Holiday Cookies

I finally taught myself the "flooding" technique for sugar cookies. You can use any recipe for cut out sugar cookies and royal icing. There's a lot of information online already about this technique so I won't bother going into detail here but I will offer two pieces of advice. One is to place any balls, sprinkles or other decoration quickly after laying down the icing so they stick easily in place. The icing sets very quickly so do it in batches if you have a lot of cookies. Second is, most directions advise you to use a toothpick to help draw the flooded icing into crevices, which is helpful, but I also found that on the larger cookies it was much faster to use a small spoon to spoon out icing into the "arms" of the snowflakes and the use the toothpick to finish off the job.

Caprese Bites

It's the good old party stand by. Here I've drizzled the platter with reduced balsamic vinegar, place the caprese bites on top, drizzled with olive oil and put the basil over top so that it would stick. A light sprinkle of sea salt over everything and- voila.

BBQ Tofu and Roasted Brocolette with Garlic

This dish also came with a red cabbage and carrot cole slaw.

Fabulous Party at The Old Stone House in Brooklyn

Party for 55 people. Seasonal, heavy on Vegetable and able to be served room temperature requested.
Menu-
Miso Glazed Eggplant with Quinoa Salad

Roasted Shoulder of Pork Stuffed with Garlic and Sage with a Dried Fruit Chutney

Roasted Carrots and Garlic Sautéed Kale with Tahini Sauce

Poached Side of Salmon on a bed of Arugula with Mustard and Lemon Vinaigrette

Roasted Beets with a Farro, Roastex Butternut Squash and Leek "Risotto"
With Reduced Balsamic Vinegar

Saffron Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Olives with Cumin Roasted Carrots

The "Wild" Meal

Herb Roasted Wild Boar with Onion and Demi Glacé, Sautéed Dandelion Greens, Chanterelle Mushrooms with Cream and Rosemary. Garlic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.

A Lot Going On

So much going on, and lots of cooking.  I totally forgot about photos this week but here's a quick list of some of the things that came out of the Olivia Cooks For You kitchen-

Herb Roasted Murray's Chicken with Roasted Organic Root Vegetables

Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs with Egg Noodles

Sage Pork Loin with Apples and Onions and Roasted Garnet Sweet Potato Spears

Seared Filet of Salmon with Organic French Green Lentil Salad and Sauteed Baby Bok Choy

Homestyle Meat Loaf (Grass Fed Beef and No Antibiotic Heritage Ground Pork) with Lemon and Garlic Green Beans and Organic Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Organic Carrots, Sauteed Organic Purple Kale, Organic Short Grain Brown Rice with Tahini Dressing

Organic Buckwheat Soba Noodles with Sesame, Soy, Scallion and Seared Tofu

Roasted Zucchini, Eggplant, Red Pepper, Tomato, Garlic and Basil with Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli and Parmesan