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Posts Tagged ‘entertaining’

Greek Pasta Salad

Posted in Pasta, Side Dishes, tagged , , , , , on April 29, 2013 | 2 Comments »

Greek Pasta Salad~ Kristine's Kitchen

This weekend we celebrated William’s 1st birthday with a barbecue at our house, and I made this pasta salad to go along with our burgers and other side dishes. Pasta salad is always a hit with my family, and this time I wanted to try something new. Of course, I waited until Friday night to search for a recipe, but I found this one right away and knew it would be perfect. (I also waited until Friday night to decide on a birthday cake recipe, and that one turned out to be a great find as well. I’ll be sharing it soon, along with some pictures from the party!) :)

Aside from being addictively yummy, pasta salad is a great entertaining dish because it’s easy to make, and it’s best made the night before, freeing you up to do other things on party day. This Greek pasta salad is full of flavor, with bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, and feta cheese all tossed in a Greek dressing. A number of our party guests requested the recipe, and I think it’s my new favorite pasta salad. I’m pretty confident that this is going to be my go-to pasta salad recipe from now on.

Greek Pasta Salad

Printable Recipe

Makes 10-12 side dish servings

Ingredients:

For the Dressing:

  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp. dried basil
  • 2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
  • 2 tsp. granulated sugar

For the Salad:

  • 1 lb. dried rotini pasta
  • 1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • ¾ cup Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

  1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water according to package directions for al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water; set aside to cool completely.
  2. In a Mason jar or other sealable container, combine all of the dressing ingredients. Shake well to combine.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the cooked, cooled pasta, cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, and olives.
  4. Reserve ½ cup of the dressing in the refrigerator. Toss the pasta salad with the rest of the dressing until evenly coated. Cover and chill overnight.
  5. Right before serving, add in the feta and some of the reserved dressing, to taste, tossing to mix well. Season with additional pepper, to taste, if needed.

Source: Adapted from My Baking Addiction.

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Butterfly Cupcakes for Julia’s Butterfly Birthday Party

Posted in Cakes & Cupcakes, Desserts, Parties & Entertaining, tagged , , , , on March 18, 2013 | 3 Comments »

Butterfly Cupcakes by Kristine's Kitchen

We recently celebrated Julia’s 4th birthday.  I feel like I say this every year, but I can’t believe how the time has flown by since she was our tiny baby girl:

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Today she is a beautiful, independent four-year-old who loves hugs and kisses, stories and songs at bedtime, doing artwork, pretend play, gardening with Daddy, baking with Mommy, and playing with her baby brother.

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When I asked Julia what kind of birthday party she wanted, right away she said a butterfly party.  There are so many cute ideas that go along with a butterfly party theme, and it was lots of fun planning and getting ready for the party.

To make the invitations, I bought some pink and purple cardstock at Michael’s, along with some pretty pink polka dot ribbon.  I used a butterfly punch to cut butterflies in a few shades of pink and purple cardstock.  I printed the invitation wording using my printer, and attached it all together with double-sided tape.

Butterfly Birthday Party Invitation

It’s become somewhat of a tradition for me to make a Happy Birthday sign each year for Julia.  This year’s was really easy to make, since I used already die-cut flowers and butterflies and used my printer to print the letters.  I’ve found that tiny clothespins work great to hang the parts of the sign from the ribbon.

Birthday Banner

I loved how these balloon centerpieces turned out.  I taped the balloon strings to the inside of some cute polka-dot boxes, and weighed the boxes down with a few marbles.  Some colorful tissue paper and cut-out butterflies on the balloon strings completed these fun and festive decorations.

Butterfly Balloon Centerpieces

A simple idea that added a fun touch was to use a piece of wrapping paper as a table runner.  I loved how this colorful polka-dot paper brightened up the dessert/favor table.

Butterfly Party

I found the idea for these butterfly favors in a few different places, and Julia loved them.  To make these, I made a snack mix with Chex, marshmallows, M&M’s, and raisins and then filled snack-size zip-top baggies with 1/2 cup of the mix.  I painted clothespins with purple glitter glue, using a toothpick to spread it and then attached the wiggly eyes while the glue was wet.  A 6-inch pipecleaner is twisted around the center of the baggie and then shaped into antennae before the clothespin is attached.

Butterfly Party Favors

Julia, we are so lucky to have such a special daughter and can’t wait to see how you grow and change each day in the coming year.  We love you sweet girl!

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And now on to the butterfly cupcakes…

Butterfly Cupcakes

Butterfly Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

You’ll need:

  • 24 chocolate cupcakes
  • About 3 cups buttercream frosting, 1 cup tinted blue and the rest tinted green with food coloring
  • 48 pretzels
  • 24 green M & M’s (I used pastel green from a bag of Easter M & M’s)
  • thin black licorice, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

Directions:

  1. Make sure the cupcakes have cooled completely.  Then, working in groups of about 6 cupcakes, use an offset spatula to frost them with the green buttercream.  Gently place two pretzels on top of each cupcake for the butterfly wings and add an M & M for the head.  Attach two short pieces of licorice under the head for the antennae.
  2. Scoop the blue buttercream frosting into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.  Pipe 4 small dots onto each butterfly for the body.

Sources:

Butterfly Cupcakes inspired by Martha Stewart.

Butterfly Favors inspired by Plum Print.

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Chocolate Almond Bundt Cake

Posted in Cakes & Cupcakes, Desserts, tagged , , , , on January 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Chocolate Almond Bundt Cake

This chocolate cake has a beautiful presentation and is perfect for entertaining or bringing to share at a party. The addition of almond extract to the cake batter makes for a chocolate cake with a little something more, as the almond really comes through and adds another layer of flavor. A chocolate ganache drizzle and a sprinkling of almonds make this bundt cake something special.

Chocolate Almond Bundt Cake

Printable Recipe

Cake Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 1/2 cups sour cream
  • 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

Ganache Ingredients:

  • 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

For Garnish:

  • Sliced almonds

Directions:

  1. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla and almond extracts.
  3. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and beating each addition just until incorporated. Mix in the melted chocolate until just combined.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes. Invert onto a cooling rack and gently remove the cake from the pan.
  5. To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk in small circular motions until the mixture is well blended and the ganache is smooth. Stir in the corn syrup. Drizzle the ganache over the cooled cake and garnish with sliced almonds before the glaze sets.

Recipe from Annie’s Eats, originally adapted from Williams Sonoma

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Carrot-Ginger Soup

Posted in Main Dish, Soups, Stews, and Chilis, tagged , , , on December 28, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Carrot-Ginger Soup

I first had this soup at a New Year’s Eve dinner at our friends’ house three years ago. I immediately asked for the recipe and it has been a favorite of ours ever since. This soup is elegant enough to serve when entertaining, yet simple enough to make for a weeknight dinner. It does take a few minutes to peel the carrots, but once you’ve done that and chopped the onions and the ginger, the remaining active prep is minimal. I used to grate the ginger using my microplane, but have since found that chopping it into small pieces is so much faster and easier. When you puree the soup it ends up smooth either way.

The original recipe calls for adding 1/2 cup cognac or brandy after the cream, but I usually leave this out. I’ve tried the soup both ways and prefer it without, but you can decide for yourself. If you do add cognac or brandy, bring the soup to a boil for 3-5 minutes after adding the alcohol to get a smoother flavor.

If you are throwing a New Year’s Eve dinner party, I highly recommend this soup for a first course to your meal. Enjoy!

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Makes 6-8 main dish servings, or 8-10 first course servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated
  • 1/2 cup half n half
  • Salt and pepper
  • Sour cream, for garnish

Directions:

  1. In a Dutch oven or 5 to 6 quart pot over medium-high heat, stir butter and onions often until onions are limp, about 3 minutes. Add broth, carrots, and ginger. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
  2. Puree soup until smooth, either using an immersion blender or by transferring soup to a blender and then returning it to the pot. Stir in the half n half and stir over medium heat until hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Serve soup in bowls, topped with a small spoonful of sour cream.

Recipe adapted from my friend, Stephanie; original source unknown.

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