Photos of the food preparations

Prepping ingredients 

Close up of ingredients waiting on the counter. Fresh thyme and dried rosemary stand in readiness.

Browned vegetables are a thing of beauty

Browning the carrots and the pearl onions. Pearl onions are a pain, even with the boiling water and then the ice bath. But so tasty. Good organic carrots.

Sometimes a watched pot does boil

Waiting for the pot to simmer. Took a long time to brown all the meat.

No such thing as too much counter space

I started getting out ingredients and slicing and chopping at 10:00 this morning. Finished up around three p.m. At left are the ingredients for the wild mushroom puree for the crostini (in the red container on the counter).










The mocha rum cake is wrapped up under the cake pan on the counter. We dug into it tonight (two thin slices) to determine if it was fit to serve guests. Died and gone to heaven! It was. Waiting for S.O. to go to bed so I can sneak another thin slice. Chocolate Nirvana.

The homemade vanilla ice cream isn't bad either. We licked the beater and the freezer container. I inherited a vanilla bean from my mom, and once used, I didn't replace until yesterday. $4 a pop. Who knew? I only used 1/2 because it seemed so strong. Plenty vanilla-y. Oh yum. Who is this crazy person who can't leave the kitchen?

Moi? How could this be? Moi

Another Saturday Night Dinner Party Menu

Am I a sucker for punishment or not? Nope. Like to cook and like to repay social occasions and nice things others have done for us. For the first time since late October, some fairly serious snow lies on the ground. What could beat a hearty meal?

Mushroom Crostini  Epicurious Recipe
Endive with red pepper salsa Yet another Epicurious recipe

Boeuf Bourgignon Similiar to my recipe, but not identical
Buttered Noodles
Green Beans with walnuts

Mocha Rum Cake  Epicurious yet again
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Food Network's Alton Brown

I used to take the mushroom crostini to summer parties in Easthampton. We had such fun doing communal cooking at our friends' summer place. Times sadly long past.

The endive is a new recipe, with its many veggies a substitution for salad. I am making the beef burgundy today, because it will be better warmed up. The cake contains no milk or cream but copious quantities of chocolate and butter. Needs to "age" a couple days.

When you select recipes for a party, by all means pick entrees, desserts and appetizers that can (and should) be made ahead of time. All I have to do tomorrow is cook the beans and noodles and assemble the appetizers. More time for table setting and last minute cleaning.

The home office is starting to look almost orderly. Well, it should with hundreds of pounds of paper sent off to the dump.

Back to the kitchen for a spell with the Boeuf Bourgignon. Maybe a few swigs of the burgundy while I cook? Nope, too early. Besides I have to make the ice cream and cook the mushroom part of the mushroom crostini. The ice cream came from the food channel web site a couple days ago. It helps to read the thoughtful recipe comments. And look at the stars. 
Happy cooking to me.

Grapeshot