Dine & Learn: Fall Harvest

October brings crisp air, falling leaves, and some of my favorite foods. We’ll step it up a notch and go a little gourmet with a cornucopia of fall harvest vegetables and sustainably-raised pork. The menu will be based on local and organic ingredients, the cooking tips will make even the fanciest menu an ease to prepare, the flavors and colors will be deep and robust, and the meal will be interactively prepared and enjoyed!

Fall Harvest Menu

Field Greens Salad With Roasted Root Vegetables

Apple Cider Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Butternut Squash Risotto
Apple and Fennel Slaw

Carmel Apple Bread Pudding With Jeni’s Ice Cream


Tuesday, October 27, 2009
5:30pm
$25 per person
Class size limited to 8
RSVP (name, email, phone number) to livingwell@columbus.rr.com by Friday, October 23rd.

Back To School & Bloody Mary's

The party starts early on the first day of school...

You might think the kids are excited to go back to school, but imagine how the parents feel! Ask my friend Amy, and she’ll tell you it’s an occasion to celebrate – so she threw a party on the first day of school, just like she has for the last several years. The event has become something in and of itself – it has grown from a small gathering to a huge, all-day affair, with elaborate menus and celebratory drinks shared!

The kids were dropped off just after 8am, and the party began around 8:30am, when each guest was handed a Bloody Mary or Mimosa…

Food was passed, souvenir cups were kept full, the guests were happy, and the host could relax knowing that everything was being taken care of!

The morning menu included:
Tomato Tea Sandwiches
Mini Omelets
Monkey Bread
Cucumber Sandwiches
Deviled Eggs
Fruit
Snacks

The tomatoes... they're an heirloom variety called Roman Candle, and I bought them from The Sippels. I made southern-style tomato sandwiches with them – soft white and wheat bread, cut into tea sandwich slices with a biscuit cutter (perfect size for the tomato slices), Duke’s Mayonaise (Amy’s insistence – she’s a southern gal, and it's the “secret of great southern cooks,”) and a thick slice of tomato. I prepped the ingredients the night before and kept them separate so the sandwiches didn’t get soggy. On party day, I assembled them quickly and neatly using a piping bag for the mayo. The Roman Candles were a perfect choice for this – bright red, not overly juicy, but packed with fresh tomato flavor.

For my own twist on finger food omelets, I adapted a recipe from a magazine. The size was perfect for a quick, light bite. They’re easy to make ahead of time, refrigerate, and then keep warm in the oven on party day.

Mini Ham & Cheddar Omelet

1-1.5 lbs. deli ham, sliced to medium thickness
6 whole eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Mini Turkey, Spinach, & Swiss Omelet

1-1.5 lbs. deli turkey, sliced to medium thickness
6 whole eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup frozen spinach, liquid squeezed out
¾ cup shredded Swiss cheese
Salt and pepper

Grease a mini muffin pan with butter.
Cut deli meat into 3” rounds using a biscuit cutter. Save the scraps for sandwiches!
Carefully press each round into muffin pan, taking care to prevent holes.
Beat eggs and add milk.
Gently stir in remaining ingredients. Fill each muffin cup with egg mixture.
Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown on top.

I left after breakfast was served and the kitchen had been cleaned, but I hear the party continued long into the day. I think I also heard the remark “what happens at Amy’s, stays at Amy’s…”

Names and identities have been concealed in order to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent…

If you would like assistance in planning or managing your next party, contact me!

You Say "Tomatoes"… I Say "MORE TOMATOES?!"

It’s August in Ohio, and that means bountiful summer produce – corn, melons, zucchini, peppers, and TOMATOES!

Yesterday I was helping out my friends Ben & Lisa at their farm, The Sippel Family Farm, and I picked tomatoes for several hours! I can’t take credit for much of it, (they had been picking all week long), but at days end we had hundreds and hundreds of pounds of tomatoes packed up. The best/worst part (it depends on how long you’ve been hunched over picking in the fields) was looking up and seeing rows of tomatoes, still untouched, the vines weighed down with bright red, yellow, and green globes of ripe fruit!

As a CSA member (more on that at another time), I go up to their farm in Mount Gilead and help out every other Friday throughout the spring, summer, and fall. I primarily help pick the produce that they deliver to their CSA members and sell at the Clintonville Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings.

This morning I came home from the market with 4.5 pounds of tomatoes. Our CSA share this week also included a watermelon, 1 pound of edamame, 4 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, 2 cucumbers, 2 eggplants, 1.5 pounds of tomatillos, 2 hot peppers, and 2 huge red onions…

Add those tomatoes to the 4.5 pounds that we got in our share last week (along with a bunch of other yummy things!)…

and the tomatoes we picked from our own garden the past couple of weekends…

and the 10 pounds of tomatoes I bought from the Sippels for a party on Monday…

and we’re up to eyeballs in tomatoes!

But no worries, we have plans for them – tomato and mozzarella salads, salsa, and fresh pasta sauce! I’m using the 10 pounds of Roman Candle heirloom tomatoes to make southern-style tomato tea sandwiches with Duke’s Mayonnaise for an upcoming party.

I might even buy some more from the Sippels and try canning for the first time… we’ll see…