Vegetable Tray
CA Kate z9
4 years ago
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Comments (13)
amylou321
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoNancy 6b
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Daughter's Wedding Reception- please help me!
Comments (13)Please don't take this the wrong way, but here is another very strong vote for having a caterer do this for you, even if it means much less expensive refreshments. It sounds like you don't have a whole lot of cooking experience (you wrote, "I don't know how to prepare anything"). With all respect, a wedding reception for 120 is NOT the time to learn -- even if it weren't your own daughter's wedding. This would be a daunting job even for those with lots of cooking and entertaining experience. I think even -- perhaps especially -- the most experienced would be inclined to get a caterer for a group this large, especially as mother of the bride. You will have so many other things you'll have to attend to, and even more than that that you don't want to miss. Do you really want to be refreshing the buffet when your daughter and son-in-law are having their first dance? If I were in your position, I would call a few caterers, tell them your budget -- and tell them it's FIRM -- and ask what they can do for that money. You may be very pleasantly surprised. If it's still out of range, consider ordering platters from a food store or inexpensive restaurant, and perhaps hiring a few servers/cleaners. You can supplement the latter and probably even the caterer option with some dishes you or friends and relatives make ahead and have the caterer serve along with his/her food. Your peace of mind, not having to worry about this in the months leading up to the wedding, is really important, too, along with being able to enjoy your guests on the big day. To me, that is worth some money. So if I were in your position, I'd cut way back on everything else if necessary: liquor (certainly a fountain is unnecessary), decorations, types of food, prom-y stuff like limos and favors, and even fancy wedding clothes if necessary. Being able to be a relaxed hostess who can enjoy her guests is more important, in my opinion, than fancy arrangements. Everyone is different, but that's just my experience. Congratulations to you all!...See MoreVeggie tray question
Comments (46)Ok in case anyone is interested, I just did two experiments: First I blanched four similar sized pieces of broccoli, two for 45 seconds, two for 90 seconds. (Cook's Illustrated recommends 1-1.5 minutes for broccoli.) For each cooking time I shocked one and let the other just sit on a plate. I placed them all in the fridge for a while to cool down. Result - They were all pretty similar, but side by side I preferred those that had been shocked. The stems were the same but the flowers (or whatever you call them) retained a firmer texture on the shocked florets. The time differences had less of an impact. I repeated the experiment, but this time added a splash of vinegar to the water. Maybe I didn't add enough vinegar but I didn't notice any difference off-hand. (How much do you use, Gina?) Because I needed to get rid of the vinegar, this time I gave the un-shocked veggies a quick rinse under tap water. This time I couldn't really discern much difference at all. My guess is that the quick rinse was enough to stop the broccoli from steaming, so it helped keep the texture of the flowers. My takeaway, next time I do a bunch I will stick with 45-60 seconds and will definitely shock them. My thinking is that with a larger amount of florets piled up there will be more residual heat to steam the flowers and this is what I don't want to happen. YMMV, of course, and I'd expect different veggies to benefit from different blanching times....See MoreWedding-warning, lots of pictures
Comments (65)Sorry, David, it's hard to take a picture of myself, LOL, and I was so busy in the kitchen I didn't even think to take a picture of Mother! Gina, that is indeed a "spray on" tan. You know she didn't get that tan in Michigan in May, it's 51F and raining right now, not much beach time. :-) RR, it was a bit crazy but it all came together in the end, although I only got out of the kitchen long enough to watch the cake cutting, the bouquet and garter toss and I had ONE dance with the groom. Other than that, it was all cooking, serving and cleaning up. Ah well, it kept me out of trouble and it was Ashley's party, not mine. She was happy, so it's all good! David, I do have a long weekend and I think maybe I'll make Elery take me out for dinner for my birthday. I'm sure not baking a cake... Oh, and for those who wanted a picture of Bruvver, before he ate cake and lasagna and had punch and ate too much candy from the candy buffet and threw up, while his shirt was still white, here's Bruvver: Annie Annie...See MoreMenu for Wedding Anniversary Celebration
Comments (47)Happy Anniversary Martha! I also think your menu sounds wonderful : ) I love the marinated vegetable tray idea - it all does sound good for the occasion and that many people. And I think at this point you are pretty much 'required' to take pics of those cookies if you've time! Ha ha! But my, 100 people!...See MoreCA Kate z9
4 years ago
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