So a few days ago I did a post saying that I was going to be hosting a birthday party for my friend Beverly. Well, as promised, here is the photographic evidence of my attempt at actually being in charge of some of the food.
The veggie pizza shaped like a Christmas tree (Bev made the star).
Now let me say that I am actually a good logistical planner and have to plan all sorts of things for various work and volunteer projects, but part of that usually involves calling a caterer. So the morning of the party I got out the recipes for the things I was to be making. The two main things were the veggie pizza pictured above, and a cheese ball that is supposed to look like a pine cone. I LOVE cheese balls so I figured this was a good decision. Well, immediately after looking at the cheese ball recipe which is due to be ready that same evening, I notice a problem in the instructions, “refrigerate overnight.” Hmmmmmmmmm what to do about this? Well, rather than get discouraged, I simply decided to make it as it said, and stick it in the freezer and let it firm up that way. I call Dena to tell her this idea, and after she got done laughing, she of course had to tell me that this was a bad idea because the point of letting it sit overnight is to let all the flavors absorb together. I was not to be deterred from my plan so I set off to the grocery store to procure the ingredients. The cheese ball recipe called for a half a teaspoon of dill, and upon noticing that a jar of dill weed is around $8, I made an executive decision to just double the amount of crumbled bacon and add chopped green onions instead. How bad can cheese, bacon, and onions taste? Again Dena laughed about this decision, but being hell bent on proving her wrong I continued on.
After I got home I immediately started getting a good crisp on the bacon (recipe calls for 3 pieces I used 6). Then I mixed an 8 oz. package of cream cheese with 1/2 cup of mayo, added the crumbled bacon, and about 2 or 3 chopped green onions. Then I slammed it in the freezer for a few hours. After a couple of hours I took it out, formed it into what I thought was a pine cone, and stuck it back in the freezer a little while longer. Then about an hour before the party (since it’s supposed to be served at room temperature) I got it out and proceeded to stick some almonds I had toasted in the oven all over it until it looked like a pine cone. (It takes about 1 1/2 cups, and you just roast them on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees until the get some color on them) A few sprigs of rosemary at the top to make it look realistic, there it was, my glorious pine cone cheese ball.
Realistic AND delicious!
So now nothing was left but the process of getting myself ready for the party, which is always the most time consuming part. Lots of people came by to wish Bev a happy birthday, and quite a few enjoyed my appetizers. Either that or I gave them so much egg nog they didn’t know the difference, but either way I consider it a success.
A very festive Bev.
Bev goes all out on her holiday decor!
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009, 10:06 pm | 
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