Party Planning Update

[sadlikeknives]

I've decided on a basic plan for my party: food that looks as fancy as I can manage with as little effort actually expended as humanly possible.

For instance:

pigs in blankets
baked brie
popcorn chicken with honey mustard dipping sauce
giant bowl of seasoned popcorn (hey, it's a movies award show)
mini brownies (baked in mini muffin tins)

Beyond this, well, I don't know yet.

Comments

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Did you see the recipe that I linked to for the mini chocolate things that I made? SUPER easy recipe.

Also, pigs in blankets are not as effortless as one would think. They take a damn long time to roll up, and cutting the dough right is a little tricky.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

My mom and her sister view their daughters as pig-in-blanket or deviled-egg assembly line slaves. I could do either with my eyes closed. Although my cousin always got to mix the filling for the eggs, so that might give me a bit of trouble. Hence my not attempting it.

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Well right, they're not HARD to do, it's just that they take a while, so if you're looking for lazy party food, they aren't it.

I did discover, though that the mini chicken sausages make great pigs in blankets, because they're less greasy, and no one knows the difference. See if you can find them in the slightly fancy food area of the store.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

The pigs in blankets will be me proving that I am not, in fact, the laziest hostess ever. ;)

Also, I can stuff mushrooms like nobody's business, but I'm skipping out on that one. I was made to stuff all the mushrooms for a cousin's wedding. There's trauma there.

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm. LOVE stuffed mushrooms.

I can't remember if I linked/offered you the cheese straw recipe that I have or not. Let me know if you need it.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Mmm, cheese straws. Yes please?

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Recipe: Cheese Straws

Time: 20 minutes

1/2 pound Cheddar or other hard, flavorful cheese
1/3 pound Parmesan cheese
2 cups (about 9 ounces) all-purpose flour
Pinch cayenne
8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into chunks, plus a little more for greasing the baking sheet
Few drops ice water, if necessary
Coarse salt (optional).

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Grate cheese by hand or in food processor and place in bowl. Pulse flour and cayenne in processor. Add butter and process until butter and flour are combined. Pulse in cheese. [Note from Jasmine: if you don't have a food processor, you can just cut everything in with cold forks, or your fingers.]

2. Turn out onto counter or cutting board and knead by hand, adding a few drops of ice water if necessary. (You may wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 days, taking it out for about a half hour before proceeding.) [Note from Jasmine: you MUST rest the dough for 30 minutes to an hour at this point, or it's totally totally hard to roll out.]

3. Roll out into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick, on a lightly floured surface or between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, then cut into ½-inch-wide strips as long as you like. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and sprinkle with salt, if using. Bake until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. [Note from Jasmine: watch them carefully, they easily go from perfect to burnt.] Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Also, I have a very tasty recipe for cheese biscuits, which would be tasty and very cute if you made them in miniature and then made little ham sandwiches with them.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Okay, those sound really cute. *puppy eyes* Recipe?

I think I'm going to scrap the deviled eggs in favor of stuffed mushrooms, since deviled eggs are really a summer food. And I pretty much thefted my mom's deviled egg plate, so I have to use it somehow. The mushrooms will look cute on it.

*is going to have so much food, yay*

*needs a food icon*

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

These are the cheddar biscuits. I've always left out the scallions, but I bet they'd be good with them. Use a little round cutter or a champagne glass to make them in miniature.

I have many many food icons. It's pretty bad.

[vampychick.livejournal.com]

Oh, and! The spinach dip you mentioned before, what about it?

[jasminelily.livejournal.com]

Here's the spinach dip. When I've made it, I follow the recipe, and then put it in an ovensafe bowl, sprinkle parmesean on top, and then put it in the oven to keep warm. Then you can have a smaller bowl out for guests, and just fill up from the warm bowl in the oven periodically.