Success!

So I'm sure you were all waiting anxiously (ha!) to hear how the event I catered for went. I just got a phone call not more than 30 minutes ago from my friend, and it went perfectly! All the food is gone, all of it. Guests loved the quiche and salad, truffles were being eaten two at a time, and the scones were devoured. I could not be more excited!

What have I learned from all this? Most importantly, I could never do it professionally. Despite taking a two hour break mid-day yesterday, I was burned out and exhausted by 11PM. I fell asleep on the couch, wine in hand, in mid-conversation with Chris. At the same time, I feel like knowing the party went well was like runner's high after a tough run: there are good parts and bad parts, but regardless, you feel amazing when you're done!

To review the numbers, I:

• peeled and sliced 6 pounds of roasted beets
• squeezed 32 blood oranges for juice (to make this cocktail)
• made four batches of tart dough
• hand rolled and hand coated 80 truffles
• went through well over two pounds of butter and quart of heavy cream
• woke up at 6AM today to make scones

My hands are still red from the blood oranges and the beets, and there is some stubborn chocolate under my nails that won't go away no matter how many times I wash my hands. My upper body is sore from kneading, rolling, slicing, and stirring. But man, I had a great time and would love to do it again. Apparently I probably will, because a few people at the party asked for my phone number :)

P.S. I'll share recipes over the next few weeks, but if there is a specific one you want, let me know. In the meantime, I have two more papers to submit for school before the end of the day today.

A New Kitchen Adventure

Back in January, a friend of mine asked me to help her design a menu for a baby shower she was hosting in March. After a few discussions about it, she asked if I would be interested in catering the event. Of course I was interested! Though, I do admit I was (and still am) a bit nervous about everything turning out the way I want it to. I've never cooked for people I don't know! Regardless, she offered me an incredible opportunity and I knew I had to take it.

The baby shower is a mid-morning Sunday brunch event with a color scheme of grapefruit pink and navy blue. I wanted to keep the menu simple, so I could drop off the food at her house and she could easily put it out for a buffet style service. I also wanted to maintain as much focus as possible on locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. After pouring over cookbooks and my favorite food blogs, I built the menu, which the my friend (the hostess) was so excited about:

• Three quiches: traditional quiche Lorraine; arugula, lemon & homemade ricotta; and swiss chard, crimini mushroom, & sharp white cheddar
• Beet & blood orange salad with spicy greens & blood orange sherry vinaigrette
• Raspberry buttermilk and blueberry lemon mini scones with sweet lemon butter
• Truffles two ways: chocolate blueberry with lavender sugar & chocolate caramel with himalayan pink salt

I plan on sharing some of the recipes with you over the next two days as I prep and cook all of these dishes, as well as share what I learned along the way. First thing I learned? Not to boil sugar and write a blog post at the same time, because you end up with burnt sugar.

Regardless of how embarrassing or premature this is, I've also named my little catering company Sage Kitchen. I'd love to know what you think!