Wine Picnic

To celebrate my husband's birthday, we're heading to the wine country with our friends for a day of complete California indulgence.  We have a total of 12 close friends joining us, including two from out of town, which is a nice, big group for a birthday celebration.  I'm now tasked with the planning - including the transportation, itinerary, and food selection.  I'm sure my mom will help me with the last item, and possibly even help with the "party favors"?  I'm getting excited about the planning, so let's get started!

The Plan:

Head to Sonoma via a private mini-bus and get there by 11 am when most wineries open.  Based on reviews, logistics, and personal preference, I've decided on the following three to four wineries to visit:

     Roche, Cline, Gundlach Bundschu Winery (picnic), and if we have time, Bartholomew Park Winery

The Gundlach Bundschu Winery will be our lunch stop.  The winery is a great spot for picnicking with its extensive grounds and numerous picnic tables (both covered and uncovered).  The best part about Sonoma is how open they are to picnics on their grounds (Healdsburg is good about this too).  I haven't found many wineries in Napa that allow picnics, so Sonoma was our best bet for a group picnic that didn't require a completely structured "wine tour".  I'll be packing the private mini-bus with picnic baskets and all the picnicking essentials.  On my list of things to remember (because I always manage to forget something): utensils, plastic wine glasses (though some wineries will allow you to take their "real" glasses outside), wine opener, plates, cutting board and knives, napkins, blankets, plastic tarp for under blankets (in case it's damp), moist towelettes, bottled waters and a garbage bag for clean-up.

The Food:

Assortment of Grapes

Cheeses galore (brie, blue, gouda, etc.)

Various breads (french, sourdough, walnut, ciabatta, etc.)  I'm guessing 4-5 loaves

Dijon Mustard

Curried Rice & Artichoke Salad (recipe follows menu)

Roasted Red Peppers and Portabella Mushrooms (for our veggie friends)

Sliced Ham and Turkey

Chocolate Chip Cookies (my husband's fav)

Curried Rice & Artichoke Salad:

4 c. chicken stock (I'm using vegetable stock for our vegetarian guests)

2 c. uncooked long grain white rice

3 6-oz. jars oil-marinated artichoke hearts

5 green onions, chopped

1 large green pepeer, diced

3 large celery stalks, diced

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

Reserved artichoke marinade

1 tsp. curry powder

1 1/2 c. mayonnaise

salt and pepper to taste

Bring stock to boil, stir in rice, and return to boil.  Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 20 min. or til liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.  Cool.  Drain artichokes, reserving marinade, and chop.  Add to rice with onions, green pepper, celery and parsley.  Combine reserved marinade with curry, mayonnaise and s & p.  Toss with rice and mix thoroughly.  Refrigerate until ready to serve... (pack within the ice of the picnic cooler).

The menu is a good mix of store-bought items (fruit, meats and cheeses) and a few homemade dishes (curried rice salad, roasted pepper, and chocolate chip cookies).  I don't think it's necessary to make everything from scratch, especially when you're not hosting in your own home, but I do find it's nice to make it a little more personal with some homemade dishes mixed in.  This should be manageable for a working girl like me!

The itinerary is done, and all that's left is the party favors.  I wanted to do something creative as a "thank you" to our friends for helping us celebrate in Sonoma.  Since being creative is my mom's specialty, particularly when it has to do with wine, I've asked for her help in constructing some gift bags.  And in return, there could be a nice bottle of Sonoma Pinot Noir in her future.

“Killer” and “Bloody” in a Recipe Title?

Not sure that sounds right but I appreciate that my daughter’s husband, Drew, thought the “Bloody Mary Shrimp” should be called “Killer Bloody Mary Shrimp”. So I’ll settle on the title, “Bloody Mary Shrimp Shooters” (but that’s because Meg liked the way it was served).

Back to the Godfather she’s referring to…Preston. There’s only one. Witness his toast at her rehearsal dinner a year ago when he told the guests that when he was asked to be a godfather, he wasn’t sure what that meant…………(pause)………..so he rented the movie! (Talk about a Bloody Mary).

This recipe makes quite a bit so it’s a good way to stretch the “shrimp” budget.

Bloody Mary Shrimp Shooters

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 ½ cups thinly sliced celery
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
½ cup ketchup (yes, folks, I said ketchup in this)
¼ cup vodka
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1-2 Tbl. horseradish, depending on taste
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. Tabasco

In large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water with 2 Tbl. salt to boil. Add shrimp and cook a scant 1-3 min, just til they turn pink. DON’T OVERCOOK. Drain and cool to room temp, about 30 min. Cut shrimp into thirds and transfer to large bowl with celery and green onion.

Whisk together remaining ingredients, along with ¼ tsp. pepper and ¾ tsp. salt, or to taste. Just before serving, stir sauce into shrimp mixture. Spoon into tall shot glasses and arrange in a glass bowl filled with crushed ice.

(For you do-it-ahead cooks…shrimp can be cooked and tossed with veggies 4 hours ahead, then chilled in sealed bag. Bring to room temp, about 30 min. before tossing with sauce. Sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.)

This did make a good complement to Meg’s Havarti en croute, and was a nice way to treat our favorite guest before dinner out. He was so full and content with the evening that Meg asked him if he’d like to stay over, which he did. I guess she made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

The Godfather

The year is starting out on a happy note - especially since my Godfather is coming to town. Though he's just passing through for one night, we're hoping to show him such a good time that he decides his whole family should move from the cold east coast to the sunny west. We've been deprived of his crazy, unpredictable behavior for far too long. Enough is enough; it's time to bring the Godfather back to California.

I wanted to enjoy his company completely, so I didn't want to get bogged down in the kitchen, taking drink orders, serving the dinner, etc. My mom and I decided that we would do some pre-dinner entertaining at my house (because he hadn't seen the new home), then head out for a nice dinner at a local hot spot.

The menu was simple - she makes one app, and I make another. Two appetizers, some marinated olives (as per usual) and some chardonnay was plenty for my husband and I, my parents, and my Godfather. I opted for a simple cheese dish, a Havarti en Croute recipe from one of my mom's old cookbooks. I usually do this type of thing with brie, but this sounded different with the Havarti dill so I thought I'd give it a shot (note: this needs to chill for one hour prior to baking):

Havarti en Croute
2 frozen Pepperidge Farm pastry shells
7 ounces Havarti cheese with dill
1 egg, lightly beaten
Apples (optional)
French bread

Slightly thaw pastry shells. Lightly flour cutting board and roll pastry into an 8" circle. Put cheese in the center of pastry. Bring edges together over the top of the cheese and pinch to seal pastry. Please on an ungreased baking sheet, brush with egg, and chill for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375. Brush again with egg and bake for 15-20 minutes (until golden brown). Serve with apple slices and slices of French bread.
Source: The Lafayette Collection
















The Havarti was a big success, at least that's what I determined from the constant "this is delicious, Meg" from the group. Since it was a crowd pleaser, and really easy to make, this would be another "keeper" in my recipe box. Mom brought another winner - Bloody Mary Shrimp (which should really be called "Killer Bloody Mary Shrimp" according to my husband). I'll let her share the details on that one...plus her oh-so-clever way of serving it. Damn, how does she think of those things?

I have to say, I’m now a big fan of the pre-dinner or post-dinner hosting idea. It allows you to invite people into your home for a sampling of your creativity, and yet not have to deal with the stress and clean up of full-on entertaining. Genius. I think my Godfather thoroughly enjoyed himself too. And I didn't miss a single funny thing he said all night. Mission accomplished.

Board (Bored) Meeting

Cosmos do the trick for sure, Meg (when you’re enjoying the Golden Globes). But, when you’re saddled with an Association Board of Directors dinner, it can be a different story (though the cosmos would probably help!). While you were busy enjoying your friends and frolicking through fields of stuffed dates, I had to figure out what semi-serious kind of dinner I could fix our board members the next night.

The group is easy to feed, in general, so coming up with a menu isn’t hard…most appreciate a home-cooked meal, particularly after a long day of work. The real trick is having it ready EXACTLY as they arrive because they dish up, sit down, and get down to business, fork-in-hand.

I had such success with a pre-holiday dinner in December, that I decided it would provide just the answer for the board. Since it’s dinner-only (sans appetizers or salads or pre-dinner anything), I went straight for the good stuff: Pork Tenderloin with a Cranberry and Roasted Garlic Sauce (recipe from Bon Appétit), a spiced rice from San Francisco a la Carte (one of my most-loved books, p. 166) featuring yummy currants, raisins and dried apricots in its mix, and a simple lemon and herb green bean veggie, with pumpkin date torte for dessert.


Too bad the grocery store didn’t cooperate…NO CRANBERRIES to be had. Is there a time clock in the produce section that says, “I’m sorry, tick tock, but Christmas is over…you may not purchase cranberries anymore”? I stood there, knowing full well that someone was standing hip-deep in their rubber boots in a bog somewhere, trying desperately to be sure I could have them, but noooo. Epiphany in the produce aisle: I remembered a pork á l’orange I’d made some time ago with a pork loin roast and decided its simplicity would work just fine…I picked up an orange.

I still coated the tenderloin as directed on the recipe, oiling it with about 2 Tbl olive oil and then with a combo of:

¼ cup flour
1 tsp. each of garlic powder, cumin, dried thyme, ground black pepper
½ tsp. cayenne pepper

Then I prepared a reduction of fresh orange juice, champagne wine vinegar, chicken stock, a little white wine and a bit of orange zest; finishing it with a couple tablespoons of orange liqueur and orange sections. The tenderloins were seared in a hot, oiled skillet til browned on all sides and then cooked in a 400° oven for about 13 min. (til thermometer inserted into center registered 145°). Pork removed to warm platter and served with orange sauce.

It was a hit! Sometimes out of culinary chaos comes an answer…even if it wasn’t on the agenda.

--the mother

Golden Globe Gathering

Before my godfather comes to visit next weekend, I squeezed in one extra night of entertaining. It was the Golden Globes, so naturally that meant it would be a "girls night" that consisted of cosmos, goat cheese, and red carpet commentary. My husband and I were so poor after the holiday entertaining and gift giving, that I quickly assessed the fridge to figure out if I could create something magical from whatever supplies I already had. Sorry girls, no rack of lamb this time. Since we were swimming in Trader Joe's frozen shrimp (to say my husband is a fan is an understatement) and an assortment of long thin pastas to chose from, I went with the classic Ina Garten roasted shrimp and added it to a pot of perfectly cooked linguini, butter, lemon, S&P, parmesan, and a touch of heavy cream. Doesn't need to be expensive to be good, ladies. Here is the Barefoot Contessa recipe for the shrimp, and I just improvised on the pasta combination:

2 pounds (12 to 15-count) shrimp
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place them on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and spread them in 1 layer. Roast for 8 to10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through. Set aside to cool.

I chose a new recipe for the appetizer (I can feel my mom cringing over the fact that I'm testing recipes with guests), which was stuffed dates with goat cheese wrapped in basil & prosciutto. Surprisingly I managed okay with this one - but then again, how can you really go wrong with anything stuffed with goat cheese? Tip for the new entertainer like me...make sure you read the whole recipe before you try it. I was ready to pop those dates under the broiler when I read "soak the toothpicks for ten minutes in water prior to use". Okay, don't panic...the dates only needed a few minutes under the broiler anyway, and I had 15 minutes until the girls arrived. Crisis averted, but lesson learned.

After appetizers I did a wedge salad with blue cheese dressing, bacon, and red onion. This must be the simplest salad in the history of salads, but the presentation is so dramatic that the girls were "oohing" and "ahhing" over it. You can bet I'll be sticking this in my recipe arsenal since it's a guaranteed hit with guests. After the salad it was on to the main dish of shrimp & linguini, which was so simple and yet so satisfying. I also think it’s a great option if you're having guests for dinner, and you are not familiar with their eating habits (if they are vegetarians, don't like spicy foods, allergic to nuts, etc). It's a pretty safe bet.

But I think the touch of the evening was the subtle entertaining efforts like creating a game out of the Golden Globe award show. At each of the placements was a printed out list of all the nominees and the girls were asked to mark their predictions. Of course if I had enough time I would have done more with the presentation - really blown it out like Mom would have done. I'm guessing she would have hand-stenciled the Golden Globe trophy on each of the pages and then displayed them in a fake voting ballet, or something nuts like that. But in fact, the simple quiz was perfectly fine for our casual girls’ night. We laughed, sipped our cosmos, and carefully chose our predictions. The evening was a great success - everything from the drinks, to the food, to the entertainment and the conversation. It proved to me that entertaining doesn't have to break the bank. You just need some basic ingredients, creativity, and a well thought-out plan. Oh, and cosmos help too.

Egg-cetera

Yep, love sharing recipes. This one is one of my most requested in the “brunch” category….and it has a little history. When first married, I too went for the brunch as a way to entertain on a budget (a dozen eggs for a meal versus filet mignons), and hubby makes the BEST Bloody Marys on the planet.

One favorite couple in particular (Preston and Kim) attended many brunches at our home. Kim, an excellent cook herself, gave me a book she purchased on the east coast where she’s from originally. It was just a funky little book (maybe self-published) from a local caterer, Ruth Macpherson, titled Discover Brunch. The recipe Meg’s referring to is

Company Eggs

½ lb. Gruyère cheese, grated
4 Tbl. butter
1 cup heavy cream
½ tsp. salt
dash pepper
1 ½ tsp. dry mustard
12 eggs, slightly beaten

Spread cheese in buttered 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Dot with butter. Mix cream with seasonings and mustard. Pour half over cheese. Add slightly beaten eggs, and then add remaining half of cream mixture. Bake at 325º for about 35 min. or until eggs are set.

The recipe is so simple to prepare and the luscious but fluffy-light results are always a hit with guests. Of course, anything made with Gruyère is a hit in my book.

Maybe that’s why we gave Preston and Kim the nod to be Meg’s godparents several years later. Speaking of which, I do believe Preston is headed this way…batten down the hatches, alert the neighbors and let’s knock heads on what to fix him for dinner.

--the mother

Mimosas and Muffins

It's time for a post-holiday get-together with the neighbors since we weren't able to find time in the holiday rush. They have two little ones and we're always invited to their house for dinner so they can put them to bed before we sit down to dine. It's long overdue to have them over to our house, and I figured the best option was for a Sunday brunch so we could avoid "bedtime" altogether. Plus, I find that brunch is always a good option for anyone on a tight budget. A simple egg-dish and some veggie sides and you're in business!

Of course brunch isn't complete without the mimosas - let's get real. And I like to mix it up a bit with different variations in the "mimosas" depending on the time of year, the menu, and the guests. Since it's just after the holiday, I was thinking mimosas with pomegranate juice would be appropriate. Of course you could always just do Pomegranate Champagne - but for a brunch I find the mimosa mixture more festive. There are plenty of recipes to chose from, and while I don't have a favorite, I do like the following recipe from Epicurious.com:

2 cups chilled pomegranate juice
1 cup chilled fresh orange juice
1/2 cup orange-flavored liqueur (preferably Cointreau)
1 (750-ml) bottle well-chilled Cava or demi-sec Champagne
Note: You'll want to buy more than one bottle of cava/champagne. Trust me on this one. And I usually opt for less of the juice, and more of the champagne than the recipe calls for.

Combine juices and liqueur in a large pitcher. Slowly add sparkling wine and stir.

I'll buy a little extra OJ and pomegranate juice to serve to the kids, or to anyone who doesn't want a mimosa. Regular coffee will be in abundance, and I keep a stash of decaf coffee in case guests prefer decaf. So we're set with the drinks...now on to the good stuff. I'm planning the following menu:

-Orange mini-muffins
-Vanilla-pear mini muffins
-Roasted asparagus
-Egg casserole

I've got all I need except the egg casserole recipe from mom. She's got a knock-out recipe that she used recently, and we're all about sharing great recipes together. Right, Mom?

--the daughter