From the category archives:

Feed a Crowd

Big Green Salad Moroccan-Inspired, Sort Of

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I’m not claiming this to be a “Moroccan Salad.” It is a good example of how to contribute to a dinner party. Friends Chris and Patricia (she’s the chef blogger at Fresh Food in a Flash – and photographer that night) hosted. Patricia was marinating meat in “Moroccan seasonings,” so I said we’d bring salad. [...]

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Have You Heard The Table Set?

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Maybe you live up the road from us in LA? My guess is, no. You’re in New York, or Iowa, or Auckland, or Delhi. This “recipe for fun” is for you. This stunning Rainbow Jell-o Mold was just one ooooh – aaaah moment at a pool party, thank you homeowner and party host Greg, the [...]

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Fresh Beet, Feta & Pistachio Salad

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NEVER open a can of beets again, if you can help it. Fresh. Roasted. Sweet. Dense. Beet, Feta & Pistachio Salad – not what I first planned to make for my sister, Janie’s wedding shower. But two days prior to the party, Larry and I were treated to a media tasting at hip Ray’s [...]

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Jalapeno Lime Coleslaw for a Crowd

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OOPS, forgot to take a “hero shot” photo of my Jalapeno Lime Coleslaw before we dug in at Laura and Jeff’s July 4th gig. No worries, it looks like any other coleslaw, but but but… has a tang and a punch, really worth checking out yourself.

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My Dad’s Beer Basted Bratwurst for Octoberfest

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Maybe 15 years or so ago, Larry and I helped my folks with one of their wild parties. On the menu: Beer Basted Bratwurst. My parents have a “gang;” their decades-long connection is St. John Fisher grammar school, all the gang’s assorted kids started there. We lived on The Peninsula (they still do), a horsey, [...]

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Roasted Sea Bass with Ratatouille

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Ratatouille. This is something I’ve avoided all my life due to the dreaded ingredient – eggplant! I never ate that veggie in my youth. Larry’s mom cooked hers to smithereens, so it is yuck to him, too. We never order anything eggplant in restaurants. Only thing aubergine in our lives is Larry’s extensive wardrobe of [...]

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Hawaiian Coconut Shrimp Appetizer

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Four couples who like to cook. And drink. And travel. Every few months, we gather at someone’s home for our Gourmet Club dinner cook-a-thon. The hosts select the theme and divvy up potluck assignments. We schlep bags of ingredients, piles of utensils, then make ourselves at home for platters, serving pieces. Every surface is used, [...]

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Milk Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

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It’s a long story getting to these macaroons, starting with the chocolate. On the way home from niece Nicole’s wedding in San Diego, we stopped at John and Gail’s. Gail had “too much” chocolate from an Erie, PA store called Stefanelli’s Candies. I took some off her hands.

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Darn Good Guacamole

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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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Cheese Blintzes

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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

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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 monstrous [...]

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Paula Deen’s Warm Potato Salad (almost)

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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 bloggers). [...]

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Greek Potato Salad from LA Greekfest

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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 all [...]

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Mocha Marshmallows

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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 them [...]

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Emperor’s Farmers Market Salad

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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 to [...]

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Tri-Color Bleu Cheese Potato Salad

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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

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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 [...]

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Favorite Ham Story, And The Recipe

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This is the best recipe ever to cook the perfect ham for Easter. It was by luck 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 [...]

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