Easy Desserts for Summer Parties

Today we offer four easy ideas for desserts for your summer parties.  All take less than 15 minutes active time and all are elegant and summery--just the thing for your gathering!

People often are stumped when it comes to dessert for a summer party.  My parents' generation served truly seasonal summer desserts and this just seems logical! Of course, I also remember my mother deciding to cook a turkey dinner in July for visiting relatives back when, as she had just gotten a new stove and wanted to try it out.  NOT! It was too hot to enjoy that turkey.  BUT she also served summer berry parfaits, which were all anyone really ate that night, and desserts were more, well, seasonal then.  This makes sense and is actually easier than baking a dessert.

The following ideas ARE truly summery desserts for your parties this summer, so dig in!

• Fresh seasonal fruit served with a tiramisú dip/sauce of equal amounts of mascarpone and sour cream, a spoonful of heavy cream, 1 or 2 spoonfuls of espresso, 1 or 2 spoonfuls of marsala or sweet sherry, and brown sugar to taste.
• Cantaloupe or honeydew melon, cut in half; spoon a berry sorbet in the middle (mound it up), and garnish with a fresh mint leaf.
• Buy the most excellent strawberries you can find.  Then macerate them for an hour or two in kirsch liqueur and serve in wineglasses, with or without whipped cream on top--this is a traditional summer dessert in southern European countries.
• Either layer Greek yogurt, with an equal amount of sour cream and a little sugar stirred in, with fresh seasonal fruit in wine or parfait glasses or mix these same ingredients in a blender.  Taste and add more sugar if necessary.  Spoon into wine or parfait glasses, decorating the top of each glass with a whole berry.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Orange pound cake with Gran Marnier Whipped Cream on upcoming menu!

Creating Interactive Food Stations at Your Home Parties This Summer

As part of our continuing blog series, "Summer Entertaining," today we offer 5 ideas for creating interactive food stations at home parties and gatherings this summer.

Lately we've had a lot of interest in this concept and it's pretty easy to do at home.  Food stations aren't just for big events and big venues. And people really love this because it gives them something to do and they customize their food the way they like.

First, decide where you'll serve the food.  A kitchen island or counter are good places.  If you use a table for the food station, make sure you cover it with a tablecloth, or that you don't mind a few drips or dribbles or some spilled food.

Next, choose your ideas for the station(s).  Here are 5 ideas:

Skewer station--Grilled or cured sausage pieces, grilled chicken or shrimp or meat, cheese pieces, grilled or fresh veggie pieces, fruit, olives, any food small enough to eat on a skewer.  Put out skewer sticks.
Pita and falafel station--Serve pitas (you can keep them warm in a tortilla warmer) and falafel, maybe some chopped fresh vegetables, and condiments such as harissa, zchug, or other falafel-esque condiments
Taco or fajita taco station--Tortillas (in a tortilla warmer), meats, cheeses, sour cream, avocado, spicy salsas, and other fixings
Fondue--Buy or borrow a fondue pot or improvise with a big heavy saucepan and skewers.  For dipping serve small chunks of bread, sausage or beef pieces, or veggie pieces (and for dessert if you want to carry the theme through, cake pieces dipped in chocolate fondue)
Submarine or Poor Boy Sandwich Station--Your favorite cold cuts, cheeses, sub-style bread, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, olive spread, pickles, mayo, vinaigrette, or whatever other condiments you like

The fun in serving the food this way is that people love choosing their ingredients and it makes the gathering merrier as people linger over the food station trying to decide what to pair with what.  Plus it's easy to pull off successfully as you don't need to serve a lot more (or anything more) than the piece de resistance, the interactive food station.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-077
www.fandango-catering.com

This week: Turkey Tonnato Roulades w Lemon-Caper and Herb Mayos, Avocado Vichyssoise, more:
http://ping.fm/XduH0

3 Easy Food Ideas for Summer Entertaining:
http://bit.ly/9OepuP

Three Easy Food Ideas for Summer Gatherings

Many busy people would love to entertain in summer but have no or very little time.  Today we offer 3 easy food ideas for summer gatherings that require very little time but are stylish and that guests will love.

Loco for Skewers

Skewers are easy and fun.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Buy a variety of gourmet or artisan sausages--the cured or smoked kind--and maybe some prosciutto or jamón serrano.  Just spear one or two pieces of sausage on a skewer or cocktail pick, and thread the long slices of prosciutto/j.s. on skewer sticks.  Add cherry tomatoes and/or fresh mozzarella balls to the skewers if you wish, or serve them alongside the skewers.  With a good wine or beer pairing (and increasingly we're seeing pairings of both at events, which we think is great), you've nailed it! Serve.

Same idea, but make it interactive--put out the skewer ingredients in bowls for guests to build their own skewers.  You can add items like marinated mushrooms, cooked or grilled shrimp or chicken, other types of cheese in cubes, olives, even fruit pieces.  Or not; if you're pressed for time, stick with things that don't need cooking.  The fun lies in making your own skewers, not in a gazillion ingredients.

Same skewer idea, but serve a nice salad or cold soup alongside--If no time: buy an organic salad mix, local cherry or tear tomatoes, and a quality vinaigrette.  If you have a little more time: make your own salad and buy the vinaigrette or make it; or look online for cold blender soup recipes you can make in 15 minutes or less, seriously! Our cold summer blender soups are VERY popular with our clients, especially as shooters (BTW, we buy the shooter, or schnapps, glasses at a very reasonable price at IKEA).  No desire or time to buy shooter glasses? No worries! Serve the cold soup in mugs or or even drinking glasses, filled halfway or 1/3 of the way. Or paper cups, preferably of the recyclable paper type.  We lay out the soup glasses on a tray or the client's counter or island and everyone likes it because it's fun, different, tasty, and refreshing in summer's heat.

So summery! And you hardly spent any time in the kitchen.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077

Asked by clients last nite-fuet ingredient in chef's paella -Span sausage cross bet salami & Ital sausage:

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuet