petizers and hors d’oeuvres are my weakness. Trays full of delicious, petite sized snacks are enticing and I’m usually the girl at the party standing by the displays with a plate full of shrimp tails and used toothpicks. Though I have my favorites, I don’t discriminate: everything from dips to cheese platters to nuggets is fair game.
Last week, I catered an Open House at a beautiful three bedroom home at 2310 Susquehanna Avenue. Thankfully, I have a wonderful place to live and am not looking to pack my belongings to move around the corner, but the capabilities this house had for entertaining caught my eye and were straight out of a home cook’s daydream.
The spacious living room and classy kitchen were a selling point alone, but the rear room of the house, which lead to the large backyard, featured cabinets and countertops with separate beer and wine fridges, a dual stainless-steel sink, and a cable hookup for a flat screen television. Like I said, I’m not in the market for a new home but I couldn’t help but picture myself showing Phillies games on the flat screen while I served family and friends cold ones from the fridge and burgers and dogs from the grill out back.
To highlight the back room I decided to make some Clean Plate favorites and add a few chic additions. For the new recipes, I turned to my Barefoot Contest cookbook. Ina Garden has become a respectable culinary figure due to her show on the Food Network, and thank God she’s allowed the rest of the world in on her tips and tricks for hosting anything from an elaborate dinner party to stylish cocktail party. These blue cheese and walnut crackers added simple elegance to the Open House spread. Read More…
