Posts from — May 2016

I cooked up ten different recipes for the Friday the 13th Dinner Party and this appetizer was the clear favorite. At least half of the guests asked if it was on the blog. I assured them it would be posted this week, so we might as well start off the week(s) worth of recipes with it.

I had hoped to serve 13 items, but I could only get to 12 before I ran out of time and energy to pull off the last one. In addition to the ten, I actually made, I also served grapes, 12 per person for luck, and put out purchased fortune cookies on the dessert table.

The base for this salsa recipe is black-eyed peas. For many southerners, consuming this inexpensive legume on the first day of the new year is believed to bring wealth.

According to Wikipedia: “Two popular explanations for the South’s association with the peas and good luck date back to the Civil War. The first is associated with Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union Army’s March to the Sea, during which they pillaged the food supplies of the Confederates. Stories say peas and salted pork were said to be left untouched because of the belief that they were animal food and not fit for human consumption. Southerners considered themselves lucky to be left with some supplies to help them survive the winter, and black-eyed peas evolved into a representation of good luck. In other traditions, it was a symbol of emancipation for African-Americans who had previously been enslaved before the civil war who became free officially on New Year’s Day.”

Black-Eyed Pea Salsa

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• Zest and juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cups cooked black-eyed peas (see note)
• 3 cups diced tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 2 ripe but still firm avocados, diced
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• Tortilla chips, for serving

In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon zest, juice, honey, garlic, and oregano. Whisk in the olive oil, taste, and season with salt and pepper.

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl, except the avocado and cilantro, and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours. Thirty minutes before you’re ready to serve, add the avocado and cilantro and then bring back to room temperature for 30 minutes and toss just before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips.

12 servings

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Our Friday the 13th Dinner Party was so much fun!

Everyone arrived relaxed and into the theme of “superstitious, lucky, unlucky, cursed” … the whole shebang!

I sent this text message to all attendees, letting them know what to expect:

Our Friday the 13th Dinner Party will be a feverish mix of good and bad luck. You may want to play it safe and wear an article of your clothing (seen or not) backwards or inside out.

The belief that backwards or inside out clothing brings good luck is widespread – from children wearing their pajamas inside out in hopes of a snow day to baseball players and fans turning their caps backwards during important games.

Do you know why?

Wearing clothing backwards confuses the grim reaper, who is not only the harbinger of death, but also brings bad luck. He follows you – so if your clothes are on backwards it makes him think that you are walking toward him so he goes around you to get behind you and instead gets in front of you. He gets confused and gives up taking his bad tidings elsewhere.

You may also want to bone up on various superstitions, lucky and unlucky beliefs and traditions. There will be games and prizes involved!

Can’t wait to have a fun and delicious evening with y’all!
xoxo Linda

All of my sweet and awesome guests arrived with hostess gifts in hand; some of them were very theme-worthy.

Jonathan, Lori, and Kylie Vento arrived with Lucky Dice and a Lucky 8 Ball.

This instantly got me thinking about games of chance, and how they would be the perfect fit for a day that hinges entirely on good luck-bad luck.

Tram gifted me with a box of Lucky Charms and a bottle of Lucky Star wine. But that wasn’t all… Tram’s other half, Steve, had a special gift for everyone up to his sleeve! In the middle of the party, while I was giving out prizes for the Superstitious Trivia Game, this happened!

Yeah, Steve/Jason was lurking in the dark (in the very dark area behind the fire-pit, near the back wall) ready to attack! Too much Fun!

OK, let’s go back to the beginning, with how I built a party around a theme. Usually, I need just one thing to get the creative juices flowing. For this party, it was these four sets of typography letters.

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Today is Friday the 13th and tonight I am hosting a Friday the 13th Dinner Party.

I’ll be posting recipes and party details next week, but since today is also World Cocktail Day, that seems the logical and probably luckiest place to start.

This is a pomegranate cocktail. What is lucky about that?

The pomegranate is hailed as a symbol of luck in a number of cultures and religions, including Ancient Greece, Judaism, Christianity, Armenia, and Islam. It’s often a symbol of fertility but has also been associated with sweetness and the fullness of life.

Lucky 13 Pomegranate Cocktail

• 1 ½ ounces (3 tablespoons) silver tequila
• 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) pomegranate liqueur
• 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) triple sec
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) pomegranate juice
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) coconut water
• 1/2 to 1 ounce (1 to 2 tablespoons) fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste

• 2 lime wheels
• 26 pomegranate arils (seeds)
  

To a shaker filled with ice, add the tequila, both liquors, pomegranate juice, coconut water and lemon juice. Shake until well mixed and ice cold.

Pour drink into two chilled martini glasses and garnish each with a lime wheel and 13 fresh pomegranate arils.

Serves 2

Since we’re on the subject of party beverages, I want to share a few of the wines I’ve found to fit my theme.

Bailey felt as though this was the perfect opportunity for her to jump into the photo, nearly knocking over my lucky/unlucky wines. Whatever!

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I made this sweet and tangy cake for a cooking class last week. Since I needed to serve 18 people, I made two cakes, one ahead of time and one in front of the students. For the class cake, I used one Meyer lemon and one blood orange. We decided to serve thin slices from each cake and the students loved them both but especially the the mixed citrus cake.

Either way, this is a simply lovely dessert.

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How I end up with any baking recipes on here, I’ll never understand. I’m so bad at it, but for some reason, I keep trying.

Case in point – this hot mess of a cake.

I know, it looks good on the outside, but if you only knew what it looked like on the inside!

What the heck … I’ll show you!

That’s right – this is the lovely cake I baked – from a Boxed Mix! Seriously, could anything be easier to bake than a cake mix? Small children succeed with box mixes all the time!

Even though I greased the pans and let the layers cool the required about of time before turning over, it looked like that! What the heck? I did my best to salvage it by leaving it on the rack, covering it with plastic, and refrigerating half the day.

Thankfully, the frosting I made turned out perfect and was the glue that magically held it all together. I found the recipe for the super cute and clever Piñata Cake HERE. As you can see, it called for a homemade cake, and I thought I was taking the safer route with the boxed variety. Oh well, at least it looked good. Not only is this the perfect cake for Cinco de Mayo, but it would be adorable for a birthday party any time of the year.

I did change the original recipe a little. I found the amount of coconut the recipe called for was way too much, so I’ve reduced that. Look at how much extra coconut I have! I feel that I have no choice but to bake some sugar cookies to use them up. #nothappy#hatetobake

I did follow the frosting recipe to the letter, thank goodness!

I brought the cake to my dear friend and neighbor, Lisa’s, annual Cinco de Mayo party last night. I cut the first piece out and hoped for the best. I was certain the whole thing would collapse, but it somehow held up. Although, I did not wait around to see what happened when the subsequent pieces were removed. :-/

Oh well, a piñta is supposed to fall apart, right?

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