Craving the Beach? Have an Indoor Beach Party!

When the weather turns cold and you are craving some beach time, throw an indoor party with a beach theme. Here are my tips on YouTube on how to create the atmosphere with decorations and food from the tropics.

Recipes featured in my video are Shrimp Cocktail, Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa, and Key Lime Tartlets. Here are the recipes. For more party ideas, see my series on Being the Best Host. (Note: Captioned version on YouTube here.)

Shrimp Cocktail
Serve these in champagne flutes.

INGREDIENTS

• Shrimp, cleaned and steamed, tails on
• Wooden skewers
• Cocktail sauce (either purchased or make by using 1 cup Heinz Chili Sauce plus fresh horseradish to taste, about 2-3 tablespoons)
• Scallions, cleaned
• Avocado, peeled and chopped
• Lime juice, about 1 tablespoon
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix chopped avocado with lime juice, salt and pepper, set side. Thread three shrimp on a wooden skewer.

Assemble shrimp cocktails in glass by layering ingredients in this order:

1. Cocktail sauce
2. Avocado
3. Shrimp on skewers
4. One scallion
   Serve chilled.

Fish Tacos
Any kind of fresh, fleshy fish will work, such as Mahi Mahi, Flounder, Grouper. Really, whatever white fish is on sale is great.

INGREDIENTS

• Fish, about 2 pounds,
• 2 mangos, chopped into small chunks — everything should be tiny bite-sized
• 1/2 cup chopped green scallions
• 1-2 avocados, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Soft taco shells

DIRECTIONS

Make the mango salsa by combining mangos, scallions, avocados, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Season the fish with any type of seasoning you like (this is where you improvise to suit your own taste buds). I’ve used blackened seasoning, Old Bay, salt, pepper, cayenne. Drizzle some olive oil over the fish to get ready to cook on the grill or a stove-top pan.

Cook the fish about four minutes on each side for a total of 8-10 minutes (depending on thickness, this is only a gauge).

Fill taco shells with fish and top with mango salsa.

Yield: 4-6 tacos

Key Lime Tartlets

Use real key limes for an authentic taste. Because the Florida Keys had no refrigeration until the Overseas Highway opened in 1938, bakers had to use canned milk, so sweetened condensed milk became an essential element of Florida’s state pie. This version of Key Lime Pie has a filling that doesn’t need to be baked so it’s perfect for little tartlets. Serve in tropical-colored cups and top with slices of Key lime.

INGREDIENTS

• Graham cracker crumbs, boxed
• Sugar
• Melted butter
• 1 can (14-oz.) Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1/3 cup Key Lime juice (use a citrus reamer to extract the juice) or, use Nellie and Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice, found in some grocery or specialty stores.
• 2 egg whites, beaten until thick
• Heavy whipped cream, whipped with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.

Make a graham cracker crust. Follow the directions on the box for a one-crust pie using melted butter and sugar. Mix and set aside.

Combine condensed milk and Key Lime juice with an electric mixer. Fold in the beaten egg whites into the milk mixture.

Assemble tartlets by pressing about one tablespoon of graham cracker crust into the bottom of a cup. Top with about one-fourth cup of Key Lime pie filling. Chill for at least three hours.

When ready to serve, topped with whipped cream and a Key lime slice.

Yield: one dozen

 

Don’t Try This Trick at Home!

I could have titled this blog “The Amazing Exploding Hungarian Noodle Casserole.” Make no mistake, this is a delicious and hardy accompaniment for a Beef Bourguignon or similar entrée. But, my first experience in serving this to my guests taught me several valuable lessons.

Lesson 1: fire and noodles don’t mix!

The scene was a dinner party at my home with a buffet table full of mouth-watering offerings. Many folks had made their first pass through the buffet table and several us were hovering around the buffet chatting when…“BAM!…SHATTER!…SPRAY!!”

Stunned, we all were paralyzed, jaws dropped as we gawked at the Baked Hungarian Noodle Casserole that had literally EXPLODED!. Glass shards and noodles littered the buffet table. The dinner was ruined — glass penetrated every nook and cranny of the food and surrounding area.

Silence. No…one…said…a…word…and turned toward me.

I wanted to cry, but without missing a beat, I threw my hands in the air and exclaimed, “And now for my next trick!”

The crowd exploded (pun noted) in laughter and applause! What else could we do? Several folks helped with clean up, in disbelief that Pyrex would shatter like that! I pulled some back-up food from the fridge and brought out more wine and desserts.

Lesson 2: It doesn’t matter what you serve people, whether it’s fancy or low-key, hospitality is from the heart. The main thing is to make people feel you are glad they came. Famous chef Julia Child wrote in her autobiography that on a few occasions she served dishes that flopped and she only realized it when she took a bite along with her guests. She never batted an eye or drew attention to the food, focusing on her guests the entire time.

So what happened? I guess I had the Sterno a little too close to the Pyrex? I had no idea  Pyrex could shatter but no glass is bullet proof. For more on this topic read this article “Exploding Pyrex Cookware Mystery Solved.”

I am making this recipe for Christmas Eve dinner this year.

Lesson 3: No Sterno and no Pyrex this time.

Baked Hungarian Noodles

This recipe, from A Private Collection published by the Junior League of Palo Alto, is written to serve 24 guests because it’s suitable for a crowd. It can be easily divided by 2 to serve 12. This can be made well in advance of the party. You might question only one pound of noodles for 24 servings; be sure to use only fine noodles to get the proper volume.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound fine noodles
• 4 cups cream-style cottage cheese
• 4 cups sour cream
• 1 cup minced onion
• 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 4 dashes Tabasco sauce
• 4 tablespoons of poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Freshly-ground pepper to taste
• Paprika
• Freshly-grated parmesan cheese

Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until tender. Drain. Combine the noodles with the remaining ingredients except the paprika and Parmesan cheese.

Place in two or three buttered casseroles and bake at 350 degrees until hot. Or, put in refrigerator at this point until ready to use. Approximately 30 minutes before serving, remove from refrigerator and bake until hot.

Sprinkle with paprika and serve with Parmesan cheese.

“While Visions of Sugar-Plums Danced in Their Heads”

I don’t really know what sugar-plums are but I decided they are anything sweet and delectable eaten during the Christmas season so you can have visions of them the night before Christmas. Sounds good to me.

Try this year’s version of my sugar-plums.

Ice Cream Cups, Inspired by Snickers®
An easy make-ahead dessert

• 1 pint of chocolate ice cream
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• Caramel ice cream topping
• 2 boxes of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers (found in the baking aisle, not the cookie aisle)

Use about 24 paper cupcake cups. Place one chocolate wafer in each cup.

Soften the ice cream with a spoon, takes about 2-3 minutes. Stir peanut butter into the ice cream until well blended

Spread a tablespoon of ice cream mixture on each chocolate wafer. Top with a few teaspoons of caramel topping, top with another chocolate wafer, another layer of ice cream, then caramel topping. End with a chocolate wafer, drizzle with caramel sauce and red and green sprinkles. Put into freezer covered tightly for up to one week. Serve directly from freezer.

Nabisco Chocolate Wafers

You can also use vanilla ice cream with peanut butter stirred into it. Or, use both flavors and alternate layers.

Susie-Infused Shrimp

Susie makes a succulent marinated shrimp and avocado salad. I’ve never met Susie but I couldn’t help but think about her yesterday when preparing this dish for a picnic.

Do you ever feel like you know someone just by hearing about her over many years? Susie is Nancy’s sister. I know she makes delicious and creative food. She’s pretty, fun and loves her family. She’s also a youngish grandmother who loves cuddling babies. I can picture the kind of clothes she wears because Nancy will often say, “My sister Susie could get away with wearing that! (And it’s always something stylish.) Susie also talks to the hummingbirds that linger on her feeders, “Hi sweetie…”

Now you know Susie like I know Susie. Enjoy one of her signature recipes.

Marinated Shrimp and Avocado

• 2 lbs. shrimp, peeled, cooked and deveined
• 2 small onions sliced (I used one bunch of green scallions)
• 12 mushrooms, sliced
• Lemon-Thyme Marinade (recipe below)
• 2 avocados cut into bite-sized pieces

Combine the shrimp, onions and mushrooms in a bowl. Toss lightly. Pour in the Lemon-Thyme Marinade and toss gently to coat. Chill covered in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. Add avocado a few hours before serving. Drain the marinade and serve.

Lemon-Thyme Marinade

• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (I added some fresh thyme from my garden to the dried)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Whisk ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined.

Still Trending — Sprodkas

No, A Sprodka is not a Russian spacecraft.

Actually, Sprodkas have been trending for about 15 years now in the Kelley household and in select zip codes across the country. It started one day when my husband Bill mixed me a summertime cooler and dubbed it the “Sprodka.”

I’m putting it out — right here, right now. When it becomes a worldwide sensation recorded in mixology manuals, I want you to know it started in the Kelley house.

Wherever we go, coast to coast, people see us and say, “Sprodka time!”

Recipe for Sprodka

• Vodka to taste
• Sprite Zero*
• Lime, squeezed with fruit left in the glass (plus any other fruit to make it pretty)
• Ice

Serve it in a highball glass or anything that strikes your fancy.

*Bill’s variation, depending on the audience, is equal part Sprite Zero and diet tonic.

Ringing in 2016 with Thanks to 50,000+ of You!

Can you hear me screaming? Kelley Hospitality hit the 50,000+ mark in hits in 2015 and I have you to thank for that. We go together like salt and pepper. You wanted to know about all-things hospitality – food, family, friends, and folklore. And I had a passion for writing about it.

What is the All-Time Most Popular Blog Posting on Kelley Hospitality?

Ding! Ding! Ding!…It’s “A Fork Supper.” You needed a delicious meal you could serve at a large party and I had just the recipe! Here it is again for those of you just tuning in.

I wish you the best in 2016 and I look forward to more memories of hospitality recorded in these pages. Thank you and Happy New Year!

 

Deck the Halls

Here’s one that really lights up the room! Red and gold Peppadews® stuffed with cream cheese are easy to make and the sweet piquante peppers add zing.

Keep these ingredients on hand and put a tray out and watch who shows up!

Easy Stuffed Peppadews®

• Cream cheese, softened with a little milk
• Bruchetta seasoning or mixed herbs of your choice
• Peppadews

Mix cream cheese with seasoning and pipe or spoon into peppadews.

BK’s ‘Shrooms

It’s not every day that someone plops a bag of fresh mushrooms on your desk at work. But I’d been hearing about these mushrooms for awhile and Heather likes to promote anything healthy and veggie. She tells me that mushrooms are high in antioxidants – a kind of a super food that can lower cholesterol, prevent tumors and cancer, serve as a “nerve tonic” and much more. She reminds me they are also more nutritious cooked than raw.

Pioppini mushrooms have a deep, robust flavor. Good with pasta and meats. Photo by Heather Callin.

My variety bag was purchased from Ferial Welsh, the Mushroom Lady, at the Bethesda, Maryland, farmer’s market. Talk about fresh! Although, some of the upscale grocery stores carry a wild mushroom mix, but nothing can beat the freshness of ‘shrooms straight from the market.

Wild mushroom mix with marinara sauce.

I used the ‘shrooms that night to make an otherwise dull marinara sauce rich and interesting. I used every single variety! Mushrooms make anything better. Make a white mushroom pizza, mushroom frittata, or sauté them with onions in olive oil to accompany steak, chicken or pork. Mushrooms tend to take on the flavor of the food you cook them with – kind of like tofu. And like vodka with a mixer.

If you want to know more about how mushrooms are grown, read this fascinating blog by Forrest Pritchard from Smith Meadows Farm who goes behind the scenes at the Phillips Mushroom Farm.

Thanks, Heather, for introducing me to fresh, wild mushrooms…they’re a beautiful thing!

Savory 16? Keep This in Your Hip Pocket

I don’t know what to call it when a boy turns 16 — for girls it’s Sweet 16. And, when you have a boy who wants everything lower than low key, you can’t go all out.

Here’s an idea for your new driver’s 16th birthday. Find a baby photo like this in your archives. My local Giant made the cake. I am not going to say he was thrilled – but at least it wasn’t naked baby pictures!

Sweet 16 for Girls?
That one is easy. Here is my eHow video on how to make unique Sweet 16 centerpieces for a girl’s party.

To all the teens I love who turn 16 this year, Happy Birthday!

Tiny Beers

Good things come in small packages. When the boss treated our staff after a long day’s work at the HLAA Convention this summer, we marveled at something none of us had tasted before.

The boss poured Licor 43, Cuarents Y Tes into small shot-type glasses. Then she lightly dribbled a bit of heavy cream on top of the Licor 43. At first it looked like it would mix together but the right amount of cream allowed it to rise to the top. The result – something that looked like a tiny beer!

Licor 43 is made up of citrus fruit and botanicals and its predominant flavor is vanilla, caramel, and honey. A little dash of cream makes it a drinkable dessert. I look forward to serving this and surprising my guests the way we were surprised.

Isn’t it fun to discover something new? We all thought so! See, work can be fun.