can of sardines

Set on my rugs, propped up on stacks of storage bins, and
covered with tablecloths the seating looks inviting.

Table and chair situation is this: I have almost none. My 2 large tables are devoted to the prep area. I only own 2 folding chairs, one office chair, and 2 designer easy chairs. No couch! No futon! I live alone, so I have rooms with empty floor. The guests will have to sit on the rugs.

This sunday I went to Lowes to purchase plywood sheets to act as tables to sit around floor-style. My empty room/2nd bedroom/studio is 11 x 16 ft. I wanted 2 rows of narrow tables. I was aiming for 28 x 120 inches, seating the max amount of people and with room to move around. Well there aren't service people working in lumber on a Sunday at Lowes to cut wood. I had to compromise with 4 pre-cut 2x4 ft sheets. I'm guessing up to 12 people can sit at each table. The rest will have to stand, sit on my bed, or if they are lucky, snag a folding chair.

food shapes and food trips

Its starting to be hard to keep this blog with all the shopping, prep, and cooking to do. I certainly have not blogged all the food I prepared last week. Its hard to stop in the middle of cooking to snap photos. I cook really really fast. Last week alone I made focaccia dough, spiced pecans, candied orange peels, maple almond toffee, chocolate chocolate cookie dough for ice cream sandwiches, bbq sauce, and finished off the last few batches of pizza dough. I also went to shopping for food and supplies 5 times, to over 8 stores. I am constantly in motion and on top of my schedule. Most of the food only needs to be prepped, with less cooking than other years. I am grateful for my cuisnart's chopping, shredding, and grating attachments. All of the fresh vegetable based foods get made this last week, so everything tastes the way it should.

The menu has shaped up:

-----starting-----
Cheese and fresh and dried fruit plate
spiced nuts
sugared tangerine peels
bacon wrapped figs
pesto, red pepper hummous, and artichoke dips
crudites
fresh baked breads
-----eating-----
fresh made pizza dough with a huge assortment of toppings including: roasted vegetables, artichokes, olives, arugula, caramelized onions, sweet potatoes,seasoned tofu, chicken sausage, pulled pork, bacon, prosciutto, dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, homemade tomato sauce, pesto, bbq sauce, tons of cheese, and more....
-------plus--------
side salads of sorts
-------drinking-------
home steeped limoncello
hot cider
many fabulous concoctions of the season
juice and sodas
beer and wine
-------and--------
the famous Donabedian dessert plate of decadence, which I request people contribute to.

Thin Crust Breafast

Finished breakfast pizzas, and perfectly browned crust. Very excellent.

I'm saving my appetite for red sauced pizzas. Currently I have taste for something different, breakfast pizza. A multi-layered savory meal of breakfast champions. I even got Patrick, the Breakfast Captain, whom I am grateful for and constantly impressed by, to lend his experience:

3 small potatoes, diced
leftover stuffing from Thanksgiving, optional
4 strips of bacon
4 eggs overeasy, or cooked to your liking
1/8th of pizza dough recipe, divided (from previous post)
cheddar cheese
salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Place bacon on a cookie sheet. Bake about 20 minutes until crunchy, flipping half way. Meanwhile, brown potatoes on all sides in a pan, about 15 minutes. Add stuffing and cook another minute or two. Set aside. The smell is good, and everyone is waking up to breakfast aromas, so send em out to get you coffee. Next crack 2 eggs at a time in a hot pan sprayed heavily with pam. A special trick from the breakfast captain: spray the top of the eggs with pam before flipping. Your overeasy eggs won't stick, and if you are good, won't break. Repeat with the next two eggs. Keep it all warm.

Cooking bacon on a cookie sheet intensifies the bacon flavor.
Captain Breakfast takes his bacon however he can get it.

The cap stretches dough. Not an easy morning task.

Stretch out pizza doughs to make something like a circle, or rectangle, or something in between. Layer on your breakfast goods. Start with the cheese, for a nice melty base that will adhere the potatoes on the next layer. Top with bacon strips, the eggs, and more cheese (more cheese is optional). Pop it in the oven, take a sip of coffee, and wait 15-20 minutes. This is a laborious recipe, but hot damn, its the best breakfast treat when ready.

crust is a must

Pizza dough, looks harmless but contains powerful
raising agents, that could easily destroy any kitchen.

Think about food over Thanksgiving? I did. I read up on pizza dough, 6-8 different variations. It came down to 2: The Frugal Gourmet and the Best Recipe Cook Book's. Best Recipe took the prize for explaining all the possible problems I might encounter.

Here tis' the master dough recipe for 4 medium pizzas:

1/2 cup 105 degree water
1 envelop of yeast (I actually order a European bulk kind, extra springy yeast)
1 1/4 cup room temp. water
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups bread flour (really better then the cheap kind, and I use King Arthur)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

To summarize, you put the yeast in the 105 water, and wait until it blooms, then add the rest of the water and oil. Pulse flour and salt in a food processor, and add in most of the liquids to form a ball of dough. Continue to pulse 30 seconds. Scrape onto a floury flat place, knead a couple of turns into a ball. Place in an oiled, warm bowl and let rise 2 hours, until doubled. Then you punch it, and make pizza. Or freeze it for you party a few weeks a away. My yeast was so springy, that my dough erupted out of the freezer quart bags. That yeast was going somewhere. Glad I caught it, punched it some more, and re-sealed the bags.

I found the food processor technique extremely convenient. The batch was almost too big for the motor of my cuisinart. It dimmed the lights and made horrible sounds. I came together fast, and the dough was very smooth. I had some trouble with the liquid. Its easy to add too much and create super sticky and gloppy dough. Gloppiness can be remedied with a little messy and floury kneading.

I made 5 batches of dough in 1 hour, before rising time. Very easy, but I don't
own so many mixing bowls, and had to use my pots and pans for rising.

I am making a total of 7 batches for 40ish medium to small pizzas. I fear that each batch will vary a touch, as my measuring isn't scientific. I made some experimental pizzas to know if the dough was right. Its soft inside and crispy out, with nice flavor. I am pleased. Time to practice throwing dough around.

Save the Date: re-Scheduled

Whats a dinner party blog, without a dinner party? Unforeseen family circumstances have caused me to reschedule the Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner Party until after Thanksgiving! A new twist. It will be the Post-Thanksgiving (Pre-Christmas & Hanuka) Dinner Party. Same food, and I hope, same wonderful guests. New date December 14th, a Sunday.

Details to come!

update — limoncello

I'm on to the final phase of my limoncello. Its smells like a lemon orchard full of lemonade stands. Can't wait.

Pumpkin Prize

Cookies all wrapped up for hungry vegans. My kitchen table was not styled for this photo. I actually keep fruit and flowers around. They come from my CSA share.

Below 60 degrees on the thermometer my stomach wants to extra helpings. It wants baked goods too. Its no exactly time to start cooking for the dinner party, but I'm excited for pumpkin. I made a big dish of pumpkin pie. Minus the crust and half the sugar, its a pretty healthy breakfast food.

Last weekend I went further into the pumpkin patch. I bought some pre-halved pumpkins from the fruit stand near flatbush. Coated in oil and cinnamon I baked it for about 1 hour at 400 degrees. Let it cool, and stand overnight to strain some water, and pureed. Next up, bake vegan chocolate chip cookies for my favorite vegan. This is my best vegan cookie success story. My pumpkin prize cookies came out crisp on the outside, and light on the inside. I don't know how to make a chewy vegan cookie yet. Alterations include adding 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch (improves texture) and reducing the soda and powder to 3/4. Oh and I switched nutmeg to allspice, but the finished cookie isn't all too spicy.

Still on a kick, I've been eating pumpkin out of the can. Its the only thing in my fridge except kale. I may decide to forget about roasting and pureeing my own gourds for good. Its time consuming. A 29oz can of pumpkin puree is $2. Compared to a 1 lb at $1.50 whole, store beats scratch.