Toned Down St. Patrick's day party

Last year one of my sons, who works in a restaurant asked why I never made corned beef and cabbage. I had two answers: the house smelled so bad and you boys didn't like it! But years before one of my clients wanted to have a St. Patrick's Day Party and I wanted something more creative. So, I made a menu and she was so happy with it, I eventually catered two more St. Pat parties for her.
I made a potato centerpiece and glued on real eye cutouts of both she and her husband and some of the guests. Another year, I made green tinsel lamp shades for her sconces.
My menu, which was called 'March Celtic Food the American Way' featured the following:
Mini open faced Reuben Pizzas
Sausage and Mashed potatoes Muffies
Corned Beef Sandwiches
Chicken Sandwiches with Chive Butter
Sweet Potato Stuffed Wontons
Irish Potato Salad
Tex-Caesar Salad
Lemon Bars
Puff Pastry fruit tarts
Brownies and truffles

I thought I was clever with the pickle plate I decorated:

I kinda want to be Irish for a Day

If you don't care for all that typical Irish fare, try the following:
Shepherd's Pie
Romaine lettuce with Basil Green Goddess Dressing
Shepherd's Pie~
1 # ground beef
1 c chopped white onion
3 strips bacon, cut into small pieces
1 c beef broth
1 bottle of beer
1 pkg. frozen peas
2-3 chopped carrots
1 T flour
1 - 2 T tomato paste
Ready made mashed potatoes
1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
Brown bacon strips in skillet. Remove and add onions and saute. You can add a little sugar to help the onions caramelize faster. When they are nicely browned add the ground beef and cook through. Then add carrots and frozen peas. Stir and mix for about 5 minutes. Add the flour and tomato paste and stir to incorporate the paste.
Turn up the heat and add the beer which helps to deglaze the pan. Add a little fresh chopped parsley along with salt and pepper and the cooked bacon. Stir to mix all together and get a nice consistency to the beef mixture. Have your pie plate ready because you are ready to add this mixture to the pie plate. With your ready made potatoes ( if you can buy the kind that has roasted garlic in them ~ great otherwise you can add it yourself) spread the potatoes over your filling. Bake in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and add shredded cheddar over top. Return to oven till cheese melts. Yum!!!
Basil Green Goddess Dressing:
1 c fresh parsley
3/4 c plain yogurt
1/3 light mayonnaise
2 T chopped basil
2 T chopped dill
1T chopped mint
1 tsp. red vinegar
Blend it all in a food processor. Can be made 3 days ahead. I have also found that you can use a combo of yogurt and sour cream instead of using the mayonnaise.

Molecular food

I want to make molecular food! Particularly the pretty ways different 'caviar' can be produced- without it actually being fish roe....yum

More Food Trends

These are little more down to earth though they seem like they have been around for awhile. Regardless, these seem to be seen all over various foodie sites:
Sushi, Bacon, Ground Beef, whole grains, cupcakes, coffee,sliders of all kinds, super fruits like blueberries and pomegranates, Artisan foods (Artisan foods are those made with time-tested methods on a small scale, not mass-produced) and oils. Today, companies are touting specialty oils and innovative products, such as virgin olive oil sorbet, olive oil semolina, and extra virgin olive oil gumdrops. If you'd like to get more use out of that golden bottle sitting in your cabinet, explore 7 Ways With Olive Oilwww.worldsofflavorspain.com
Have a great Tuesday!

Where have I been?

I could say in the clouds- it's so darn foggy outside but I have actually been doing a lot of concentrated work on my next love, film making. I love my Final Cut program but just found out that my imac plan is about to expire. Not that Final Cut is covered but those nice people would always help me with a small problem.There are still many bells and whistles I have yet to discover on my Mac! With food being my current passion, you'd think I'd be busy taking food pics all week. NOOOOOOO. Just working an enormous amount of time on a project I finished last night.
I am working on a luncheon later this week- it's on Friday. Unfortunately, two entrees need to be provided for the seafood eating Catholics in attendance. One of the dishes I'm making is called Raspberry Rave. I have adapted the recipe over time, thank heavens because I no longer the recipe. But I do have a picture:
In addition to chicken salad in parmesan cups, I'm also going to make shrimp cakes and an Asian Salad.

Molton Cakes

This past weekend I tought I'd take some molton cakes to a party. Tricky, tricky! I mean, they are quite easy to make and I have made them several times. I think I became careless the other day. I took a picture of two of them before they went into the oven. I forgot to add butter to the one on the left. You can see the difference in texture. So I thought it would be interesting to see how 'molton' it was when it came out of the oven.
The second picture shows the two of them when they came out of the oven. There is not a third picture showing their centers. Because, I OVERBAKED THEM by 1 minute!

Cod Milt

I came across this item and I had a difficult time reading about it. I thought it was interesting to post but I have limited what I want to say about it. You can read further if you care to hunt for it on the Internet.
Milt can be steamed, fried or broiled. The thought of it is quite nasty. It's fish sperm. It's sacs are likened to pork brains but they are lighter and have a finer texture. The taste is subtle and slightly sweet. It's a Japanese delicacy and is a seasonal item specifically a winter item.