It all started last Wednesday at about 4 in the morning. We were standing outside the Waffle House (which is where a group of my friends and I go after dancing at a local club) and one of our friends said "We should have a coloring party tomorrow!"
Some plans for this were bandied about, people offering to bring this or that. At that time of the morning, it sounded like an awesome idea! The next afternoon, however, it was realized that the timing was just too short. Thus the party was postponed until Saturday.
One of my friends, at whose house we were having this shindig, asked me for advice on what to do about food. I helpfully offered some suggestions. I was probably a bit more helpful than was practical. She replied back "So... Chips and salsa?" I smiled and offered to whip somethings together, secretly jumping for joy at an excuse to really cut loose in the kitchen.
This is actually a relatively rare occurrence for me. You see, generally I'm cooking for myself, my two young children and my boyfriend. That isn't a lot of people, and therefore my opportunities to create fantastical spreads of treats is extremely limited unless I want to fill my fridge with leftovers (which I do not). So parties are really the big opportunity for me to let all those creative impulses out to play.
Saturday morning, I awoke full of ideas of what I needed to do. Most of these things required at least one ingredient that I didn't have, so step one was going to have to be a trip to the store. I went by myself. In retrospect, this might have been a mistake, as there was no one there to reign in my more esoteric impulses. I cruised through the isles in the local supermarket with a few key items in mind. I wanted to get a veggie tray, make cucumber dip and get more sugar so that I could make fudge. I had used all most all of my sugar when I made fudge for going to Gen Con which I flavored it with 99 Bananas and a touch of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. It was a Success and freaking delicious, hence why I needed to make more. While I was wandering about, I spotted these awesome little tart shortbread things. They were like tiny pie crusts approximately as large as a quarter in diameter and they were right next to some pie fillings. The one that I couldn't resist was the Strawberry-rhubarb filling.
A little background on that. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a strawberry-rhubarb anything. I had always assumed that rhubarb was something like an eggplant (a food that I dislike) for some reason that I have no idea on. I think someone once compared the two within my hearing when I was still extremely impressionable and therefore the association was set. I had, in fact, never even seen a rhubarb (and still haven't, come to think of it). My eyes were opened to the deliciousness of this particular vegetable when I bought a bag of dried "fruit" from the local Costco. This particular mix was made up of things that normally go into pies or cobblers - prunes, apples, apricots and small chunks of strawberry-rhubarb. I didn't really think about it when I purchased the bag and as I was snacking on them I came across a small, deep red square that was the most delicious thing ever! It tasted something like a strawberry fruit roll (the best fruit roll, in my opinion) but with some other, undefinable quality that made me go digging in the bag for more of the little gems.
So, you can see why I was immediately drawn to the strawberry-rhubarb "pie filling". I use quotes there because it seems to me that the only difference between what they were calling pie filling and what I normally call jam or jelly is the label. I grabbed the jar, as well as some of the little tart things, and put them in the cart. But then I paused. I knew, from discussions about the dried fruit, that my boyfriend disliked rhubarb. Well, "dislike" is too mild a word. He would make a face like a five-year-old presented with brusselsprouts at the very mention of rhubarb in any way. I couldn't make something that he wouldn't like without making something that he would. No, I couldn't. It's a personal issue with me. Go back and reference the "I Am Crazy" post if you don't understand.
Next to the strawberry-rhubarb jam there was a banana caramel sauce. This sounded perfect! Bananas and caramel are two of my boyfriend's favorite foods! But this mushy yellow sauce did not look promising. That's okay! I have a recipe for caramel sauce that's ridiculously good! So now I had to go get strawberries and bananas. Oh, wait, look! I'm on the Jell-O isle! I have a killer recipe for Jell-O shots, as well as a ton of little plastic cups left over from the last time I made them (around last Halloween). I grabbed a large box of raspberry and a large box of lime (they didn't have the apple I would have preferred for the green) and finally got off that isle. I got the sugar and the ingredients for the dip that I had come there fore, as well as a veggie tray and two bags of Ruffles chips. Then I finally headed home to begin my stint in the kitchen.
I decided to do those things which required the most set time first. That meant the fudge, Jell-O shots and the Coconut Pudding (which is really more like Jell-O) that I had picked up at Jungle Jim's the last time I went and wanted to make as well. I also knew that I would need to get the dip made in enough time that it could chill in the fridge, as that particular dip doesn't taste very good if you don't chill it. At this point I was full of excitement and ideas and began getting some water boiling - both on the stove and in my electric kettle - for the Jell-O and Jell-O-like products.
I made the Coconut Pudding per the package directions - boiling the water on the stove, adding the mix, stirring and then putting it in a bowl in the fridge. I actually used one of my round Pyrex dishes, as those have lids that snap onto them for ease of transporting later. I made the Jell-O shots using the method that has always stood me in good stead. First, you take the requisite amount of hot water and dissolve the Jell-O powder in it. In this case, since I was using the big boxes, I had two bowls (with pour spouts on - this is very important to not getting Jell-O everywhere later), each with 2 cups of hot water in them, into which I dissolved the boxes of Jell-O respectively. Then comes the time to add the cold water. Instead of adding what the box says - 2 cups cold water - I instead replace a percentage of the cold water with alcohol. I have found that this percentage should not be over 50%, as then it tends to not firm up properly. Also, even though realistically the amount of alcohol is very little, the 50% still tastes very strongly alcoholic and is therefore not in need of more.
I also like to color code the Jell-O shots that I make so that even if you are very inebriated it's pretty easy for you to remember which ones have the larger percentage of alcohol. Therefore, I added 1 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum to the lime Jell-O (I spent most of the night making people laugh with the "It prevents scurvy!" joke) because green means go. I added 1 cup cold water and 1 cup vanilla vodka because red means stop. Simple right? I mixed those thoroughly and then I poured the Jell-O into little plastic cups that I had already at the house. They are the same plastic cups that are often used at restaurants like Chipotle when they need to dish you out something like salsa or sour cream and they have lids. I filled the little cups as much as was reasonable and then snapped the lids on them. I ended up with approximately 20 Jell-O shots of each flavor. I put these in the fridge to firm up (with their lids on, just in case one of them tipped over!) and turned my attention to the other things I had planned on making.
The next thing on the list was fudge. I started the butter, sugar and evaporated milk boiling. When I make fudge, I generally follow the recipe that can be found on the jar of Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Cream. It's a bit labor-intensive, since you can't leave the stove once you get it started for fear that the sugar will burn, but well worth it. I have had people who dislike chocolate tell me they like my fudge. It's amazing. I usually don't add the nuts that the jar suggests, mostly due to the fact that so many people are allergic or opposed to certain nuts that it would make it nearly impossible to get a recipe that everyone I know could enjoy. So, I stood over my stove, dutifully stirring the mixture on the stove until it boiled and then for 4 minutes while it boiled to get it to the proper temperature (approximately, since I still haven't gotten around to purchasing a candy thermometer). Then came the time to add the chocolate. The jar says to just dump the chocolate and marshmallow cream in together, but I have discovered that this is a bad plan. For one, the chocolate needs to melt more than the marshmallow. For two, having both of those more-or-less solid substances in the pot makes it really hard to stir. So, chocolate first. If I'm having trouble getting it to melt, I may return it to a reduced-heat burner while I stir. Once the chocolate is all melted, I add the marshmallow and mix it until the entire thing is homogeneous. Then I add a teaspoon of vanilla and whatever other flavoring I'm using. In this case, I added about 5 drops of cherry candy flavoring that I normally use for truffles. Then I poured it into a dish that I had lined with parchment paper (the jar calls for aluminum foil but that both extends the cooling time and leave strange wrinkles in the fudge) and left it on the counter to cool.
At this point, I was getting tired. I had been portioning the strawberry-rhubarb jelly into the little shortbread tartlets every time I got a few seconds while making all the other food, so I decided to finish those up, but to forgo the banana ones for the time being. I finished, put them in a tupperware and put that in the fridge. Then I went to rest.
After an hour and a half in which I actually ate something and got off my feet, I found a renewed sense of energy and purpose. I went back into that kitchen and began to cook again with gusto! I started the sugar and water on the stove for the caramel sauce and then proceeded to make cucumber dip where I could keep an eye on the stove. The cucumber dip recipe I have is from A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook in which a lot of great recipes exist. This one was suppose to be for canapés, but those are a lot of work and I'm at least semi-lazy on the best of days. I have found that it works just as well - if not better! - as a chip dip. There are a few things that I have learned in the making of it as well. For starters, you should always just double the recipe. For one, it saves you from using half a cucumber and half a packet of dressing mix. Two, this dip is very well liked in every group I've ever introduced it. It goes quickly and you'll want to be prepared for that by having extra. Another thing that I've learned is that there is an important process that this dip requires. Its base is sour cream and yogurt and these two ingredients should be added and blended together thoroughly until the whole is homogeneous before any other ingredient is added. The final thing that I learned, which I already mentioned, was after you get everything added you must chill it for at least an hour. If you don't, it won't taste nearly as good.
I put the dip in the fridge to chill and then stood to watch the caramel sauce, which was boiling but had not moved from the clear to the crucial golden-brown stage as of yet. And I stood. And I watched. For about 10 minutes, which doesn't seem like a long time but this was the last thing I was making and I was ready to be done and start actually getting ready to go to the party. I had had trouble with this recipe the last time I made it - it crystallized on me - because caramel is a tricky bitch. The recipe I use I got off of the Rouxbe site and it's actually the only recipe I found that didn't have you adding vanilla (weird!) or measuring out the sugar by the crystal, so in those aspects it's easy. It's actually really easy to make, as long as you can stand there and watch sugar boil until it turns a certain color.
I apparently can because I pulled the pot off the fire at the exact right moment. I added the heavy cream and butter and it turned into the most gorgeous sauce. Most of it I poured into a plastic squeeze bottle that I had bought a while back for candy making and then poured the remainder directly into the rest of the little shortbread shells that I had so that none of it was wasted. Once I had caramel in each of the shells, I grabbed a banana and sliced off thin disks that I placed on top of the sauce. I then sprinkled the entire bit with sugar (in retrospect, if I do it again, I will use more sugar to get a better sugary crust) and hit it with my brulée torch. These were then also put into tupperware and into the fridge.
I actually ended up not taking the vegetable tray that I had purchased since I had so much other, home-made food to bring. Everything went over really well - especially the Jell-O shots! - and I got compliments on every bit of food. I think more of it would have gotten eaten if we hadn't gotten a bit drunk and forgotten that there was more in the kitchen (we had just brought out a plate with bits on it with the thought of refilling later). But, since we didn't, I had some to bring back home and offer to my gaming group when they came over a couple days later. These various experiments were most definitely Successes!
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