Fall Dinner Party

Happy Monday! It's hailing here in NYC this morning but I have a giant coffee and some scrambled eggs with toast to keep me company while getting through this gloomy morning. This past weekend, in addition to indulging during the Giants and Jets game, Shaun and I hosted our first official dinner party in our new abode! With lots of help from my mom, we decked the place out with fall flair in preparation for the party. Oh and did I mention that the food was abundant and delicious to boot?

This week I'll be wrapping up some specifics for you, but today let's start with the menu. My mom and I wanted a sort of Americana theme so we dished up some comfort classics. Here's the breakdown:

Hors d’Oeuvres
Shrimp Cocktail
Buffalo Chicken Dip (Shaun’s specialty)
Cheese Board
Smoked Salmon with cream cheese & capers (more on that here)

Dinner
Mixed Greens with Beets & Pomegranates
Pulled Pork & Shredded Turkey
Macaroni & Cheese
Stuffed Peppers

Dessert
Maple Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Apple Pie
Molten Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Chip Cookies

If it seems like a lot, well...it was! Needless to say that with all of this delicious food, Shaun and I are sittin' pretty with lots of leftovers to get us through the week. In fact, yesterday was so full of lounging, recovering and eating that my breakfast consisted of a cupcake and a healthy dose of Teavana's Earl Grey Creme.

Is there anything more comforting on a lazy Sunday morning while catching up on Barefoot Contessa eps? Anyhow, for today's tidbit, I'm showing you how to pull together a quick and easy cheese board. I simply picked up a few of my favorite cheeses, including Blue, Aged Cheddar, Garlic and Herb Goat, and a giant wheel of Brie. I spread them out on a large cutting board and created tiny flag labels out of scrapbook paper, toothpicks and tape so that all the guests would know exactly which variety of cheese they were about to get down with. 

I also included a small bowl of honey which is absolute heaven when drizzled on a wedge of blue cheese atop a multigrain cracker. The sweet and savory combination is to die for! I could eat this all day every day...and sometimes do. I served a plate of crackers and melba toast to complement the cheese and the smoked salmon platter. Any cracker of your choice will do!

So there you have it. A sneak peek into our first dinner party in our new home. Stay tuned for more recipe roundups this week. So what I want to know is: What is your favorite hors d'oeuvres? Is it a creamy dip? A basic cheeseboard? Dish in the comments!

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

The Halloween holiday spirit, that is. Today I'm happy to report that my Dexter cupcakes went all Halloween today as they are featured on City's Best - New York City as one of their Top 7 Killer Cupcakes for the upcoming Halloween holiday! Check it out, along with some other yum-inducing Halloween cupcake ideas from around the city that I will surely be pulling from for the party at my sister Kimberly's place this weekend.

Meanwhile, I mentioned that Shaun and I have been getting in the spirit since this past weekend. While I baked up some goodies to share with all of you later this week, Shaun whipped up this little beauty of a jack-o-lantern to deck out our living room:

 

I know, it's amazing. He is really the creative and artistic one in the family! Since I can't let anything go to waste, and I'd always wanted to try them, I dug out the pumpkin seeds from the innards of our jack-o-lantern and was determined to get my roast on with these little guys. After carefully plucking, rinsing, rinsing again and roasting, I have to admit...I don't really get what the big hullabaloo is over pumpkin seeds. They seemed like a lot of work for little reward. I roasted half with only olive oil and kosher salt and the other half with olive oil and pumpkin pie spice (typically the cure-all for anything!). My feelings after completion? They were just eh. Does anyong else feel this way?

 

Oh, and remember how I was telling you yesterday that Shaun made a delicious dinner on Monday night so that I could get my butt to the gym? Well I did remember to snap a pic of this delicious meal, and one of my favorite comfort food dinners - grilled cheese and tomato soup!

I realized that this could be great Halloween fare as well, since the tomato soup is orangey red (and those are homemade croutons people, crafted by a one Shaun Humiston) while the grilled cheese just oozes bright yellowy-orange. In fact, the grilled cheese could even be cut into smaller, bit size pieces - perfect as party finger food, while the soup could be put into tiny cups for a warming sip of soup for guests!

And last on the agenda for today is a photo I came across while sorting through my picture library on Sunday ( I swear, one of these days I will organize my photos and then my life will be complete!). It's one of my first Halloween costumes - Raggedy Ann!

The costume actually spawned from a life size Raggedy Ann doll and was born when my mom realized that the dress on the doll actually fit me too! Add a sweet wig and I was on my way. I'm not sure what age I am here...Mom?

So there you have it, a little roundup of what's been going down at the Humiston household to prep for Halloween and get ourselves in the spirit. So what about you? Have you been decorating? Gravitating towards orange and red foods, as we have? And bonus question: what were you for Halloween as a child? Any fun costumes?

Halloween Queso Dip

This weekend, Shaun and I really got into the Halloween spirit. After meeting for happy hour after work on Friday near our apartment, we spotted the marquee at the Loews Landmark Jersey Theater advertising a showing on Saturday night of Nosferatu. Nosferatu is a silent film from the 1920's that essentially copied the story of Bram Stoker's Dracula. In fact, many original copies of the film were destroyed due to copyright infringement, though a few survived. Cool right? And this version would be shown at the Loews Jersey with a live organ accompaniment. We couldn't wait to get in the Halloween spirit in our very own neighborhood with this rare experience!

Imagine our surprise when we arrived for the 8:20 showing to a line wrapped around the theater, block after block. The restored theater holds 3,100 people, and I think it was almost full for Saturday's show! There's just something about an old theater that really makes a movie feel magical. Loews Jersey did not disappoint.

We had passed by the theater countless times since we moved into our new apartment, we had yet to see a movie there. The theater was unbelievable and the film was just the right amount of spook and old-world cinema charm. Oh and the live organ wasn't too shabby either. It was the perfect way to kick off the Halloween season. And you know I wouldn't forget to mention the food. The theater sold boxes of hot, salty popcorn for $1 a pop. Now this is a Saturday night I could get used to. 3-D and CGI, who?

Meanwhile, it got me thinking about all the delicious Halloween eats and all the fun ways to incorporate holiday colors into food for upcoming Halloween events. So this week I'll be bringing you some fun yet grown-up ideas to incorporate the season into your own parties! Yesterday, though neither the Giants or Jets were playing, I whipped up some queso dip with blue corn tortilla chips for football Sunday, you know, to mimic the colors of the season. Festive, no? It was warm, cheesy and had all the right moves to grace any Halloween party.

Queso Dip
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 C milk
1 1/2 C cheddar cheese, grated
6 slices American cheese, cut into pieces
1/8 tsp chili powder
1 can Rotel, I used mild
1 can chili, if desired

In a small saucepan, bring the milk almost to a boil. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter and then whisk in the flour until it is combined and a light paste is formed (this is a roux). Whisk the milk into the roux over medium low heat until all is combined and the mixture starts to thicken. Whisk in the cheddar cheese until completely combined (this should happen quickly) and then the American cheese.

Once all combined, add the chili powder, Rotel and chili, if using. Mix altogether and serve. I used a baby crock pot (not shown) which keeps the dip warm, but if serving immediately, a small serving dish should work too. Keep the rest of the mixture on low on the stove so the small dish can be refilled.

 

I thought that starting with a standard Bechamel (white) sauce would be the best way to keep the mixture creamy and saucy, rather than thick and lumpy - that's the roux/scalded milk mixture for ya. And I'm happy to report that I was right! It was creamy without being thick and clumpy, which is exactly how it would have been had I not used this as the base of my sauce. And if you're feeling non-meaty, simply eliminate the chili since it was just as delicious without it. But don't skimp on the Rotel!

So there you have it. An easy, grown-up way to add some Halloween fare to your upcoming party or gathering. Oh and it works just as well as a Sunday Game Day Eats dish too! So what I want to know is...what's on your list of delish eats to make for Halloween? Are you hosting? Or bringing some delectable grub to a party?