Catching Up: February - Cooking, Cooking, and More Sewing

I am going to catch up on my 2010 posts before 2011 if it kills me! I have a few fun December projects that I want to share, but thought it best to catch up first on say, the spring, first.


As you may recall, the first week of February was dedicated to The Quest for a Million Miniature Onesies. I was scanning through my phone and found this photo of some of the younger guests that I spotted wearing the onesies as I walked out the door. If I had any money left, I would have given it to them!

Andy and I celebrated Valentine’s Day by recreating a bit of deliciousness from our honeymoon.

He made French Onion Soup using a recipe from the Bouchon Cookbook.

I made a chocolate tart from the Mustard Grill cookbook.

And we enjoyed  a bottle of my favorite wine in my limited world, Silver Oak, which we received as a housewarming gift from Aunt Ruth.

Both dishes were all-day undertakings, so we lunched on frozen pizza and Cokes from Gene’s Sausage Shop. Very gourmet, no?

If I would have blogged about this sooner, I might have had something poignant to say about taking on the works of masters. But all that I can think of at this point is that Onion Goggles REALLY DO WORK.

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I also took on my first “real” sewing project in February – a table runner made from Purdue fabric.

TOTAL CHEESE, I know, but it was all in good fun for a dinner with my friends from college.

I didn’t have time to run out for flowers on the day of the party (and Andy always seems to overlook that item no matter where I place it on the grocery list), so Andy improvised our centerpiece.

I have no idea what Jay Cutler has to do with Purdue. I think that he did it because our friends had Drew
Brees and Kyle Orton figurines as the place settings at a dinner party in 2009. I hate to discourage him when he does anything party-related, so I let him have it.

Tartella, Inc.

Another IndieWed discovery for me was Tartella, Inc. Tartella sells the most charming cooking- and baking-themed paperie, linens, and artwork all printed on recycled + biodegradable materials using letterpress, offset, or silkscreen printing.

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I bought a really cute letterpress print of the cork image seen in the wine towel for our kitchen.

While browsing their products, I thought, "Man, this place has Tara's name all over it." Then I saw their story on their Web site:

tartella began in the spring of '07 out of a passion for paper + food (not necessarily in that order)! the prevalence of gifting food and wine, often made in our own kitchens, created a need for products to ‘wrap' up those delectable goodies. here at tartella, we are committed to making the delivery as creative + delicious as what's inside!

 That's totally her! I love when businesses are born out of beautiful, frivolous passions. Go check them out.

Foodie Gift Idea

Andy and I received the most fabulous BBQ spice set as a housewarming gift from our friend, VP.

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The Barbecue Gift Box, from The Spice House in Chicago, contained four BBQ seasonings, one local and three from other regions.

• Bronzeville "Galena Street" Rib Rub
• Cajun Seasonings, Regular Spicy, Extra Hot, and Salt Free
• Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
• Trinidad Style Lemon Garlic Marinade Seasoning

It was packaged in the most delectable-smelling spices that could be reused for cooking: Korintje Indonesian cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg from Grenada, and Turkish select bay leaves. Just opening the box made my mouth water. You should smell the inside our cabinet.
 
I think that any of the Spice House gift boxes would make excellent gifts for newlyweds, wedding party members, and parents. Their individual bags and items would be great hostess gifts. The two below are, obviously, my favorite - REPRESENT! - but their stock is quite diverse. They even have salad and veggie spices for your vegan homies.

• Ultimate Chicago Gift Box: I love anything that promotes the city's rep as "a heartland stronghold of meat, potatoes, and ethnic favorites to one of the country's (if not the world's) culinary centers."

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• Ethnic Chicago Deluxe Box: "This jumbo assortment of Chicago neighborhood blends is our best selling jumbo box, the perfect souvenir or introduction to the diversity of Chicago and its food." (I just read Andy the list of the spices in this box and we both want it!)
  

 

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The prices are affordable at $20-$45 per box, so you can package it with some cool cooks' tools and cookbooks or as an add-on for a registry gift.

As a totally random aside, I've noticed that I tend to use bullets more than most bloggers. I actually do business writing for a living, so this makes me giggle. Corporate America has forced me to organize my stream-of-consciousness style.

Menu

After my aunt re-stated her complaints, re: the lack of seating at A New Leaf, she had me hemming and hawing about the location again. (I mean, bridesmaids and guests sitting on the steps? Come on!) So, at last week's tasting, when I was trying to convince my caterer to put stools around all of the highboys, she told me that if I am going to do a cocktail party that I am going to have to remain committed to it. And she was right. Unrealized or not, a few people been giving me heat on the cocktail party decision -- all delivered through unrealized facial ticks, eye rolls, "Whatevers," and forced smiles. And, because I have the disease to please, it has caused me to triple guess everything. Well, to all of the naysayers, I present:

Our Menu

Anyone who frowns upon this is nuts. (If I say so myself.) Doesn't it sound so delish? I need to add some chicken to round it out and there will be a few vegan options made available. But, for the most part, this is it! I think that it's the coolest! (I am supposed to be at the gym AS I POST THIS (Baby steps to the 4:30 a.m. plan, I guess.), so I don't have time to edit and format this. I just copied it from the contract. )

• Passed Hors D'oeuvres:
• Gourmet Pizzas: Four Cheese Pizza with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Vegetarian Pizza, Plum Tomato, Mozzarella and Fresh Basil
• BBQ Pizetta: Smokey BBQ Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Shallots and Smoked Mozzarella drizzled with Truffle Oil
• Jumbo Shrimp stuffed with Chorizo
  
• Open-faced BBQ Beef Brisket on Mini Cornbread topped with Homemade Apple Slaw
• Both Potato and Spinach Mini Pierogies served with a Sour Cream Dipping Sauce
• Mini Meatloaf Sandwiches served with Pancetta, Roasted Tomato, Caramelized Onions and Fresh Sage
• Mini Macaroni & Cheese topped with Lobster Morel (ome prepared without Lobster ) Presented on a Tasting Spoon
• Mini Cheeseburgers passed in a Hawker Box with Squeeze Bottles of Ketchup and Mustard
• Mini Pigs in a Blanket served from Hawker Boxes
• Phyllo Dough Rolled into a Pinwheel with Mushrooms, Fresh Spinach and Onions garnished with Sour Cream and Fresh Chives
• Tuna Tartar: Ahi Tuna seasoned with Sesame Oil, Ginger, Garlic served in a Crispy Wonton Cone with Wasabi Cream
• Diced Pear and Apricot with Brie Cheese Quesadillas
• Mini Open Face Polish Sausage on Rye topped with Sauerkraut
• Wine and Cheese Hors d'oeuvres Reception in the Black Table Room
• International Cheese Display with Imported and Domestic Cheese, served with Lavosh Crackers and garnished with Red and Green Grapes
• Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Humus served with Pita and Vegetable Crudites served with Assorted Dipping Sauces
• Wedding Cake
• Sweets Table:
• Fresh Fruit and Berry Platter
• Assorted Mini Tarts: Lemon, Apples & Praline, Chocolate, Banana Cream, Hazelnut, Raspberry, Blueberry, Pecan and Pumpkin
• Assorted Mini Cheesecakes: Tiramisu, Chocolate Chip, Plain & Raspberry
• Mini Taffy Apples
• Assorted Gourmet Cookies
• Freshly Brewed Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee and Gourmet Tea served with Baby Tongs, Sugar Cubes, Cream, Equal and Sweet and Low
• Late-Night Snacks:
• French Fries served with Squeeze Bottles of Ketchup
• Mini Wrapped Gyros with Julienne Tomatoes and Onions
• Mini Chocolate and Strawberry Milkshakes topped with Whipped Cream and a Cherry

Dots Amore.

The morning after I designed the original yellow dot monogram, Andy and I walked down to Treasure Island to pick up some snacks for the Bears game. I picked up a copy of In Style Weddings and was flipping through it while he ran into 7-Eleven to look for the "good" dip. I stumbled upon the photo of this cake and was jumping up and down when he came out of the store. It looks just like the monogram!

Photo: In Style Weddings Magazine, Fall 2007

I really, really, really, really hope that we can afford this cake. I have a feeling that it's going to be $$$ given how labor intensive it is. To save money, we're considering having a cake made for half count and then having about 150 cupcakes made using our moms' carrot cake and white cake recipes. Then I can prance around the reception in triumph when everyone chooses my mom's carrot cake over Andy's mom's white cake!

If we can afford the cake, what do you think we should do?

• All white?
• Majority white with some colored balls?
• All colored balls in the various colors of the invite?

When I was doing yellow, I was going to have the cake be made in many shades of yellow; but I think that that may be a bit contrived in my fall colors. (Or "technicolor" as Andy's aunt called it).

Speaking of cake, check out the pretty Vera Wang Wedgewood cake knife and server set that showed up at my office the other day:

Photo from the Wedgewood web site

I ran down to the front desk expecting Andy's birthday present to be there (four days late) and the package was for me! (Well, it was addressed to both of us, but realistically...) Our friends from Buffalo, Balz and Crash, sent it as a belated engagement present. Ironically, I had nixed the cake knife from the budget a few weeks ago. If it weren't for Balz, I would've been using a plastic freebee from Dinkel's in all of the wedding photos.

Pigs in a Blanket

Photo from: Bliss Weddings and Events

Andy and I agreed about 15 minutes into planning that we wanted a cocktail party reception. I swear to God, we decided that before I read approximately three dozen articles about it being all the rage. We thought that it would be cool, but also knew that the space at A New Leaf wouldn't allow us to seat 175 people (and that we couldn't afford to feed so many people a seated meal.)

It took me a few tries to get caterers to stop talking about "Action Stations" and buffets, but after a sleepless Thanksgiving weekend of staying up and stressing out about people cutting their crappy "chef-carved prime rib" while standing at a high-boy, I finally put my foot down. And, so far, the caterers have been really excited about this decision. One catering manager even jumped up and down and applauded when I mentioned it (while wearing very high plaid heels, I might add!).

After months of reading through catering menus, I am really excited about our decision; however, I am still worried about how to convince my father that "mini roquefort brioche with a ruffle of rare roasted tenderloin and red onion confit" is really just tenderloin on a bun. Realistically, I am resigning myself to the fact that, no matter what I do, he'll most likely end up at the White Castles drive though on the way home.