Momma's Silver

Momma's silver. Every daughter, well every daughter of a certain type of family, can't wait to get their hands on Momma's silver. It's the elusive element that we know will make entertaining soooo much easier. Everything looks amazing on Momma's silver. Everything tastes better eaten with Momma's silver. It is what makes everything perfect. For me, using Momma's silver has a bitter sweet element to it as she passed away when I was 18. When I started doing catering on my own, my sweet father gave me several silver trays that he thought might help with my work. It sure did. As I mentioned earlier, everything looks amazing on Momma's silver. Pigs in a blanket, hamburgers, boiled eggs, whatever...all better on a background of sparkling silver.

During my Thanksgiving visit with my sweet father, he decided to load up my truck with the rest of the silver my mother wanted me to have. My first thought was, well, why are you getting rid of all this? My second thought was, I can't wait to have a party! So have a party I did.

This past year my friend Kristy started a book club. I was so excited about it, maybe a little too excited, but I do love to read. We gathered a nice group of ladies who are friends from all sorts of directions and started reading. It lasted four months. I was sad. I've been trying to resuscitate it ever since. With this in mind I invited those ladies over for some after Christmas cocktails and nibbles. Hoping to remind them of why we got together in the first place, not just the books, but the fellowship.

My hope for 2011 is a few more parties with Momma's silver and a revived book club. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Hawaiian Cheese Ring, biscuit box with crackers, punch bowl with Happy Day Wine Punch and Kahlua Truffle bites.

More cheese options...two Sweet Grass Dairy cheeses, Green Hill and Black Swan. Both are goat and cow milk cheeses and one of my favorites, Humbolt Fog from Cypress Grove dairy in California. Served with some South Carolina favorites Sweet Fire Pickles and Fig Preserves, both made locally in the Charleston, SC area.

Menu

Cheese Board with Salami, Pickles, Preserves, Grapes, Fresh Bread and Crackers.

Hawaiian Cheese Ring with Red Current Jelly and Fresh Strawberries

Tomato Basil Compote on Mozzarella-Pesto Toast

'Secret" Meatballs

Spicy BBQ Sliders

Kahlua Truffle Bites

Gingered Pecans

Recipes

For your cheese board, pick two or three cheese of different types. Hard, soft, goat, cow, flavored, plain. I like to find local cheeses if possible as they are usually the freshest most tasty ones you can find. Pair the cheeses with some nice charcuterie meats and preserves, jams, pickles or any other wonderful savory sweet sauces. You can make these yourself, or find something at your local farmers market, gourmet shop or even local supermarket. There is a little country store market on highway 17 just outside Charleston that I stop at every time I am driving through, they carry a lot of local products including Braswell's jellys etc.. which are amazing.

Hawaiian Cheese Ring...this is an adaptation of a cheese mold recipe from Tea Time at the Masters.

2 cups shredded cheddar, I used white cheddar this time.

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 cup chopped pecans

Mayonnaise to hold together

Red Currant Jelly (the original has Pineapple Preserves, thus Hawaiian, I also use Strawberry Jelly as well.)

Fresh Strawberries

Ring mold or bundt pan, or anything you want to make a mold out of. I've used a heart shape pan when doing this for Valentines day.

Mix cheese, onions and pecans together. Add mayo to hold it together, you can also add a little spice if you're feeling wacky. Line mold with plastic, press cheese into it and refrigerate until ready to use. Un-mold and then top with your choice of preserves. Garnish with fresh berries.

"Secret" Meatballs

Pre-made meatballs, or make them yourself, whatever you want. Sauce is for 20-30 cocktail size meatballs.

1 8 oz jar good quality grape jelly

1 6-8 oz can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup sweet chili sauce

1/4 cup basic bbq sauce

Heat all the ingredient together and then add meatballs to heat through. Yumm.

My Tomato-Basil Bruschetta Topping

1 yellow tomato

2 red tomatoes

1 green tomato

1 sweet yellow onion, love vidalia for this

1/2 cup chopped garlic or more if you love garlic as much as I do.

1 cup chopped fresh basil

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Kosher salt and cracked pepper

Fresh bread, buffalo mozzarella, pesto sauce (make it or buy it doesn't matter)

Dice onion and mix with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Put in 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until they start to caramelize. Dice all the tomatoes, toss with balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil. When onions are cooled to touch mix with tomatoes and basil. Adjust seasoning and add more balsamic or olive oil if you want. You need a little juice to make it yummy and soak the bread a little. For the toast, slice the bread kind of thick, about pinky width. I like to use a good artisan bread, white is best. Slice the mozz fairly thin. Spread some of the pesto on each slice of bread, put in the oven for about 8 minutes at 425. Pull it out and place cheese on top. Put back in oven for about 10-15 minutes. The pre-toasting helps keep the bread a little crispy. You can then top with tomatoes or put the tomatoes in a bowl and let your guests go crazy.

Thanks for reading. Tell me what you put on your Momma's silver.

Happy New Year to all.

Salted Caramel Pictures

Here are some pictures from the making of salted caramels. The beautiful "nut dish" was my mothers and was recently handed down to me. It reminds me of all the wonderful parties she and my father had, this dish always had something special in it, and usually it was her salted pecans, now it's filled with my salted caramels. I think Becky would be just fine with the caramels.

The finished Salted Caramels all wrapped up and ready to be presented to guests.

The finished caramel poured into the prepared pan, dusted with fleur de sel and cooling before being cut into squares. It would be at this point that you would sprinkle the chopped chocolate onto the caramel or add toasted nuts. Make sure you make any additions before it has had a chance to set up or the additions will not become a part of the whole, they'll just roll off.

The caramel cooking on the stove after the addition of the cream mixture. Keep stirring at this point so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Be very careful, this concoction is seriously hot and when it gets on your skin, it stays there and burns and burns.

Playing Catsup

It has been almost a year since my last post and in that time a great deal has happened. (Most significantly my computer died and it has taken this long to get a new one.) I have found a job, one I like, I am healed from breaking my leg and having a plate and a few pins put in and I have been baking like crazy. Now it's time to play "catsup." Or catch up, cleverly hidden inside a food reference.

During the holidays my thoughts, and worries, turn towards finding the perfect present for everyone. I decided not to worry so much and just bake everyone in my life something I think they will like, and really, who doesn't like homemade baked goods? With this in mind I start my experimenting this week. Some of the items must be mail worthy and others just need to go down the street. I've started my list; salted caramels and chocolate pecan diamonds for the mailing, Kahlua triangles, chocolate crackle cookies and maybe some decorated sugar cookies as well, and maybe chocolate cream cheese brownie bites...oh my I have a lot to do now. I've made the caramels before and the pecan diamonds, but the others..nope, never. I also plan to make some cheese balls and quiches for some of my friends that would actually not enjoy the baked goods. I know, crazy right?!

As this Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close and my vacation slowly dies I head to the kitchen to do what I love to do. Bake..cook..play...whatever you call it, as long as there is something to eat at the end of it all, I'll be pretty darn happy.

Salted Caramels courtesy of Epicurious

makes about 40 candies

Ingredients

1 cup Heavy Cream

5 T Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces

1 t Fleur de Sel (or any other natural sea salt, I've made them with rosemary salt..delish)

1 1/2 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup

1/4 cup Water

Special equipment needed: Parchment paper and deep fat thermometer

Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly oil parchment. I usually use pam spray for this part.

Bring cream, butter and fleur de sel to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside. Boil sugar, corn syrup and water in a 3-4 quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel.

Carefully stir in cream mixture--this will boil up, just keep stirring. Simmer until caramel registers 248 degrees Fahrenheit. This usually takes about 10-15 minutes. Pour into baking pan and cool 2 hours. Cut into 1 inch pieces, then wrap each piece in a 4 inch square of wax or parchment paper, twisting ends to close.

**My twist on this, as soon as you pour caramel into pan, sprinkle with a little extra salt and some chocolate shavings. The shavings will melt and harden as it cools. Most delicious.**

Happy Sunday everyone! Enjoy your Food Frenzy.