Scrubbing the menu!

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:29:04 -0700

Today I was supposed to go to a celebration of life for a friend who just died of breast cancer. I wanted to go but I was dragging my heels. I realized she would have wanted me to do something that was important to me today so I stayed home and worked on the menu for New Year’s and put together Elise’s doll MANSION with Jeff.

We sorted out all the plate ware and did a good job on the menu.

Here it is! Remember that the theme is DECADENT!!!

New Year’s 2010 - Decadent

Mushroom Appetizer Trio
Cepe marinated in garlic and oil served with a vinaigrette sorbet
Chantrelle Parfait
Truffle Custard

Wild Boar Cassoulet

Soup Trio
Borscht
Lobster Bisque
Vichyssoise

Iceburg Wedge with Roquefort Dressing

Fois Gras, of Course
Fois Gras with huckleberry gastric
Brandy Soaked Prunes filled with Fois Gras Mousse

Caviar on a roasted potato with crème fraiche

Escargot three ways
a la bourgnignonne
Pesto Italiano
Mushroom and Walddon Herb blend

Vrais et Faux - Marrow Bones

Sorbet - Champagne and Persian Saffron

Fillet Mignon with Lobster

Cheese Course
Port Poached Pear with Blue Cheese Ice Cream, a rosemary digestive and a shaving of Parmegiana Regianno

Dessert Duo
Chocolate Decadence layered with Marble Cheesecake dipped in Chocolate ganache
Bailey's Pot a crème

The Menu - A first pass

Sat, 16 May 2009 08:31:29 -0700

Well even though I have not bLogged lately about the New Year’s event we have been thinking about it a lot. We have been purchasing equipment (more on that later) and have been thinking about menu items. There are still a few to fill in but here is the menu as it stands now. Of course it is bound to change as we move forward.

New Year’s 2010 - Decadent

Mushrooms Three Ways
Cepe marinated in garlic and oil served with a vinaigrette sorbet
Chantrelle Parfait
Muschroom Espresso Bisque

Wild Boar Cassole

Iceburg Wedge with Roquefort Dressing

Soup - ? Duo Hot and Cold with Balsamic Jelly Cubes? Not sure

Pasta - I have no idea at this time

Escargot in Garlic and Herb Butter

Seafood Course ? Not sure what to do

Sorbet - Champagne and Persian Saffron

Fillet Mignon with Lobster

Cheese Course - Poached Pear with Blue Cheese Ice Cream and Stilton on a rosemary digestive

Chocolate Decadence layered with Marble Cheesecake dipped in Chocolate ganache and topped with Bailey's Irish Cream Whipped Cream

Suggestions? Comments? Is it decadent enough?

David

Next year already?

Sun, 4 Jan 2009 12:40:14 -0800

Next year’s party will be NUMBER TEN!!
So the theme is DECADENT (get it decade, decadent!)

The question I have is - What foods do you think are decadent?

I have the obvious - Fois, caviar, Champagne, saffron, truffles, dark chocolate and a few others but what other foods are decadent and what makes them decadent?

Is it the rarity or the expense?

Is it the way it is prepared?

Are there foods that some consider decadent and others do not?

As the menu comes together I will post some of the trials (and errors) here. Look for this to happen much quicker this year than in the past.

David

A BIG Thank You to ALL!

Sun, 4 Jan 2009 12:37:26 -0800

Thank you so much for coming to our house for another FABULOUS New Year's Eve party! All of you are the reason why it is always such a success! Thank you so much for attending and participating in this year's New Year's celebration. We hope you enjoyed our holiday gift to each of you! It is such a blessing for us that we can bring in the New Year with such great friends and celebrate with those we love. We hope that you will all be able to celebrate with us next year. David is already planning the menu (check out the bLog at http://www.vastrepast.net.) The theme will be DECADENT! Whitney has already started thinking about the decor and more details will certainly be forthcoming. Jeff is already planning how to make the garage and house clearing and the overall set up may expedient. Of course we know you all WANT to come, but if there are any of you that can NOT make it please let us know.

Please let us know if you took pictures. We didn't even take one! If you can burn them to CD and send us a copy we would appreciate it. Or zip them all and send them in an e-mail. Original resolution would be great. We will be using them for a project for next year! Hopefully this year it will get done. David will be calling on several of you for help with this project. In case you missed Klaus' e-mail he took some wonderful photos here are the instructions to access them -
1 -- Go to www.seeingthemoment.com
2 -- Click on "Password" in the menu in the lower left-hand corner
3 -- Click on "new year's 2008". The password is modmod in one word all small caps
4 -- Click on a thumbnail in the gallery to start the slide show.

First we really want to thank all of you for the wonderful gift of the Warholesque paintings of our wedding photo. It is a gift that will grace our walls in a prominent place. We will think of you and the amazing time we had a the MOD New Year's party whenever we look at it. We have hung them in the family room and they look GREAT!

As I said above we would very much like to thank all of you for coming and warming our house and our hearts. There are also some specific people we need to thank who did an amazing amount of work to make the party as spectacular as it turned out. There is no way we could do this on our own. the bigger and more elaborate the party gets the more help is needed. We really appreciate the help and support.

Of course we need to thank Ms. Whitney. Her inspiration and creative vision were so much part of the event. She was a blessing when it came to bouncing food ideas around all year long and her brilliant vision brought MOD to life. Thank you so much for everything you did including all the work setting up and taking the garage apart after the party. Every year the event gets better and better and it is in large part to your help.

Isolde always comes early and stays late and especially this year without her help in the kitchen we would not have been able to accomplish any of this party. She was the force behind the Baba's and many other dishes! She washed dishes until her hands were like prunes! And she made us all laugh with her incredible sense of humor. And she sewed her wonderful dress besides all that! Thank you for all your help Isolde.

The week before the party we always have such a great time because one of our favorite families comes to visit and help out. Marty and Ariel were so instrumental in the preparation of the food and the set up of the house. Ariel was the creative force behind the decoration of the bar area. The pixalator was her great idea and it was one of the highlights of the party. Marty thank you for all your help at the bar, in the kitchen, moving furniture, basically being here to do anything that was needed, special help opening jars and doing manly tasks was appreciated. Thank you also for most (not all) of your puns. Avi and Jacob were great playmates for Matthew and Elise and a good time was had by all. Also thank you both for introducing us to Alron.

David Britnell was so helpful in setting up the garage and lights. We think he must have some monkey in him because he can get up so high on those ladders! He, along with Denise, were so helpful in clean-up afterwards. They stayed an extra day to help out and it was great to get to know Denise better. Thank you both for all your help and for making our New Year's special.

Klaus, thank you so much for the AMAZING photos! They are so good they made David cry, which is not hard to do, but it is heartfelt. We were so excited that you and your lovely bride Chista could attend this year. Thank Chista your help in serving almost every course was invaluable.

This was the first year Alaron has attended "The" party and she was very helpful with cooking. She and Holly were incredible when it came pounding meat and stuffing their pounded meat. Holly also helped with anything she was asked to do. Thank you both for all your help. Hopefully there will be less pounding of meat next year and some new and interesting culinary duties.

Heather, Scott, Laura and Eden all came early to help with cooking. Scott did a yeoman's job of caramelizing ALL the onions for the French Onion soup. It was delicious in large part to his patience and skill. Laura made the wonderful little sesame crackers that adorned the soup. Heather helped all round on many different dishes and pitched in where ever we needed her. Eden's help in procuring the Baba pans and coating and frying the chicken was incredibly helpful. Thank you all for your help.

Pam, Tracy and Julie also came early to help us out. This was Julie's first time and she jumped in with gusto and helped on anything that was put in front of her. Thank you for peeling all those potatoes! Pam's skill in the kitchen came in handy for the salmon poaching and many of the other HUNDREDS of tasks that needed to be done in order to get dinner on the table. Also her catering techniques helped us get the food out fast and hot! Thank you for your insights and of course your cooking skills. Tracy also came early and was a great help chopping and sorting herbs as well as picking up the odder tasks! Merci!

Sean did an amazing job at the bar, but more importantly his help before the event setting up the bar room and helping Ariel made the calm before the storm bearable. Sean we appreciate your help and hope you had a good time.

Mark also helped in the bar and kept the cooks glasses full (a very important task!) We missed you coming early in the week, but were grateful that you and your lovely wife could be here as much as you were able. You have been here through thick and thin and we appreciate all your help.

Kristen thank you for coming all the way from England and then spending so much time in our kitchen preparing the last minute details and keeping David sane. We miss you incredibly! We can't wait to read your bLog!

Chuck and Steve thank you so much for staying after the party and helping with clean-up. We are so much further ahead than we usually are at this point! We appreciate all your help and your friendship.

Robin and Willow were back again this year to help clean the dishes and set out some the plates etc. These to young people are a God-send to David as it allows him to spend more time in the table and less time in the kitchen. Thank you both so much for your help.

And finally a big thank you to EVERYONE who helped with the serving, and cleaning, and story sharing and entertainment (planned and otherwise) and all the love and caring that you give to us all year long!

If you have read this far then we thank you for your time and patience!

We hope that you all have recovered from the evening and that you will think back on the start of your year many times during the year.

Love David and Jeff

Schedule for the Weekend

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:46:49 -0800

Well the snow has stopped (sort of) and looks like it is melting and might actually be gone before New Year’s. This is good news since we already have TONS of food in the house and if people don’t show up then we will be needing another Freezer to store the leftovers.

I am committed to updating this during the prep time. We will see if I can do so. I have a grocery run to make this morning and then cook, cook, cook!

The above photo is from last year - deep fried raviolis! The menu can be found HERE.

Below is the schedule for the weekend as it stands now. Of course there are multiple other things on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that could be done earlier depending on who shows up to help.

David

About this Blog

Scrubbing the menu!

The Menu - A first pass

Next year already?

A BIG Thank You to ALL!

Schedule for the Weekend