Showing posts with label wedding shower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding shower. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wedding Shower Brunch, Part 4 (Putting It All Together)

In addition to the breakfast and lunch items, we had a few sweet treats to round out the menu. Given Lauren’s love for shortbread (and how easy it is to make), I chose my toasted coconut shortbread cookies. Lauren’s younger sister also helped out by bringing cupcakes up from a Richmond bakery.

With the menu all set, the next hurdle was how to decorate the space. As I previously mentioned, we used the community room in my apartment which had recently been renovated. As luck would have it the room’s décor was mainly blues and greens….which just so happen to be Lauren’s wedding colors! That made decorating a whole lot easier. Green and blue balloons helped create a festive atmosphere and I decorated the small tables where we’d be eating with green and white votive candles I just so happened to have at home. A vase of white tulips helped pull it all together.



For the buffet, I kept it simple. A blue table cloth helped make clean up a breeze and white and glass platters kept things simple. To help ensure that everyone knew what they were eating, I used green and white placecards (leftover from my own wedding) to make signs describing each dish. Finally, to make it easier for attendees to carry everything, I  pre-wrapped the silverware in napkins and tied with ribbon I already had (I got this idea from my friend Stephanie who did something similar for my wedding shower last year).


Lauren and her guests really seemed to enjoy themselves which made all the planning and work worth it! Now I’ve got to start working on that Matron of Honor speech for the wedding….

Monday, October 11, 2010

Wedding Shower Brunch, Part 3

When we last left off I was sharing the breakfast recipes I made as part of my friend Lauren’s bridal brunch.  In addition the quiche, muffins, and pumpkin bread, I also had a few lunch items as part of the spread. Namely, gazpacho pasta salad (which you will remember from last April’s Foxfield Races tailgate) and ham rolls.

The ham rolls recipe is a tried and true family favorite. My mom used to make them for parties when I was growing up and I have made them many times myself—for book club, for New Years Eve, for the Super Bowl, for lunch before Thanksgiving dinner, and now for a wedding shower. They are easy and always a crowd-pleaser.  They never last long and Lauren’s shower was no exception---much to poor Jason’s disappointment.


Ham Rolls
(Not sure where the original recipe came from)

Ingredients:
2 TBL finely grated onion
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup softened butter
2 dozen small dinner or party-style rolls
Thinly sliced ham and swiss cheese

1.In a small bowl, mix first 4 ingredients together until well-blended.
2.Split the rolls in half with a serrated knife. Spread butter mixture on both cut sides.
3.Place one thin slice of ham and one slice of Swiss cheese (each cut to fit the roll) between the halves.
4.When ready to serve, wrap rolls in aluminum foil and bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or until warmed through.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Wedding Shower Brunch, Part 2 (Putting the "Br" in "Brunch"!)

Lauren’s shower was a great success, if I do say so myself. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, the bride-to-be had a good time, and things went off without a hitch.  When I last left off, I mentioned that we had decided to go with a brunch menu. This was for two reasons—1) Lauren mentioned that she was partial to mimosas and bloody marys which definitely lend themselves to brunch over lunch or afternoon tea or anything like that and 2) I happen to like brunch and thought it would be relatively easy to put together a nice spread.

The first thing that came to mind when planning a brunch menu was quiche—it’s tasty, can easily serve a number of people, and is good warm or room temperature (which was important since I was hosting the brunch in the community room of my apartment building).  Rather than make three quiches myself, I decided to take a little help where I could get it and buy them from Whole Foods (which I knew from previous experience were delicious). We ended up with two spinach and roasted red pepper quiche and one quiche Lorraine (with ham, cheese, etc.). They were a huge hit!


To round out the breakfast portion of our brunch menu (the "br" in "brunch" if you will), I decided to go with some sort of muffin and quick bread.  Given the October date, I couldn’t resist making pumpkin bread. And since it was a wedding shower, I decided to go with delicious and equally cute raspberry-topped lemon mini muffins from Smitten Kitchen. I’d made these delicious things for Jason for Valentine’s Day last year and they definitely do not disappoint.


These recipes are perfect whatever the occasion!



Raspberry-Topped Lemon Muffins
From Smitten Kitchen 
Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups granulated sugar, divided
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (from two large lemons)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Fresh raspberries (Blueberries or blackberries would also work)

1.Preheat oven to 375. Line 14 standard muffin cups (or 56 minis) with paper liners. You can also spray with cooking spray and avoid the liners all together.
2.Mash 1/8 cup of sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until sugar is slightly moist. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat remining 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg. Beat in buttermilk, then vanilla and lemon sugar. Add in flour mixture and beat until just smooth.
3.Divide batter among muffin cups (until 2/3 to ¾ full). Top each muffin with 2 raspberries (or 1 raspberry each for the mini-muffins).
4.Bake muffins until lightly brown on top and tester inserted into the center comes out clean—about 35 minutes for standard muffins and 20 minutes for minis.


Pumpkin Bread
From Cooking Light
Ingredients:
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 TBL baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup egg substitute
½ cup canola oil
½ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1/3 cup chopped pecans

1.Preheat oven to 350.
2.Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through allspice) in a bowl.
3.Place sugar, egg substitute, oil, buttermilk,  and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add water and pumpkin, beating at low speed until blended.
4.Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating at low speed until just combined.
5.Spoon batter into two 9 x 5 loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle pecans evenly over batter.
6.Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack. Remove from pans and cook completely on the wire rack. (Note: I like to freeze one of the loaves and save for future use. Just be sure to wrap in plastic wrap and foil before sticking it in the freezer and let sit out overnight to thaw.)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Wedding Shower Brunch, Part 1

I am sorry that I have been more MIA than usual this week. But I have a good reason this time! I’ve spent much of the week finalizing details and cooking for my friend Lauren’s wedding shower. As Matron (ugh—makes me sound so old!) of Honor, I am hosting her friends and family for a bridal brunch today.  I’ll provide all kinds of details over the next few days. In the meantime, here is what is on the menu:
  • Assorted quiches (purchased from Whole Foods—I can’t do everything!)
  • Pumpkin Bread
  • Raspberry-topped Lemon Muffins
  • Gazpacho Pasta Salad
  • Fruit Salad
  • Ham Rolls
  • Toasted Coconut Shortbread
  • Cupcakes (provided by Lauren’s sister)
Recipes and pictures of all the little details coming over the next week—stay tuned!

Me and the bride-to-be, circa 2006