A Few of May's Makes & Bakes

May can be a pretty crazy month for us... We had 3 birthdays to celebrate:
My bff turned 50 this year, so her husband planned a little "Seis de Mayo" shindig. (Last August they helped me surprise Mr. ElisabethJean for his 50th, and then in September was Mr. BFF's 50th, so we're pretty good at this...) My job was to bring cheesecake.

This was my first attempt at baking a slab, but it turned out pretty well!

Next was the red-headed middle child's day.

Unfortunately, his birthday frequently gets tossed into the
Let'sCelebrateGrandpa'sBirthdayMother'sDayToo - mix, but this year we let him have his own day & his own cake. He chose to order pizza (which we smoked -- try it, it's fantastic!) and wanted a brownie-bottomed chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache

(I found the recipe here)that was quite indulgent!

Then I made a t-shirt for my daddy's birthday. I put a heart where he was born in the state (...and still owns a sliver of the old farmstead...)

It was beautiful until the last pass of the iron - the cover sheet I was using had static electricitied a scrap that was lingering nearby.

ARGH!

Fortunately, I had another shirt on hand...


We also had some graduation announcements that I needed to send cards for.

(They were a little different from last year's...)

 

And then I made a special onesie -- but that's a story for another day...

It’s a Grad Grad Grad Grad World!

It was with great pride we celebrated our middle child’s passage from high school to life beyond. (What I may have been proudest of, was my lack of tears – unlike when our oldest graduated 4 years ago...)

No, not really! We are so blessed by Alec’s studiousness (is that even a word? if not, it should be!) which earned him a few honorsand scholarships to his school of choice: Grand Canyon University. There he plans on a major in something or other Information Technologies… (nerd, huh?)

We had a party, of course.

It was delicious! I’ll post another couple blogs detailing the event. Here is the post on the sweet items. You can read about the savories here. And here is a little bit about the décor.

Deets on those sweets…

We decided on four types of sweets for the graduation party: the cake, dipped Oreo^®s, Pirouline^® diplomas, and copycat butterfinger bonbons.

Alec decided the cake flavor(s) – I had already chosen Red Velvet with custard filling, but he said no, if you’re gonna have chocolate, make it chocolate! OK.

I must say, however, that he made the right choice. He picked the raspberry filling and it was all perfect! WinCo bakery for the win.

 

Next graduation (should be about 2 years from now…) we will again make dipped Oreo^®s, but we won’t be using candy coating – that stuff is waaaaaaay too sweet! We’ll be dipping strictly chocolate.

 

I was so thankful my Aunt Margaret came over to help me tie ribbons around these dark chocolate-filled “dipomas”.

A few years ago I pinned a recipe for homemade butterfinger candy. I never tried it until just before Christmas. For the graduation party I had this notion I would form it into perfectly round balls and then dip them into chocolate for a plate of some beautiful truffles. Not quite. But they sure were popular!(My sis helped me dip them in the dark chocolate – I alone get credit for their beautiful shapes!)

I guess I should also include the beverages in this post:By far the most popular was the coffee punch. We made it with Toddy^® coffee & vanilla bean ice cream -- it was delicious!

Next was the fruit-infused water. That’s always my favorite on a warm evening. We went with fresh blackberries & blueberries & cantalope & some purple basil.

Such a tasty event – you should’ve been here!

 

Can’t leave without showing a picture of Duncan helping with clean-up after the party…Silly cat! Guess he loves him some decorator icing, huh?

Savoring the Savories

Since we planned 4 “sweets” for Alec’s graduation party, I figured we should probably try to balance it with 4 savory items.

My mom rolled large flour tortillas & two different fillings for the pinwheels. I was grateful she helped out because 1) I’m terrible at slicing things evenly & 2) I had absolutely no more refrigerator space!

My sister baked delicious mini pretzel dogs and brought a couple different-flavored mustards for dipping.These were the most popular item, for they were quickly depleted.

I was planning on baking some Bacon-Swiss gougères as I did here, but Alec specifically requested tapenade. So, I had him butter a bunch of baguette slices and we toasted them. Lovely base for his beloved olive spread…

Lastly, I made the Asian Chicken Salad that we auditioned earlier in the month.  I had the graduate prepare the won ton wrapper cups, and we stored them until time to fill.

 

Esprit décor

I just wanted to post a couple items we made for Alec’s graduation party. His high school colors were purple, black & white. His college colors will be purple, black & white. AWESOME!Aside from driving to 7 different WalMarts on 3 separate (stifling hot!) days to find enough purple plates & napkins, these little graduation hats were the most time-consuming project of the celebration.I had envisioned a lovely string of purple bulbs with a black hat affixed to each. Since there were to be 20 bulbs, I decided the cutouts in brim of the hat would say: C – O – N – G – R – A – T – U – L – A – T – I – O – N – S - - A – L – E – C.                     Lovely in theory, but the mortarboards were too broad for the spacing of the lights. <sigh>However, we hung them along the enty arch to welcome guests. (You just couldn’t read what it said…)

The second project I used the electronic cutter for was the name cards for our refreshments.I totally love the little grad cap cutout!

The exhibit on Alec’s gift table was made perfect with the easel I borrowed from my friends’ antique shop. We used it to display his lovely framed praestantia award. And I loved that I could utilize my Wolf dressform to show off the cap, gown and honor cords from the graduation ceremony.

Mandarin Ginger Chicken Salad

ORANGE & GINGER is the theme for May’s Improv Cooking Challenge.  We took this opportunity to practice a little nibble we’ll be serving at my son’s graduation open house at the end of the month. I had some doubts as to whether or not the graduate would like it, but I shouldn’t have worried! There were no leftovers. (in fact, had to fend off requests for more…)

First off I poached a bit of chicken breast. This recipe uses a pound of meat; so this would be a great way to use up some leftovers or would be soooo delicious with purchased rotisserie chicken meat.

Next my sous chef helped me spray muffin tins & fill with won ton wrappers. He then sprayed the wrappers after they were gently tucked into the cups. We preheated the oven to 350°, and baked for 5-10 minutes to get a nice crispy brown.  (I tried the round ones here, but decided we’ll use square for the party because the corners will make for better “handles” to grab off the tray…) While they baked I mixed up the salad.

I couldn’t find my favorite slaw mix that has a bit of red cabbage. (I’m looking for that purple hue for the party because my son’s school colors are purple & black.) But, this was a pretty good substitute since this mix had the carrots already in it, so then I didn’t have to worry about that!

Here’s what I put in the salad:

• 1 lb. chopped chicken meat
• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds (I toasted these during the oven pre-heat for won tons)
• 14 oz. packaged slaw mix
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped 
• 2 green onions, sliced

…and here’s what went into the dressing:

• 1 T. grated fresh ginger
• 1 T. reserved mandarin juice
• 1 t. sesame oil
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 3 T. rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup mayonaise

The dressing should be gently stirred into the salad. Just prior to serving, spoon into the prepared won ton cups.

Changes I’ll make next week for the open house will be the addition of red cabbage, of course…

…and we’ll use the square won ton wrappers.

Check out the links below for more orange & ginger recipes:

An InLinkz Link-up