Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Friday Night Dinner Party and Foodie Finds

On Friday evening the hubby and I had two other couples over for a dinner party.  I spent the day prepping and baking, and getting ready for an evening full of good eats and good company.


We started the evening off nibbling some mushroom crostini (unpictured) and goat cheese tarts.


Next we tasted beet and goat cheese cream puffs, with a bit of arugula blended in.

 

For the next course we savoured camembert tarts with bacon.

Camembert Tarts with Bacon

1 sheet puff pastry
1 onion, thinly sliced and caramelized
Camembert cheese, cubed
10-12 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 eggs
3/4 cup whipping cream
Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350. Grease 8 tart forms and line each with a layer of puff pastry.  Spoon the onion and bacon evenly into the tarts.  Cover with cheese.  Mix eggs with cream and pepper and pour over.  Bake for 25-30 minutes - until puffy and golden.


We grazed on a butternut squash salad.  Adapted from the recipe here.


We slurped curried lentil soup.  Find the recipe here.


We dined on crown pork with apple sauce, and mushroom risotto.  The hubby rubbed the crown pork with a rub I was got in my FoodBuzz Festival swag bag.  The mushroom risotto recipe is here.


Finally, we indulged.  There were many desserts including a selection from the goodies I made the day before, a chocolate vanilla bean pear crisp that I came up with a while ago, and Angela's pumpkin gingerbread with spiced buttercream (which is SO insanely good).


I also pulled out a treat that I brought home from San Fransisco, and I made all my friends try it.  

They were hesitant at first, but they loved it.  How could they not?

Mo's Bacon Bar (Basically chocolate with sea salt and bacon in it) - That's how I roll ...
Bacon + Chocolate = Hot Steamy Love.

Do you want to know what else goes great with chocolate?

Coconut.

I also bought this in San Fransisco:


I enjoyed it on my oatmeal on Saturday morning.


Both of these products are things I had been dying to try, and they were well worth the wait.

Are there any foodie item(s) you are dying to try, but haven't because you can't buy them where you live etc.?  What are they?


24 comments:

Anne @ Food Loving Polar Bear said...

Ah, everything looks so delicious. I wish we would have a bigger apartment because I would love to have dinner parties too.. well, maybe next year :)

I've been curious about Lärabars and Garlic Gold products, but I cannot buy them here.. sadly!

Emily said...

This post is loaded with good stuff! I don't know where to start.

First your oatmeal looks so good! Mine never looks that good.

Mmm bacon bar.

I want to come to your house for a dinner party. That's a ton of good food you had. That gingerbread looks good... I think I should make it.

Simply Life said...

wow! what an amazing dinner party! I'm usually excited if I can figure out 2 dishes that go together! :)

Anonymous said...

I want everything trader joe's. seriously...I ran out of their pumpkin butter and I need more...and all their frozen shizzle. did you get to go while in sf? btw I seriously accept care packages if you have extra food...hahahahhaha

Astrid said...

Wow, Jolene, that is an impressive dinner party. When I get married, cn you cater my wedding? Or at least brainstorm with me what kind of cool foods I can have? You have such a natural knack for planning. I would love to hear more abot weddings that you have planned, too. Oh, and I want to see a pic of the antrho coat you bought!

Kat said...

Girl you know how to throw a party!! I wish I lived near you so you could give me some pointers!! I want to have a party SO bad but I wouldnt even know where to start...

:Deliciously Healthy said...

Seriously? You blow me away!

Lisa's Yarns said...

Oh wow, what an amazing dinner party! Your guests must have been so impressed!

I cna't think of any foodie items that i want but can't get... Good question, though... Hmm... I will have to think about that!

Kacy said...

Oh my goodness everything looks SO good! That is my kind of food! :)

There are so many things from Trader Joe's I want to try. So many things.

Amber said...

Ahhh! Your dinner parties always look so fancy and fabulous!! :)

suki @ [Super Duper Fantastic] said...

what a fabulous dinner party! everything looks absolutely amazing. i'm going to have to try those camembert tarts some time. they don't look terribly difficult to make!

:) glad you were able to find some cool stuff to bring home from SF.

Alaina said...

Jolene it was such an honour to be included in this amazing dinner party. It was truly over the top in the most awesome way! I have never, ever been to such an indulgent feast. We are still raving about our favourites and I have been waiting and waiting for you to post recipes so that I can try some out. Thank you SO, SO much for your wonderful hospitality and amazing food! We are so lucky to be your friends!!!

amanda said...

Is it bad that I want to eat every single thing in this post? It all looks soooo delicious. I have never seen crown pork before.

Angela (the diet book junkie) said...

LOVE the table setting! and yes, there are TONS of food i'd love to try but can't find them in Oz. even molasses, i went to the grocery store and they didn't know what it was. unforunate, considering the holidays are right around the corner, sigh....:)

Lisa said...

The pork is beautiful!! And I love the idea of bacon & chocolate; this morning's NY Times had bacon with herbs, sounds equally yummy.

lynn said...

amazing gorgeous dinner!
i've yet to try a lot of the fancy schmancy PB's i see on other blogs. can't bring myself to pay that much $$$

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

i have been wanting to try daiya cheese, the vegan cheese. and i just havent bought it yet b.c well, it's expensive and i dont even miss cheese..haha! :)

Madeline - Greens and Jeans said...

I think you need to do a "how to" on planning out the timing of a dinner party. I always struggle with multiple courses!

Rich said...

Okay, I got overwhelmed by the awesomeness halfway down and had to take a break - I'd love to say what looks the best, but I think it's impossible; it all looks brilliant!

The Fajdich Times said...

What a fantastic dinner party!! The Camembert Tarts look amazing! That Bacon Bar looks sooooo good:)

Devan said...

wow! i am in awe! of your table setting, the food! so beautifully prepared!

I would love to try that cocoa butter.. yum, it looks so good in your oatmeal!

thehealthyapron said...

Holy dinner party batman! What a feast! You are talented!!

Anonymous said...

you throw such great dinner parties lady!

Yelena said...

What a meal! Everything looks delicious. And heyyyyyy I remember that chocolate bar! I'm so glad you found it.