When deciding what to serve for an appetizer party, it is important to think of all the various components:

hot and cold
meat and vegetarian
rich and mild
complex and easy-breezy
color on the table (you need to be careful that everything is not dark and brown)

I put out only four items for the Blog Anniversary Party, which is at least 3 less than I normally do. Taking that into consideration – all the above factors were especially important to keep in mind.

Here is what I offered and what purpose each served for the buffet:

Italian Guacamole with Ciabatta Chips – cold, vegetarian,  mild, colorful, easy-breezy, and diet-friendly

Bacon Lollipops – hot, meat, rich, complex, although lacking in color

Lamb Merguez Flatbread – hot, meat, rich, colorful, complex

Prosciutto, Melon, and Bocconcini Picks – cold, meat, mild, colorful, and exceptionally easy-breezy

(can be made vegetarian – substitute an heirloom cherry tomato for the prosciutto on half,  or all, of the picks)

The importance of having at least one easy-breezy recipe included in a party buffet can not be overemphasized. 

As the hostess, you need to know that there is at least one recipe that is no-fail, no-cook, and if all else falls apart, you could get your kid or spouse to complete it for you without too much direction. 

This recipe is exactly that, keep it in your repertoire!

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This in another recipe I’m recreating from that restaurant we love in San Francisco, Gitane Restaurant and Bar. It is one their Catalan Flatbreads.

Merguez is a fresh sausage made with lamb, beef, pork, or a mixture of two or all three. It is heavily spiced with harissa, garlic, peppercorns, cumin, fennel, and more. You can buy it online from several sources or make the homemade version, provided here.

For some insane reason, I forgot to sprinkle my finished flatbread with the fresh cilantro. It could have had something to do with all the martinis I was making (and enjoying) all night! Don’t follow my lead, it is the cilantro that truly makes this flatbread exceptional. Oh, and no worries, I promise that the martini recipes using my infused vodkas will be posted on Sunday.

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Bacon Bonbons – prunes stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in smoked bacon, in a spiced port glaze

That is the full description on the menu at Gitane Restaurant & Bar in San Francisco – which I used to make these delicious and addicting little morsels at home. I served them on Tuesday night at the Blog Anniversary Party and they disappeared quicker than anything else on the table.

The one change I would make, is to cook them a little longer than I did for the party. Although wonderful as they were, I’d like for the bacon to be a bit crisper. I’ve increased the baking time in the recipe below as compared to what I did the other night.  Please keep that in mind when you make them. The bacon will look and be more “cooked” than reflected in my photo.

The name, Bacon Bonbons, is so cute. I can’t just steal it, so I’d like to come up with a new clever name for my version. I haven’t found it quite yet… as you will see. So, any help – from any one of you – would be graciously appreciated!  (Thank you JoAnne Halberg for coming up with a better name!)

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Last night’s “Blog 2-Year Celebration Cookbook Happy Hour” was a great success and so much fun. Thank you to all the lovely ladies who attended, a few of them are shown here.

One of the many people missing in the photos is Chef Gwen Walters. Unfortunately, in the one photo, she was in, she was nearly unrecognizable… looking very incognito in a baseball cap and with a fan in front of her face. Kind of like a restaurant critic or something…. well that makes sense, she is a restaurant critic, so maybe it was intentional… hmmm?

I’ve mentioned here before that Gwen is the queen of smoothies; she is also the queen of Tweets. So generous with her promotion of others. Last night she tweeted out a picture of the party. Even pictures from her iPhone are better than the ones I take with an actual camera… check this out.

When the guests arrived, this is what greeted them at the front door.

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Tonight is the big Cookbook Happy Hour. In the next week, I’ll post recipes for the drinks and appetizers we enjoyed; including drink recipes for those infused vodkas I made at the end of July. It’s this blog’s 2nd Blogiversary!  So how about a little rundown of the blog birthday official numbers…

2 years
730 days
668 posts
577 recipes
1,508 comments (Thank YOU!)
11,876 spam (what the heck?!?)

Enough reflection – time for recipe #578.

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I was in Florida last week visiting our friends, Kathy and Chris Froggatt. We went out a couple nights and had the most fabulous fish at two of their favorite restaurants. Plus we cooked at home with lobster one night.  More on that in the days to come; what I want to share with you today is a delicious pomegranate martini recipe that Chris made for us… and happily, more than once.

Thank you Chris and Kathy, you are perfect hosts and I had a wonderful time, in spite of the humidity. 🙂  xoxo

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Today I am returning from visiting Kathy and Chris Froggatt, my longtime friends,  in their new home (well it’s been about 18 months since they moved from AZ) in Jupiter, Florida.  Yes, the “crazy lady” comes out again and goes from 110 degrees in AZ to 90+ degrees plus 90% humidity… for a less than refreshing summer reprieve in FL. Whatever, it was a wonderful trip to see great friends, in their gorgeous new home, with their tropical backyard.  Do you know what that is in the picture above?  Look closely…

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Although this risotto isn’t the prettiest dish ever posted here; don’t let that turn you off, it is delicious. And no, there is no duck in it… but that’s a thought…

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Many years ago I was a “white meat” snob. I claimed to not like dark poultry meat. I knew dark meat was generally juicier, less dry, and more flavorful, but I went with the thought that “ladies” eat white meat.  I am not certain where I came up with that, maybe something to do with dieting and the fact that white meat does have less fat and calories.

But honestly, there isn’t a huge difference. One-half cup of chicken breast has 129 calories, 5.2g fat, and 52mg cholesterol. One-half cup dark meat has 135 calories, 6.3g fat, and 61mg cholesterol. So, once in awhile it really is OK to eat a chicken thigh or leg quarter, especially when it’s in your freezer and you are diligently working on cleaning out that freezer. When am I NOT trying to clean out the darn freezer? It’s a never-ending battle.

This pasta chicken dish made me happy that I had that chicken meat stash.  Feel free to sub white meat for the dark, but trust me, it’s darn tasty with the juicier, moister, and more flavorful thigh meat!

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Last Monday morning, once Marissa had left for work and I returned to her apartment after taking Dave to the airport, I sat down to eat lunch. It consisted of a boxed salad I’d picked up at Trader Joe’s the day before. My plan was to eat half of it and save the remaining half for lunch on Tuesday – that didn’t happen.

I scarfed down the entire tasty thing.  Monday night, when Marissa came home from work, we jumped in her car and headed back to Trader Joe’s to do her “big” grocery run.  She would finally have stocked shelves, refrigerator, freezer, and wine rack and could stop eating like a “third-grader with a drinking problem.”

Instead, she is now a young woman with healthy choices and plenty of nice wine to accompany her adult meals. (Did you know that in California “Two Buck Chuck” is actually two bucks, well actually $1.99?  Not that the $2.99 we pay in AZ is a bad deal, but I always wondered why it was called “Two Buck” when it really cost three bucks… now I know.)

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