Pip's Plate

Today is my boyfriend’s birthday. And for such a celebration of him turning the ripe old age of 26 (a youngin, I know!) we’ve taken the day off from work. We’re having a couple friends over tonight for some Korean/Japanese food.

Keldon is from Hawaii, so we *must* have Spam! Did you know Hawaii is the largest consumers of Spam? Thank you, WW2 & Hormel.

Plus, with this menu we can use a lot of the great produce we got at the Kingfield Farmer’s Market this Sunday: cucumbers, zucchini, green onions.

This is what we’re planning:

Korean Beef Bulgogi rolled up maki style

Chicken Katsu rolled up maki style

Spam Musubi (hooray! it’s Spam!)

Kim Chee

Green Onion Salad

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with this Asian Dressing

Cucumber Salad

I suppose I’ll be making some sort of guava or passion fruit martini to go along with this, but I have yet to come up with something. Stay tuned.

And of course, I have to rival the Spam cake I made last year…. so there will be a surprise revealed later.

Me and two friends threw a baby shower last weekend for our good friend Jill. It’s her first baby, and what do you know, she’s having a girl! She’s due on 7/19/2009 so we should be seeing that little tyke running around soon.

We decided to make a day of the event – which for anyone who knows us, is no surprise. First off, lunch at the house. Next up, mini golfing! Last, back to the house for pie, coffee and gifts.

The menu was outstanding: we made all of Jill’s favorite foods…

First Course: Cold Appetizers

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad

Second Course: Warm Bites

Grilled Turkey, Bacon, Blue Cheese Sandwiches

Lemony Grilled Asparagus with Goat Cheese

Served with Gloria Ferrer rose champagne toast and Virginique (a nonalcoholic “mocktail”)

Followed up by a little sweet snack of Coconut Macaroons

Dessert Course: Post Mini Golf Sweets

5 Layer Chocolate Pie (my mom’s recipe – the same one baked at The Rustic Inn Cafe & Betty’s Pies in northern MN)

Lemon Meringue Pie

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This menu was created with my favorite partner in crime, Maxine. I wouldn’t be able to do nearly as much in the kitchen nor be as inspired to try new things if it weren’t for her.

We went shopping the day before and made quite a bit the day before, so you can plan ahead for this menu. We were able to make the cookies, pies, and the chicken for the noodle salad. Pretty much everything else we did the morning of the shower.

More photos if you Read the rest of this entry »

The creative department of the advertising agency I work for just took a trip up to northern Minnesota right by Lutsen and Tofte on Lake Superior at Bluefin Bay. Friday – Sun. It was a blast! It was great to experience the area I grew up in with people who had never been there before. The lucky folks in my car got the low down on the local news in the area.

But to top it off, I got to be part of the Cooking Team for the weekend. Holla! We ate like queens and kings. Feeding 23 people for an entire weekend is no small feat. Thankfully there were 4 of us taking care of everyone.

A rundown on the menu:

Friday Dinner

Grilled BBQ rubbed Pork Chops

Grilled BBQ Chicken Breasts

Grilled Chile Pineapple

Greek Salad

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake (holy motherload this was delicious)

Saturday Dinner

Grilled Steak with Roasted garlic and thyme butter

Grilled Lemon Dill Salmon

Roasted Vegetables

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Tomatoes and Olives (YUM)

Peach Brown Betty

Friday & Saturday Breakfasts

Scrambled Eggs

Potato Hash with jalapeno, onion, and garlic

Bacon

Fruit

Yogurt

Granola