How many times have you, while trying to balance a plate full of hors d'oeuvres, a cocktail and a fork, lost at least one of those items? Maybe even down the front of your freshly dry-cleaned shirt? Or perhaps your own rug was the victim of such an incident at the last party you hosted.
That may change with the advent of the plastic party plate. These 10-by-10-inch plates with snap-off (and snap back on!) utensils come in red, black and clear, and while some not-so-environmentally-minded hostesses might think of these plates as disposable, we certainly don't. Since they're apparently made of a fairly sturdy plastic (sturdy enough to hold food and drink), and go for $8 for a set of four, we can't imagine anyone not using them again and again.
Of course, this just begets another question: Why use a party plate with snap-off utensils when you can use an old-school lunch tray and put regular utensils and wine glasses in their designated compartments? To each her own!
For those looking to dodge the Hamburger Helper, the Star offers up a super-adaptable one-skillet Italian meal full of ground round and veggies.
An interview with Erma Peterson, a teacher turned cookbook writer, featuring the tastes of Kansas City -- and her Low-Fat Chocolate Raspberry Cake recipe, to boot!
A lesson in aquaculture: Why we need to eat fish, how we can get it safely, the best farmed seafood and a recipe for Catfish Tacos with Red Chili Salsa.
Partying on a budget: Why at-home entertaining is good in this economy, and how to do it right.
A 7-day menu planner, starting with lamb chops and Pumpkin Pie Mousse with Toasted Pecans (including a recipe).
Online nutrition tools have now extended beyond calories and fat, with additional perks like listing specific nutrients, the "fullness factor" and glycemic impact.
Sorry to say my kitchen has a big boo-boo right now and is out of commission. Go figure? As soon as I finally get in the kitchen, I have to leave. Long story short, there was a leak in our pipes which warped the floors in our bedroom and living room. The construction crews came in and tore up the place looking for the leak, leaving a trail of dust ad hardwood flooring everywhere.
So, in the meantime, I thought I would share one of my favorites recipes to entertain with during the fall and winter months: Meatball Sliders. Yes, I know they aren't novel or even my idea, but I don't think they are served enough at functions. Easy to make and minimal clean-up keeps me going back to these over and over.
Do you make your meatballs in big batches? I sure do. The next time you make one of those tantalizing batches of goodness, roll a dozen or more meatballs in mini form, simmer in sauce and freeze them. That way, the night before the party you can start defrosting them and you're all set to go. I slice up some mozzarella (I tend not to use fresh because of the high water content) and stick them in the oven.
Scanned from Time to Entertain by Charlotte Turgeon (1954)
Fifty-four years after this printing, I'm hard-pressed to argue with Ms Turgeon on the import of having a few staple schmancy things tucked around the house, should mid-week meal boredom encroach or a party break out. Can't say I'm especially aligned with her specifics, but that could easily be a function of the 5+ decade divide.
I pride myself on being able to entertain at a moment's notice, due to the presence of these just-slightly-left of my central (olive oil, stock, Parmesan, fish sauce, double-black soy, tomato paste, rice/red wine/balsamic vinegars, fresh herbs) everyday ingredients.
FINGERFOOD Party Plates are sure to be a smash this holiday season - a tiny, little smash.
The Party Plates are actually small platters affixed to rings which, as you can see, you can wear while you hold your drink.
These are perfect for hors d'oeuvres (and hand-feeding your cats, and dinner parties thrown by Barbie). My only concern is that they look a little unwieldy, like you might have to master the art of the FINGERFOOD Party Plate, certainly before attempting it while drinking.
Ten reusable plates are just $9.95 from The Spoon Sisters, and they actually recommend bringing your own to a party as a "conversation starter." That would require a level of bravery I don't have, but I would think it fun to pass these out to guests at a party of my own!
"Pick Your Nose" is probably not a headline you expected to see on Slashfood. Well. There's a first time for everything.
These are 12 ounce paper cups with various noses on them. Finally, you can pick your friends' noses. I know you've wanted to. A pack of 24 is $9.95, aka way cheaper than plastic surgery.*
As for clipping your friends' nose-hairs, we're still working on that.
Getting together for dinner and a movie can be one of the most prosaic (Domino's and Blockbuster) of gatherings. But it can become something significantly more special if the food and the visuals connect.
When I was a broke, just-outta-high school teen, my roommates and I would host Godfather parties, for which we'd make a lot of pasta, get some jugs of cheap wine and follow the rule of shouting "Godfather!" then clinking and drinking every time someone got whacked.
There was a "cases of champagne and little black dresses" Breakfast at Tiffany's birthday party, but the master of the art was my great friend Mr. Diva, who threw annual, movie-themed award show parties, paying homage to Picnic (fried chicken) or Blue Velvet(cherry pie and PBR).
From 500 Snacks: Bright Ideas for Entertaining (1941), Culinary Arts Institute
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
When you are entertaining, you should only take out the amount of cheese you plan on using. This may seem obvious. But, many times, we forget that even though we may have a half-pound of Stilton, it may not be the best idea to serve the entire piece unless we know it will all be eaten.
I have a love/hate relationship with the city in which I live -- Los Angeles. You can't beat the balmy weather (did I mention that I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt all day today?), but you also can't beat traffic, no matter how carefully you listen to the traffic report, time your driving with "rush hour" or opt for surface streets.
But in the end, I love Los Angeles, which is why I love these dinner plates from notNeutral. The dishwasher-safe porcelain plates are 12" in diameter, feature the downtown core printed on a black background, highlight key buildings in red, and indicate rivers and public spaces. While I favor Los Angeles, the plates also come printed with Shanghai, Cairo, Berlin (part of Collection 1) and New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Dubai (part of Collection 2).
Not only does chili have a high taste return on the fairly low preparation investment, especially if you prepare the day before in a slow cooker, but chili is something that can be perfectly adjusted to your and your guests' particular tastes. I like offering two kinds of chili to accommodate both carnivorous guests (though there always seems to be an argument about whether beef chili should be made with ground beef or steak) as well as vegetarians. Chili can be served as a dish by itself, or as an accompaniment to hot dogs, hamburgers, on French fries, or nachos.
In case you haven't figured it out by now, I am a football fan.
However, I have to admit that at least one third of my interest in football is not about the game. Sure, I can follow the game, thanks to four years on the high school cheerleading squad (please, spare me all the comments about cheerleaders -- I already hate myself enough about it). I most certainly appreciate the athletics of the sport, and love giving all my love and adoration to Peyton Manning a team, but I think one of the reasons why I love football so much is the lifestyle around football. I'm not talking Friday Night Lights lifestyle (well, maybe I am a little). Like Paula Deen, I love the food and parties and the Super Bowl, for me, is like, Thanksgiving.
Now I know that buckeyes have everything to do with Ohio and pretty much nothing to do with New England, New York, or even Phoenix, where the Super Bowl is taking place, but for me, they are a peanut buttery, chocolate-y representation of football. I didn't post about it much here at the beginning of January, but I went to New Orleans to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes and the LSU Tigers play in the Championship Game for college football. So for now, let's just say that tiny peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate are a great sweet snack to serve your guests during a football party.
As if melting marshmallows, stirring them with cereal, and patting the mixture into a pan wasn't easy enough, now Kellogg's is making absolutely certain that you can have Rice Krispies Treats for your parties. No more having to buy the industrial sized box of individually cut Rice Krispies Treats snacks for lunch boxes, opening each package, and putting them all on a plate!
The Rice Krispies Treats sheet is 32 ounces of marshmallow-y, cereal-y convenience. All you have to do it cut them into bars! Of course, if you're ambitious, use cookie cutters to cut out shapes to match your party.
For the Super Bowl, footballs are a natural. Dip one flat side of a football shape in melted chocolate, let it cool, and decorate with melted white chocolate to create laces on the football.
When I peeked into my Inbox yesterday, I saw an email that was promoting a recipe for Spicy Citrus Caramel Chicken Wings that Martha Stewart will be making on her show this Friday. As I read through it, my protective senses were alerted. Martha's recipe is very similar to the Sticky Chicken Wings I shared with everyone yesterday! Though Martha bakes her wings in the oven and I, of course, deep-fried mine, the sauce recipe had similar ingredients and the same technique! Could Martha Stewart have designed her recipe based on my Sticky Wings?! Because, you know, I am sure that Martha Stewart surfs Slashfood and browses recipes (or rather, that she tells her assistants to surf Slashfood).
If you want to make Martha's wings, the recipe is after the jump, but don't tell me about it because it'll hurt my feelings that you picked hers over mine.
After your chili has cooked for a good 1½ to 2 hours, it's ready to eat, but if you've waited that long, what's another day?!?! Letting chili cool down overnight, or at least for several hours and then re-heating it just before serving somehow makes the chili taste about five thousand times better, if that's possible. For a party, that's incredibly convenient, since you can make the chili at least one day in advance.
For the Super Bowl, serve the chili straight from the slow cooker. The slow cooker may not be the most stylish thing to leave out on the buffet table, but it will ensure that the chili stays warm as it sits out all afternoon (or evening) long. Throw a ladle into the chili and let your guests help themselves. If you have large handled mugs (that you might use for cappuccino or soup), use those for serving. Having a handle will decrease the chance that mingling guests will spill the chili on your immaculate floor.
Chili alone is good, but with "toppings," it's even better. Shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped red onions and scallions, and diced avocado or guacamole are good things to set out as a "bar" to put on top of chili.
You may also want to serve chili with some sort of bread. The natural choice here is cornbread, but any thick, chewy bread is good, as are tortilla chips.
FINGERFOOD Party Plates are sure to be a smash this holiday season - a tiny, little smash.
When I peeked into my Inbox yesterday, I saw an email that was promoting a recipe for Spicy Citrus Caramel Chicken Wings that 
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