Culinary School Blog

More Dinner Guests

Last night, we had Todd and his girlfriend over for dinner.  Todd was one of the guys that built our house three years ago, and is now one of Mark's business partners.  This business endeavor (more about that later) is keeping Mark very busy since we've returned from New York & culinary school. 

Mark started very early Friday morning making the stock part of our dinner - he used veal shanks that I got at Central Market last week to make the Osso Buco, which was our entree.  Once the stock was on the stove & the kitchen was cleaned up, Mark headed off to a meeting & then a round of golf. That put me on "stock watch" to make sure it didn't go above a simmer & that the liquid didn't reduce too much.  Mark also made some carrots and baby onions to go along with the Osso Buco.  He served it all on a bed of risotto, which Todd finished off for him.  Lucky for me, risotto is one of my favorites.  I decided that I was going to tackle making Pistachio Souffles for our dessert.  I was at the meringue stage when our company arrived - a critical step, so Mark and Todd gave Lisa a tour of our house.  I had piped the souffle in the six ramekins & was cleaning up as the tour ended, when I looked over and noticed the yolks which were to go into the souffle amidst Mark's prepped items. Mark and  Todd asked if I could just add them now, but seeing as I had folded the meringue into the base and piped it all out, it was too late.  So, I cleaned out the ramekins, re-buttered & re-sugared them and then made batch #2!  Seeing as I hadn't made a souffle since school, it was good practice.  I had Mark make quenelles with the cherry vanilla ice cream I bought to serve with the souffles, which rose very well.  I think the next time, I'll make a Kirsch Creme Anglaise to go along with them. 

Todd brought a wonderful bottle of '95 Margaux, that he's had in his wine cellar for the last ten years - it was a perfect compliment to Mark's Osso Buco.

We were lazy again & didn't touch one thing after Todd and Lisa left.  Once again, the "Clean-Up Fairies" were a no show & cleaning up pots with leftover risotto is no fun the next day. 

We've also recently had a handful of people ask us if we prepared a major dinner every night - the reply is no, we've had our share of Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store, frozen pizzas & even a bowl of cereal for me! 

Dinner Guests

On Thursday, I went into San Antonio with our friends Bo & Melinda, to look at some kitchen sinks, as they are trying to make a final decision for their kitchen remodel. We made a run to Central Market part of that trip, as well as having a sushi dinner.  Mark & I had plans for the next few weeks for some company in for dinner, so I stocked up on some things.  The choices of fresh seafood, meats & Foie Gras are much greater at Central Market than what we can find here in town.  We usually make a run into Central Market every couple of weeks with an ice chest in the back of the car & then use our Food Saver before freezing the foods, defrosting & using things as needed . Bo & Melinda are remodeling their kitchen & seeing as we'll be building a new home soon, they wanted to show me some of the stores they had found.  The kitchen in our new house will most likely get the most attention in the planning phase of our house, so I was very impressed to see what Palmer Todd had to offer.  I'll be taking Mark back, so that he can also see all the choices.  Before we headed home from San Antonio, we had dinner at a favorite sushi spot of Bo & Melinda's, called Fujiya.  We sat at the bar, where we were given some special attention - too bad Mark wasn't along with us, as sushi is one of his favorites.

On Friday, I made two dozen cupcakes.  I kept one for Mark & one for me, while sharing the rest with our friends that have children.  I find making cupcakes fun.  I also started working on the dining part of our upcoming trip to CA.  We're going to visit family in southern California & then up to the wine country for our anniversay.  I have all our accomidations booked, flights and car rentals taken care of - now the important part of figuring out all the places we'll dine while there. 

Christina & Ruben came over for dinner Saturday night.  It was an enjoyable and interesting evening, as Ruben is originally from Cuba.  Mark prepared Foie Gras, Porterhouse Steaks with a Bernaise Sauce, veggies & a risotto.  On the "lighter side", I made an Apple Tart for our dessert.  We finished off dinner with some espresso & Zaya Rum, which Ruben brought over for us to try.  The rum was wonderful, so smooth!  After Christina & Ruben left, we put away the leftover foods which needed to be placed in the refrigerator & left the rest of the mess for the morning.  When we woke up on Sunday morning, Mark wondered out loud if the "Clean-Up Fairies" had been in to clean up - alas it wasn't so. 

The cupcakes were a hit with our wee dinner guests

We had a friend and her two little boys over for dinner the other night, they are 2 & 3.  We made the  boys Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, as well as chicken tenders, while the adults had Mostacholi, Ratatouille & salad .  I decided to make cupcakes for dessert, as I thought they would like this - the night before I made Strawberry & Cream filled Vol-au-Vents for other guests - which is not very kid friendly.  The boys each had two cupcakes, so I would say they were a success.  I think it was lost on the boys that the cupcakes were made with a French meringue or that the icing was made with an Italian meringue.

The recipe made 12 cupcakes in all, and seeing as Mark & I didn't want any extras left for us, I dropped a few off at another friend's house, who also has two boys.  She "sampled" one of them & described it as a fairy cake.

The self imposed baking strike is over......

We were back home about a month from NYC, before we headed to our house in the Keys for six weeks.  Mark was in dire need of a fishing fix & he also fished both the Hawley & Gold Cup tarpon tournaments in Islamorada. We're happy to say that he was 2nd runner up in the 12lb division of the Hawley.  We stayed at The Moorings Village for both weeks of his tournaments.  We ate well while in Florida - as always.  While in Islamorada we went back to dine at Pierre's , Kaiyo's, Uncle's, & Marker 88.  We found a new place that's quite casual & eclectic called Coco's Cabana near our house, as well as our two favorites:  Square Grouper & Mangrove Mama's.  We only ventured into Key West for dinner one night this trip & enjoyed Cafe Marquesa as always. 

We've been back in Texas since July 1st and just recently bought some land to build a house on.  We're enjoying being back home, even though dining out in our town is sometimes challenging.  A few new restaurants opened while we were gone, so we've tried those a few times.  And we even got a movie theatre in our town!

We ordered a new mixer a few weeks ago, the DeLonghi DSM7.  The maiden voyage for the mixer was a white cake, with strawberry filling & an Italian Buttercream Frosting.  It has a 7 quart bowl, so Mark will be able to make breads much easier with this mixer. 

DeLonghi Mixer

White Cake

We've been home a few days now.....

We've been home a few days now & it's so good to be back home.  Let's just say that after our stint in the loft with the "bed", our bed has felt wonderful & we're both sleeping very well. 

Sunday we spent most of the afternoon, unpacking the boxes that had already arrived and the four suitcases.  This led to Mark cleaning out his side of the closet, to make room for some stuff.  I did the same with all the new cookbooks & other stuff.  We had a quick run to the grocery store in the morning, so we could make Frank & Carmen breakfast, which wound up being more like brunch. There was a distinct difference with our grocery store experience - less choices, but a checkout person that was pleasant to us.   There seemed to be a bit of a problem with the omlettes Mark was making - some muttering about the pan & the uneven distribution of the heat.  There was another "problem" that occured - Mark's car wouldn't start.  My car started right up, but his was dead.  Frank & Mark tried to use jumper cables, but that didn't work, so we called in AAA.  They got the car started, we let it run a good long time & then took it out for a drive.  We got around the block before it died on us.  Early in the evening we met some friends for a cocktail party & got to catch up.  Our lack of food in the house came back to haunt us - I had a bowl of cereal at 11:30 pm, while Mark made a BLT with left over bacon from brunch.  It's a bit different here, in that there's not really any place to call for delivery on a Sunday night at 11:30 - we're o.k. with that!

Monday, I started out the day with my morning walk, taking my usual route.  There's been some changes while we've been gone on my route.  The majority of the my day was more of trying to organize being gone for the last seven months & finding homes for everything today.  We tried to jump Mark's car last night & again this morning, but still it's not budging.  I went for a massage to work out those last kinks from the loft bed - I was so happy to see Debbie, who is one of the best - I was sore, but it was a good sore when she was done.  Mark was back to his workout routine & then had meetings all day. His car was taken in & it needed a new battery, so all is well again.  We also grilled a real dinner - it was great being back in our well equipped kitchen & to be able to grill again!

Today was more of the same - but with no boxes having arrived for two days - we had been hopeful they would trickle in at this pont.......  I did unpack all my tools from The FCI & found a home for them.  We had a shrimp pasta dinner outside tonight & I've already gotten my first two bug bites of the season - oh boy!  We also have our first Chicken Foot game tomorrow night & a few dinners set up with friends of ours in town over the next few nights.  There's a new restaurant in town that opened, so we'll give that a try.