Kendall Jackson- en route to Healdsburg. This was our first official wine tasting stop on our drive up to Healdsburg from San Francisco and my best notes to date on what we liked and disliked. We also made some purchases and got a couple bottles to enjoy at the hotel. One that we all agreed on was the 2007 Vintners Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. We liked it so much, Bethany ordered a few cases for her wedding. Not that they had to sell us on it since they were already swiping the credit card, but they said in a blind taste test with 5 others of their Sauvignon Blancs, this particular one wins every time and just goes to show that the price of the bottle is not always a good way to gauge a wines value in taste. This one is $11 a bottle and with 20% off, a good deal indeed.

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Upon returning from Sonoma and the long awaited bachelorette weekend for Bethany, a friend asked, “So which one of you slept with Sandra Oh?”  No, no, nothing of the sort happened and I will spare you all the gory details since I was forced into signing an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) at the airport, but in short, it was a sensational weekend, a couple extra scratches and bruises, joined a wine club, a few scuffles, a missed flight (this was not our fault!), an Excursion Limo (hehe), and a busted digital camera later, amazing meal after amazing meal, we have memories to last a lifetime.

On these trips with multiple people so many thing can go wrong. This is where the planning comes in handy. I made a point not to bring my laptop either, so I really had to plan ahead with the maps and the options and contact information readily available. I don’t rely on iphones since I wasn’t sure what network was available where we were headed. 

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I completely forgot to post this wonderful Sunday Supper I made a couple months ago. Now that summer flew by and is winding down, I better get on it. 

One Saturday night, I had decided to stay in, which seems to be happening more and more these days. I made a large amount of Moroccan spiced braised lamb shanks, knowing that I could freeze them and have ready-made dinners for the week.  Ok, I know this isn’t the most hot weather friendly meal, but sometimes you just crave things and personally, I would rather make my version than spend a ton at a restaurant and have it be sub-par.

Since I had made a huge pot of the lamb shank and also had just gone to the Hollywood Farmer’s market that morning, it was as good a time as any to have a couple friends over for a nice, early dinner and enjoy the daylight savings hours. I had recruited my friend, Wan, to come and help me make a tart that day so dessert was already in a good place.  I screwed some tarts up on my first try and he promised to share some of his secret chef ways with me.  

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Kate Whittle-Utter is home from college for the summer and had contacted me about wanting to help me out on Wallflour. Though she claims to want to learn more and everything about food and entertaining, from the sounds of things in her brunch article and menu she planned, she already knows plenty!  I was very impressed that she even cooked for 20 people (with the help of some enthusiastic friends) which is no small task and had fresh waffles and scones made from scratch. Turns out we have a lot in common-  she’s a natural planner and spearheads social activities among her friends, oh and she’s a perfectionist.  

These days, I tend to only serve a meal for 8-10 people, but she gives some great tips on how to make it doable for larger crowds. The overflowing crowd brings to mind my attempts of entertaining in my 20’s. One major problem I still have in my 30’s is keeping the guest list and invitees manageable both for financial and spatial reasons.  If there is one thing I have learned from a career in the commercial arts, you can’t please everyone all the time.  Besides, it kinda blows my cover when I post about a fun party I just hosted.  

Stay tuned for more ideas from Kate for “Entertaining in your 20’s” and vegetarian food ideas.

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I am a perfectionist. I come up with these overly extravagant fantasies of cooking and entertaining for my friends and family, and am constantly and inevitably disappointed. I am my own downfall. But, I am learning from it. Trying to make everything look perfect and planned is overwhelming and stressful. This summer I have taught myself to stay away from the Martha Stewart ornamentation that would keep any host hot glue gunning trinkets for hours, and to move back into a form of entertaining that is homey, easy and perfect for big groups of people.

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a summer brunch, along with my two friends Max and Lucas, for twenty of our friends. 

Summer Brunch Menu:

Portobello and sun dried tomato frittata

Spiced waffles with vanilla whipped cream

Fruit Salad

Blueberry scones

Banana nut chocolate chip muffins

Bacon

Orange and Grapefruit mimosas

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My friends say that I have officially crossed over into yuppie-dom.  I, of course, would beg to differ, though I find myself going back to LA Mill Cafe quite often and frequenting Barneys New York.  The tell tale sign of course would be when hot dogs and hamburgers don’t quite cut the mustard anymore for the Fourth of July.   

This year would officially mark that for me.  My friend Stephen had been asking me to “co-host” an event with him since the beginning of the year.  He is a recent foodie convert, trading in his cigarettes and Monster energy drinks for the more palatable taste of food, and has become quite adept in the kitchen. 

Since both of our busy schedules were getting harder and harder to coordinate the perfect day, we decided to host a Fourth of July, out of the ordinary, chez me.  He appropriately coined the term “Upscale Patriotic”.  We came up with a seasonal tasting menu which basically changed up until the last minute as certain items were not “tested” enough prior to serving for a crowd.  I’m all for making guinea pigs out of guests, but he was a bit more reluctant.  Our final tasting menu involved seven courses, not counting the amuse bouche.

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My sister, Alberta, planned a picnic lunch to celebrate my neice, Kaia’s, fourth birthday.  I went to Boston for my annual family trip since her birthday falls on Memorial Day weekend almost every year.  We took a ferry boat ride to one of the Harbor islands, Georges, on Memorial Day to have the family celebration with Mom, Alberta; Dad, Murray; baby bro Mr. Dane; Kaia, and myself, “Auntie Camille”.

It was an unusually gorgeous day for Boston this time of year; sunny and clear, breezy, and not humid.  A perfect day to have a picnic on an island and fly a kite.  I was hands off in regards to the picnic menu.  As you will see, being a foodie and a control freak, runs in my family.  

The menu was put together from some favorites my sis has used.  We are both fans of Nigella Lawson’s cooking and recipes.  They are simple and easy to prepare, but taste great. 

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Los Angeles is known for its year-round sunshine.  There has been a few exceptions, but the lack of seasons can sometimes be annoying when you feel like hunkering down and making some great braised meats.  We have had more rain than usual this year. After a sun soaked week on the mayan riviera with my family, i came back to a nice week in LA- although i was secretly hoping for some rainy weather.  This weekend it got cloudy for a day, so i decided to plan my menu based on chillier times. 

I’m having three girlfriends over on monday night to discuss a very important topic:  bethany’s pre-wedding bachelorette weekend in Sonoma.  I am admittedly manipulating this celebration to avoid any talk of hiring a male stripper or going to vegas.  Classy all the way.

We aren’t going until August of this year, but since that is high tourist season, i wanted to get everyone together and discuss the itinerary that i mapped out and make the necessary arrangements-  as well as delegating minor tasks.  I can’t do everything.  But i did find it appropriate to cook a nice meal and get our minds in the mood for a visit to wine country and michelin star restaurants.

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Aprés ski is so much more rewarding than just an after work drink at happy hour.  I don’t even remember the last happy hour i have been to since most times, i don’t get out of work early enough to take advantage of half price drinks and  bar food discounts. In any case, after a hard day of snowboarding and skiing in extreme weather conditions, we headed back to the condo for some good ole R&R.

My friend, Chad, famous for his “sunset cocktails”, came up with this drink.  He had an abundance of kumquats from his own organic, backyard trees and brought  them up to the mountains. These were the leftovers after he already did some fervent canning.  Apparently there is a surplus of kumquats in Socal this year.  Perhaps this drink will help alleviate that.  It has officially replaced the pomegranate martini and the mojito for me as a cocktail of choice.  He was inspired by the kumquat bourbon drink special he had at the Hungry Cat.

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Bacon lovers unite!   Last summer, while i was still giving birth to wallflour, some friends threw together a bacon brunch based solely on the fact that a few months worth of a gift subscription to the Grateful Palate’s, bacon-of-the-month club had been piling up in their freezer.  For shame!

Back by popular demand, i decided to host it at my place this time.  I don’t need a lot of convincing to have or participate in a food-related party, but to make the star of the party bacon? It was a dream come true!  There are entire websites and cookbooks dedicated to bacon.  Some even release a new bacon recipe everyday!

I once tried being on the Atkins diet. The best part of this diet was getting to eat eggs and bacon.

You either love bacon and think ‘this is the grandest idea ever’ or you think i am nuts and a complete glutton. My boyfriend is not a bacon fanatic. He likes it enough, but i don’t think he would order it by the slab, uncut, like i do. He wouldn’t go out and buy a bacon wallet or anything, or a bacon plush, like some people i know…

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This year, my family decided to all come to Los Angeles for Christmas. it was a great place for everyone to come and get out of the colder climates that some of them live in. Aside from a couple days of rain, for the most part the forecast was clear and sunny, just as predicted. As the years progress, we all have obligations to alternate who are holidays are spent with. Is it family, friends, or significant other’s families, or a vacation getaway? how does one spread the love?

For the mere fact that I do not run a 7 bedroom B&B, despite popular belief, my boyfriend and I hosted Christmas this year and had some out of the ordinary things to figure out. Since some were staying at hotels nearby, we wanted to have a few meals other than just the big Christmas Eve dinner. I planned a buffet style, casual dinner for us on one of the first nights everyone was in town. Aside from the Christmas Eve dinner, we also hosted a Christmas Day brunch. There were some toddlers involved (my neice and nephew) so we needed to have some kind of Christmas morning gathering so that Santa’s visit could be appreciated. Below are some menus I put together for the 2 dinner events. It was ambitious on my part and took some planning and prep, but was definitely worth it. Overall, everything went smoothly. The gourmande in me always goes a little overboard I admit, but the holidays are as good a time as any to celebrate, especially among loved ones.

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My favorite aspect of Thanksgiving is that it is a holiday based around plentiful and luxurious foods.  I love how people who aren’t normally inspired to cook, want to get involved and experiment.  I also enjoy sharing and exposing favorite foods to people.  I was deemed the kitchen sergeant.  Everyone wants to help so i had to delegate.  Thankfully, i never felt separated from the group since the house is so open and airy and the kitchen really felt like the central, congregating area.  There’s nothing worse than feeling like a kitchen slave.  For those who can’t cook or have no interest, i have no shame in putting them on cleanup duty.

Thanksgiving 2007 was yet another memorable Thanksgiving event.  For the past few years, I have opted to spend Thanksgiving among friends.  Traveling faraway that weekend is on my least favorite things to-do list.  I usually spend Christmas with my family and feel like I get more relaxed, quality time with them.  This year the same core group that I have been having turkey day with decided to rent a friend’s mid-century modern Alexander home in Palm Springs for a few nights.  Lucky for us their rental became available. I had been searching online with various rental companies and after reading small print and asking some questions a quick, affordable weekend getaway was looking more like a down payment on a Prius.

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Entertaining can be a very intimidating and daunting task for many people. My enjoyment of inviting people over was born partially out of necessity, as most things are.  Endless nights of bar-hopping, fine dining at not-so-fine establishments, and empty vintage pocketbooks doesn’t sound that appealing when you reach the age where the expression “house rich, cash poor” actually makes sense.  

The first thing to go is the group dinners and nights out when an easy $100 can be spent on dinner and wine and a couple of cocktails.  Maybe not even the cocktails.  Ok-$150 if you are being extra smart and taking a cab too since you just threw back a recipe for heartburn and became a hazard to anyone else on the road.  Minding my retirement funds and paying a mortgage have limited this particular aspect of my social life.  

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