: Evergreen Centerpiece

It's a truth universally acknowledged that a lady in possession of a table must be in want of a centerpiece.

(Or something like that.  Jane Austen said.)

I was in need of a centerpiece for my party on Saturday so Friday I went to the nursery to choose some evergreen boughs to make Martha's Evergreen Centerpiece.  After I paid $4 for a bundle, I realized that these were just the boughs cut from the Christmas trees.  :sucker:

Martha says the trick is to keep the branches hidden and accentuate the needles. I had a few holes so I tucked in a couple ornaments to keep it full:

I know.  It looks terrible.

I was pretty proud of it until I saw this photo.  It really looks better in person.  :cross my heart:

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Four: Haunted House Cake, Part II

On Thursday I started Martha's Haunted House Cake for my son's 6th birthday party.  It is a time-sonsuming process, so it took me two days.  

Friday, Day Two:

Supports had to be cut and inserted into the first layer of the cake.  It pained me a little to stick these into the cake....I can't take them out if I screw up:

Then the second layer is (gently) put on top:

Pearls are piped around the bases of both cakes to hide the ugly cardboard bases:

But we aren't done yet....

I had to bake the brownies for steps...and place them into the side of the cake with toothpicks:

Action shot:

And then shave the chocolate "grass" for the haunted house lawn:

The final product:

Could someone move that purse, please?  Notice my son's fingers itching to touch that little rubber mouse.

I will note that that adorable little house and tree on top of the cake are supposed to be made out of cookie....a fact I didn't realize until Thursday and after I had already cut the buggers out of cardstock.  I was going to attempt to make the cookie shapes on Friday, until my eldest daughter woke up sick with a stomach bug.  So cardstock had to do...

Even without the cookie house, the cake was delicious (if I do say so myself) and still ridiculously adorable.

Day Two Hundred Thirty-Three: Haunted House Cake, Part I

Saturday we had a party for my son's 6th birthday.  Because it was so close to Halloween, we decided on a Halloween-themed party where the kids got to dress in costume.  It was a big hit with everyone, including the parents who were happy to see the kids wear his/her costume twice.  Since my son has a rather large class and all his classmates have siblings, we ended up having about 100 people at the party....Yes, about fifty kids and fifty adults.

Thank goodness it wasn't at my house.

At any rate, such a large party meant I needed a Big Cake.  I decided on Martha's Haunted-House Cake.  I'll post a photo here just because it's so awesome.

Seriously.  How cool is this cake?

Because the cake is so big (it's five layers) and each cake had to chill before the next step, it took me two days to make.  Thus:  Haunted House Cake, Part I.

This is the base of the cake.  It's twelve inches in diameter and is baked as three separate cakes with a layer of chocolate buttercream in between each layer.  (This chocolate buttercream is to. die. for.)

Three layers with crumb coat:

This is the top layer.  It consists of two nine-inch cakes with a layer of chocolate buttercream in between.

Each separate cake had to be chilled before putting the final coat of frosting and assembling the cake, which was done the next day.

Confession:  I was so, so, so nervous.  If I screwed this up, after singing "Happy Birthday", my sweet baby boy and all his guests would be passing around a bag of candy corn. Yikes!

Day Fifty Three: It's a Par-tay!

Last night we held our Progressive Pedal Party, with dinner at our house for forty people.  We had a ridiculous amount of fun.  Everything ran smoothly, with a little help from Martha's Party Planning Guide.   This is a pretty good check list, but I would have expected more from Martha...something more like an hour-by-hour timeline starting three days in advance.

We served a twenty-two pound beef brisket, several smoked chickens, orzo salad, and a spinach salad (without the salmon).  The brisket alone cooked for over twelve hours, so we were pretty busy with party preparations all day.  Martha's spinach salad was tossed last minute, so I forgot to take a photo.  :kicks self:

Photo of the orzo salad, recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis.  I've never made anything from the cooking siren, but this was delicious...and it looked pretty too.

Close-up of our hurricane centerpieces with oleander:

We seated everyone at one long table.

Dinner was served buffet style:

 Fun at dinner:

The best and worst part of the party was that I woke up this morning sore from all the pedaling.  It was the worst part because it hurt, but at least I felt like I earned that cheesecake I ate for dessert.

Day Fifty Two: Pedal Party Napkins

Tomorrow I'm hosting a progressive dinner.  Specifically, I'm hosting the main-dish course of a three-course progressive dinner.  Between courses myself and thirty-nine of my friends are going to cruise around our historic neighborhood on a couple of these:

It's a progressive pedal party.  Yes, it's a very large tandem bike with a bar in the middle.  No, this was not my idea.

The evening should be interesting, to say the least.

So today I set up the tables for the main course.  We are serving dinner buffet-style, but I wanted to set the table with glasses and utensils beforehand.  Martha has some very fancy napkin folds, but I just chose a simple napkin fold that would incorporate the utensils.

Forty napkins:

Start with a flat napkin:

Fold in half:

Then fold in half again:

Fold down one edge:

Flip over napkin and fold back edges to create a little pocket:

Pocket completed:

Do's and Don'ts:

Do:  Immediately put utensils in the little pocket.
Do:  Fold these napkins inside.

Don't:  Sit outside enjoying the nice weather while completing this chore.
Don't:  Fold approximately half of these napkins, fail to put the utensils inside, then be surprised when the entire pile blows away in the first strong wind.

And this is why the last photo is taken inside.

More about the Progressive Pedal Party tomorrow.

Day Forty Nine: Paper Flower Wreath or All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

I was reading this feature by Martha on Paper flowers.  Sweet, but how whimsical would they be in patterned paper?  Maybe instead of another failed cherry tree arrangement, I'll try a wreath.  It would be perfect for my garden party in a few weeks.  Maybe I'll make two.  And, I have some paper leftover from another project that I can use...

Channel your inner kindergartener and fold and cut the paper. You will probably have flashbacks of making paper snowflakes.  But this time, little Colin Smith won't put gum in your hair. 

Repeat about five hundred twenty times:

I cut the center out of a cardboard circle to form this "wreath".  The cardboard circle was recycled from a frozen pizza and wrapped in paper leftover from the bunny boxes.  (Yes, a frozen pizza.  Don't tell Martha.)

Flowers placed on wreath:

I hot-glued my flowers on the wreath and hung it on our gate:

It looks super cute in person:  all the patterns make it fun.  They almost look like little butterflies.

I'd like to thank Mrs. Barry, my Kindergarten teacher, for showing me how to make paper snowflakes...and thanks to the frozen pizza peeps for including the cardboard with the pizza.  It was clutch.

And to little Colin Smith, I haven't forgiven you for the gum.

Day Thirty Three: Tarts for Tarts

Happy Easter, folks!

We had a busy day today.  In addition to our out-of-town family, we had another family of four join us for Easter lunch.  I had to peel myself out of bed before six a.m. to get lunch started...And any time I have to see the wrong side of seven a.m., it is NOT a Good Thing, Martha.  

One of the items on our menu was Martha's Asparagus and Gruyere Tart.  I like tarts.  They look fancy but are easy to make.  I also like the fact that the British use the word "tart" as a euphemism for a prostitute.  Using the same word to describe both a pastry and a prostitute amuses me. 

If you like to impress people with your culinary prowess, but are lazy and don't actually like to do much work :raises hand: put this on your next menu.  Dressing like a Tart is entirely optional.

You start with store-bought puff pastry (Martha actually condones this, I promise.) :hand over heart:

Fold over the edges and put it in the oven:

Shred a bunch of cheese:

After the pastry has cooked, throw the cheese on, lay the uncooked asparagus on top....

Cook for 25 minutes and Bingo:

Looks good, tastes great, and you look like a culinary call girl genius.  

p.s.  I told the kids that this was a pizza and they totally bought it.  

Day Thirty: Child Labor: Not Just for the Third World OR Egg Dying with Kids

My three sweet nieces are visiting for a few days.  They range in age from seven to twelve.  Being a little older than my kids, they are perfectly suited to help in the kitchen.  If you have youngsters, put those little hands to work! The two youngest jumped at the chance to dye eggs, while the eldest thought egg dying was as cool as her parents' taste in music.

A few years ago I followed Martha's suggestion and used beets and cabbage to create natural dye, but this year I went the easy route and just purchased the stuff from the store. I did try Martha's marbleizing technique but even this simple technique was beyond our abilities today.

Little hands slaving away:

As you can see, our marbleized eggs look more like cheap formica.

 Thankfully, the kids don't seem to be bothered by our fruitless attempts at creativity. And no one complained about my use of child labor.  Next year I might put the neighbors' kids to work too.

Day Twenty Eight: RIP Cherry Blossom Branches...

I need a new centerpiece.

I have guests arriving tomorrow and I just can’t pretend that the cherry blossom branches are doing the job anymore. 

I’ve done my penance for the massacre that I inflicted upon those poor, innocent branches.  I’m a reformed person and I promise never to slaughter lovely cherry blossoms again (this year).   

May you rest in peace Cherry Blossom Branches. 

:moment of silence:

Now that I’m out of mourning, I’m thinking I need something happy and cheerful.....yellow! The store only had yellow lilies and tulips so that made the decision easy.

I want to make two arrangements....so they can be separated and moved to our long table at Easter.  That way each end of the table can enjoy some flower-love.

Martha suggests you use tape to support top-heavy flowers in an arrangement.  She also suggests some special care for tulips, which actually grow after they’ve been cut. (As if flower arranging wasn’t hard enough, the flowers have to go and grow after they’ve been placed.)

  

In the process:

This is the result:

As you can see, with one arrangement I sort of stuffed the flowers through the tape and the stems are somewhat...ahem...haphazard.  In the other, I took a little more care with how I inserted the flowers and the stems are nice and neat.   

I’d be pretty satisfied with the way both arrangements turned out IF they looked anything alike.  Apparently I failed simple division in grammar school.  I thought I had divided the flowers evenly, but evidently I was more generous with one group than the other.   :confused look on face:

I can’t complain, though.  These arrangements are a vast improvement from the cherry branches of death.   

May they Rest In Peace and all that.