A Finer Things Extravaganza.

This weekend, Bill and I took on a huge project: An Easter weekend dinner for 12 people. I've never cooked for more than 4. Believe me, this is a marathon, not a sprint. 6 hours of cooking. Oof.

With entertaining, a rule of thumb is to not make anything you haven't made before. Well, we didn't exactly follow that. Our menu was a combination of traditional family recipes, Finer Things Club greatest hits (so far), and a couple of new recipes.

With this entry, we chose to highlight one of the new recipes we tried out and one of Bill's family recipes. The full menu is below:

The Feast: Maple Glazed Ham

                     Herb Roasted Chicken

                     Asparagus Gratin

                     Dijon Vinaigrette Potato Salad

                     Deviled Eggs with Dill

                     Roseman's Beans

                     Fresh Herb Rolls

                     French Apple and Pear Tart

                     Blackberry Macaroons

We'll give you the two side dishes, Dijon Vinaigrette Potato Salad and Roseman's Beans, which were absolutely delicious and big hits among our crowd.

This is a Picadilly line to Cockfosters.

This meal requires a bit of a back story. Over Christmas break of my senior year at Catawba, a group of us took a week-long trip to London for a theatre travel course. It was the first (and only) time I've ever been out of the country, and I had an absolute blast. Some of my fondest memories come from that trip.


Early on in the trip, a group of us ventured to Harrod's to look at all the pretty merchandise that we couldn't possibly afford, as one does. We happened to exit through a different door than we entered and stumbled upon what I think was the best discovery of the entire trip. Patisserie Valerie is a phenomenal French cafe and bakery where we ended up having lunch that day. 


I vowed that on our last day, I would return and have my favorite meal of the trip, no matter where it was. Patisserie Valerie was it, and this was my attempt to recreate that fantastic meal.


The Meal: Croque Madame

(Obligatory tourist phone booth shot)

(Meg and I model our purchases from the Harrod's clearance rack - which still cost a pretty pound.)

We kemade kebabs.

So, a new super-gym opened up just a few miles down the road. Bill and I joined, not just because it's really cheap, but a girl's got to get in shape for the summer! Starting June 21, I'll be in a show 4 to 6 nights a week. The longest run I've ever done for a show is 18 performances, so stamina will be essential.


The evening we made this, we spent an hour at the gym and then walked the Cape Henlopen State Park trail. The MOST exercise. After that much physical exertion, you want something both healthy and easy to make. You never wanna chow down on something loaded with cream sauce and butter after a workout, nor spend an hour in the kitchen.


This isn't to say this is turning into a healthy cooking blog. No way, no how. This is just really good food that happens to be good for you. I'll leave Cooking Light to local favorite (and my roommate) Erin Williams. ;)


The Meal: Honey-Orange Kebabs with Quinoa Salad

The best pies in Lewes.

My lame attempt at a musical theatre joke. Sorry.

Never have I ever made a meat pie. This technically isn't a meat pie - it's seafood. I haven't been a particular fan of fish at any point in my life, but I'm growing to like it. With this meal, there are so many great flavors going on that it's not just the taste of fish that you get, which is what I used to hate about eating seafood.

This is a spin on a recipe I picked up from Sunny Anderson on Food Network quite a while ago. I would swear that I have a photographic memory when it comes to recipes on TV, because I remembered everything that was in hers weeks after seeing the show. We did add a few different things to do our own take on it.

The Meal: Salmon Pie with Roasted Spring Vegetables

Going International.

As we were preparing this meal, Bill and I realized that we have really traveled the globe with our recipes so far: Italian, British, Chinese, French, All-American, and this time - Indian. Bill has his roots in traditional French cooking and most of my experience comes from down-home country cooking, so I think we've done a pretty good job of expanding our horizons thus far.


I have to say, however, this was a total experiment. This was the most frantic I've ever been in the kitchen. Luckily for us, it turned out very well. Just as with barbecue, there are as many ways to make curry as there are people who make curry. There's a base of flavors to build from and you can put your own twist on it however you please. 


We decided on an Indian dish because we open The Secret Garden at Clear Space this weekend, which Bill costumed and I play Fakir - the only Indian character in our production. (You should totally BUY TICKETS and see our amazing show!) See, I told you there would be many themed dinners to come.


And, there's just a bit of melancholy with this post. Our guest director, David Ruttura, has been an honorary member of the Finer Things Club in his three weeks of residence here. This was his last dinner with the club. Hopefully, he'll be taking some kitchen skills back to New York with him!


The Meal: Yellow Curry with Lamb

(The Finer Things Club took a walk in the Cape Henlopen State Park in the early evening before dinner. It's my new favorite place. Thank you, Erin Stasi, for taking me the first time!)

As I already mentioned, there are innumerable ways to make curry. This was just what we decided to throw in. Always adjust to your own tastes. I enjoy spicy food, but only if it adds flavor to the dish. I don't like things to be spicy to the point where you can't taste any other flavors.