You planning on hunting the paella ingredients in your own back yard...?
Sorry....couldn't resist as there has been lots of talk on another forum about the damage snails and rabbits do to your garden.

You need something green and crunchy and something bready I think.
Do you have or can you get things like baby romaine and baby kale?
And will you have any space on the grill for some naan?

We have no rabbits and few snails. A pair of ducks have been hanging around, but they may have gone back to Laurelhurst Pond where they surely came from or were headed to, as my cat really wanted to eat them.

I have various lettuces in the garden, including romaine, also arugula and spinach and lots of herbs. So I can make a nice green salad.

Naan sounds terrific! I'll figure out how to make it. In fact, I think I have made naan before, but remember nothing about the process, which suggests it was very easy, at least that's what I'm hoping.

If I'm making naan, does that mean I need to make curry?

I'm thinking of making some hummus. Maybe plain, spinach, and beet. Sort of a Neapolitan hummus. That could go on the naan, and save me the trouble of making a curry.

It will be rather hot this weekend, so cooking everything outside sounds like a good idea.

What do the Spanish eat before the paella? I imagine like most europeans - salads, crudités.....then bread with the cheese after the paella then dessert.

Naan is good with anything....even peanut butter! :-)
The one time I had real, traditional, cooked over an open fire paella in Spain, it was preceded by fried smelts! I believe we ate them heads guts fins and all....and they were delicious!

wow! How do I get an invite to this amazing sounding party? With all the prep and cooking I'd keep the appetizers easy. How about a selection of Spanish cheese and meats accompanied by the obligatory olives, tapenade and almonds? You could also put out some toast with Jamon drizzled with some balsamic and olive oil. Here's a link to lots of great tapas recipes if you're feeling way more ambitious http://www.spain-recipes.com/spanish_tapas.html

John I really would love to hear from you on a mother posts I started on commercial refrigeration. I saw your post of many years ago about your True and I'm about to order one myself but getting last minute cold feet. Check out the thread on commercial refrigeration I started the other day if you have a moment between all your party prep.

Sounds great, John! The best part of the paella, to me, is the crunchy rice at the bottom. :)

It's probably not Spain hot even on a perfect midsummer day there, but you could pretend. :) Often the accompaniments are preserved and highly flavored things like olives, pickled peppers, paper thin slices of salamis and hams, tomatoes in Spanish EVOO and herbs (Spanish EVOO tastes different), artichokes (the little ones that don't need a lot of trimming are great just halved and grilled with a little oil and balsamic and can be done while you get your fire going--or in the oven, ahead of time and served room temp like the rest). Think tapas and mezzes. You could do a hummus with grilled pimento and crusty Spanish bread, a grilled eggplant salad, asparagus any of a zillion ways, a panzanella...

It sounds like a great foundation (i.e., great food) for a great party. Don't work too hard, though--remember to have fun!

Annestuart, I left a comment on your other thread.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and encouragement!

I'm kind of using this dinner to low-key celebrate the imminent, ahem, change in my (un)employment status. Will post more about that later - SWMBO has tasked me with cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms and I need to get cracking!

Ick. Forecast is >100F this weekend. What's the world coming to?

I'm so sorry!! I guess I jinxed it by saying it wouldn't be as hot as Spain. :(

Think gazpacho...

Having been the very fortunate participant in one of John's paella cook-outs, I know just how good it is. So sorry to hear about your heat wave. I told Jerry, and he said, "That's just wrong." Y'all are going to be hotter than us down in Texas! I hope, in spite of your heat, that you all have a great time.

Sally

There's been very little prep for the party so far. Most of my energy today was spent installing a mister system to keep my guests from leaving after 10 minutes. Works well, SWMBO and I have been sitting outside under the big umbrella, cool water vapor wafting away the worst of the heat, drinking shandies (Corona + grapefruit juice). I'll start prep early tomorrow. Probably going to be a duck + snail paella, because the store I visited had fresh duck but not rabbit. This is called "settling for plan B because it was so hot that I just didn't care anymore."

We knocked off work when my friend arrived from L.A. Visited, then went to dinner. By 10 pm it was cooling down enough for SWMBO and helpful friend to work on some appetizers that required using the oven. I'm making stock for the paella in my Rival roaster (like a Nesco, 20 qt) in the garage. About 10 lb of beef neck bones and pigs feet. It wouldn't fit in my slow cooker, so I'm trying the roaster.

Arrrgh. I woke up and checked on the roaster full of stock in my garage. It is coming along nicely, but it is also GREEN. No doubt because I included some carrot tops. Green tinged rice is not going to look good in my paella.

We simmered some beets for a weird salad SMWBO wants to try. I drained off the beet red water and added a little bit to the stock. Now it is a deep red-brown. A slight improvement. I also threw in the duck carcass, head, neck, feet. The stock will keep cooking and reducing until the afternoon.

Pork ribs slow cooking, also in the garage. In beer, Yoshida sauce, water, garlic, onions, celery.

Duck pieces salted and in the refrigerator. Starting to prep the mise. 10:20 am and it is starting to heat up. 101 F forecast for this afternoon.

Better get those snails harvested....before they dry up!

No snails or rabbit, in three stores (not even Whole Foods). And no time to look further, had to replace the regulator on my grill . . . so the rabbit, snails, and green bean paella is turning into a duck, chorizo, and fava beans paella.

The cataplana is turning into a mussels, swai, and sardine cataplana.

And guests have been calling. "Are you cancelling the party? It's soooo hot!". I've been promising AC inside and, um, lying about how comfortable my misting/fogging system has made the backyard.

The stock and ribs cooking in the garage has made that place into a sauna. I feel like I should get naked and lay down on the garage floor.

Dinner is potentially turning into a disaster. But we have lots of sangria, shandy, and champagne for kir royal. So at least I'll be able to drown my tears.

Oh, dear! I'm sure there's a great artisanal butcher shop around the corner with beautiful rabbits, considering where you live, but without knowing where, it becomes impossible. :( Your duck and chorizo sounds delicious, however!

Don't worry about the heat. Your guests know it's hot and hopefully will dress accordingly. Pass out wet towels for evaporative cooling. As long as the food is kept at safe temperatures, and no one faints (make sure they go in to the a/c if they're looking flushed), there will be no disaster. It'll be all Remember John Liu's party when it was so hot and the rabbit turned into a duck in the paella? People forget nice parties. The weather is helping you make yours exceptional!

Well, the duck sounds delicious to me, as does the green rice, or red/brown rice. I'm afraid I'd have to pass on the snails, I've tried but just can't get past the texture. And, for some reason, here it's nearly impossible to find dressed rabbit, although every 4H kid would sell you a live one, to be "done in" at your leisure.

Sorry about the weather, though, it seems to be the one factor that we can't control and always messes things up. Here it's raining and 62F, but it's back in the 80s by the weekend.

Lots of cold drinks and as plllog mentioned, cold towels, right across the back of the neck. It's still hot, but it kind of makes you think that maybe one part of you is a bit cooler. That's what we used to do when we were stuck stacking hay in the top of the barn, where the heat was about 100F. The girls used to have little spray bottles with fans on them, I wonder what I did with those.....

Have fun anyway, and I hope that employment issue is something to be celebrated!

Annie

Well, that was hard work. I cooked the paella in my fire pit in the back yard. There is no shade there. The fire is hot and smoky. I use long tongs and wear welding gloves. First brown the duck, then the chorizo, then cook the sofrito (garlic, celery, onion, carrot) and fava beans, finally the rice and lots of stock. By the time the rice is cooked, the fire has died down and is low enough to toast the bottom layer of rice, the soccarat. That's the theory anyway.

The cataplana is easy. Fill it with fish, mussels, shrimp, veg, lardons, white wine, then close and place in the hot coals. Everything steams, the hardest part is cleaning the black soot off the copper.

I slow cooked the pork ribs, then roasted on the grill with a sauce glaze, finally fried on the fire in duck fat.

SWMBO made appetizers (olives, cheese, tapenade, bread, etc), sides (potato salad, beet salad), drinks, dessert.

Some guests were no-shows due to the heat, but most showed up and everyone had a good time. The misters kept the backyard livable. We served up in the dining room and people took their plates outside to eat. Sangria, champagne cocktails, shandies, chilled wine were the popular drinks. I drank about two quarts of water and applied sunscreen three times!

And that's how we survived the hottest weekend of the year (hopefully).

The boys got to the food first, there were actually women at the party but they were too well bred to join the rush for first food.

Your glitter party sounds fun! I sure miss my kids at that age.

It all looks stupendous, and your buddies look happy to be fed such a feast! Congrats on weathering the weather!

Oh, yeah, that looks amazing, I couldn't pass it up no matter how hot it was outside.

Hope your weather moderates...

Annie

Congratulations on the successful negotiation of a new phase in your life and your past year sounds great!

Fantastic party!

You have inspired me to setup my garden to be able to entertain like you.

And, good luck with the new path you are taking professionally.

dcarch

I'm so happy for you, John. Have fun on your bike rides, and your trip to California. Best wishes on your new job. It sounds perfect.

Your meal looks wonderful, but I knew it would be.

Sally

What Sally said.

Wishes to you that you like your new work and find it fulfilling and worthy.

Safe travels.

Best of luck on your career change! Your cooking is always inspiring, you do amazing stuff.

Yeah, it's definitely getting warmer. We've been in our home 26 yrs and used to see 2, maybe 3 spells of super-hot days. Now it's much more uneven, much more rapid changes up/down in temps. Last few years there's been on average half-a-dozen hot spells/year.

No fun when you don't have air conditioning - :(

On the good side, the solar installation we did in late 2013 has been gangbusters (we get a lot of straight south-facing sun, all year long, no trees). Our $100+/per month plus electricity bills shrank down to $26 total for the entire calendar year!

To state the obvious, your meal looks fantastic. And congratulations and best wishes on this next phase in life. I hope the new job gives you time to still enjoy many culinary adventures.

(I'm inspired to drag out the paealla pan now)

Congratulations on the career change and new employment! You're always an inspiration to us and your cooking feasts make me wish we lived closer!

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm excited!

Finishing up my period of leisure. Did a 30 mile ride with some friends yesterday. Eleven miles of muddy dirt road, envied my friends their fenders and fat tires.

Going to a Classic & Vintage bike show this afternoon.

Then jumping in daughter-san's little orange car and driving to California, with daughter, son, and all their stuff for their summer working at 6500 feet in the Sierras. I'll stay at the camp for two nights, helping out and probably sleeping in the car (unless they can find a tent cabin for me), then fly home.

SWMBO and I are invited to a friend's house next Friday for an "Asian dinner". I think it is a potluck thing. I'm thinking of either steaming some whole fish, or roasting a duck.