Tried, Tested and True 3 Roundup: Wedding Edition

Thank you to everyone who participated in Tried, Tested and True 3! This is what I love about blogging: the support of your fellow bloggers and great recipe ideas. Next week, when Giz gets back from Miami and I am more adjusted to my new work schedule, wedding planning will resume to full speed. Thankfully, with your help, we have a bunch of great ideas for our Saturday dinner.

Appetizers

Ivy of Kopiaste submitted her Smoked Salmon Vol au Vents. What's great about this particular entry is that we do have non-meat eaters. As you can imagine - smoked salmon (lox) is a sure bet with our family.



I also love the sweet version of these vol au vents (in the dessert section)

Ruth of Ruth's Kitchen Experiments made these wonderful looking soy honey sausages that would be a hit at any event. I love the ease of these appetizers and I'm sure they'll be gone as quickly on our buffet as they were on Ruth's table. Ruth's event Bookmarked Recipes, is in it's 42 week. Definitely check it out! I'll be hosting it in a few week too.



Hopie, our adopted blog sister from Hopie's Kitchen , makes sure everyone has something to munch on with her Roasted Pepper and Feta Dip. This is one of those dishes I really have to be careful with since it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for me to grab the whole thing and find a quiet corner - just me and my dip. Congratulations to Hopie on the one year anniversary of Hopie's Kitchen


Val from More Than Burnt Toast did a beautiful job of Turkey Pinwheels. Just a perfect add Val and if (that's a big if) there are any leftovers, you can bet we'll be taking these to work for lunch.


Mains

And, if one entry wasn't enough, Val of More Than Burnt Toast made Chicken Wellington. I can see you were going to be absolutely certain that nothing got missed. Thank you so much for this.


Another double entry comes from Ivy of Kopiaste created her Stuffed Turkey Roulade. I can't think of a single person in the family who wouldn't be looking at this roulade without thinking how beautiful it looks. Ivy - I'm so sure Giz will be making this.


NOTE: I'm telling you folks - Galvy is the bomb!

Nuria from Spanish Recipes really knows how to throw a party. These Muntaya Sea and Mountain Shrimp would be an elegant addition to any festive table.


Chris from We Heart Food made this gorgeous Ultimate Veggie Mini Burger. I'm excited to have a couple of really interesting meatless options. The primary ingredient in these buns is garbanzos beans, which makes for a fascinating alternative to the traditional burger buns.


Julia from Grow. Cook. Eat suggests a resilient and delicious Beef Stew. Cooking delicate food for a group (particularly when it's a drop-in event) can be disastrous. So, foods that can sit, be reheated and are still flavourful are an important consideration.


Ben from What's Cooking has never cooked for a wedding before, but if you check out his blog, you'll see that he's more than capable. Check out his
Eggplant and chicken casserole . I'm going to have to test this recipe out as I could see this being a regular in our repetoire (not to mention a great addition to our Saturday dinner).


Following Julia's advice of resilient food, I made a beef pot roast. It's my party and I can eat horseradish if I want to! Right? Well - this is my sneaky way to incorporate it. But, I'd probably go with a more pulled beef texture to aid in the consumption since there isn't room to accommodate everyone at one table.


Ning from Heart and Hearth prepared Greek Chicken and brought it all the way from the Phillipines. A fresh healthy option would certainly be a hit.


Desserts

Grace of A Southern Grace shares her Mamster's Lemon Pound Cake. Grace, can I steal "Mamster"? I think Giz would prefer that to "Mother Dearest". Just a hunch. This poundcake looks delicious. I'm glad to see the pound cake making a big comeback. I know Giz will be the first one checking this out as will Baba who swears the only good cake is one that looks exactly like this one.


Karen from Domestic Muse suggests Not Yo' Mama's Banana Puddin, which ironically enough, may become my mama's banana pudding since Giz is now scrolling Miami looking for these regal Chessmen Cookies. I don't think I've ever seen them before in Canada.


Giz's note: I loved the uniqueness of these cookies so much that I set out on a mission to actually find them and VOILA...I found them,


Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen shares her recipe which is two parts awesome and one part insane. Why is my mother making a wedding cake out of towels four months before my wedding? Just wondering. But I must admit...it is kind of cool. If it's not too dusty in June, I think we'll use it as a decorative piece/food display for the table.


Giz's cookies are very cute. R's family is going to think we've lost our minds with such attention to detail. I think they'll get over it after eating these cookies.



Last, but not least, here the sweet version of Ivy's vol au vents Kopiaste ...Sweet...savoury...sweet...savoury. Ok - I'll take both!

Wedding Cakes and Cookies

It's pretty exciting when your only daughter comes home from a vacation and informs her mother that she's engaged. It's even more exciting when her fiance (very foreign word) is someone who you know will make your daughter happy. After all, I've had 7.5 years of having him around to get used to him and appreciate him as a perfect match.

After a couple of days of burning up the telephone lines and hearing "Sunrise, Sunset" playing in my head, the reality of logistics started moving to the front burner. After all, 75% of the guests will be coming from out of town (myself included). Helping with coordinating this event is a tougher task and largely done by telephone and pictures. I'm thinking I should create a slide show of the different engagement ring options, the samplings from potential restaurants, dresses in styles and colours and ideas for flowers. It does work - thank goodness for the internet.

One of the events we planned was a welcoming buffet and Psychgrad thought that having our blogging friends help contribute with ideas for what would make a smashing buffet would be a fun Tried Tested and True - Wedding Edition Event Submission are due by February 20th - What will we prepare? Ack!!! I definitely need some help!! Yup, this is me begging... (how pathetic am I)

I tend to obsess (should come as no surprise to Psychgrad) and a wedding is pretty high end on the obsession scale for me. What to do? What to prepare? Ok, I think I figured out that I'd like to do something a little different - at least different to me. Here is my submission to Psychgrad's wedding event.

If you're looking at it and saying "what the hell is that", you wouldn't be the first. It's a towel wedding cake that's pretty jammed with small goodies that every bride should have. Let me clarify - Psychgrad and I don't always agree on what she needs.

You'll notice in the front are a couple of cookies, heart shaped, in bride and groom configurations. I borrowed this recipe for sugar cookies that came from Katie of Good Things Catered that came from another friend - clearly a great recipe. They really are the most fabulous sugar cookies. I'm not a fancy baker and working with Royal Icing is a little daunting, messy and a whole day job.


Royal Icing

4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
3 Tbsp meringue powder
5-7 tablespoons water (dependent on the humidity factor of your kitchen)

1. Mix confectioner's in stand mixer with paddle attachment starting on low and adding water 1 Tbsp at a time up to 4 Tbsp and then smaller amounts to achieve desired consistency. You'll need 2 consistencies - 1/2 the batch for piping outlines in the cookies (medium consistency) and 1/2 the batch thinner for flooding the cookies. Adding food colour should be in a clean metal or glass container. Anything that is even remotely greasy (plastic is a good culprit unless it's new) will break the royal icing.

2. The key to good icing is all about practise, understanding consistencies and having a steady hand. I'm still working on all of it and hopefully I'll get it right by June. If not, I'll be giving away tons of wonky looking sugar cookies.

3. I used a #2 Wilton tip for outlining and a small metal spoon for flooding the cookies.

4. After the first step of icing dries on the cookies (overnight) I went back over the bride cookies to add more decoration.

Note: Royal Icing dries faster than nail polish - be sure to cover it with a damp cloth when you're working with it.

With all the stressors people face on a daily basis in their lives, isn't it a fun thing to celebrate!!! Please join our celebration.

Beef Pot Roast

I have been cooking, I swear. It's just that when in a time crunch, I go to old standbys that I've already posted or aren't post-worthy. The desire to slow things down was my motivation for today's post. It's possibly the slowest cooking dish I've ever made. It went in at 10:30pm, before I went to bed and came out around 7:00am before R left for work. I know it's a bit strange to cook something over night. But without a slow cooker (this is not a hint Giz, I still don't have space for one), I had to cook it in the oven and didn't want to leave the oven on all day while no one was at home.

This recipe is my submission for our Tried, Tested and True 3: Wedding Edition event. Don't forget the deadline is Friday, February 20th!

After reading Julia's (from Grow. Cook. Eat.) excellent advice regarding the importance of resilient food when cooking for a larger group, I thought this recipe would be a good option for this event. Plus, how can you go wrong with slow roasted beef?

Beef Pot Roast
Omnivore's Ottawa

There isn't a specific recipe for this dish, but here is what Ron Eade recommends (with my pictures throughout):

My sure-fire method is to brown the roast very well on all sides, either using a cast-iron Dutch oven on the stovetop, or incinerating the exterior on an outdoor gas grill (keeps the mess and smoke out of the house). Remember: It must be browned well before pot roasting, otherwise you'll get an anaemic, grey-looking meal with little character.

Before browning:



After browning:



Note: anticipate a lot of smoke. I had both of my smoke detectors going off.

After browning the pot roast well, toss it in a slow cooker with one chopped onion, a chopped carrot, two ribs of chopped celery, one-half bottle of dry red wine, a generous tablespoon of thyme, at least four cloves of minced garlic, and one bay leaf.


Then, add low-sodium beef broth to almost cover. Smack the lid on, set the heat to Low (or in the oven at around 225) and go away for 10 hours. Do not add salt, as the "low-sodium" broth is salty enough.


The roast will be perfect upon your return. Simply remove it from the slow cooker, cover with foil and set inside a 175°F oven to keep warm. For gravy, strain out and discard solids from the liquid, then boil it to reduce volume by at least half or two-thirds (taste to see if it's concentrated enough), then make gravy as usual.

Delicious! Plus, lots of left overs!

*************************************
Speaking of the awesomeness that is Julia, check out what she sent me this week. We were talking about vanilla and next thing I know, she's sending me some of my very own Tahitian Vanilla Beans! It smells amazing. I can't wait to use some in a recipe.


Thanks Julia!

Tried, Tested and True 3: Wedding Edition

Now that wedding planning is underway, I'm realizing every day just how many details go into the planning. Even a small wedding that avoids many of the traditional aspects of a wedding can be overwhelming. Perhaps one of the most complicated parts of the wedding we're planning is that at least 75% of the guests will be coming in from out of town.

We can't just expect out-of-towners to figure things out on their own. In addition to putting together "welcome baskets" for each guest, I'd like to have some activities to offer people so that they're not bored and at least one meal per day covered (e.g., dinner at my place, lunch at a restaurant).

Here's where YOU come in.

We're bringing back our Tried, Tested and True event. This time, it's Tried, Tested and True 3: Wedding Edition

What would you serve to impress for a group of approximately 20-30 people (remember this is immediate family) that can be featured on a buffet table or a sweet table?

Beginning today and ending on Friday, February 20th, we're asking you to translate your experience with parties and send along a dish that will make me look like a total domestic diva. It should be something that you know will be a big hit - something that makes people come back to the table for seconds and leaves them wanting more when the party is over. Big expecations? Nah - I have faith. You guys are all amazing cooks and bakers. I know with your help, we can swing this event and make it entirely successful. Plus, we'll know where the recipes came from and it'll make us feel like our blogging friends are right there with us.

Want to participate? Here's what you need to do:
1. Post a recipe between today and February 20th that you have not posted before.
2. Include a link to this post
3. Submit your post to triedtestedandtrue(at)live(dot)ca and label it TTT3

Include:
- Your name
- Your blog name and the URL of your post
- Sending along a picture of your dish would be extremely helpful.
Please feel free to use the wedding cake banner on your blog.

Tried, Tested and True Two Results

The results are in!!! After extensive consideration of all of the excellent entries, Christine Cushing has sent us her top three submissions. For details about the context, click here. For the roundup, click here.

The winners are invited to select bracelet and/or earring designs (depending on the prize) from the Blue Marigold website.

Here are the winners:

In 3rd place…the winner of 1 Jar of Christine Cushing's new look tomato sauce and one 1 Awareness bracelet of your choice is Pistachio Olive Oil Brownies.

In 2nd place – the winner of 2 Jars of Christine Cushing's new look tomato sauce and 1 Awareness bracelet of your choice and matching earrings is Roasted Pumpkin, Red Pepper and Onion with Sweet Balsamic Mustard on Couscous.

AND…in 1st place, winning a signed copy of Christine Cushing's newest cookbook, 1 Bottle of Christine Cushing's line of olive oil, 2 Jars of Christine Cushing's new look tomato sauce and 1 Awareness bracelet and matching earrings….

Here – Christine wants to tell you herself:

Congratulations - POTATO CROQUETTES! You’re the first place winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated! This was a lot of fun.