Pork tenderloin, acorn squash, and poached pears

A few weeks ago I was hankering to get out our China and have a fancy dinner. It seemed appropriate to do this a few weeks after we got back from our California vacation. Patrick had been working really hard since then to get caught up with his work tasks and for some reason there was a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge. This provided us with just the relaxing night we needed!

I planned the meal backwards - dessert first and then molding the dinner around CSA produce. Poached pears had caught my eye recently and I thought they would be fun to try for the dessert! The recipe I found served them with a mascarpone cream. The entree featured a succulent pork tenderloin with a melt in your mouth sauce, roasted acorn squash wedges, and an arugula side salad. This was worth the effort! Everything was wonderful... except I don't think Patrick was too excited about the idea of just pears as the dessert.

Pork Tenderloin with apricot and fennel ragout from Martha Stewart

   Serves 4 (we cut in half)

Ingredients

3 tbsp grainy mustard

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Two 12-ounce pork tenderloins, tied with twine

1/2 C breadcrumbs

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

4 large (or 8 medium) shallots, ends trimmed, peeled, and quartered

1 small fennel bulb, greens trimmed, cut into thin slices

1 1/2 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock

12 dried apricots

1/4 cup cognac (we substituted brandy)

1 tsp fresh thyme, plus more for garnish

Directions

   Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine mustards. Salt and pepper the pork; rub with mustards; sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Pat coating. Set aside.

   Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. Sear pork, turning, until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan; set aside. Add remaining oil and butter to pan. Add shallots and fennel. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup stock; cook until liquid evaporates, 1 to 2 minutes.

   Return pork to pan; add apricots, 1/2 cup stock, and cognac. Roast in oven, stirring vegetables, until pork registers 160 degrees, about 20 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board; place pan over medium-low heat. Add remaining stock and thyme; stir, loosening brown bits from bottom. Simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; slice pork. Serve with vegetables and sauce. Garnish with thyme.

Roasted Squash Wedges

   Serves 4 (we cut in half)

Ingredients

2 acorn squash

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions

   Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half through the stem end, and remove seeds. Cut each half into three wedges, 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Place wedges in a large roasting pan.

   In a small bowl, combine melted butter, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Toss squash with honey mixture. Roast squash, turning occasionally, until tender and golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes.

Poached Pears

   Serves 4 (we cut in half)

Ingredients

2 firm but ripe large Bosc pears, peeled, halved, cored

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 C water

1/2 C dry white wine

6 tbsp honey

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1/2 C mascarpone cheese

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp brandy or dark rum

Directions

   Toss pears with lemon juice in large bowl. Set aside. Combine 1 cup water, wine and honey in medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Stir over medium heat until honey dissolves. Add pears. Cover mixture with round piece of parchment paper. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pears are just tender when pierced, turning when half-way through cooking, about 15 minutes.

   Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to large bowl. Boil poaching liquid until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 2 minutes. Cool syrup. Pour syrup over pears. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 8 hours or overnight. Remove vanilla bean.

   Whisk mascarpone cheese, sugar and brandy in large bowl until smooth. Add 1/4 cup chilled poaching syrup and whisk until soft peaks form.

   Thinly slice each pear half lengthwise, leaving slices attached at stem end. Using metal spatula, transfer pears to plates. Gently press on pears to fan slightly. Spoon some syrup over pears. Spoon mascarpone cream alongside each pear half and serve.

Two year anniversary

Just last month we celebrated our two year anniversary! Our anniversary was on a Monday and I knew that I wanted us to have a quiet evening at home and enjoy dinner with our China and crystal. With that being said we still wanted to have a bit more pomp and circumstance for another year of marriage. We celebrated the week before at Revolution, a local fine dining restaurant in downtown Durham. Revolution was hosting a special Flavors of Tuscany dinner with wine pairing that seemed to be the perfect way for us to celebrate and it was!

After our wonderful Tuscan dinner at Revolution we enjoyed the rest of the week and came to the weekend. We put our marriage to the test as we refinished our back deck! On Saturday we stripped and cleaned the old wood then on Sunday we put two coats of stain on the deck. Lots of hard work but so worth it. And we make a good team - but no surprises there!

As I already mentioned I knew that on Monday we would want a quiet evening where we could relax and reminisce about our two years of marriage. I thought the perfect meal would be to take some pointers from our wedding reception remix dinner that I worked on for our first anniversary.

Our first course was a mixed greens salad with sweet tea vinaigrette.

Our entree was a lemon orzo stuffed chicken breast with peas, garlic green beans, and macaroni and cheese. 

And dessert was Daisy Cake cupcakes just like the wedding cake. We set the table with our Brocade China, Lismore Essence crystal, and sterling.

Cheers to two years and many, many happy years to come - I love you Patrick!

And here's the deck!

23rd month

I think I've mentioned before in one of these intros for our anniversary dinners that Patrick didn't think we'd continue them too consistently after the first year. I agreed with him to some extent but, as we near our 24th month anniversary dinner and celebrating two years, I think as we look back on this second year we'll see we enjoyed a fair amount of anniversary dinners. Here's the 23rd month!

23rd Month Menu

July 10, 2015

entree and sides: fancy filet of beef with marsala sauce, 

roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans with shallots from rachael ray

dessert: mocha pudding cakes    wine: santa barbara landing pinot noir

Rachael Ray's Fancy Filet of Beef with Marsala Sauce, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans 

   Serves 4 (we halved)

Ingredients

   For the Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

1 large bulb garlic, end cut off to expose all the cloves

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling plus 1 tablespoon

Salt and pepper

1 sprig rosemary

4 medium starchy potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (we roasted Yukon gold potatoes whole)

3 tbsp butter

1/2 c chicken stock

1/4 c cream or half-and-half

A handful grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

   For the Green Beans with Shallots:

Salt and pepper

1 lb haricots verts (thin green beans)

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 tbsp butter

6 to 8 large shallots, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 cup chicken stock

   For the Filets with Marsala Mushrooms:

4 filet beef steaks, 1 1/2-inches thick or petite filets, 6-8 ounces each

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling

4 tbsp butter

3/4 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced

Salt and pepper

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme

1 rounded tbsp flour

1/2 c Marsala wine

1/2 c beef stock

Directions

For the Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

   Heat oven to 425F.

   Drizzle garlic with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Set the rosemary sprig over the exposed end then wrap tightly in foil. Roast 45 minutes or until lightly golden and very soft. When the garlic is ready, place potatoes in water, cover and bring to boil. Remove cover when boiling, season water with salt and cook potatoes to tender. Drain and return to hot pot. (We roasted the potatoes whole, wrapped in aluminum foil in the oven with the garlic.)

   Mash potatoes with roasted garlic cloves, butter, stock, cream and cheese; season with salt and pepper to taste.

   To keep warm, place mashed potatoes in a small pot and cover. Set the pot into a larger pan with half an inch of simmering water, adding more water as necessary until ready to serve.

For the Green Beans with Shallots:

   Bring a few inches of water to a boil; salt water and add beans. Cook 3-4 minutes then cold shock and drain; reserve.

   In a large, deep skillet, heat EVOO over medium heat. Melt butter into oil, add shallots and season with salt and pepper. Lightly caramelize the shallots, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. Add stock and stir to combine, turn off heat and add beans. Cook to heat through.

For the Filets with Marsala Mushrooms:

   Bring steaks to room temperature and heat a cast-iron griddle or grill pan to medium-high heat.

   Heat a skillet with a drizzle of EVOO over medium to medium-high heat. Add butter and let foam, add mushrooms and brown 10-12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add shallots, thyme and flour; stir 2 minutes. Add Marsala and reduce by half; add stock and simmer over low heat.

   Drizzle meat with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Cook 8 minutes, turning once, for medium rare; 12 minutes for medium to medium-well. Top with Marsala mushroom sauce and serve.

Mocha pudding cakes for two from Taste of Home

Ingredients

1/4 c all-purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbsp 2% milk

1-1/2 tsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

   For the topping

2 tbsp brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking cocoa

3 tbsp hot brewed coffee

1 tbsp hot water

Whipped topping, optional

Directions

   In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla until smooth. Spoon into two 4-oz. ramekins coated with cooking spray.

   Combine brown sugar and cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Combine coffee and water; pour over topping. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped topping if desired.

22nd month

Last month Patrick and I put the kitties in their safe room and enjoyed an anniversary dinner to celebrate 22 months of marriage and savor an evening with good food, good conversation, and a few less meows than normal. We also had a bottle of champagne on hand so it seemed like the perfect thing to do!

For dinner
Homemade pasta with pesto, cherry tomatoes
Side salad with cranberries and almonds, balsamic vinaigrette

For dessert
Pioneer Woman's French Silk Pie

20th Month Anniversary Dinner

Popping in with an extra blog post today! Today Patrick and I celebrate our 21st month anniversary. We haven't been celebrating every month after we passed the one year mark but we are still trying to honor the special day and, if it's not a crazy week, we'll have dinner on our fine china.

Last month we decided it would be appropriate for a fine china dinner, put the kitties in the room with their litter box so they wouldn't break anything, and fixed a delicious salmon dish with a mini carrot cake for dessert. We toasted at our new dining room table with our last bottle of honeymoon wine!

We served a salmon with apple and kale salad that was a Food Network recipe and the mini carrot cake from the Dessert for Two blog. The Viognier wine was from the Veritas Vineyard & Winery outside Charlottesville. I put the recipes into a google document and you can view it here.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Kale Apple Salad from Food Network
Ingredients
2 salmon fillets (about 1” thick)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt
1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves very thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
2 tbsp dates
½ of a Honeycrisp apple
2 tbsp finely grated pecorino
2 tbsp toasted slivered almonds
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Bring the salmon to room temperature 10 minutes before cooking.
Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the kale, toss to coat and let stand 10 minutes.
While the kale stands, cut the dates into thin slivers and the apple into matchsticks. Add the dates, apples, cheese and almonds to the kale. Season with pepper, toss well and set aside.
Sprinkle the salmon all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Raise the heat to medium-high. Place the salmon, skin-side up in the pan. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 4 minutes. Turn the fish over with a spatula, and cook until it feels firm to the touch, about 3 minutes more.
Divide the salmon and salad evenly among four plates.

Carrot Cake from Dessert for Two Yields 1 6" cake
IngredientsFor the Cake
¼ cup canola oil
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup packed grated carrot (from 1 small carrot)
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup chopped walnuts

For the Frosting
3 ounce block of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Grease a 6” round cake pan with shortening or cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a medium bowl, beat together with an electric mixer the canola oil and sugar. Beat very well, about 1 minute.
Add the egg, cinnamon and vanilla and beat another 30 seconds. Beat in the carrot for about 15 seconds--you want it to break up a bit so it stains the batter orange. Sprinkle the flour and baking powder on top and beat until just combined. Do not overmix. You may stir in the walnuts at this point or save them for the frosting, your choice.
Pour the batter into the pan, place it on a baking sheet, and bake for 24-26 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick before removing from the oven--moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick is ideal.
Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before attempting to frost it.
To make the frosting, ensure all ingredients are room temperature or you will end up with lumps. Beat together everything with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Tip the cake out of the pan, place it on a serving plate upside down (so that you have a flat surface on top) and spread the frosting on the cake. Garnish with walnuts. This cake tastes even better if allowed to sit one day (in the fridge) before serving.

Mustard-glazed cod with fingerlings

   You may recall that Patrick and I celebrated our wedding anniversary throughout the first year every month with dinner on our fine china. Months thirteen through seventeen were a bit hectic and Patrick wasn't particularly keen to continue our monthly anniversary dinners for the rest of his life. After taking this little break I thought it would be appropriate to break out the china and celebrate our 18th month - one year and a half - anniversary! which was in February

   We also had a celebratory bottle of champagne in the refrigerator that had been chilling for the past six months! My parents celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary at Biltmore Estate in June. Patrick and I had room service send them a bottle of champagne and strawberries. They thought it would be fitting to then bring us back a bottle of champagne from Biltmore (where Patrick happened to propose) for our first anniversary. Well we were caught up with hosting a housewarming to pop open the champagne... which brings us to our 18th month anniversary dinner! The perfect evening to pop it open. I googled around to find a good seafood dish to pair with champagne and sharing it below.

Mustard-Glazed Black Cod with Fingerlings and Chive Puree from Food & Wine
   Prep time 25 min | Total time 45 min | Serves 4 [we halved]

Ingredients
1 cup snipped chives
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 pound fingerling potatoes
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pitted green or brown olives
3/4 cup pure olive oil
Four 6-ounce skinless black cod fillets
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper

Directions
   Preheat the broiler and position a rack 8 inches from the heat. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the chives and spinach and blanch for 30 seconds, just until bright green. Drain and rinse under cold water; squeeze dry. Transfer the chives and spinach to a blender. Add the extra-virgin olive oil and puree until smooth. Season with salt.
   Rinse out the saucepan and fill it with cold water. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and cut them into thin coins.
Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the olives with the pure olive oil. Microwave at high power in 2-minute bursts until the olives are golden and crisp, 5 to 6 minutes depending on the microwave. Drain the olives and transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to cool. Reserve the oil for another use.
   Place the cod on a foil-lined baking sheet, brush with the mustard and season with salt and pepper. Broil for about 10 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and lightly browned on top; transfer to plates and spoon the potatoes alongside. Sprinkle with the olives, drizzle the chive puree all around and serve.

It's Always Caturday

Snuggly naps on the entry bench

Thanks for the champagne Mom and Jimmy!

Cake

Woo! We made it! We have been married for one whole year (plus some) annnd even ate frozen wedding cake. Before I give you a quick synopsis of frozen year old wedding cake eating, here's a recap complete with links of the twelve monthly anniversary dinners.

September 2013 | One Month

wedding reception remix

October 2013 | Two Months

mixed greens with scallops, butternut orzo, truffles

November 2013 | Three Months

spinach stuffed flank steak, gingered pear crisp

December 2013 | Four Months

crab cakes and parmesan orzo, chocolate beet cake

January 2014 | Five Months

salmon in puff pastry, brussels with cranberries and pecans, dulce de leche tiramisu

February 2014 | Six Months

lasagna roll-ups, chocolate strawberry shortcakes

March 2014 | Seven Months

lemon spaghetti with seared scallops, oreo cheesecake trifles with raspberries

April 2014 | Eight Months

fish baked in parchment, carrot cake cupcakes

May 2014 | Nine Months

lobster potato salad, blueberry orange fruit salad, apricot mascarpone tart

June 2014 | Ten Months

roasted beets with greens, lemon chicken with asparagus, palmies

July 2014 | Eleven Months

spaghetti and mussels, blueberry crumb cake

August 2014 | Twelve Months

celebrated with a housewarming

September 2014 | Thirteen Months

meatloaf, summer vegetables

As you just saw we celebrated the one year anniversary with a housewarming party. At the party I surprised Patrick with a *fresh* Daisy Cakes cake in one of our wedding cake flavors. Patrick somehow thought this meant he didn't have to eat frozen wedding cake so he didn't bring up eating frozen wedding cake - let's be honest... Patrick didn't want any of this frozen cake! I, on the other hand, completely forgot about the frozen wedding cake.

Then we were going to eat it on the thirteen months anniversary dinner night but I didn't remember the cake until a few hours before dinner and apparently these frozen cakes need at least 24 hours to defrost. So on we waited until October and Patrick couldn't delay the inevitable anymore. October 10th rolls around and it was a hectic day but the cake had already been defrosting! But finally on October 13th we kissed, said "I love you, what a great wedding day we had", and ate year and two months old cake.

And it was delicious.
Protip - freeze your wedding napkins in the bag with the cake!

Thirteenth Month Menu

You may be thinking right now that we skipped the twelfth month! More on that tomorrow but for now we'll let you know that the housewarming stood in for the twelfth month.

There isn't an official recipe for this menu. It was so informal with sauteed summer vegetables and meatloaf that I wasn't sure we should pull out the china but we wanted to! I think Patrick was the one who tipped the scales in favor of the china and said "yeah, let's do it".

So here are my brief notes on the dinner.

For the meatloaf

   I followed our traditional meatloaf recipe but decided to bake them in separate patties so they could have a more exciting presentation. 

For the squash
   Sliced and sauteed in olive oil with an onion, salt and pepper.
For the green beans
   Snapped into inch pieces and then boiled in chicken stock until just tender.

Our anniversary dinners have taught us a few things:

First the most important thing is who's sitting with you at the table!

And second you don't have to serve fancy things to use your nice dishes.

As a little side note some of the tomato sauce topping spilled on the place mat. I treated it with oxiclean and then spot cleaned with dish soap and a toothbrush. Don't let getting things dirty hold you back either!

Eleventh Month Menu

So these monthly anniversary dinners were a fun dinner affair for us to look forward to. When we first began this dining adventure I wasn't sure it was going to happen. We knew after the wedding that we would be moving in the spring and I thought it would be much easier to keep wedding gifts in boxes and not begin the adventure. But boy am I glad we didn't! Looking back on our monthly anniversary dinner will be a great memory for us! I'll do a recap of all of them at the end of the week. Today is the eleventh month menu and the first one in our new house! We decided to go really wild and try mussels. And like last month, click here for a menu printable.

Spaghetti and mussels with tomatoes and basil

Blueberry crumb cake

Served with Joel Gott Chardonnay (served at our wedding)

Spaghetti and mussels with tomatoes and basil from Williams-Sonoma Weeknight Fresh & Fast

Ingredients

Coarse kosher salt, to taste 

6 oz. whole wheat spaghetti

2 Tbs. olive oil  

1 large shallot, minced 

1/8 to 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes 

1 lb. mussels 

1/3 cup dry white wine  

1 tsp. grated lemon zest  

3/4 lb. cherry tomatoes, halved 

1/2 cup slivered fresh basil 

1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

Directions

   Bring a large pot three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, stir well and cook until al dente, about 11 minutes. 

   Meanwhile, in a large, heavy fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallot and red pepper flakes and sauté until the shallot is almost tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mussels, wine and lemon zest. Cover the pan and cook until the mussel shells begin to open, about 4 minutes. 

Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until they start to soften, about 2 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open. 

   Drain the pasta and transfer to a warmed large shallow bowl. Pour the mussels and sauce over the pasta. Add the basil and the extra-virgin olive oil and toss to coat the pasta. Season with salt and black pepper and serve immediately.

Ina Garten's Blueberry Crumb Cake

Ingredients

For the streusel

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2/3 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Directions

For the cake

   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

   Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

   Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. 

For the streusel

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

   With your fingers, crumble the streusel topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Housewarming

After Patrick and I moved, we felt that it was only fitting to host a housewarming party! We invited over friends, family, and neighbors! This was a great way to meet and mingle with new and old friends.

We planned the event for mid-day Saturday which happened to coincide with our anniversary weekend. It was very special to celebrate our first anniversary with our nearest and dearest loved ones. It was almost like a mini-wedding celebration!

And because it was our first anniversary I decided to surprise Patrick with a Daisy Cakes red velvet cake. You may recall that our delicious wedding cake was made by them. Our wedding cake was split with a vanilla tier and red velvet. At the wedding we missed out on the red velvet tier and I wanted to make up for that. Here's the cake:

I found the cutest wedding couple figure from Etsy and purchased it as an anniversary topper

Below are some food / set up pictures with some notes on the layout. I have the recipes I used saved in this google document that you can access. I like to plan the food in various rooms to promote movement and mingling!

In the living room I had a card table set up with snack-y finger foods. This included a fruit platter, chips and dip with guacamole, veggies and dip, and mini quiche (to be placed on that white platter once warmed).

In the kitchen I had all the more substantial lunch-y foods. There was a broccoli salad, deviled eggs, orzo with watermelon, arugula, and feta salad, chicken salad with Mom's sourdough rolls, and finally pimento cheese and crackers. I also had drinks set up here. At one end of the table were pitchers of water and iced tea. There was some chilled white wine and beer in the beverage tub,

On the counter in the kitchen I had the crockpot warming bbq from Q-Shack and cole slaw with rolls.

In the dining room I had the desserts table. Patrick made banana pudding, his mother (who flew all the way in from Chicago from the occasion) made vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream, and there was the Daisy Cakes red velvet cake. My mom had also brought up blonde brownies which were on the coffee table as welcome nibbles. My grandmother brought peanuts as another welcome nibbles too - thanks for all the contributions!

You may noticed that there are little identifying signs for the food. This isn't something I normally do but since we were inviting neighbors who we had never hosted (we did knock on doors and personally pass out our invitations) I wanted to make sure anyone with a food allergy or intolerance would feel like they could enjoy themselves at our party. 

You may also note that it was a lot of food and it was! We didn't require RSVPs from the neighbors so wanted to make sure there was plenty for everyone. We had about 25 folks stop by for the housewarming and called it a success!

The housewarming party was great motivation to have the house organized! There were a few boxes stashed in closets that have yet to be unpacked... working on that this week! 

Dupree says "I like to read the paper with dad"

Ninth Month Menu

Last month for our Ninth Month anniversary meal I thought it would be a fun change of pace to go on a picnic. I would make one exception to have this monthly anniversary meal on our fine china since it was such a nice weekend and we would still be commemorating the monthly anniversary. Fate would just so have it that the picnic spot would fail and we would return home to have a picnic on our fine china! I'll include our recipes first and then the failed picnic story below!

Lobster potato salad

Pimento cheese sandwiches

Blueberry orange fruit salad

Apricot mascarpone tart

served with Seaglass Chardonnay

Ina Garten's Lobster potato salad
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs unpeeled small Yukon Gold potatoes
Kosher salt
3 tbsp Champagne vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c good olive oil
1/4 c dry white wine
3 tbsp drained capers
1 c thinly sliced scallions
1/2 c diced celery
1/2 c diced red onion
1 1/2 lb cooked lobster meat, diced
1 lemon
3 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon  
Directions
   Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water by 1 inch. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes, until just tender. (I use a small bamboo skewer to test them.) Drain in a colander, cover the colander with a clean kitchen towel, and allow the potatoes to steam for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut them in quarters or halves, depending on their size, and place them in a large bowl.
   Meanwhile, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, garlic, egg yolk, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. While whisking, slowly pour in the olive oil, making an emulsion. Stir in the wine and capers. While the potatoes are still very warm, pour half the vinaigrette on the potatoes and toss them gently, allowing them to soak up the vinaigrette. Stir in the scallions, celery, red onion and lobster and add enough vinaigrette to moisten. Reserve any remaining vinaigrette. Add the zest and juice of the lemon, the tarragon, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss carefully. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to blend. Taste for seasonings and add more vinaigrette, if necessary. Serve at room temperature.

Apricot mascarpone tart
For two 8 inch tarts or one 9 x 13 pan of bars (we made bars and cut the recipe in half)
   For the topping
1 1/2 lbs pitted apricots
1 1/2 c sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange peel
3 c dry white wine
   For the filling
1 lb mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup reduced apricot liquid
   For the tart
2 c all-purpose flour
8 oz unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
Pre Heat oven to 350F
Directions
   For the crust, work together the flour, butter, powdered sugar and salt until it forms a dough (I needed to add a little water to make the dough come together). If making tarts, divide the dough in half. Sprinkle your work area with flour and roll out each ball of dough to about 1/4 thick and 10 inches wide. Lay each dough over a fluted tart pan and press the dough in.  Add a piece of parchment to the bottom of each tart pan on top of the dough, and add pie weights or dried beans to keep everything in place. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, remove the parchment and weights, and bake for another 10 minutes until lightly golden brown.  Remove and cool.
   If making bars, spread the dough on the bottom of a greased 9×13″ baking dish lined with parchment folded over the sides (this is for easy bar removal) and pat down so it’s evenly distributed. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden brown, remove, and cool.
   Combine apricots, sugar, cinnamon, orange peel and wine in a pot over medium-high heat. When mixture boils, reduce to simmer and cook for 45 to 50 minutes, until liquid has turned to syrup and the fruit is completely tender.  You should be able to cut and bite through it without much effort.  If it needs more time, cook it for another 5 minutes and test it again. Set aside a half cup of the liquid, and set aside the fruit until it cools to room temp (you don’t want it to melt the cheese when you combine everything).
   Whip the mascarpone with vanilla, sugar and liquid.  Spread over the shortbread crust. Top with apricots in a pretty pattern.  Brush with left over syrup to make it glisten.
   If you’re making this ahead, store it in the fridge and take it out about 20 minutes before serving to take the chill off.

Still smiling after our failed picnic! We're back home here and just finished setting up our outdoor table and chairs.

We had picnicked before at the Vineyards at Southpoint and loved it. The vineyard is a short drive away and gives us the opportunity to relax and leave behind all the major commotion of Durham. The vineyard is nestled in a lovely greenscape complete with grapevines, a pond that has a fountain, and lots of picnic tables. It was the perfect spot for an anniversary picnic! 

As you can see I planned us a nicer-than-average picnic for the special occasion. 

From top to bottom: Fruit salad, Apricot mascarpone tart, Pimento cheese sandwiches, Lobster potato salad

And then packed it all up

Well we get to the vineyard and it's closed for the season! I had looked them up before we left to verify their hours and it said open. It seems like the closing was very recent. They had an announcement on their facebook page that the winemakers have decided to focus on family even though the vineyard was doing well. Hopefully someone will open it back up! 

In the meantime we drove around to nearby parks to find a suitable replacement but I was being a bit picky and didn't want to settle for the sub par tables next to soccer fields (anniversary picnic, remember?!). We finally decided to go home, set up our outdoor dining set, and make a fancy picnic at home. Here's our tablescape complete with fine china and picnic food!

Even though I missed the winery picnic, it was nice to use our fine china and continue the monthly anniversary dinners!

Eighth Month Menu

Patrick and I are enjoying our monthly anniversary dinner celebrations so much! I'm getting a little sad each month we get closer to our first year anniversary dinner because these have been a lot of fun and a great time for us to reconnect during our busy lives and I will miss these first year monthly anniversary dinners. I'm certainly not sad that our one year anniversary seems to be approaching so quickly!! However I may have secretly decided to continue this little tradition even though Patrick thinks it will be too hard to continue each month.

One thing that is kind of difficult with these anniversary dinners is the menu. I do think if we continue with the anniversary dinner it may morph into a more casual menu or something that would've regularly been planned for the week and then we can just serve it with our formal place settings. Until we hit the year mark though I want to try to elevate the menu from our more casual weekday meals. The hard part is not so much planning a fancier menu rather it's coming up with different menus. One of my go to planned fancier meals is seared scallops and I don't want to have scallops each month! For this particular Eighth Month menu I decided to keep it light and simple since spring and fresh produce are on the way. I actually just went to the grocery store the day of our anniversary and selected a fish (halibut) that looked good and some seasonal produce (chioggia beets) that looked good! Here's what we did:

Fish baked in parchment

Lightly dressed arugula salad with chioaggi beets

Carrot cake cupcakes

Biltmore Spring Release White wine,

in honor of Patrick’s Biltmore proposal two years ago this month (April 27^th, 2012)

Fish baked in parchment from chow.com
Ingredients
1 (6-ounce) firm-fleshed white-fish fillet, such as halibut, cod, or haddock (the fillet should be between 3/4 and 1 1/4 inches thick)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf, cut in half (optional)
Fresh herbs, such as chives, parsley, tarragon, or chervil (optional)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 thin lemon slices
1 tablespoon dry white wine or water
Directions
   Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
   Draw out a large piece of parchment paper (about 17 by 11 inches) and, with one of the longer edges closest you, fold it in half from left to right. Using scissors, cut out a large heart shape.

I may have selected the recipe because of the parchment heart!!!

Place the fish in the center of one half of the parchment heart. (The heart should be large enough that there is at least a 1-1/2-inch border around the fillet.)
   Set the parchment heart on a baking sheet. Drizzle the fish with half of the olive oil, rub the oil all over the fillet, and season with salt and pepper. Lay half of the bay leaf and a few sprigs of herbs (if using) on top of the fish. Break the butter into little pieces and arrange them on top of the herbs. Place the lemon slices over everything and drizzle with the remaining oil.
   Fold the parchment heart over to cover the fish. (The edges of the heart should line up.) Starting at the rounded end, crimp the edges together, folding them over themselves and leaving the last two inches at the pointed end unfolded. Slightly tilt the package up and pour in the wine or water. Finish crimping the edges, then twist the pointed end around once and fold the “tail” under.

I recommend visiting the recipe website because it has step-by-step picture instructions for this step.

   Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake 10 minutes for a 3/4-inch-thick fillet or 12 minutes for a 1- to 1-1/4-inch-thick fillet.
   Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the parchment package to a dinner plate. Serve immediately, cutting into the parchment tableside using scissors or a knife. Since we split a fish filet I opened the package and plated half of the filet on each plate then served.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Ingredients

   Serves 15-20 *We cut the recipe in half and made cupcakes

For the cake

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 lb carrot, peeled (medium 6 to 7 carrots about 3 cups)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (3 1/2 ounces)

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil or 1 1/2 cups safflower oil or 1 1/2 cups canola oil

For the cream cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1 tablespoon sour cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Directions

   For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan (or 2, 9" round cake pans) with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment and spray parchment.

   Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

   In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots; transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor work bowl and fit with metal blade. Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream. Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape mixture into medium bowl. Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.

   For the frosting: When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor work-bowl until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.

   Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.).

Since April also commemorated our engagement I couldn't pass up this Biltmore Spring Release white wine. Patrick proposed at Biltmore two springs ago -- here's our proposal blog post!

April was an exciting month for us! Stay tuned to the blog for these things we've been celebrating!

Seventh Month Menu

When Patrick and I were finalizing ceremony details for our wedding, one big decision was what time it would start! 11am - 11:30am - and 12noon were the options. At our venue we had the space from 11am-4pm. We weren't too keen on getting started right at 11am and debated quite a bit between 11:30am and 12noon. My mom felt like a noon wedding could be construed as a formal ("high noon" weddings, anyone??) wedding. We liked the sentiment that, according to some traditions, getting married on the half hour means the couple will have many blessings in their life as the minute hand is moving upwards and ascending to the heavens. And before we knew it we had set the ceremony for 11:30am!

And here we are now, on the up tick side of our first year of marriage! What fun it was to celebrate seven months together in March! I asked Patrick for anniversary dinner input and he requested one of his favorite dishes -- lemon spaghetti with seared scallops. So it's not a new recipe for the blog but still below. There was, however, a new dessert!

Lemon spaghetti with seared scallops
Ingredients
Table salt
1 pound spaghetti
¼ cup evoo, plus more for serving
1 medium shallot, minced
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tsps finely grated lemon zest and ¼ cup juice from 3 lemons
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup), plus more for servings
Ground black pepper
2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves

Directions
   Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta to boiling water; cook, stirring frequently, until al dente. Reserve 1¾ cups cooking water, drain pasta into colander, and set aside.
   Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add shallot and ½ teaspoon salt; cook until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk 1½ cups of reserved pasta cooking water and cream into pot; bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat, return pasta, and stir until coated. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
   Cover and let pasta stand 2 minutes, tossing frequently and adjusting consistency with remaining ¼ cup reserved pasta water if necessary. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling individual portions with oil and sprinkling with cheese.
 
Meanwhile sear scallops. Serve scallops atop lemon spaghetti.

Oreo cheesecake trifles with raspberries adapted from Curry & Comfort Blog
Ingredients
½ package of chocolate wafer cookies (approx. 20)
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup whipped cream
Raspberries, for garnish 

Directions
   Whip cream cheese until smooth with electric mixer. Prepare pudding according to package directions and mix with cream cheese. Fold in half the whipped cream.
   Crush cookies in food processor.
   To assemble trifles, layer cookie and custard mixture alternately. Finish with whipped topping.
   Garnish with raspberries and additional cookie if desired.