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This is another composed salad that is simple to make and refreshing and delightful. The key to this salad is blanching the asparagus and plunging them in ice water (shocking them). This preserves the vibrant green color and fresh flavor. The orange zest surprises the palate and makes this a unique taste experience. This dish will […]
It’s great to have one or two cold pasta salads in your repertoire. They are simple to make and you can tweak them to your own taste. This one includes cheese tortellini and baby spinach. For this party, I served the pasta mounded on top of the spinach, but I have also tossed it all […]
There was an Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills, now closed, that served a shrimp appetizer on a bed of shaved fennel. This was such a distinct and refreshing way to the start of an Italian meal, I always admired it. The restaurant closed so I had to make it for myself. This salad combines the […]
I knew we had ordered a very rich chocolate vanilla cake for dessert and I wanted to make some one-bite treats to accompany the cake. I wanted something fruity and I came up with these one-bite cherry pies. The great thing about this recipe is that you can substitute any type of dried berry and […]
If you follow my blog, you know that I make cookies for every party. Maybe it’s the child within us that smiles when we reach for a cookie. At this party, at Krista’s request, we ordered a glorious cake from her favorite bakery. I know the pastry chef who created this confection and it’s stellar […]
I had never eaten these and was intrigued by the recipe. It came from Martha Stewart, so how could it be bad? They definitely have the flavor of grapefruit from the grapefruit zest. Her original recipe used this recipe for sandwich cookies with creamy grapefruit flavored filling. Sandwich cookies usually don’t hold up well and […]
In my house, party cookies meant the rich butter cookies that were covered with colored sprinkles that my mom bought at the bakery only when there was a party. These actually come close and you make them yourself. The fun part is that they are made with a cookie press and sprinkled with sanding sugar. […]
I love making savory or sweet rustic tarts or galettes. I usually make my own dough but for this party, with such a large number of guests, I needed to save time. I used one of my go-to shortcuts: Refrigerated Pie Crust. Yes, handmade dough is wonderful but this works just fine. I made two […]
