buffet | At Home With Friends

March 25, 2015

February 20, 2015
At Home with Friends

Pasta, Chard & Fontina Torte

Baked pastas are always great as part of a lunch buffet. This one is both vegetarian and gluten free. I wanted to come up with a way to use brown rice pasta (for my gluten free guests) that tasted as good as regular pasta. You can use spinach or chard or kale. I love to buy […]

BABY SHOWER – GAME PLAN

Saturday Afternoon

4 Weeks Before

Invite guests
Think about menu
Think about Baby Shower games / activities
Decide logistics such as where to set up bar, buffet and design or art station

3 Weeks Before

Make detailed shopping list for both food and non-food items
Buy non-perishables, e.g. refrigerated pie dough, dried pasta, quinoa, canned artichoke hearts
Buy art supplies for games / activities
Bake and freeze:
- One-Bite Cherry Pies
- Party Cookies
- Pink Grapefruit Cookies (you can freeze with no icing and add icing later)
- Coconut Macaroons

2 Weeks Before

Review menu
Book support staff if needed
Organize all dishes and glasses and serving platters
Buy all beverages including alcohol

1 Week Before

Finalize menu and confirm guest list
Buy and store ice

Monday

Set-up table, dishes, glasses, silverware, serving platters and utensils

Tuesday

Do all grocery shopping except chicken and shrimp.
Wash all vegetables.

Wednesday

Make quinoa for Quinoa Salad with Roasted Vegetables and store covered in refrigerator
Buy flowers
Organize playlist

Thursday

Arrange flowers
Prepare and bake Pasta, Chard and Fontina Tortes. Keep tightly covered in springform pan in refrigerator
Make Tomato Sauce for chicken
Prepare Lemon Dressing for Tortellini Salad
Cook tortellini for Tortellini Salad. Store in refrigerator covered.

Friday

Buy shrimp and chicken breasts
Prepare Boneless Chicken Breasts. Don’t bake until Saturday morning.
Prepare Mushroom and Chard Galettes. Store in refrigerator.
Prep veggies for Crudités Platter
Roast vegetables for Quinoa Salad
Steam asparagus for Asparagus with Artichoke Hearts

Saturday

FIRST: Take all prepared food out of refrigerator to come to room temperature.
Chop vegetables and prepare Quinoa Salad
Assemble Tortellini Salad
Assemble Asparagus with Artichoke Hearts and Lemon Zest
Bake Mushroom Galettes
Assemble Shrimp Salad with Feta Cheese and Olives
Bake Boneless Chicken Breasts
Assemble Camembert with Fig Jam
Assemble Crudités Platter
LAST: Make pitches of Strawberry Rosé Spritzer.

February 18, 2015

January 30, 2015
At Home with Friends

1 comment

New Year’s Day Brunch: Beverages

For New Year’s Day Brunch, you need two beverage stations: One station is for coffee and tea, the other is for cold beverages (a.k.a. alcohol). While it’s fun to create and serve a signature drink, for New Year’s Day I like to keep it simple. Really good, spicy Bloody Marys with extra Tabasco on the […]

January 21, 2015
At Home with Friends

2 comments

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

This is another one of those dishes you can add to a brunch or dinner buffet. I grow rosemary in my garden and have the other ingredients in my pantry at all times. New Year’s Day, I put the potatoes in the oven when I got up, they developed a beautiful crust and complimented the […]

NEW YEAR’S DAY BRUNCH

GAME PLAN

4 Weeks Before

Invite guests: Send evites early as people may have established New Year’s Day traditions

3 Weeks Before

Plan menu: My menu had some food that needed to be kept warm. Omit this if you don’t have equipment like a chafing dish.
Arrange support staff or kitchen help if you will use it

2 Weeks Before

Finalize menu
Make detailed shopping list
Decide what you will buy readymade

7 Days Ahead

Get out dishes, glasses, silverware, napkins and all serving dishes
Finalize logistics: bar set-up, coffee station set-up

6 Days Ahead

Do grocery shopping: non-perishables, ice, frozen orange juice, blintzes, etc.

4 Days Ahead

Set-up buffet table

3 Days Ahead

Do grocery shopping: perishables, cream cheese, smoked fish, fresh orange juice, eggs, etc.

2 Days Ahead

Prepare and bake Pumpkin Monkey Bread
Roast leg of lamb for Lamb Hash
Bake potatoes for hash
Chop onions for hash
Buy and arrange flowers
Buy bagels, pastries, breads, fish, cream cheese, etc.

1 Day Ahead

Organize playlist
Thaw frozen orange juice for Fresh Fruit Salad
Prepare and refrigerate Blintz Souffle
Prepare Lamb Hash
Clean mushrooms for Chicken Livers Chasseur, rinse livers
Make tomato sauce for Shakshuka
Prepare Apple Fig Crumble
Wash all fruit for Fresh Fruit Salad
Make Fresh Fruit Salad (omit bananas and grapes until the morning of the party)

Morning of Party (My party started at 12:30 p.m.)

9:00 a.m.
Bake Apple Fig Crumble

10:00 a.m.
Prepare fish platters (2 hours ahead)
Slice breads

11:00 a.m.
Bake Blintz Souffle (1 hour and 10 minutes)
Bake Lamb Hash (45 minutes)
Add bananas and grapes to Fresh Fruit Salad
Prepare Shakshuka
Prepare Chicken Livers with Mushrooms
Set-up bar and coffee station
Arrange pastries

Have a drink and wait for your guests to arrive!

January 12, 2015

January 5, 2015
At Home with Friends

3 comments

New Year’s Day Brunch Party: The Food

When I was a kid, my parents always had a New Year’s Day brunch. The menu featured lots of Jewish deli food, bagels and cream cheese and lox (which we now call “smoked salmon”), corned beef, pastrami, potato salad, cole slaw, other cold cuts, lots of pastries and of course my mother’s blintz souffle. It […]

June 11, 2014
At Home with Friends

5 comments

Create the Menu

When you’re creating a menu, there are several things to consider beyond just the food itself. You have to think about preparing the food. Do you have adequate pots, pans, sheet trays, and whatever else the recipe calls for. If you want to prepare food in advance, do you have adequate freezer space for storage? […]