Fruit Pizza

A friend left us a block of cream cheese and thought this would be the perfect thing to make after picking 10 pounds of strawberries. We used to make fruit pizza sometimes when I was a kid but it had been a long time since I'd had it. It's a giant sugar cookie frosted with cream cheese frosting, then topped with any kind of fresh fruit you like.

Notes:

• You can make it on a sheet pan (like I did) if you don't have a pizza pan.
• You can use whatever fresh fruit you like; I used all strawberries because it was what I had.

Verdict: Just as good as I remember from when I was a kid. A 12-inch round seems like a lot but it was way easier to finish than I expected. This would be a really good thing to bring to parties since it doesn't keep especially well. I would definitely make this again, especially for a summer party.

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RECIPE: Fruit Pizza (Sally's Baking Addiction)

Candy Apples

Candy apples were something I never had until I was an adult, but heard about from old cartoons. Caramel covered apples are more common where I live, but no bright red candy apples. Until I made them for myself for Halloween in maybe 2008 or 2010. I really enjoyed them. Fast forward to 2020, where I was looking for ~a e s t h e t i c~ treats to make myself for a Halloween tea party, and decided I wanted to make these again.

Please, please cut them before you try to eat them or you'll have a bad time.

Notes:

• Use smaller apples because they'll be easier to handle and coat.
• I used Honeycrisp apples because I like how they taste fresh. Any apple you like to eat fresh that's more on the sour side will work great.
  
• If you can get freshly picked apples from your local orchard or farm market for this, I highly recommend it. You will definitely be able to taste the difference.
  
• Try not to have too much candy coating pool on the bottom, because it's hard and difficult to bite through.
  
• These are best consumed the day they are made, or possibly the next day. They do not keep well.
  
• To eat them, DO NOT try to eat them by biting into the side of a whole one. Cut them into pieces with a knife first.
  

Verdict: I remember these being way more delicious the first time I made them. Maybe I have grown out of them but honestly, I think I'd rather just have a plain apple. They're pretty and look impressive, and are an iconic traditional Halloween treat, but from now on I think I'll stick to other apple desserts I know I like better. But if you like hard candy and sugary treats, or are just nostalgic for an old fashioned treat, these will do the trick nicely.

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RECIPE: Candy Apples (Just a Taste)

Barbecue Beans

I liked baked beans a lot as a child, but didn't really care for the homemade type (they remind me a lot of graduation parties somehow, because that was really the only place I ever saw them). Now I don't like them straight from the can because they're much too sweet, but I'd love to try more homemade versions to find one that suits my grown up tastes. The one my family has is fine, but a bit bland.

 

Verdict: Made a number of substitutions and they were still quite good. They were a little too ketchup-y for my taste but perhaps the apple ingredients would have tamed it if I'd had them. They were about as spicy as I would want them to be (mild end of medium). Would like to try again with the proper ingredients.

 

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RECIPE: Quick Barbecue Beans (Serious Eats)

Chinese Style Fried Chicken

This recipe scrolled by on one of my social media feeds a few years ago, and it caught my eye because it sounded really similar to a dish I like to get at one of my favorite local Asian fusion restaurants: crispy grilled chicken with ginger-scallion chutney. I was putting away chicken thighs this morning and remembered that I had this recipe, and realized I had everything I needed to try it out.

Notes:

• I served this with jasmine rice.
• I marinated the chicken for longer than directed, about 3 hours.
• I did not have a fresh chili pepper on hand so I used red pepper flakes to taste. If you don't want or can't have it spicy you can leave this out.
• I used fresh baby spinach instead of mizuna because it was what I had on hand, but any salad green would taste good here, especially a slightly peppery one like arugula.

Verdict: It's not exactly the same as the restaurant dish but it is close, and quite delicious! It was relatively easy to make and I was pleasantly surprised that the skin actually got crispy. I would definitely make this again.

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RECIPE:

Chinese Style Fried Chicken

adapted from Tasty Japan

Serves 2

2 chicken thighs, skin on

Marinade

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sake

Sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

1 small scallion, minced

1 birdseye or Thai chili pepper, thinly sliced

4 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp corn starch or potato starch

4 oz (1/4 lb) mizuna or arugula, or salad greens

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

On a cutting board, de-bone the chicken thighs if they have bones, then either score the skin with a knife or prick the skin all over with a fork. Place marinade ingredients in a quart sized plastic bag, then add chicken. Close the bag and move the chicken around inside it until marinade ingredients are mixed and chicken is fully coated in the marinade. Place in the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 4 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce. Place all ingredients in a small bowl and stir until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

When you're ready to cook the chicken, heat the canola oil on medium-high heat in a shallow frying pan on the stove. Spread cornstarch on a shallow plate. Remove chicken thighs from bag and discard marinade. Gently press each side of the chicken into the cornstarch to coat the entire surface, and shake off any excess. When oil is shimmering, place chicken in the pan skin side down and cook until the skin is golden brown and crisp, about 5-6 minutes. Flip each chicken thigh and cook for 2-3 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

To serve, let chicken rest for a few minutes, then slice. Place greens on a plate and place sliced chicken on top. Arrange cherry tomatoes around the chicken, then pour sauce over the top.

Miso and Black Sesame Caramel Popcorn

This recipe entered my social media orbit earlier this spring and I just had to try it. Salty and sweet? Sign me up.

Verdict: It was OK. The fact that I only had miso with dashi (fish broth) in it made it taste kind of odd, but in general everything else was great. I will likely try again when I have miso without dashi in it.

 

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RECIPE: Miso Black Sesame Caramel Corn (Smitten Kitchen)

Frozen Mango Margarita

Made because I missed the taste of fresh fruit in March (it is cold and snowy for nearly half the year where I live) and we are sheltering in place and we were looking for ways to start cleaning out our freezer and liquor cabinet. This ticked all the boxes.

Notes:

• We used El Jimador silver tequila because I felt like aged tequila might not be the best for mixing into sweet fruity drinks. I am still learning how I like tequila, so you might prefer a different kind.
• It may be too thick to blend; add additional ingredients to your personal preference. I really liked an extra bit of sour (lime juice) and sweet (simple syrup). You can add water, but if you add too much it will water down the drink and it won't have the sweet-tart contrast that makes it so tasty.

Verdict: Absolute heaven. It's fruity and sweet and sour, and the smooth creamy texture of the frozen mango really makes it for me. This will be my go-to recipe for frozen margaritas, and I'm hoping to try it with other sweet frozen fruits in the future (like strawberries!)

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RECIPE:

Frozen Mango Margarita

adapted from House of Yumm

Serves 1

1 1/2 oz tequila

1 cup frozen mango chunks

1/2 cup ice

2 tbsp simple syrup 

3/4 oz triple sec or orange liqueur

Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tbsp)

If you do not already have simple syrup: mix equal volumes of sugar and water in a saucepan (1/2 cup of each will make enough for about 6 margaritas), heat over high heat while stirring until all the sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat and let cool.

Place frozen mango and ice in a blender, then add rest of ingredients, and blend until smooth. If it is too thick to blend, you can add a couple tablespoons of water, or additional liquid ingredients to your personal preference (lime juice or triple sec for me).

Scotcheroos

This is one thing I always loved but my family didn't make. I think I first had one at my dad's company picnic. I was in love with the sweet-salty, crispy bottom and chocolate frosting with some delicious extra flavor I couldn't identify. They popped up occasionally throughout my childhood but they were always at large events with lots of people where I didn't know who brought them so I couldn't ask about what they were.

Fast forward to college after I'd met my husband. I went over to his house once and he had come back from visiting his grandma with a big plate of these. I got really excited. Finally, I could ask someone! Scotcheroos, they were called. I looked up a recipe. They're like Rice Krispies treats but with peanut butter mixed in and a butterscotch-chocolate frosted top. The mystery flavor was butterscotch. I had watched my mom make Rice Krispies treats so I knew they'd be easy to make for myself. Oddly it took me quite some time after that before I ended up making them myself, maybe because he started bringing me to his family reunions shortly thereafter and I knew I'd get my fill of these at least once a year.

The family reunions have stopped now that Grandma C is no longer with us, but thanks to her I can make my own now.

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RECIPE:

Scotcheroos
from Rice Krispies
Makes 1 9x13 inch pan; serves 24

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies or other unsweetened puffed rice cereal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Place corn syrup and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Cook, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved and mixture has come to a boil. Remove pan from heat and stir in peanut butter until well mixed. Stir in cereal until well coated, then turn out the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch rectangular pan. Working quickly, press into an even layer. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, place the semisweet chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a medium microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for 15-20 seconds at a time, stirring well after each heat time, until melted. Spread evenly over the cereal mixture in the pan and let stand until set. Cut into bars when completely cooled. Store covered at room temperature.

Red Sangria

I first made The Minimalist Baker's red sangria a couple of summers ago to bring to a cookout. I recently made it again last week when we had guests over in the evening, and it has been wonderfully easy and tasty both times. I like that you don't really need to let it stand any longer than the time it takes for it to chill.

Notes:

• I used a blend of dry-ish red wines (Apothic) since I made it on short notice and the store didn't have a huge selection of Spanish wine to choose from. Reading the reviews, it looks like just about any dry or semi-dry (not sweet) red wine will work.
• The recipe says you can use rum or brandy; I went for brandy. You don't need anything super fancy here since you're mixing it.
• I used dark brown sugar and went for the smaller amount.
• I threw in a couple shots of triple sec because I forgot to buy orange juice but then I did end up getting the orange juice and putting that in too. If you want it extra boozy and orangey you can put it in, but it's absolutely not necessary.
• I used a Fuji apple because they tend to be pretty sweet and keep their shape nicely.
• I made a single batch for 4 people and we very easily finished it. We each had a little more than one wine glass full.
• This is best consumed as soon as possible after making, though it will keep chilled for up to 2 days.

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RECIPE:

Red Sangria
adapted from The Minimalist Baker
Serves 4

1/2 medium apple (about 90g), cored, with skin on, chopped into bite size pieces
1/2 medium navel orange (about 65g), with rind on, seeds removed, cut in half and then into 1/8 inch/3 mm slices
3-4 tbsp (40-50g) brown sugar
3/4 cup (175 ml) orange juice
1/3 cup (80 ml) brandy, plus more to taste
1 bottle (750 ml) dry or semi-dry red wine; Spanish wines are the most traditional
About 7-8 ice cubes, to chill

Place fruit and brown sugar in the bottom of a 2 quart pitcher and use a wooden spoon to mix for about 45 seconds, or until the juices from the fruit have begun to dissolve the sugar. Pour the orange juice and brandy over the muddled fruit and mix for another 30 seconds, or until the sugar has dissolved. Add the red wine and stir to combine everything. At this point, you can adjust the flavor to your liking with more orange juice, brandy, and/or sugar. Once you are satisfied with the taste, add the ice cubes to the pitcher and stir to cool the mixture. If you have time, let stand in the fridge for at least an hour for the flavors to combine and everything to chill, but you can also serve it immediately, with or without more ice.

Chex Party Mix

My mom has made this mix of cereal pieces, pretzels, and nuts with a buttery, savory coating baked on during the winter for end of year holidays and sometimes the Superbowl for as long as I can remember. As of late she likes to give it for holiday gifts instead of cookies. It's nice to have something salty when there are usually lots of sweets around.

When I was little, I don't think you could regularly buy this already prepared but I think in the late 1990s or early 2000s it started being mass produced. These days you can get it at just about any grocery store and probably even at most convenience stores, and there are all kinds of crazy flavors (hot cocoa anyone? it reminded me of puppy chow) but you should still try making your own because it tastes a LOT better. It's incredibly easy to make, more buttery, maybe not so overwhelmingly salty, and you can put in or leave out any cereal or salty snack you like to suit your tastes. Below is my family's version, tweaked just a little further to suit my own specific preferences.

My favorite pieces have always been the wheat Chex that are super saturated with the coating. Loved them as a kid, still love them now.

Notes:

• My mom always makes a giant batch (usually 3 times what is listed below) to use up all the boxes of cereal she has to buy to make this instead of getting left with a bunch of half-full boxes of cereal. She bakes it in a big turkey roasting pan. As long as you end up with the correct volume of ingredients (9 cups of cereal and 3 cups nuts/pretzels/crackers/etc) for the amount of coating you're making, the ratios can be entirely suited to your tastes and what you have. (It's a lot easier to finish eating a whole batch than you might think!)
• If you don't want to buy separate boxes of rice and corn cereal, buy a kind that has rice on one side and corn on the other (i.e., Crispix or a store brand of that).
• My family's version uses cashew nuts rather than mixed nuts. My mom likes to put in plain Cheerios (the cereal) but I leave them out. I was never a fan of rye bagel chips because the texture is so hard and the pieces are pretty large compared to the other ingredients, so I don't use them.
• Important pretzel notes: the mini pretzel sticks are very nostalgic and essential in my eyes, but you can use other small, thin pretzel shapes that are easy to bite into if you can't find mini sticks or (gasp) don't like them.
• You can also make this on a rimmed baking sheet (I recommend a half sheet pan). Instead of making the sauce in the pan, melt the butter in the microwave in a medium microwavable bowl or on the stove in a small saucepan, add seasonings, and pour it over the cereal mixture in the large bowl and stir to coat before transferring it to the baking sheet.
• Other ideas for add-ins for some variation: cheese crackers, sesame sticks, bagel chips, peanuts or another nut of your choice.

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RECIPE:

Chex Party Mix
Adapted from the recipe by the manufacturers of Chex
Makes about 12 cups

3 cups corn Chex or other corn based lattice-weave cereal
3 cups rice Chex or other rice based lattice-weave cereal
3 cups wheat Chex or other wheat based lattice-weave cereal
1 1/2 cups whole cashew nuts, or a mix of cashew nuts and peanuts
1 1/2 cups mini pretzel sticks
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp seasoning salt (Lowry's is the only brand I know of, haha)
¾ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder

Preheat oven to 250°F. Place cereals, cashews, and pretzel sticks in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Place the butter in a large roasting pan that is big enough to hold the cereal mixture with some extra room, then put the pan in the oven to let the butter melt. When it is melted, stir in the Worchestershire sauce, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add cereal mixture to the roasting pan and stir gently until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, removing the pan from the oven to stir the mix every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels or clean kitchen towels until completely cooled, about 30 minutes. Store at room temperature in a zippered plastic bag or other airtight container.

Tea Parties Vol. 2: Spring Up Speed Up

Tea Party, volume 2. Fortunately this one did not end with my husband going to the emergency room! These are starting to look less like tea parties and more like huge-dinner-but-there's-also-tea parties. Or huge-dinner-with-tea-in-the-food parties.

For this one, I got input on the menu but ended up making almost all of the food myself. I spent most of the day before making things and then Sarah came to help and hang out that night. The party was on Sunday afternoon. Caroline and Alaina helped assemble the deviled eggs and dip the strawberries after they arrived. It ended up being a really nice day for early March so we got to take some photos outside! It was a lovely time.

If you like upbeat music, check out Perfume's song Spring of Life for the name inspiration!

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RECIPES:

• Sausage Fennel Seed Slices
• Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs
• Carrot-Apple-Ginger Soup (Joy the Baker) - chosen because it did not contain dairy and I had a vegan friend in attendance. While she is not strict and will eat vegetarian food, it is a goal of mine to have at least a few vegan friendly recipes up my sleeve that I personally like to eat.
• Lemon Cake with Black Tea Frosting (Honey and Jam's take on Dorie Greenspan) - I made this as written and while it was a lot of work, I did enjoy the end product. I baked the cake, brewed extra-strong black tea, and candied the lemon slices the evening before the party, and made the frosting and assembled the cake the morning of the party. It made a LOT of frosting (so I filled the middle with a lot) and the top layer ended up sliding around a bit.
• Rhubarb Tart with Cardamom Meringues
• Green Tea White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Other things we served that were not made from scratch or that don't really need a recipe:

• White chocolate covered pretzels (I did make these but all the ingredients are already prepared; you just melt chocolate, dip the pretzels in it, and sprinkle rainbow nonpareils on before the chocolate hardens)
• Hummus and raw vegetables
• Various fancy cheeses
• Gin and tonic with a splash of lavender liqueur
• Wine
• Dry sparkling mead (our local meadery makes a rosé grape and lavender one called Equinox that is tasty!)

Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs

I did not warm up to deviled eggs until I was an adult because I was grossed out by mayonnaise until my teens, and too much mayonnaise can ruin food for me so I needed time to learn how much was too much for me, but I love them now. They are a great picnic food, and people get really excited about them at parties!

Deviled eggs are one of those things that everyone has their own way of making and thinks theirs is the best, probably because anyone who makes them regularly tailors their recipe to how they personally like to eat them. It's not necessarily a contest, it's about finding what you like! I love their versatility. I've developed my own recipe emphasizing what I love in a deviled egg:

• Simple: so as to let the egg flavor shine, and also because I am lazy. Gudetama would approve.
• Minimal mayonnaise: just enough to stick everything together. This makes the filling quite thick as deviled eggs go, and not necessarily pretty or easy to pipe (unless you make a lot of them at once) but it tastes good and has a nice deep yellow color. Quality is important here. I like to use Kewpie mayonnaise because I keep it on hand and I love its rich, eggy flavor. You can get it at bigger Asian grocery stores.
• Dijon mustard instead of yellow: I do not like yellow mustard so I use a mild Dijon mustard instead. Maille is my very favorite but it can be hard to find where I live; Grey Poupon or Emeril's brand works well too.
• Smoky flavor: Paprika is a common topping for deviled eggs. I love smoky flavor with my deviled eggs so I use Spanish smoked paprika. Evokes bacon without the work of cooking bacon or excluding vegetarians from eating delicious deviled eggs.
• A little spicy: If you like smoky AND spicy food, you can use dried ground chipotle (chipotle peppers are smoked jalapeño peppers!) instead of or in addition to the smoked paprika for an extra kick; Penzey's sells a nice one for my mild-end-of-medium spicy tolerance.

One of my former coworkers, Maria, served deviled eggs in a simple but absolutely beautiful fashion for a work potluck once, and I will include some instructions for it here because I am normally terrible at presentation but this is something I can handle.

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RECIPE:

Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs
By The Matcha Chronicles
Makes 12; serves 3-4 people as an appetizer

6 eggs, the best quality you can find, refrigerator temperature
2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried parsley
A sprinkle of onion powder (the tiniest bit, so you can taste it but it doesn't make everything taste like onion)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds of black pepper
Smoked paprika and/or ground dried chipotle pepper, for garnish

For serving, if you're feeling fancy and/or want vegetables to eat with the eggs:
Green leaf lettuce or butter lettuce leaves
Fresh sweet peppers (red/orange/yellow), either cut into strips or finely diced


Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan. Add enough cold tap water to cover eggs. Place pan on burner and set heat to high. Heat to almost-rolling boil. Take pan off heat and let sit 18 minutes. Meanwhile, fill bowl with cold water and ice. Transfer eggs to the bowl of ice water after 18 minutes to halt cooking.

Once eggs are cooled to room temperature (about 10-15 minutes), peel them under cold running water. Cut each boiled egg in half lengthwise and gently push the underside of each half to pop out the yolks into a small bowl. Place egg whites on a plate or leave on the cutting board. Add mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, onion powder, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Mash everything together, breaking up the yolks with a fork, then switching to a spoon after the mixture is fairly smooth. Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into the indent of each egg white. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and/or chipotle powder.

For serving: Place the lettuce leaves on a plate. If you cut your peppers in strips: scatter them over the lettuce. Arrange the deviled eggs between the pepper strips. If you diced them finely: Arrange the deviled eggs on top of the lettuce, then top the deviled eggs with a little bit of the diced peppers.

Sausage and Fennel Seed Rolls

While browsing for finger food type recipes to make for a tea party, I came across this recipe and thought it sounded delicious. I was a little worried about working with puff pastry because I'd never done so before, but it turned out to be just fine. I liked the finished product quite a lot! This is definitely party food and not an everyday food but I'd absolutely make it again for a special occasion. My version includes some very small changes from the original and is localized for people living in the United States.

Notes:

• I got plain ground pork and mixed my own set of spices and seasonings into it. I liked this quite a lot but if you have a favorite pork sausage mix or want to save time by getting pork sausage, by all means use that instead.
• Puff pastry is usually sold frozen and often comes in boxes of 2 sheets that measure about 15x10 inches. The original recipe calls for 375 g (~13.2 oz). I bought a 17 oz box and I had some left over.
• I prepared this the previous evening and refrigerated it overnight, then baked it a couple of hours before the party per the make ahead directions on the recipe. It worked really nicely.
• By the time it was done baking, there was a big puddle of grease at the bottom of the pan. I am pretty sure it was from the meat so if you are worried about that, or cannot or don't want to eat pork, maybe a leaner ground meat would work better, though it will not taste quite as rich as pork. I'd recommend ground chicken, turkey, or venison.

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RECIPE:

Sausage and Fennel Seed Rolls

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Makes 2 logs, about 20-24 pieces total; serves about 6-8

Sausage filling

14 oz plain ground pork

2-3 cloves minced garlic (about 1-1.5 tsp)

2 tsp dried powdered or rubbed sage

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp water

Pastry

2 sheets puff pastry

1 tbsp fennel seed
1 egg or egg yolk, beaten, for brushing onto pastry

Place all ingredients for the sausage filling in a medium bowl and mix with your hands or a spoon until evenly mixed. Be careful not to overwork the mixture. Divide into 2 halves. Place one half of the sausage mixture on a piece of saran wrap about 16 inches long. Shape the mixture into a cylinder or log about 12 inches long, then wrap it tightly in the saran wrap. Transfer it to a tray or plate and place in the refrigerator. Repeat with the other half of the sausage mixture. Let chill for at least 15-20 minutes (you can chill it for longer).

Preheat oven to 390°F (400°F if your oven doesn't set to 390°). Unfold puff pastry sheets onto a flat work surface lined with parchment paper. Cut one of the pastry sheets in half lengthwise (to make 2 pieces 15 x 5 in). Unwrap the chilled sausage logs and place one in the center of each piece of the cut puff pastry. Top each with 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds. Using a sharp knife, make cuts every 3/4 inch from the edge of the pastry to the meat along the long sides of the puff pastry to create little tabs; if you're very precise about your math you should end up with 19 cuts/20 sections on each side. Fold up the ends. Starting at one end, pick up a tab from one side of the roll and drape it over the sausage, then repeat with the one from the other side. Do this until all of the tabs are folded over the sausage. Repeat with the other roll. If you are baking them immediately, lift the rolls onto a baking sheet (the parchment paper helps with this) and brush with the beaten egg.

Cut six 3/4 inch wide strips lengthwise from the other puff pastry sheet (15 inches long by 3/4 inch wide). Reserve the leftover pastry for another use. Lay 3 of the strips with their tops overlapping, pinch the ends together, and braid them. Once you have braided all the way to the bottom, pinch the ends together to keep them from unraveling. Repeat with the other 3 strips. Place one braid on the top of each of the sausage rolls, and if you are baking them immediately, brush the braids with the beaten egg.

Place rolls in the oven on the second rack from the bottom and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown and pastry has puffed up. Once baked, they can be sliced and served immediately, or they can be served at room temperature.

If making ahead: Do not preheat the oven while you prepare the pastry and do not brush the rolls with beaten egg. After shaping, cover the rolls with saran wrap or place inside a container with a lid and refrigerate until ready to bake (up to 24 hours). They may also be frozen for several months and defrosted in the refrigerator overnight before baking. If you freeze them, place in the freezer for about 1 hour on a flat surface to firm up, then wrap tightly in saran wrap and store in a plastic freezer bag. Brush rolls with beaten egg just before baking.

Tea Parties Vol. 1: A Birthday Party, and Being Unapologetically Yourself

One of my other hobbies besides cooking is dressing up in an alternative street fashion. One of the things groups of people who are interested in this fashion do is go to tea services while dressed to the nines in fancy, frilly clothes. I had recently left my local community because I felt weird being almost 30 and hanging out with a bunch of high schoolers I wasn't sure I'd ever have crossed paths or be friends with otherwise, and was lamenting the fact that I really wanted to host an event at my house, but wasn't comfortable inviting these people into my home and also felt weird asking my actual friends to come over where I was all dressed up in strange clothes.

Cue Sarah finding out about my fashion hobby and giving me one of the greatest pep talks of my adult life. Indeed she is right. The people who like you already aren't going to abandon you over your taste in clothing, and even if they're not into it personally, they will be happy for you that you're enjoying yourself. I'd read something to this effect and agreed with it before, but I guess I needed someone to say it, out loud, to me specifically.

I then told her about this tea party idea and since we like to cook together, she offered to help me cook for this party. I decided my birthday was a good excuse for the party so I invited my friends and took care of the scheduling and communication, and made drinks and cupcakes and hosted. Sarah made and brought the soup, sablés, gougères and nectarine bars. It was a lovely afternoon.

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RECIPES

• Roasted Corn Gazpacho with Cilantro Crema (from Tara O'Brady's cookbook Seven Spoons)
• Cheddar Cheese Sablés (originally from Chad Robertson's cookbook Tartine Book No. 3; the recipe linked from Scratchin' It is very similar but not the same as the one Sarah made)
• Rye-Cocoa Gougères (originally from Chad Robertson's cookbook Tartine Book No. 3)
• Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting (from Brown Eyed Baker; I additionally topped each one with a chocolate covered espresso bean and chocolate jimmies)
• Nectarine Frangipane Bars (from Smitten Kitchen; Sarah used nectarines instead of rhubarb)
• Matcha Green Tea Mojito
• Spiked Lemonade Iced Tea
• Bonus: Kentucky Tea Julep (from Elmwood Inn; I tested it with a neutral store brand black tea which was probably orange pekoe, and I liked it but we did not end up making them for the party because we had plenty of other drinks)

Other things we served that were not made from scratch:

• Various fancy cheeses
• Wine

Salad Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

I was taught how to make these at a party recently, and when it got really hot I wanted to have some more. These are fresh tasting and super filling, and great for using up your farmer's market haul!

Notes:

• Don't let the wrapper sit too long in the water or it will get really soft and might rip or get gummy.
• These don't keep very well (the wrapper texture gets kind of tough and it's kind of like chewing on plastic) so be sure you're going to eat them within about an hour of assembling them and do not refrigerate them. You can prepare and chop all of the ingredients and then store them until you're ready to make them.
• Suggestions for fillings:
• Vegetables: lettuce leaves, salad greens, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, sweet pepper, kohlrabi, radish
• Herbs: Thai basil, regular basil, mint, cilantro
• Proteins: dry fried tofu, shredded cooked chicken or pork, cooked shrimp
• Others: cooked rice vermicelli, cooked glass noodles, mango, avocado

RECIPE: Salad Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce