Hi everyone, I'm new to this community an I have an extremely cheeky favour to ask. I've tried looking through past posts and I have found relevant things but the problem is I'm such a cooking-noob and need more detail.

I recently decided to learn to cook, which is going well considering that a few months ago I literally could not boil an egg. I've started out with the basics but I'm getting there. I hereby swear that if some of you lovely people would be so kind as to help me with this problem I will contribute recipes/tips of my own to this community once I'm a bit more experienced.

Anyway my boyfriend is having a few friends round on Saturday for his birthday. It'll be an all day thing with a barbeque in the afternoon and lots of heavy drinking later. His family are coming to visit on Friday (woo...) so unfortunately any party snacks I make will really have to made on Thursday night and be able to keep for 2 days.

If anyone would care to suggest things that will keep for that length of time with no problems then I'll look up the recipes myself, I just need an idea of what not to make as I don't want to poison anyone with old food! I'm pretty much ok with desserts, though obviously suggestions are really welcome, but I need some sort of individually served snacky type things an hopefully at least one thing that's a bit more substantial to feed 14-20 people at least 2 of whom are vegetarian.

Oh and one more thing, the boyfriend's favourite kind of cake is carrot cake so if anyone knows of any good recipes for those I'd be eternally grateful.

I'm reading this rambling back to myself and I've just realised that for all I know ALL party snacks could be fine to be kept for 2 days, I really am that new at this! Any advice welcome, thanks again!

I made this for a party I'm having tonight. The recipe is from Marilu Henner's Healthy Life Kitchen Cookbook. In the book, she had taste-testers write down comments on each one, and for this, someone wrote "I could wash my face in this, it tastes so good!". I made it for a party last year and it was a huge hit.

The book recommends using sourdough rounds in the recipe, but it tastes just as good with tortilla chips.



( Recipe - Joe's Black Bean Spread )

So not only was today a friend's birthday, but it was also the big U of M/OSU game, so of course there was a big party.

Not being a particularly big football fan (despite being a stone's throw away from U of M's campus), I viewed it as an opportunity to make some yummy party food. I've been wanting to use my apartment's small kitchen for making something other than burgers on the Foreman, so I dug out this recipe from the community to make soft pretzels!

( Pretzel porn under here )

So, my friends and I are having a ROCK STAR PARTY!! :D
We are dressing like rockstars and then going out dancing. It's a fairly small party, eight people I think, but we party hard and in style.

My question is, what should we serve? We want some rock star-esque food, so what would you recommend? Thanks!

Note: I made this cake entirely from scratch, just to clear that up, since 'Confetti cake' is a well-known boxed cake mix.



(  Vanilla confetti cake with buttercream icing - Visuals )


I used the Magnolia Bakery's vanilla cupcake recipe, only in two 9" round pans. I just tossed in a handful of multi-colored nonpareils, coated in flour, before pouring the batter into the pans.

I was posting this to my own journal and thought I'd share it here too. This is my favourite holiday treat! It's simple, but delicious.

Butterscotch Confetti



( Recipe )

Last night, I made sushi for the first time, and it was GREAT. Way better than grocery store (even Central Market) sushi, though maybe not as good as good restaurant sushi. That's okay, though. I'm not Japanese, so I have an excuse.

I used this recipe from Epicurious, but modified it so as not to include the crabs and added a ton of veggies instead. Sadly, there are no photos, because I couldn't find any of my memory cards. Alas! But don't get too upset. There were 5 sheets of nori left over, so I'll get some more sushi rice and make more rolls later this week, and my camera will be at the ready!

Anyway, on to the foodtalk! ( The gory details... )

This would be perfect for a party. I cut up all the veggies while the rice was cooking and had them all in little piles on my cutting board, ready to go. Once I started rolling, I cranked out 5 rolls in about 15 minutes. I didn't have a bamboo mat, so I didn't use one, and the only roll that developed a tear was one one whose nori had a small hole before I started rolling. Having the rice warm really seemed to make the nori more pliable and soft, and on the first few rolls the nori was definitely more flexible than on the last one. If you were really worried about tearing the nori (it won't unless you manhandle and maul it, you hamfisted thing!), you could use sheets of waxed paper or freezer paper or plastic wrap to help you apply more even pressure while rolling. I come from a long line of Tex-Mex cooks, so I've got the rolling motion and pressure down pretty well. If you're not blessed with such a past (like my boyfriend, who was AMAZED at my smooth, tight rolls) probably using a rolling aid would be for the best.

Jeez. How many times can I say roll in the same paragraph!? Crossposted to vegrecipes and food_porn

I threw a party this weekend, and had lots of fun making all of the fixings:

	The spread part one
	The spread part two

( More details inside )

Now I have a few leftover strawberries dipped in chocolate to nibble on before bed.

Because I was asked ...

Having solicited recipe suggestions here for a friend's birthday dinner, I figured I'd let you in on the results. (-:

The menu:

• Antipasti (by irismoonlight), including roasted sweet peppers, assorted olives, melon, salami, bread and hummus (OK, not strictly Italian, but nice and garlicky).
  
• Penne Pasta Bolognese
  
• Good, dense Italian bread (from Safeway - their artisan breads are terrific) with a dipping sauce of EVOO, balsamic vinegar, garlic and herbs
  
• Panna cotta with Amaretto roasted pears (and Verduzzo Pass the Cookies dessert wine)

(cross-posted to my personal journal)
( Details, details )

I needed to make a dessert for my co-worker's birthday and thought this might be yummy!

( baking with melanie, episode two )

I finally made one yesterday.

Check it out, dude. :P



( 2 more pics )

I made my synth-rocker husband a birthday cake!!!



( cake cake cake micron cake cake cake )

I remembered reading something in this community about ham sandwiches using a cinnamon bun recipe, and decided to give it a try.



I cut the sugar in the dough to half, and it was perfect. I chopped some ham, onions, and broccoli into small pieces, and fried just until the broccoli was cooked, but still crunchy, and the onions were translucent. The ham was pre-cooked, so I was just going for a nice light brown. When the dough was done, I rolled it out sprinkled it with a combo of shredded mozzarella & cheddar and then topped with the ham mixture. I rolled it up and cut it like you would cinnamon buns, and baked at the same temp. I can’t remember the exact amount of time, but I think it was about half or just over half the amount of time cinnamon buns would have taken. You can tell when it’s done because the bread turns a golden brown.

They were very tasty! I prefer my plain, while my husband likes his with ketchup.

I had a bit of the ham mixture leftover so I made omelettes with it the next morning.

The rice pictured in the photo is basmati rice, seasoned with fresh herbs, salt & pepper, chopped red pepper, chopped onion, and vegetable broth (in place of the water).

EDIT: The cinnamon bun recipe link is in the comments.

I come to you all with a bit of a culinary problem.

Me and my fiance are going out to an outdoor party this coming saturday, and the way these things go we will probably need some food. There is no restaurants or fast food places near the event, so I need to pack food. I can't bring a cooler, and it will need to be easily stored in my jansport bag. There's no way I can heat it up either.

Other than simple things like sandwiches and salad (we're both very much carnivore, so we like meat, fish, eggs, whatever), can anyone suggest light meals to pack? It doesn't matter how long it takes to make, just please keep price reasonable.. somewhat.

Thanks in advance!
Keta

Hey everyone,

I am having a birthday party with a friend of mine this weekend, doing one together and we
thought a hors d'oeuvres party would be the best and cool.

I was wondering if anyone had any favorite that do not take to long and will not
kill my budget.

I love to cook and love to eat and there is nothing that we can not have. No one
has any allergies.

Thanks for all your help before hand.

A friend's LJ entry reminded me of these, which I haven't yet made this year. They're a great antidote for all the sweet stuff - like crispy, spicy cheese cookies.

( Cheesy goodness follows )