From the category archives:

Feed a Crowd

Darn Good Guacamole

The Perfect Guacamole recipe title prompted me to quietly tear it from the dentist office magazine. Yes, I do that sometimes, but only an emergency like this one.

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There’s a growing community of food bloggers here in LA. We’re getting to know each other by stepping away from our computers each month for face-time, networking and good eats together. And, recipe sharing!
Last month, Erika of In Erika’s Kitchen hosted a brunch where Small Pleasures Catering blogger/caterer Giselle arrived with pretty pillows of [...]

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How to Make Perfect, Best-Ever, Excellent Mashed Potatoes

What you’re looking at are riced russet potatoes (not actually rice). It’s a step before whuupin’ em with butter and milk to make mmmm mashed potatoes. While volunteering this week at Project Angel Food, we prepped 250 lbs. of potatoes for Chef Adrian. Then, they were cooked in a humongous brazier, mashed in a [...]

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Paula Deen’s Warm Potato Salad (almost)

What would YOU bring to a potluck of food bloggers? Thanks to blogger In Erika’s Kitchen for pulling this growing group together! I hoped offering a side dish would give me wiggle room to ponder… salad? Veggie? Rice? Pasta? There would be husbands and kids. And of course, really good cooks (those dang food [...]

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Greek Potato Salad from LA Greekfest

Some cooks need an actual recipe to feel comfortable, so this was the PERFECT demo to help break free from those shackles. LA Greekfest instructors Akrevoe Emmanouilides and Pitsa Captain were “a little of this, a little of that” cooks, and the audience ate it up. By the end of the salad session, we [...]

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Mocha Marshmallows

Why make homemade marshmallows? Because they really are SO much better than store-bought. Fresh, fresh, yummy fresh. Another reason is, because you are a grownup now, so you can do stuff to them, like make a batch with Amaretto. I did that, and then decided it didn’t really do anything for them, but dredging [...]

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Emperor’s Farmers Market Salad

Entitled “Cucumber, Carrot and Tomato Salad,” the recipe served 130. That’s a good sized “cooking for a crowd” recipe, but considered small at Project Angel Food. This was my cooking task last week with fellow volunteer, Sarah. Since it had great blogging/household dining potential, I wrote the full size recipe on a box sticker [...]

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Tri-Color Bleu Cheese Potato Salad

Picture a Sunday picnic at a countryside winery with good friends who like to cook and eat. Homemade gourmet, local wine and a tinge of sun-kissed cheeks on a glorious Southern California afternoon really makes you believe that “life is good.”
Larry and I enjoy Gourmet Clubs, which amounts to three or four couples agreeing [...]

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Mmmm Kahlua Chocolate Cupcakes with Kahlua Buttercream Frosting

The beginning of my friendship with Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, the powerhouse behind wildly successful culinary blog The Kitchn, was steeped in Kahlua. She was probably in the fifth grade. It’s a fun story.
My boutique PR firm had Kahlua as a client for many years. Pretty yummy work; our best PR efforts were culinary-focused. Over time, [...]

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Favorite Ham Story, And The Recipe

It was by pure accident that I stumbled on this compelling story about feeding a sophisticated crowd via a cheap ham, called the “Ham Gambit.” Most likely, the use of the word CHEAP got my attention because there are few people who are cheaper than me when it comes to entertaining. There, I admit [...]

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