The second Farm to Table Dinner on September 15 did go a little smoother. We had hot plates this time (which means the food is still hot or warm when it gets to the diners). Janell, my sister, and I both managed to cut our fingers on the mandolin we were using to slice lemons. Yikes! It was a very sharp blade! At the request of my partner, Jan, I did make up a "gravy" to go on the roasted pork. I used some of the pork jus, some chicken broth, white wine, worchestershire sauce and a little butter and it was done. And made so many people happy, apparently (I do not believe that every form of protein needs a sauce or gravy, but it is nice to have at times).
I changed up the "mini pastries" at the end of the meal. I did try several recipes from a cookbook called "Bite-sized Desserts" by Carole Bloom. The flavors of the pastries was excellent, but after trying several recipes and having them fail, I gave up and went to some tried and true recipes instead. The only thing that came out well were the Pistachio Tea Cakes. I also made French Chocolate Bark, a recipe Ina Garten has used on several of her cooking shows (Back to Basics). You take two kinds of chocolate and melt them together, spread them out on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet then sprinkle chopped apricots, cashews and dried cherries over the chocolate and let it set. Yum!!
By the next day (September 16), I was exhausted. We washed and packed up the dishes, wine glasses, silverware and serving pieces so they would be ready for next year. Yes, it looks like we will do this again next year, although probably not two dinners, just one. I don't remember if I put up the Old 1862 Ranch webpage but here it is: www.theold1862ranch.com You can see pictures of the ranch there as well as the menu from this year. Jan is already wondering what we could serve next year! I told her to ask me in a month or two, lol.
I was busy with nursing work all the next week, at GIC and then three wellness clinics. I also needed two days to complete the list from my personal chef client as I was cooking for essentially two weeks. I made only one dessert, though. Chocolate Orange Mini-cheesecakes. They were very cute! the tops were sprinkled with a mix of orange zest and sugar, a kind of candied orange zest.
I was busy making Seafood Gratin,
Chicken and Cilantro Pesto Pasta,
Chicken Teriyaki with noodles,
Penne alla Vodka,
I also catered some food for a dinner at the local fencing club. They had Baked Spaghetti, Tri-tip Beef and Mushrooms in a Red Wine Sauce, Ratatouille, Buttery Raspberry Lemon Cake and an Apple Pie Cake. Several of the club members made salads and some other desserts. Cooking and baking took most of Saturday (September 22) afternoon. I delivered the food at 5:30pm. AND forgot to take pictures of all the food. I must admit, I get so caught up in the joy of preparing a dish, that I often forget about taking pictures. I should be better about that, as food (for the most part) is my business and I need to be a better saleswoman!
Sunday afternoon, Jordan and I drove up to Chalet View Lodge to meet the new chef. His name is Dave Sypnicki. He started at Chalet View Lodge's restaurant two months ago. It is a "business within a business" as he put it. He did not go to culinary school but instead did a three year apprenticeship with a famous chef in Portland, Oregon (apprenticeships are almost a lost art here in the States). He has worked at several places in northern California. Also new to the restaurant is a wood-burning pizza oven. We had one of their pizzas for dinner while talking to Chef David. He makes his own pizza dough and topped our pizza with fig jam, blue cheese, Applewood smoked bacon and arugula. Don't wrinkle your nose--it was a wonderful combination of flavors! And after he found out I was a chef, he made the offer to have me be a "guest chef" in his kitchen. He also expressed an interest in helping with our Farm to Table dinner next year! What a treat it would be to work with professional help in the kitchen. Especially as I was considering expanding the menu to more courses next year. We'll see what happens!
Monday I had to have surgery but it was a quick out-patient procedure. I am off all this week to recooperate. I felt pretty good today so decided to make Spaghetti and Meatballs for my friend, Jan, who had back surgery a week ago. And as they say, "no good deed goes unpunished". After chopping herbs to put in the meatballs, the knife fell off the counter and fell on the floor. Although I jumped back, the chef knife landed on its handle, bounced up and sliced my lower leg open. Yikes again! I had to call my sister to take me to the doctor's office so I could have it stitched up (four stitches). It was a crazy accident, but showed me that perhaps I need to take it easy the rest of this week....
