Taste of a Weekend Wedding

My cousin Chris got married this weekend to his longtime girlfriend Nora. The wedding was held in the picturesque Berkshire mountains. With the scene set so beautifully, everything else fell into place. From the flower arrangements to the dress, through the vows and the Hava Nagila it was a memorable weekend. Lots of memories were made and there are many things that could be chronicled. What I ended up focusing on (surprise, surprise!) was the food.

Having interviewed several family members, the weekends menu was deemed "good and thoughtful", "visually appealing", and "creative". The Friday night tapas dinner was really what won the couple the creativity points. The tapas really stood out. As Rhiannon said, " They could have done your stereotypical stuffed mushroom caps and what not, but they didn't - they went for unique and creative fare."

The Tapas included a tuna tartare, a fruit compote topped with Brie on a crostini, beef and caramalized onions on polenta circles and an aioli topped chickpea cake

Some of the favorite dishes from Friday night were the lemon squares, the chicken, the beef on polenta appetizer and the prime rib.

Friday Night's Dinner - Prime Rib, Paella, Salad, Vegetable Medley and Chicken

From Saturday the filets, the crabcakes, the shrimp with mango salsa, and the artichoke appetizers were big hits.

The Famous Shrimp Tower

The wedding cake was also especially memorable. Dorothy described it as "deadly" (in a good way) with lots of coconut and walnut. I really loved the icing.

Carrot cake with cream-cheese icing

With 2 fun-filled days and all the meals that came with it, I could write a small novel, but instead I am going to provide you with the visual experience. The food was really presented so nicely that this is the way to go!

Thanks to Dorothy for the photos!

Flashback - Election Night

At this point, probably all we remember about election night was the glory of Obama winning (or the sadness at McCain's loss depending on your affiliations). I want to bring your attention back to another glorious happening that occurred that same day - our interactive election map cake!

Sure the state lines weren't too accurate and there were maybe even a few extra states in there, but it was still pretty impressive if I do say so myself. We frosted as we eagerly awaited the returns and then were able to celebrate with a deliciously colorful cake.

Valentine's dessert

So since we only decided to make the blog yesterday, and have been cooking in this house for around 6 months now, we decided that retroactive posts are okay as long as we have pictures.

Last week for Valentine's day we had a party with a wide selection of desserts.



I happened to be watching Food Network Challenge when the party was suggested, and decided I needed to make a fondant covered cake. It ends up that fondant can be really easy to make. The recipe i found just involved melting marshmallows and adding lots of powdered sugar and crisco. The cake itself is red velvet.



Anna came over to help decorate



Also on the lovely dessert table above are
Angel Food cupcakes with chocolate frosting - made by Sarah Jeffrey
Valentines sugar cookies - made by Sarah Weisbuch
Seven layer bars - Also made by Sarah Weisbuch

I first had Sarah's seven layer bars when she was living in the Bayit sophmore year, and they are basically the most delicious thing ever. There's chocolate, coconut, graham crackers, butterscotch chips and I don't even know what else, and they're amazing and addictive.