Planning a Garden Party

To my dismay there is not much info about planning a garden party.  Almost every year, I coordinate a garden party at my church and it has grown.  Our largest event had about 90 women.    The very first garden party I threw had only 20.  When you have 20 women the event is easy to do.  When you have 90 women that is quite another story.  Many of the tips will be great for planning a event in general.

How much food?   What kind?

If you plan on having salad for 90, plan to purchase about 12 to 14 pounds.  Twelve pounds will do but 14 pounds will allow you to breath easily.  Now granted various salads have more or less weight.  A potato salad is heavier because of the potatoes.  We ordered the Red White and Blue potato salad from Von’s Supermarket deli counter.  Unfortunately, though I preordered a week prior but they did not have the amount requested on hand.  The deli counter server knocked a $1.00 per pound off the price as make good.  Thus, I turned around and purchased a bag of red potatoes, a container of blue cheese and sour cream to stretch the salad.  It is always nice to have gourmet food but it can get pricey.   With a limited budget one may want to consider the large containers of potato salad as back up.  Other items on our menu included edamame salad from Ralph’s supermarket, Cuban potato balls ( order 150 to 200) and empanadas (order 150 to 200) from Porto’s.  Extremely cost efficient things to make are finger/tea sandwiches such as cucumber, watercress, egg, and curry chicken.  For the curry chicken salad for cost efficiency canned chicken is acceptable; however, grabbing a rotisserie chicken is even better.   For dessert I picked out teacakes from Martino’s in Burbank.   The teacake is a signature item.  I have been serving that for years but this year the desserts which made a splash with the bite sized gourmet desserts from Porto’s.  Porto’s has multiple locations in the LA area.  Read our review of Porto’s.    We also had a tropical fruit tray.

It is important to note, a garden party is not a tea party.  We use tea sets because it makes everything look so elegant but it is not mandatory.   If you do opt for tea then have a variety of tea options from herbal to Earl Grey.

Flowers

When you have a garden party around holiday time such as Easter or Mother’s day you are likely to find sales.  A must for a garden is plenty of fresh flowers on your tables and all around.

It is a party so have games. Have a sense of humor.  We had a male server as a butler with top hat and sandals.

We also had a 40′s had fashion show and a jazz band.    I hope these tips help you.  – Crystal A. Johnson, MCCN Editor

Inside the Beverly Hills VINTAGE BOUQUET FOOD & WINE EVENT

The Beverly Hills Vintage Bouquet Food & Wine was held on Sunday April 28 at Greystone Mansion.  Numerous vendors of wine and food were on hand to give a taste of Beverly Hills with sound of live jazz in the air.

Featured restaurants providing sweet and savory delectables are Bistrot Bagatelle, Crustacean Beverly Hills, Dandy Don’s HomeMade Ice Cream, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, Il Fornaio – Beverly Hills, Lawry’s The Prime Rib, Lazy Ox Canteen, Lexington Social House, Livello @ L’Ermitage, Momed, Napa Valley Grille, Palomino, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, STK, The Palm Restaurant, West Hollywood and Wood & Vine.

Duck Sharwarma from Momed of Beverly Hills

Among the favorites vendors at this year’s Vintage Bouquet Food & Wine Event offering samples was amazing salad made with arugula, canneli beans, tomatoes and barley and Tiramisu from Il Fornaio.  Patrons were also impressed with offerings from Lawry’s and Ruth Chris.

Il Fornaoi was among the highlights for me as well as sweet treats such as the whoopie pie from Cookie Casa,  and the impressive Brut from Moreno BHLV, Palazzo Wine.  It was very smooth.  I also enjoy the Momed’s legendary Duck Sharwarma and avocado hummus.

Greystone Mansion is nestled in a 16-acre park was built by the Doheny family in 1928 and is the largest family estate in the history of Beverly Hills. It has been featured in such blockbuster films as There Will Be Blood, Nixon, X-Men, Ghostbusters, Spiderman III, Rush Hour, Air Force One, and many others.

Mother’s Day Flamenco Brunch & Dinner Shows at El Cid

WHEN:            Sunday, May 12, 2013

-        Brunch Seating between 11-12noon; Flamenco show 12:30 – 1:30 pm

 

-        Dinner Seating begins at 4:30 pm; Flamenco show 5:15 – 6:15 pm

 

WHERE:

El Cid

4212 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90029

 

TICKET PRICES:

-        Brunch $25pp:  includes Flamenco show and a choice of five brunch entrees or $35pp to add bottomless mimosas

-        Dinner $40pp:  includes Flamenco show and a choice of dinner entrée, a cup of El Cid’s famous heirloom tomato gazpacho, an organic green salad and bittersweet treats and Spanish Flan for dessert.

TICKET INFORMATION:

Tickets need to be purchased in advance through the El Cid website at www.ElCidLA.com.

For more information, call 323.668.0318. El Cid is also available for large groups and private parties.

Review of Massachusett’s Eatery- Mandarin Westboro

Citizen report from one of our facebook page fans by the name of Vanessa LaBranche.  “I  live in western Massachusetts and love “Mandarin Westboro” Truly authentic Asian cuisine. Price is middle range and the atmosphere is upscale. This dish is “Kung Pao Shrimp.”

Websitse: http://www.mandarinwestborough.com/

A Taste of Guam- Food and Dance

The Chamorros, Guam’s indigenous people, first populated the island approximately 4,000 years ago.^[6] The island has a long history of European colonialism, beginning with its discovery by Ferdinand Magellan during a Spanish expedition on March 6, 1521. The first colony was established in 1668 by Spain with the arrival of settlers including Padre San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. For more than two centuries Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons that crossed the Pacific annually. The island was controlled by Spain until 1898, when it was surrendered to the United States during the Spanish-American War and later formally ceded as part of the Treaty of Paris.

You can’t have a party on Guam without it! A crucial recipe for every Chamorro girl.   See Red Rice Recipe

Check out the recipe for Cinnamon Jerk Chicken.

Take a look at some traditional dance of Guam:

Chile: Receta de Mote con huesillo

Mote con huesillo is a traditional Chilean summer-time non-alcoholic drink made from wheat and peaches and often sold in street stands or vendor carts. It is a non-alcoholic beverage consisting of a sweet clear nectar like liquid made with dried peaches (huesillo) cooked in sugar, water and cinnamon, and then once cooled mixed with fresh cooked husked wheat (mote).^[1] The sweet clear nectar is usually made with sugar, but can also be supplemented or replaced with honey.

When the drink is served without the dried peaches, it is called a “descarozados”

The huesillos, or dried peaches, are washed and soaked the night prior to preparation in order to rehydrate them. Once hydrated, they are cooked for thirty minutes or more in a sugar and water mixture, optionally with some natural cinnamon sticks. To give the drink its honey hue, sugar is heated in a sauce pan in order to caramelize it and bring it to a rich orange ruby color, which is added to the syrup mixture although this method is not always used. While the huesillos are cooking, the mote, or husked wheat, is cooked in water until tender. Once the mote are cooked, they are drained and added to the sweet huesillos drink, and left to cool. This combination is served chilled, in a tall glass with a tall dessert spoon for easy serving.

Peach Cobbler Recipe, Y’all

Cobblers are an American deep-dish fruit dessert or pie with a thick crust (usually a biscuit crust) and a fruit filling (such as peaches, apples, berries). Some versions are enclosed in the crust, while others have a drop-biscuit or crumb topping.This recipe for Peach Cobbler comes from Rebekah Lewis of Pasadena, California.

Cobbler filling: Peach(if you choose peaches I use 3 large cans in syrup but drain all the syrup), apple, or berries (eyeball enough to serve 8-10)
Juice of one 1 lemon, 1cp white sugar, 1cp brown sugar, nearly 1 stick of butter, nutmeg and cinnamin

Dough: about 1/2 cp crisco, 2cps white flour, few pinches of salt, about 3tablespoons white sugar, 1/2 cold water
You may need to add some flour if dough is still too sticky
Cut into strips.

SEE DIRECTIONS