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

Tamales for a crowd...

(please don't read if you're easily offended by loose interpretations of "Mexican" food...)  ;)

So my sister has returned to the states after working 20+ years in Russia & other locations which were formerly Soviet Union. Beth loves to entertain; and from her poorly furnished kitchens throughout the years she fed many guests cleverly improvised dishes from ingredients available locally. For her homecoming celebration, we decided to go with a Mexican theme, as homage to her creative concoctions...

My aunt, cousin, brother & I were responsible for the dishes on the main course table: chipotlé lime rice, elote, green chile chicken burritos, tamales, & black beans. My brother-in-law threw together his incredible salsa for the variety of chips we had. My mom made mini pies, Mexican wedding cookies, and brownie bites for the dessert table. The beverage table held iced tea, lemonade, fruit-infused water & a huge pot of freshly-percolated coffee.

When serving elote (a Mexican street favorite of grilled corn topped with lime juice, crema, chili powder & cotija) there's a problem with disposing of the husks & cobs from 60-75 guests. So my cousin made it esquites style, which is served with the kernels and toppings in a dish. YUM!

A similar dilemma was anticipated with feeding the crowd tamales: greasy, emptied corn husks make for big messes! I had another excuse to rationalize my simplification of the tamale process ~ my sons were busy with school and Homecoming band practices, so my tamale-assembly line lacked its workers...

When we made tamales last Christmas, we bought the prepared masa from a local market. Delicious choice! I purchased two hefty bags of it to use for our party dish.

The pork was initially roasted in the slow cooker with chipotlé seasoning. After shredding, I cooked it down a little more and added a prepared mole sauce I'd seen in some recipes. (meh...) That mixture went into the frig for assembly the next morning.

Into the foil pans went a layer of masa, then pork, olives (requested by all 4 of my fellas -- apologies to consumers who disliked them...) then a masa layer to top.  My ingredients made 8 batches!

I filled a large roaster with boiling water to help steam up the oven while baking the "crusty tamales".

We used three full pans during the party.

The leftovers were used for breakfast(s) the following week:

And THAT, my friends is how I make tamales for a crowd...

When the "letting go"-ing gets tough...

                                      ... the tough throw a party.

Zach's high school graduation represents a huge milestone for me. And when I pass huge milestones, I get very emotional. And when I get very emotional, I cry. Lots.

http://www.phoenixjonesphotography.com/

http://www.phoenixjonesphotography.com/

(I actually survived the ceremony, I really only lost it when he played trumpet for the last time as an NCS Crusader...)

(I "stole" this picture from his friend's facebook, 'cause I didn't have a good shot like this...
Zach's the only senior -- seated on the left behind the clarinets.)

http://www.phoenixjonesphotography.com/

Anyhow -- back to the party: Our very dear friends Sara & Bob have meant so much to our family. Sara has transported my boys to school for five years, now. Last spring Sara asked if I wished to have Zach's party in their backyard -- otherwise known as PARTY CENTRAL.

She even cleared off her mantel for some memorabilia...

I ordered two cakes from Costco. (They are the best! I also checked pricing from WalMart bakery as well as a couple local grocery chains & I would've been paying twice as much for inferior cake & icing, & absolutely none of that delicious mousse filling!)

Zach's girlfriend & her mom made dozens of black paper cones for popcorn. (I turned a 10-bottle wine rack on its side to hold the cones upright...)

Bob popped the corn in Sara's machine.

(mmmmmm -- they make it with olive oil & sea salt!)

My mom made some raspberry cookie bars & mini cherry cheesecakes.

(Not bad for a lady in a neck brace between surgeries & therapies...)

Zach's other grandma made a couple platters of fruit kabobs.


I baked large batches of salted caramel brownies, seven dozen whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies & a double recipe of Rice Krispies with white chocolate & cranberries treats.

We dispensed a couple gallons of iced tea & some very delicious blueberry lemonade.

(Zach finished off the last of the tea after the party...)

Unfortunately, I have few pictures. Once the people started arriving (some were half an hour early!) there was no time for camera snapping. Oh well! It was a wonderful evening.