Last night, I hosted a dinner party at my house with some close friends. Like my parents’ party last weekend, I had a tapas style dinner accompanied by a plethora of white and red wine. We had a fabulous variety of foods—baked brie with jam, maple syrup and brown sugar, stuffed jalepeños, cheese crostinis, caesar salad with homemade dressing and pesto sandwiches.
I made mini pesto sandwiches, sausage and cheese stuffed jalepeños, a fruit tart and a peanut butter pie.
My neighbor often makes this fruit tart when my parents have dinner parties. She always expresses how simple it is to make the tart and doesn’t understand my family’s obsession with the dessert. However, my guests last night seemed to understand the tart addiction and cleared the platter in no time. This dessert might actually be my favorite Paula Deen recipe—her knack of creating dessert recipes never ceases to amaze me.
continue reading ››
Tonight is my friend Jessica’s birthday party in LA, so I decided to bake her some cupcakes. Before I even started baking, my friend Heidi (Jess’ roommate) made sure that I was bringing some treats. I know I’ve baked a lot recently, but I promise to post some appetizers and meals very soon!
I decided to make Paula Deen’s red velvet cupcakes (made a few alterations), topped with cream cheese frosting and milk chocolate shavings. The cakes turned out moist and delicious. Fortunately, I read the comments on the Food Network website prior to baking. Numerous people suggested cutting back on the vegetable oil and adding more cocoa powder. Otherwise, I do not think the treats would have been as yummy.
As I’ve stated before, I am not an avid chocolate eater, so I had to rely on some other trusty sources to test the cupcakes—my brother and my dad. After I asked my dad to try one of the cupcakes, he stated that he wasn’t a big fan of red velvet. However, after he tried one small bite, he picked up the rest of the cupcake and finished it off. Glad I changed his opinion of red velvet desserts!
continue reading ››