New Year's Eve Fried Celebration

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

I am looking forward to the year of 2012.  I feel like the past couple years have been mediocre.  Some really great things have happened, some really crappy things, and a lot of nothing.  Some of it out of my control some of it not.  I am ready for a bit of excitement or a change up.  Let's just hope it happens, whether it's a happy accident or by my own creation.  So far, the year is off to a good start.  Our New Year's Eve party was awesome.  

Invitation (Background)

Champagne Tower. Serious business.

Some of us decided we didn't want to spend and insane amount of money at a bar and no, we would never, ever consider going to Time Square.  So we decided to host our own party split between my and my neighbors apartment.   We wanted to keep it simple since most of us would be return to New York on the 30th or 31st and didn't want to spend too much money.  We also knew we needed a champagne tower.  It was great, especially since we were all sure that tower was going to make a mess.  We also had a New Year's Resolution Board for people to write their resolutions on.  By the end of the night we had some pretty good range of resolutions, some serious, some not so serious. 

Now on to the food: 

Champagne Cupcakes & Jello Shots

Since the party was not starting till late, we stuck to finger foods and simple snacks.  My lovely co-hosts made Champagne Cupcakes, Champagne Jello Shots, (she used 1 cup of water and 2.5 cups of champagne), and a delicious spinach dip.  Since my roommate enjoys frying things, we made sure he was going to be around to provide us with some tasty treats like Fried Oreos, Fried Twinkies and Hush Puppies.  Somehow we did not make it to the twinkies and they are now waiting for their chance in the fridge and did fry deviled eggs.  I did not try those. 

Will frying away. 

I fully admit that Will (roommate) was completely responsible for the finding the Fried Oreo and Hush Puppy recipes and making them.  They were sooo good.  The next morning when we found out that one of our friends decided to help Will make the batter for the oreos and made his own contribution of beer.  Not quite sure how much, but if you want try it, pour a bit in.  This would also probably be good in the hush puppies.  

Fried Oreos

about 39 servings- one cookie each

mmm

• 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying 
• 1 large egg 
• 1 cup milk 
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil 
• 1 cup pancake mix
• 1  package Oreos
• a bit of beer (optional)
• powdered sugar

1. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F. 
2. Whisk together the egg, milk, and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a bowl until smooth. 
3. Stir in the pancake mix until no dry lumps remain.  Add beer.
4. Dip the cookies into the batter one at a time, and carefully place into the hot frying oil. 
5. Fry only 4 or 5 at a time to avoid overcrowding the deep fryer. Cook until the cookies are golden-brown, about 2 minutes. 
6. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate before serving.  Once cooled slightly, sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Hush Puppies  

the true thing should never be perfectly shaped:)

about 35 puppies  

• 6 cups peanut oil 
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal 
• 1/2 cup self-rising flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 small onion, chopped 
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 1 egg, lightly beaten 

1. Using a deep pot, preheat oil for frying to 350 degrees F.
2. Using a mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the onion. 
3. In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk and egg. 
4. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until blended. 
5. Drop the batter, 1 teaspoon at a time, into the oil. 
6. Dip the spoon in a glass of water after each hush puppy is dropped in the oil. Fry until golden brown, turning the hushpuppies during the cooking process.
7. Let drain and cool slightly on a paper towel before serving. 

Enjoy! 

Progressive Dinner: Dessert

Melissa  had the great idea to organize a Progressive Dinner this year as a little holiday party before we all disappeared  home for Christmas.  For those of you who are like me and had no clue what she was talking about when she asked if I would participate, a Progressive Dinner is when each course of the meal is served at someone else's home and you move from apartment to apartment (at least in our case).  She asked me if I would be willing to take care of the dessert for this event and I couldn't say no to that.  

Compliments of Melissa's boyfriend Kurt

The difficult part was figuring out what to make to serve 10 to 12 people that was gluten free.  I had just made these pumpkin trifles and had thought about making something similar with rum, but decided it was too soon.  I also didn't feel like making a flour-less cake or a pudding or mousse like thing, I don't know why.  We were all keeping our courses secret, so I had no idea what I should be trying to compliment.  I found this recipe in Great Food Fast, and decided it would be easy to prep and throw in the oven while we enjoyed our entree next door.  I figured it would be kind of light and not too sweet after the previous three courses, which were amazing!  

Before roasting...

The grocery store ended up being the actual problem, which I kind of suspected might be the case and I was prepared to make some substitutions before I even arrived.  I couldn't find any plums and the peaches were tiny so I replaced the plums with pears.  Of course after I bought my supplies, I found out two more decided they would join us for the event and went out in search of plums at a different grocery store.   Of course there were none so I went with apples.  My other change was to use the lemons I had at home instead of buying limes and I didn't really measure so much, just kind of scooped some sugar in.  All in all it was really tasty and the rosemary adds a wonderful touch.   I need to learn how to cut peaches and nectarines though, that didn't go so well...

Roasted Fruit with Ice Cream

serves 12 to 16

After Roasting!

• 6 small peaches
• 5 nectarines
• 2 apples
• 3 pears
• 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter- cut into chunks
• juice from 3 fresh lemons
• vanilla ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick skins of fruit with a fork, then quarter and pit the peaches and nectarines, slice the apples and pears. 
2. In a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan, toss fruit with the sprigs fresh rosemary, tablespoons sugar, butter, and lemon juice.
3. Roast fruit until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard rosemary the sprigs but leave some of the leaves.
4. Serve warm over ice cream. 

mmm mmm mmm

Enjoy and have a great Christmas! 

Pumpkin Trifle

For my latest breakfast adventure I made these pumpkin scones.  I had it in my little blond head that the recipe used most of, if not all, of a can of pumpkin.  Instead it only used 1/4 of a cup.  The funny thing is, in reading the first paragraph of the the scone post, I say that I was using up some leftover pumpkin.  Oops. 

So, that can sat in my fridge for a week before I finally got around to figuring out what I was going to do with it.  After contemplating several much more time consuming and difficult recipes, I decided to try My Baking Addition's recent post for Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles.  I had a little bit more than a cup of pumpkin left over, but figured it would be fine if I mixed it all in.  I also made my own pumpkin spice.  I had all the ingredients for it and do not need one more spice in my tiny space.  The last change I made was the cookie used for the crust.  I wanted to make it gluten free so my neighbor could enjoy them as well, I knew I had to be able to share.   Rereading the recipe now, I see I forgot to fold half the whip cream in the pumpkin mixture.  They turned out fine for all my changes and mistake. Everyone still enjoyed them.  They were also super easy so I will have to remember to make them (correctly) more often and make a few scones after.     


Ingredients
makes 4 to 6 servings

• 12 Gluten Free Vanilla Cookies, crushed into crumbs
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree (again I had maybe a 1/4 cup more, but I am not sure)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 12 oz. whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed

1. In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter. Divide the crumbs into the bottoms of your trifle glasses (I used short Ikea ones and the one above). Gently press crumbs to form an even layer of crust.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin, vanilla, sugar and spices. Beat until well combined and creamy.
3. Spoon a layer of pumpkin mixture onto the cookie crust followed by a layer of whipped topping. Repeat layers until your trifle reaches the top of your glass. 
4. Store trifles in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 

Enjoy!