An Almost Disaster Dinner Party

Last night Brad & Christine came over for a little dinner party. I made one of Mr. Lawyer's springtime favorites: Spicy Sausage & Pepper Pasta in a Tomato-Wine Sauce.

Two hours before they came over my kitchen looked like this:

It's a little tricky maneuvering around a new hot water tank that's blocking your fridge.

 And my bathroom was a hot disaster and a half.

Nothing like coming home and finding a soaking wet hallway carpet.

Thank goodness our maintenance staff is top notched and easily bribed with baked goods. They replaced the tank and cleaned everything up lickety split so I didn't have to cancel.

Now for a close up of the table settings!

Scarlett & Turquoise

 Juniper & Tangerine

 Cinnabar & Peacock

 Plum & Sunflower

French Inspired Breakfast

The 'rents stopped in Philly on their journey back to NY. Since they wanted to get an early start in the morning I settled on a French-inspired serve yourself breakfast. It was a hit and I got to show off some of my fun fiesta.

Croissants, scones, and yogurt...oh my!

Oh yeah, and some fruit.

Herbed cheese, butter and honey, strawberry jam, and pumpkin butter.

And the colorful coffee mugs make an appearance!

I love my kitchen rainbow.

Baby Cake!

Eeeeek! So exciting! My friend asked me to do a "gender reveal cake" for their second baby. The doctor seals the information and ultrasound in an envelope so even the parents don't know. I received the envelope, dyed the cake either pink/purple or blue, and covered it up with chocolate frosting to prevent peeking. Then the parents had a little cake cutting party with their family and then gender of baby #2 is revealed!

Which one will it be?!

It's a boy!!

The batter was so pretty!

Notes and observations: the crumbs! I made the cake at my friend's house and was so worried about blue crumbs or batter hiding some where and giving it away. A couple of times crumbs got in the frosting and I was all "noooooooooo!!". I also resisted licking the batter because I didn't want to stain my lips or teeth, it was so hard. Also the outside of the cake turned a hideous green-brown-yellow color and I was worried. When I cut the top off the cake to layer them I could see that the inside was perfectly blue but it was still a stressful moment when I took the ugly looking cake out of the oven.

Congratulations! I was so excited to be part of this baby announcement!

Chili Bar!

It's my birthday weekend and football playoffs....the perfect excuse for a party! I wanted something easy, low maintenance, and preferably sports themed. I saw an idea on pinterest for a chili bar, genius! You can make a large crock pot of chili for cheap and you don't have to worry about it staying warm. A rough budget is ten bucks: the turkey was five dollars a pound and the five cans of beans/soup were a dollar each (some were on sale and cheaper). Yay! I've been tweaking my turkey chili. This version has more spice and was a big hit. I always put in a ton of beans. Do not be put off by the long list of ingredients, making your own seasoning mix is essential! It's very easy and much better than the packaged taco seasoning. The toppings bar was fun! It was a great way to show off my new dishes too! We had cheddar cheese, sour cream, raw onions, green onions, jalapenos, mini cornbread muffins, and fritos.

The tea cups were the perfect size for serving the toppings.

My Turkey Chili!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound ground turkey
½ cup chopped onion
1 can pork and beans
1 to 2 cans of chili beans (depending on your preferences)
1 large can undrained diced tomatoes
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder 

3-5 tablespoons sriracha or hot sauce
Directions:

1. First up make your seasoning mix! In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.

2. Brown onion and turkey. Add the seasoning mix to the browning turkey and simmer for a few minutes.
2. Add turkey, tomato soup, and the three cans of beans. Stir in brown sugar, additional chili powder, and sriracha. Simmer until done, a couple of hours on low.

A Dress Party!

Last night we celebrated saying YES to the wedding dress! Woo! We had the family over for an appetizer dinner and cheap bubbly. It was the perfect excuse to 1) celebrate the dress with family, 2) try some new recipes, and 3) show off my fiesta!

I had my go-to Cabot cheese platter with Grandma's pickles, wheat thins, olives and some lebanon bologna we picked up at Reading Terminal. I made some Roasted Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce, I mean you can't go wrong with shrimp.

For some more hearty appetizers I made these marvelous Ham & Cheese Sliders (recipe below), spicy Buffalo Chicken French Bread, and some gooey Caprese Dip.

Everything was pretty delicious if I might say so.

This recipe had been popping up a lot on pinterest. There were so many different versions! Some used Hawaiian sweet rolls, other used white, potato, or biscuits. I used potato because it was the only type of dinner roll my store had. There was also variations on the type of mustard (I went with dijon) and debates over the merits of mayo, miracle whip or a mix (I used mayo). One thing I do know is that these were simple and delicious. I feel that these sliders were the overlooked winner of the night. Yes everyone was raving about the buffalo chicken french bread (and it was delicious) but it had a more in your face flavor punch that demanded your attention. These sliders had an understated yumminess to them without all the fanfare of buffalo chicken. They were amazing right out of the oven and still delicious cold at the end of the night when I was cleaning up. Another keeper....although next time I might put more than one slice of ham on them.

Ham & Cheese Sliders with a Poppy-Mustard Sauce

(Pinterest find!)

Ingredients:

24 dinner rolls
24 pieces good honey or maple ham (I used a fabulous maple ham)
24 slices swiss cheese
Enough mayo for spreading on the rolls
1.5 tablespoons poppy seeds
1.5 tablespoons dijon or yellow mustard (Dijon all the way!)
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon worschestershire sauce

Directions:
1. Cut rolls in half but not all the way, leave the hinge intact! Spread desired amount of mayo on both sides of the roll.

2. Fold up one slice of ham and place on roll. Top with one folded slice of swiss. Close the rolls and place on a cookie sheet or large baking dish.

3. Mix together butter, poppy seeds, mustard, onion and worschestershire. Brush evenly over all the rolls (**I did not use all of it as some reviews mentioned that the rolls could get soggy bottoms**). Let it sit for 10 minutes. 

4. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove foil and bake for 2 minutes to brown tops. Serve warm.

Engagement Leftovers

It's been a leftover kind of week. Engagement Party leftovers, while delicious, are not designed to help with fitting into your wedding dress. I sense a salad week in my future. I have completely appreciated the fact that I didn't have to grocery shop this week, it allowed to me to put together all the vocab and readings for my upcoming unit. Woo! I also brought some of the sunflowers in to beautify my classroom....spreading the cheer!

Leftover sunflowers in gin bottles. So pretty!

 Leftover hot sausage and peppers on a yummy roll.

Leftover Grandmom's chicken, shredded on a roll

 Leftover engagement cake....oh the frosting!

Olympic Party!

We are such cool people that we had an Olympic Watching Party (actually, 2!) this week. Jackie decked out their house out with Olympic themed streamers, table clothes and a homemade medal counter. I dressed the part with a shirt and medal courtesy of summer camp and brought an Olympic themed treat: Fruit Pizza. Gold medals all around! The chocolate shortbread is much more enjoyable than vanilla and the sweet frosting is the perfect compliment to both the shortbread and fruit. My favorite was the strawberry section. We had a ton of leftover fruit which made for some amazing breakfast fruit salad. I think there needs to be more themed parties in my life.

Olympic Rings Fruit Pizza

(Pinterest, from A Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups whipped topping
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
1/2 cup diced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits, drained
1 large kiwifruit, peeled and chopped
Directions:
1. In a bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugars. Beat in the egg, melted chocolate and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Place waxed paper over a 15-in. x 10-in. baking sheet without sides. Shape dough into a flattened rectangle and place on prepared baking sheet. Cover dough with waxed paper; roll dough to within 1/4 in. of edges of baking sheet. Remove top sheet of waxed paper; invert dough onto another greased baking sheet. Remove remaining waxed paper.
3. Using a 4-1/2-in. diameter plate or bowl and a knife, trace three touching circles along a long side of the dough. Trace two more circles centered below and overlapping upper circles by 1 in. Cut around outer edges of the rings; remove dough around rings and use to make cookies if desired. Bake rings at 350° for 14-16 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add whipped topping; mix well. Transfer cooled crust to a serving platter. Spread with frosting. On top rings, from left to right, place blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. Place pineapple and kiwi on lower rings. Store in the refrigerator.

Pretty Beverage Party!

I apologize in advance for the quality of these photos but it was a party and we were....distracted. You're lucky I got pictures at all! The first time I had these daiquiris was last summer down at the shore. Mr. Lawyer's mom made them and they were to die for. In an shopping adventure I would like to title: when grocery stores get *too* healthy, I couldn't find any sweetened strawberries so I just add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the mix. I also had to thaw the strawberries out a bit because my poor little blender couldn't handle them. These are the perfect treat to beat the heat!

Frozen Strawberry Daiquiris

(from The Taste of Home Test kitchen)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup rum
1/2 cup limeade or lemonade concentrate
1 package (10 0unces) frozen, sweetened sliced strawberries
1 to 1-1/2 cups ice cubes
fresh strawberries to decorate optional
Directions:
1. In a blender, combine the rum, limeade or lemonade concentrate, strawberries and ice. Cover and process until smooth and thickened (use more ice for thicker daiquiris). Pour into cocktail glasses.
2. Garnish with fresh strawberries if desired. Enjoy!

Next up was some Whipped Cream Soda. Delicious. The combination of whipped cream vodka and ginger ale tastes like cream soda. We added some whipped cream for decoration but it was totally unnecessary (and looked gross once it started to dissolve). Meanwhile the boys made manly drinks like Manhattans and played with bourbon. Gross.

Whipped Cream Soda

(a friend had it in a NYC bar and I loved it)

Ingredients:

Whipped Cream Vodka

Ginger Ale

Directions:

1. Mix 1 part vodka with 2 parts ginger ale.

2. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

My contribution to last nights dinner party gathering was some scrumptious Buffalo Chicken Rolls. They were incredibly easy, the egg rolls wrappers are much easier to work with than the spring rolls wrappers (and much to Mr. Lawyer's delight they don't remind him of condoms.) They all disappeared so it was a hit. This picture sucks, you can't see any of the chicken or cheese oozing out! But this was my taste taster that was made with the little bit of chicken that was leftover at the end.

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

(Pinterest! Adapted from Can You Stay For Dinner Blog)

Ingredients:
12 egg roll wrappers
1 cup cooked and shredded chicken
1/2- 2/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
Small bowl of water
Nonstick cooking spray
Blue cheese dressing, for serving
Directions:

1. Mix shredded chicken with hot sauce.

2. Layout the egg roll wrapper diagonally (so it looks like a diamond) and place the desired amount of chicken and blue cheese just below the middle (instructions are normally on the egg roll package). Fold up the bottom corner. Then fold in the two sides. Lightly moisten the top corner and start to roll it up.

3. Spray a wire rack and place on a cookie sheet. Add the rolls and lightly spray them as well.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Serve with blue cheese dressing.

The set up.

We So Fancy!

At least that's what my kids said when they found out I was having a big kid party this weekend. A fancy Wine Soiree. Each person was responsible for bringing a bottle of wine and a tapas style food pairing. It worked out incredibly well. It was nice to try some different wines, all the food was delicious, and as always the Prep company was amazing. We even had fancy cards that listed the type of wine, winery and which appetizer went with it. Here's the damage:

 I represented New York and brought a bottle of Hazlitt's Red Cat which I served with pizza bites (because it's suppose to be a wine for "pizza, burgers, and wings") They were pretty yummy! I went with fresh mozzarella which was good but I bet it could be even more amazing with a more flavorful cheese. And don't forget to serve it with the sauce!

Homemade Pizza Bites

(adapted from our best bites)

Ingredients:
1 roll refrigerated pizza dough
marinara/pizza sauce (for dipping)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
Cheese of your choice, cut into smallish blocks

Pizza meat of your choice
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut it into 24 squares.
3. Place your desired pizza toppings in each square. I did 2 pieces of pepperoni and a small block of fresh mozzarella. Fold up dough and pinch the edges closed. Place seam side down in a lightly greased pie pan.

4. Brush tops with melted butter. Sprinkle garlic, seasonings and parmesan cheese over tops.

5. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Serve with dipping sauce.

See the rest of our yummies after the jump!

Peachy Pork

Good old Martha never lets me down when it counts. I had to find a new recipe for my dinner party because all of my go to recipes had already been sampled by the parental units! I know you're not suppose to try a new recipe when having a party but Mr. Lawyer vetoed all my other meal choices. Luckily this one came out pretty well! The dried peaches added a nice punch of flavor but the glaze was essential for pouring over the individual pieces. I had never stuffed meat before and thought the directions were a bit confusing so I just looked up a video on youtube. It was easier than I thought: just slice carefully and flatten a bit with a rolling pin.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the process but I had too many things going on. Mastering this simple skills really opens up a lot of yummy looking recipes! I will definitely be keeping this recipe but between buying a 2.4 pound pork loin and the dried peaches ($5!!) it will only be a special occasion meal.

Peach-Stuffed Pork Loin

(from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
9 peaches, dried, or 6 ounces store-bought dried peaches
1 boneless pork loin (2 1/2 pounds), trimmed
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pinch of ground cloves
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup peach jam
2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Coarsely chop store-bought dried peaches if using. Add peaches to water; return to a boil. Remove from heat; let stand for 20 minutes. Remove peaches using a slotted spoon, and squeeze; reserve liquid.
2. Meanwhile, butterfly pork loin: Starting 3/4 inch from top of loin, make a horizontal cut into side, slicing through meat in short strokes and leaving about 1 inch intact at outer edge. Unfold meat (as if opening a book). Cut a vertical slit 3/4-inch deep at seam, and repeat to make a horizontal cut in the opposite direction. Pound to an even thickness with a meat mallet if needed.
3. Stir together a seasoning mixture of salt, pepper, and the cloves; sprinkle some over pork. Spread drained peaches over pork, leaving a 1-inch border on 1 short end. Roll up pork from short end to enclose filling. Tie together with kitchen twine to shape and hold in filling. Sprinkle with seasoning mixture; dust with flour. Place in a roasting pan, seam side down.
4. Bring reserved soaking liquid, the jam, and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat; simmer for 1 minute.
5. Roast pork for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reaches 138 degrees, about 25 minutes more. Brush with glaze, and roast for 5 minutes more. Transfer pork to a platter; reserve juices in roasting pan. Let rest for 10 minutes. Brush with glaze again.
6. Pour accumulated pan juices into pot with glaze. Set roasting pan across 2 burners, and add remaining 1/4 cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. Add liquid and bits to glaze. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer sauce for 1 minute. Stir in lemon juice.
Untie pork; cut into 1-inch-thick slices. Serve with sauce.

Cheesy

Yet another Party Post! I think this is the last one from our basketball party. This served it's purpose but I was not overly impressed with it. It worked in a pinch and it made a HUGE cheese ball (seriously, I'd only make half) but I'm still on the lookout for a better cheese ball recipe. At least my plate was super adorable!

5 Cheese Cheese Ball

(adapted from Ritz)

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 C 4 cheese blend (Make sure there's cheddar!)
3/4 C fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 C chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Mix together parmesan cheese, cream cheese and cheese blend. Add in green onions, red pepper flakes and mayonnaise.
2. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3. Shape into a ball
4. Press pecans into the cheeseball until coated (I rolled mine in more cheese)

On a Stick!

Another Party Post! This recipe was always a special treat for the Dork and I growing up. I'm not quite sure why....it's simple and quick! This was one of the top disappearing dishes at the party. Make sure you soak the bamboo skewers in water so they don't catch on fire or anything....

Marinated Beef on a Stick!

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds boneless top sirloin
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I also added some fresh grated ginger too!)
Directions:
1. Cut steak across the grain in 1/4 inch slices.
2. Mix everything in a bowl and add steak. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
3. Weave strips onto skewers then grill 4-6 inches from coals, turning once. Cook until browned (4-5 minutes total for medium rare). Or broil in oven until cooked.

Party Time!

Woo! We had a great group of people over for a great night of games and food! Unfortunately the Syracuse game was not so great. Ah well. We had quite the spread, I did not get a shot of the whole table once everyone brought their yummy food items (and there was a ton!) but I did get a shot of everything Sandy and I whipped up. More recipes from this night to follow shortly!

Putting Sandy to work in the kitchen as punishment for leaving the country for four years.

This was the second time I made these pretzels. I like them because they are easy and they don't have a ton of sugar or butter like some recipes do. However, I'm sure any pretzel would be much improved if you dunked it in a butter bath. I really like making the pretzel bites with cheese in them. I've made them with cheddar and asiago, both are delicious but you need to watch the cheddar because it will ooze out pretty quickly. They disappeared pretty quick with a couple of requests for the recipe.

Homemade Hot Pretzels!

(From the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 1/4 cups flour

Cheese, optional

Egg white, for egg wash

Sea salt

For baking soda bath:

1/3 cup baking soda

3 cups warm water

Directions:

1. Sprinkle yeast in warm water. Let sit 5 minutes until frothy.

2. Add milk, brown sugar, butter, salt and flour to yeast mixture. Knead 10 minutes until dough is tacky.

3. Put dough in a greased bowl and let rise until doubled in size, about one hour.

4. Make your pretzels! Traditional pretzel shapes, pretzel sticks or cheesy pretzel bites! To make the pretzel bites take a small ball of dough and press a small block of cheese into it. Cover it completely and seal it up well so the cheese won't ooze out.

5. Put pretzels on greased baking sheet and let sit 15 minutes.

6. Mix baking soda with three cups warm water, dip pretzels in water for no more than 5 seconds and place on the baking sheet.

7. Brush pretzels with egg wash and sprinkle on sea salt.
8. Bake at 400 for about 12-15 minutes.

Trying different shapes the first time around.

Prep it up!

This past week we had a dinner party with the Prep gang (or 4Pod as Jackie calls us). We decided on a tapas theme. Jackie and Maggie took care of the main dishes and I was in charge of dessert. The dishes included delicious quesadillas, cocktail wieners, meatballs, a yummy crostini, deviled eggs, stuffed mushrooms and other things I am probably forgetting. I had a difficult time deciding what to bring and then it hit me: since it's a high school group of friends why not bring my high school signature dish?! Lemon bars! Whenever we had a class party I was always asked to bring in my lemon bars. But I couldn't limit myself to just one thing. Plus I wanted to keep with the bite-size tapas theme so enter teeny tiny Vanilla Pudding Cookies, Mini Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, and Lemon Bar Circles.

Jenni's Famous Lemon Bars

(which Jenni originally got from an old Betty Crocker recipe book)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 butter, softened
1/4 powdered sugar (plus more for dusting)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (plus an extra dash!)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix flour, butter and powdered sugar. Press into an ungreased 8x8 pan. Make 1/2 inch edges.
3. Bake crust for 20 minutes.
4. Beat sugar, lemon juice, baking powder, salt and eggs with mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.. Pour over hot crust.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
6. Cool, dust with powdered sugar.

I would also like to restate my love for my cupcake corer and pancake pen (which was used for both batter and ganache). Amazing creations. 

Coring the mini-cupcakes

Other possible titles for this entry include: Jenni doesn't know how to halve recipes, Dessert Explosion, 4.5 hours of baking hell when it's 101 degrees out, the Night of 75 cookies, 50 cupcakes, and 20 lemon bars, or just plain old gluttony. But really, what's the fun in halving a dessert recipe?!

I can feed manly men just fine thanks.

I caught a lot of flack from a certain someone for wanting to make this dish for the mini college reunion that occurred this weekend. First the dish was too fancy for a bunch of manly men and then there was drama about it being a white sauce not a red sauce. However, there was very little remaining after dinner on Friday and when I woke up Saturday morning there wasn't any left (evidently mushroom lasagna is a wonderful 3 am snack for manly men). So who wins this one? This girl obviously. 

We got the pancetta from Di Bruno Brothers so it was sliced nice and thick which was perfect for the recipe, thinly sliced would not have worked well. The amount was also upped to 8 ounces by Mr. Lawyer due to manliness concerns. I did the full 4 portobello caps but was a little light on the 1.5 pounds of baby bellas because that's a ton of mushrooms. Next time I would try to get a little closer to the 1.5 pounds but by no means was the dish lacking because I reduced the amount. I realize that the béchamel recipe is only for 3.5 cups and not the 4.5 cups required in the lasagna recipe but it worked out fine and it was not dry at all. But if I used the full amount of mushrooms an extra cup of sauce might have come in handy. 

Official Review: Amazing. I loved it and obviously the mostly boy crowd did as well. Definitely a keeper.

Portobello and Pancetta with Parmesan Lasagna

(from For the Love of Lasagna by Sorrento)

Ingredients:
16 oz mozzarella, shredded
6 oz pancetta, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 large portobello caps, ribs removed, 1/2 inch dice
1.5 pounds baby bella (cremini) mushrooms, 1/4 inch slices
3 medium shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1 bunch chives, chopped (reserve small amount for garnish)
4.5 cup bechamel sauce (recipe follows)
12 sheets no boil lasagna noodles
2 eggs
1.5 cups parmesan
Directions:
1. Cook pancetta in large saute pan on medium in 2 tablespoons oil until rendered and crispy. Remove the pancetta and keep the oil in the pan.
2. Saute the portobello and baby bella mushrooms in the pancetta oil (in batches) until caramelized on medium-high heat. Set cooked mushrooms aside.
3. Saute shallots and garlic in the saute pan on medium heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil for 4 minutes. Add the cooked mushrooms and 1 cup white wine. Cooke on medium-high until the liquid has evaporated. Toss in chives and pancetta. Season with salt and pepper.
4. To assemble, spray a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1.5 cups béchamel sauce on the bottom of the pan and top with 4 lasagna noodles.
5. Mix remaining béchamel with 2 eggs. Layer 1/2 of the mushroom mixture, 1/3 of the béchamel egg sauce, 1/2 cup parmesan, and 1/4 of the mozzarella.
6. Top with 4 noodles, remaining mushroom mixture, 1/3 more of béchamel sauce, 1/2 cup parmesan, and 1/4 mozzarella.
7. Finish with a layer of 4 noodles, and the remaining 1/3 béchamel sauce, 1/2 cup parmesan and mozzarella.
8. Cover with parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes, remove foil and parchment and bake for 10 more minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and garnish with reserved chives.

Bechamel Sauce
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 shallots (or 1 medium yellow onion), minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
3.5 cups whole milk
3/4 tsp nutmeg
Directions:
1. Melt butter in a sauce pan on medium heat until foaming.
2. Add shallots and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes.
3. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes taking care not to brown.
4. Whisk in milk slowly and bring mixture to a boil. Stir in nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking occasionally.

SU and Birthdays and a Dinner Party oh my!

Happy Dinner Party/Birthday Amanda/Go SU! We certainly had lots to celebrate Friday night. For my birthday I couldn't decide which cupcakes to make: Irish or S'mores? Obviously I went with the Irish ones and had to wait for an opportunity to make the S'more ones...enter Amanda's birthday! They were a bit messy to eat but they certainly tasted like a S'more.

Ingredient/Technical Difficulties: Marshmallow Fluff is harder to find around here then I thought. The local stores had all sorts of peanut butter, jam and jellies but no fluff! Just as I was mentally preparing to make it from scratch Mr. Lawyer found some Ricemallow Fluff from Whole Foods. It tasted fine, a bit sweeter maybe but it did not hold it's shape which posed a problem with making the garnish. It oozed all over the place and didn't harden up. I charred up some mini marshmallows which worked wonderfully and looked more visually pleasing (you can see both toppings in the photo). I would recommend using fluff for the filling but going the normal marshmallow route for the topping. Either way prepare for a mess, I was very angry at marshmallows while making these (who on earth would ever make something so sticky and messy!! Grrr...). However I thought that the toasted marshmallow on top added some of the best flavor, nothing like nice toasty caramelized sugar to zing up a cupcake. Also, Cupcake Corer.  Best five dollars I ever spent.

S'more Cupcakes

(Bon Appétit Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 packet)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup plus one 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme (Or 7oz of marshmallows)
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
12 1-inch pieces broken graham crackers (for garnish)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk graham crumbs, flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in vanilla. Add graham-cracker mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with graham-cracker mixture. Divide batter among muffin cups.
2. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center come out clean, about 22 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack; cool completely.

3. Place chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream just to boil in small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool ganache until lukewarm.
4. Core cupcakes with a  cupcake corer, apple corer, spoon, etc. Spoon 3/4 cup marshmallow creme into resealable plastic bag, pushing into 1 bottom corner. Cut 1/2 inch off corner. Pipe into holes in cupcakes. Spread 2 teaspoons ganache over each cupcake.

5. Preheat broiler. Coat rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Spoon dollops of marshmallow creme on sheet (or marshmallows!). Broil until slightly charred, 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon dollop of charred creme over each cupcake; garnish with piece of graham cracker.

Poorly behaving Ricemallow Fluff and well behaved but messy mini marshmallows.

Final Product? Amazing.

There's a bunch more so I will use a super obnoxious page break. Read on for the rest of our goodies!