We have some great entries for the virtual 40’s-70’s party!

So Retro: Sandwich Loaf
http://www.foodmigration.com/ 2005/08/so-retro-sandwich-loaf.html

Pineapple Upside-down Cake
http://80breakfasts.blogspot.com/ 2005/08/virtual-40s-70s-party-pineapple-upside.html

Swedish Meatballs
http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/ 2005/08/swedish-meatballs.html

Spiced Tomato Aspic
http://www.iheartbacon.com/index.php?id=286

Snowy Chicken Confetti Salad
http://deepfry.blogspot.com/2005/08/swell-evening_15.html

Also, don’t forget to check out the entries to the Does My Blog Look Tacky in This? contest!

The party was a success—even though a few of the dishes decidedly weren’t…

For my contribution, I made a Spiced Tomato Aspic from “The ABC of Salads” cookbook. It ended up looking like congealed blood and tasting like straight tomato paste; it was so tomato-y that I could barely finish one bite. I also made a Red Hot Salad, which was even worse than the tomato aspic! Luckily the last dish I made—Pork Roast from the “Siamese Cookery” cookbook, turned out amazing. I cooked the roast in my doufeu and the pork was rendered, yet again, meltingly tender. The pork had very subtle Asian flavors, but it was delicious. I will definitely be making this recipe again!

For drinks, I served Crater Lake Vodka and Plymouth Gin martinis and boxed wine. I had a hard time deciding which boxed wine to buy, so I went with the cutest packaging. Considering it was Chardonnay AND from a box, I was pretty impressed. The wine was very drinkable and inexpensive, and the next day, I was happy there weren’t any bottles to take out to the recycling.

To round out the menu, my guests brought:
Rumaki (marinated chicken livers and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon), which were really delicious and a huge hit
Celery sticks filled with Kaukauna cheese spread and cream cheese
Tuna noodle casserole, with potato chip topping!
A delicious coffee cake
Coconut cake, with a meringue frosting
Orange Jell-O with canned mandarin oranges and cool whip topping

Even though not all the recipes turned out, we still had a great time and it was fun to test out some strange recipes. Now I’m toying with the idea of recreating TV dinner menus, like Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and those strange and oddly delicious desserts.

Siamese Cookery Pork Roast

4 pounds pork shoulder
pineapple rind
2 teaspoons cumin
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1. Mix together cumin, garlic, pepper and salt and rub into the roast. Place rind of pineapple over roast, cover and bake at 300 for 3.5 hours.

2. When roast is done, remove and discard pineapple rind. De-fat the liquid and return to the pot. Combine soy, vinegar, brown sugar and parsley and pour over roast. Cook, uncovered for another 30-45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes.

Just a quick reminder that the Virtual 40’s-70’s Party is coming up and posts should be made by August 15th. And don’t forget about the accompanying Does My Blog Look Tacky in This? contest!

In case you need a little inspiration, I did a quick, online search and found some winsome recipes from the 50’s. Ack!

You don’t really even need to read the recipes to know they’re good; the title says it all. Here are a few of my faves:

Baked Corn Chex ‘N’ Cheese Custard
He-Man’s Tuna Noodle Casserole (made with Ritz!)
Lemonade Fried Chicken (uses frozen lemonade concentrate as a brine!)
Pepsi-Cola Cake With Broiled Peanut Butter Frosting (uh…)
Fresca Cake With Maraschino Frosting

I actually might have to make this one:

Red Hot “Salad” (I decided to put quotes around “salad”)
Servings: 6

6 oz Cherry Jell-O (2 Pkgs)
4 oz Red Hots Candy
3 c Boiling Water
20 oz Pineapple, crushed and undrained
2 c Applesauce

Dissolve Jell-O and red hots (also known as Cinnamon Imperials) in boiling water. When cooled to room temperature, add pineapple and applesauce. Pour into oiled 8-cup mold. Chill before serving.

Then I found a few great book excerpts from the 40’s, 60’s and 70’s. I especially love the Conway Twitty burger and the “Legal” Martini using instant chicken broth and canned mushrooms.

Those of you attending my real-time party… don’t worry. I’ll be making real martinis.

After completing the book meme that was going around a while ago, Deepfry (from Yum!) and I discovered we both share a love for collecting cookbooks from the 40’s-70’s. We started talking and decided to co-host a virtual party…

If you’d like to participate, here’s the deal:

1. Either host a real party (we’re hosting ours on August 13th) and have your guests bring dishes from the 40’s-70’s OR if you don’t want to host a party, just make a dish from the 40’s-70’s.

2. Photograph your food.

3. Post the photo(s) on your blog by August 15th and email the link to me or Deepfry. If you’re really feeling into it, please also post the recipe and/or a picture of the cookbook you used. If you don’t have a blog but would like to participate, just email us the information and we’ll post it.

Here is some inspiration:
http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards/czarina.html
http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/knudsen2/1.html

Hope you can join the party!

Update: Don’t forget about the accompanying Does My Blog Look Tacky in This? contest

My wild boar birthday party was a huge success! It’s going to be a future Hostess Project article for August, but here are a few random highlights for now:

• I picked up the wild boar from Don & Joe’s Meats and was shocked to find it looked nothing like the pig I roasted last year; it, uh, had no skin.
• The wild boar looked grotesque without any skin, but it was fascinating to see all the muscle groupings and how they fit together. We named him Francis Bacon.
• I decided not to marinate Francis, but instead soaked him overnight in a vinegar and brown sugar brine.
• While Francis was not very tender, he was delicious and boar-y tucked inside banh mi sandwiches filled with fresh pickled veggies.
• People brought a beautiful array of appetizers including summer rolls, chicken and mango in wonton cups, galloping horses and peanuts coated in a coconut candy shell.
• My brother made Vietnamese iced coffees, which require the cutest little coffee filter contraptions. I’m not a coffee drinker at all, but I couldn’t stop sipping these!
• The simple syrup drinks were a huge hit, except for the pandan leaf; it was a little weird in the drinks and most people thought it smelled like old gym shoes.
• The cream puffs I made for dessert were delicious tasting, but for some reason the cream never set up. I served the puffs with a bowl of the lemon-grass cream filling on the side, like a dip.

Oh yeah, and I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on top of all the guest’s coats (and purses and pokey cell phones) during the middle of the party. But maybe that’s not a highlight…

I’m so excited! Today I ordered a wild boar from Don & Joe’s Meats for my b-day pig roast. I really wanted to order it from Exotic Meats, but they don’t have storage facilities and the idea of defrosting a fifty pound pig in my bathtub sounded, uh, less than appealing.

My plan is to roast the pig like last year, but then chop it up to make banh mi sandwiches. My problem is that I did a trial marinade last week and it turned out really boring—which is weird because it sounded good, but it was practically flavorless! Maybe my proportions were off?

2 stalks lemon grass
1/2 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
2 T fish sauce (nam pla)
2 T soy sauce
1 T tablespoons rice vinegar
pinch of 5-spice

Any secret (or not so secret) family recipe for a Vietnamese-style marinade would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying to avoid anything with lots of sugar because I’m worried the pig will burn, but aside from that any ingredient is fair game. Please help if you can!

Thanks!

I was invited to the very lovely home of F & A for the 4th. Little did I know that A had been to cooking school and loves to cook. When I saw that he had made two inch thick T-bone steaks, bbq’d chicken AND hot dogs, I knew I’d found a kindred spirit.

For K’s birthday, she wanted to throw an “Asian fusion” dinner party. I’ve lost track of what that actually means, but for this party it meant a Chinese and Japanese potluck. K was looking for a good rib recipe. I told her she had to make my uncle’s amazing Chinese-style ribs and I offered to help cook.

The night before the party I helped her marinate the ribs and make Scallop Dumplings with Garlic Chives and Pork Dumplings. I haven’t made dumplings before so it took me a while to catch on, but by the end of the night, my dumplings were almost pretty. (I found this handy guide after the fact.)

Everyone was asked to bring something that went with the Chinese / Japanese theme and we ended up with a wonderful feast:

• Smoked salmon and veggie sushi – The rolls were gorgeous and I couldn’t believe that N had made them. They were light and delicious.
• Vegetarian gyoza and veal gyoza – A had made these the night before and pan-fried them at the party. They were served with a spicy oil sauce. The vegetarian gyoza were good, but the veal ones were amazing.
• Scallop dumplings with garlic chives – We heated these in a bamboo steamer and they were fantastic—the garlic chives added so much flavor. We served them with soy sauce mixed with a few drops of hot chili oil, minced ginger and chopped scallions.
• Steamed pork dumplings – These were good, but paled in comparison to the veal gyoza.
• Pickled baby octopus (from Uwajimaya) – Bright red and too cute to eat, but I tried one anyway. Uh, ick.
• Pickled shiso (from Uwajimaya) – This rocked my world and normally I don’t even like shiso. I need to figure out how to make it.
• Quick pickled daikon – Zach made the pickled daikon in my new pickle press. It was very good, although I missed the crunch that comes from pickling a long time.
• Pickled baby cucumbers with a sesame seed paste – Zach made this as well and it’s SO good. I need the recipe to so I can post it.
• Fried soft-shell crab salad – The salad was good, but the crabs seemed a little watery.
• Chinese long beans – I made these after having way too many drinks, but they were surprisingly good. I pan fried them in peanut oil and then threw in some sake and let them steam. Then I topped them with a little soy, hot chili oil and sesame seed oil.
• Steamed rice – I totally forgot to serve the rice.
• Ribs – By the time I served these we were all stuffed, but they were so good that everyone managed to eat at least two or three.

B made his signature drink, called a Sneaky Steve. The crowning touch was a single Kasugai Muscat Gummy that was deposited in each drink. By the time you were done with the drink the gummy was extra soft and had soaked up the vodka. Delicious!

For dessert K had requested a fresh fruit and whipped cream cake from Sweet & Fresh Bakery. This is one of my all-time favorite cakes.

My grandma was turning 88 and we celebrated with a Chinese potluck. I was in charge of bringing appetizers, but was unsure if I would have time to cook anything. I asked my aunt if it would be okay if I just picked up some cha shu (Chinese barbequed pork). Her reply was, “Perfect… you know Yen-Yen’s 4 food groups are all meat!”

Ah ha. So that’s where I get it from…

Zach and I picked up some beautiful cha shu at King’s Barbecue House in the ID, which was difficult not to eat while driving home. I also decided to make some Sichuan nut recipes from the book my brother gave me. The first recipe I chose was Deep-fried Crispy Peanuts. The peanuts were deep-fried and then topped with Sichuan pepper and salt. They were really good; the perfect cocktail snack. Zach also wanted to try the Strange-flavor Peanuts. In Sichuan cooking, there are 23 basic “flavors”. Strange-flavor is described as salty, sweet, numbing, hot, sour, savory and fragrant. These nuts were somewhat caramelized and predominantly sweet with some notes of hot, numbing and sour. Again, very good, but the texture was too soft and I preferred the crunch of the deep-fried ones.

We arrived at my grandma’s early so that we could play several rounds of mah jong before dinner. She kicked our butts, as usual. Dinner was a feast with crab in black bean sauce, Yen-Yen’s Chinese fried chicken, prawns in tomato sauce, tofu with mushrooms and broccoli, glass noodles, a giant sushi platter, curried clams and deep fried tilapia with sweet and sour sauce. Dessert was a steamed egg cake with strawberries and Tillamook strawberry ice-cream. I love family dinners.

I was invited to my first ever Oscar party this Sunday and was very, very excited—not to watch the Oscars, but to go over to my friends’ house and eat really delicious food. My friends G & J are both great cooks with extreme opposite cooking styles. G is like me. He likes to cook by the book, or at least within the framework of some sort of recipe. But J… if you knew J, you’d know that his cooking style matches his personality; very creative. It’s great to watch them in the kitchen together. Their cooking styles really complement each other and they turn out some fantastic food.

I should take a moment to say that while I do see the occasional movie in the theater, I prefer Netflix. So before heading over, I decided to find out what movies and people were in the running so I didn’t sound like a total idiot. I was shocked to find that I had only seen two movies from the entire list—and they were nominated for something like sound mixing. Uhhh.

When we arrived at the party, the Oscars were already in full swing. I was only vaguely paying attention to the television—mostly to see when the commercials were on so I could get up and graze on the appetizers without blocking anyone’s view. I had brought some nice cheeses and smoked white King salmon. K had brought pita chips, which I found to be dangerously addictive. S had made a really delicious smoked salmon spread with cream cheese and green onions. Very simple, but very good.

I got in trouble for rooting against the Aviator. I don’t like Leonardo all that much and thought that the Titanic Oscar sweep a few years ago was ridiculous. So I was feeling bitter. And justified in my bitterness. But I finally had to shut up when S pointedly told me that I hadn’t even seen the Aviator.

After the Oscars were over, we feasted. G had made a fantastic chicken saltimbocca. The chicken was perfectly cooked and napped in a rich and salty mushroom sauce. J had made a crazy cabbage, cauliflower and gorgonzola salad that was presented (beautifully) in a hollowed out Savoy cabbage. They had also made a zucchini dish, shredding the zucchini into thin strips with their new mandolin so it looked like spaghetti. I think that’s my favorite way to eat zucchini. There was also a really good spinach salad with some of the tastiest blood oranges I’ve had in a while.

I am hoping for many future invites to Oscar parties. Next time I might even see the movies.

After my first experience eating hot-pot, I was hooked. I wanted to see how difficult it would be to make it at home. I ordered a portable butane burner on eBay for $10 (!), then set about trying to locate a good recipe.

My brother had recently sent me a Sichuan cookbook and real Sichuan peppers from China, and the cookbook happened to have a hot-pot recipe. It sounded a little more involved than the other recipes I’d seen, but it also sounded delicious. I modified the recipe quite a bit as some of the ingredients were hard to find. I also didn’t want a searing hot broth that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy, so I toned down the heat a little.

I also wanted to make an accompanying sauce, since the sauce seems to play a major role in the meal. The recipe in my book called for a simple garlic and oil sauce, but I really wanted a peanut sauce, so I ended up making one from peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, tomato paste and water. I also made a soy-ginger and a soy-mustard sauce.

I made the broth up to the last step and then brought it over to Zach’s place for the final simmering. I wanted to know how much flavor the Sichuan pepper would add, so I scooped out a cup of broth for comparison before adding the final two ingredients; Sichuan peppers and chili peppers. The broth simmered for another 30 minutes and the difference was amazing. The peppers really balanced out the flavors and helped meld everything together.

When our guests arrived, we turned on the butane burner and set the pot of broth in the middle of the table. Then we brought out two platters of fresh udon noodles, rice stick noodles (soaked in water until soft), fresh shitake mushrooms and chopped napa cabbage. It was pretty impressive already, but then we brought out the platters of raw meat. Oooh! Ahhh! We had Snake River Farms Kurobuta pork belly (yes, I bought it because it looked like bacon), short rib beef, regular beef and lamb. With all that, plus the sauces, we didn’t enough have room on the table so we had to downgrade to smaller dinner plates.

After a brief intro of how to eat hot-pot, everyone dug in. The broth was so rich and good. I could have just drank it for dinner, but with the meats, veggies and noodles it was perfect. Occasionally I’d bite into a Sichuan pepper and the salivating and numbness would set in, but it was definitely better with food than without. By the end of the night my lips and tongue were pleasantly numb.

The sauces were great as well and I liked having a variety. The peanut sauce was rich and luscious, the soy-mustard sauce was spicy and hot and the soy-ginger was light and refreshing—and surprisingly good with the lamb. We bought way too much meat, but no one stopped eating until the last morsel was gone.

For dessert, we had mango jello from a box. We found it at Uwajimaya and it looked interesting. And it tasted interesting—a cross between pudding and Jell-O. I didn’t care for the texture or the fruity and fragrant taste, but some people claimed it was “odd, yet delicious”.