Your mission, should you accept it....

S

sallybr

Well-known member
... is to host a cocktail party for the whole faculty of your department, plus many members of other departments (mostly heads of depts), the Dean, his wife, the President of the university, possibly his wife, the Provost... to honor a Nobel Prize laureate (!!!!)

said cocktail will take place starting at 5pm on a MONDAY, and you cannot take the whole day off, no dear, you cannot, because you must attend the Nobel seminar too

ah, on a side note - you have no choice. You must accept the mission

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

so, there you have it, my friends... this will be a very interesting weekend, Phil and I will work hard, but we are looking forward to pulling this challenge together!

a few things I have in mind already is baking a focaccia, making chocolate truffles, a bowl of strawberries with cannoli cream (seen on the above thread), a couple of different dips, bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with parmigiano, spiced almonds, a cheese platter, and maybe smoked salmon served on cucumber slices with cream cheese and dill

I am also considering a baked ricotta with Meyer lemon

A lot of it I can do on Sunday, and will have to shave a couple of hours in the afternoon off work to get the final things done

exciting times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
Time crunch ...

This would be the time to supplement with store bought items. Hummus drizzled with really good olive oil for example.

For an gallery opening last week, I made a veggie dip from sun-dried tomato pesto mixed with light Mayo and sour cream that was a big hit.

 
Oh, I intend to supplement A LOT

no way I would try to do it all myself, I think it's more important to have a few special items, but let the rest be the usual suspects - cheese, crackers, toasted baguettes, stuff like that

I am not sure about the hummus - I like certain brands and might go as you suggest with store-bought. But I've been meaning to try the microwaved version of hummus that was talked about a while ago. I don't know. I will play it by ear, see how much I can do this weekend

we will have to go with disposable plates and glasses, although I hate that. It's just too many people, we don't have enough dishes, and renting would go over budget. We need to keep costs down as much as possible, the university is not swimming in money at all...

 
How many people? Are you hosting in your home? My memory gets bad w. age... Can you showcase

your oven or are you going to have to host at one of our other eat.at friends that has a red oven?

Your menu sounds wonderful!

 
P.S.... Congrats, it really is a HUGE honor to be asked to host this event. Take it as huge

compliment that you and dh were asked to host.
P.S... I love Plastic! While not ideal for the environment, you just need to do it.

I'm excited for you!!

 
Well, the story is not as glamorous as that. smileys/smile.gif

Phil is the one who arranged the whole visit - this is the second Nobel Laureate to come to our department and I give a ton of credit to Phil for facing up the negotiations for it

so to give the chance to have the speaker interacting with as many people as possible we decided to host a reception at home

since we have to take him to the airport at 5am next day, an early reception right after one of his seminars was the way to go -

I am obviously very nervous, but I know it's going to be ok, I absolutely LOVE to entertain - .

 
If anyone can pull it together, it's you, Sally. Have fun with it and let us know if you need

any help or appetizer suggestions.

 
Oh, I need help and I need it now.... smileys/smile.gif

I am flirting with the idea of making small, very small cream cheese-chive pancakes to serve with the salmon. The only way I would go for it is if they could be made on Saturday and either kept in the fridge for two days or frozen

what do you guys and girls think about this? Doable? too risky?

the recipe is pretty straightforward, just cream cheese, flour, egg yolk, baking powder (IIRC) and chives - you make the batter and fry tablespoon portions on a non-stick skillet

let them cool, top and serve within an hour or two

too crazy to go for it? THe alternative is of course much simpler, use sliced cucumbers as a base, or even store-bought rye type bread

 
I think they'll be just fine.

I'd go for it. You may want to let the pancakes reach room temp or reheat slightly in the oven before topping and serving.

 
Those here who are professional caterers may have more suggestions/ideas for you. Charlie, Joe, Wigs

CathyZ?

 
The menu sounds great! And I agree with Pat, the little pancakes should be do-ahead-able...

is that a word?!

 
If you decide that is too much at the last minute or any other reason the small

cocktail rye loaves cut in triangles are so good with this. If you wanted to do your own salmon, I have a recipe I use for this--a kind of gravlax but it is ginger pickled. Takes 36 hours in the fridge (then you can drain and it keeps fine). It is delicious.
Ginger-Pickled Salmon

2 cups cider vnegar
1/2 pound fresh ginger, -- thinly sliced
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
1 1/2 pounds centercut skinless
salmon fillet

Cmbine the vinegar, ginger, sugar, and pppercorns in a pan. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Let the brine cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
Put the salmon in a plastic bag and pour the cold ginger brine on top. Put in a
bowl so that the plastic bag keeps the salmon submerged in the brine and refrigerate for at
least 24 hours or up to 3 days. 36 hours is about perfect. The brine “cooks” the salmon.
You can test the “doneness”—it should not be completely “cooked”—a bright orange center is what you are looking for. Mine is usually about 36 hours. Remove the salmon from the brine and pat dry. Can be stored for several days.
At serving time using a sharp knife, slice the salmon fillet crosswise as thinly as possible.
Serve on mini rye or pumbernickel triangles Topped with chive oil.

 
Fabulous! I'd be more than pleased to send you two jars of Dyslexic sauce for the truffles

When cold, you merely have to scoop and roll in...whatever: cocoa, nuts, coconut, etc.
That would save you one little menu item.

Remember to inhale. Exhale!

 
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