mac + cheese party!!!!

in ,

this weekend we took our imaginary little delorean back to the 90s for some fruit by the foot, neon accessories, a synchronized skating competition at the town ice rink (what!), and a party in celebration of the only food that i would eat for a bulk of the 90s: macaroni and cheese. even though i totally forgot to wear light-up sneakers and make lisa frank goodie bags, it was fantastic.

i set up a little bar with two kinds of pasta, cheesy roux, mix-ins, and toppings, and had my friends fill up cute mini cocottes before we stuck them in the oven to bake. those who wanted to fully relive the 90s in the form of hot dog mac and cheese with extra cheese and ketchup could (that would be me), and those who scoffed at the hot dog idea and wanted the healthier option of whole wheat pasta, vegetables, a teensy bit of cheese, and a sprinkling of za'atar could (oh hey, eggboy). 

while the mac and cheese baked, we had wine and salads and discussed the pros and cons of putting ranch dressing in our mac. have you ever done that?? i'm a new convert, it's so creamy and tangy! however, we did conclude that you can put pretty much anything in a pot of cheese and pasta and you won't really screw it up. except sprinkles. sprinkle mac and cheese might get weird. 

here was our menu:

for noshing // a simple mixed greens salad, so we could at least try to be healthy with all of this mac and cheese.

main course // basic cheddar mac and cheese (recipe here)

toppings // cut up hot dogs, broccoli florets, peas, chopped red bell peppers, everything bagel spice, za'atar, gomasio, crushed red pepper, sriracha, ketchup, ranch, breadcrumbs, black pepper, and parmesan.

dessert // fruit by the foot, gushers, fruit roll ups, rice krispie treats :)

to sip // kendall-jackson avant red blend

here are some tips for throwing your own mac + cheese party:

1. go completely crazy with mix-ins. i think next time i'd like to add chopped apples, crushed walnuts for a topping instead of breadcrumbs, bacon, pesto, tater tots... the possibilities have no end!

2. toss your pasta in olive oil so that it doesn't stick together while it's sitting out. this isn't totally necessary if you cook your pasta right before guests arrive, but if you'd like to cook it earlier in the day, toss it in a tablespoon or two of olive oil, let it cool, and then keep it covered and in the fridge until party time.

3. you can prepare your cheese sauce an hour or so in advance. keep it on the stove on low, and stir it often so that a film doesn't form on top. ideally, it's best to keep it on the stove on low even as guests are dishing up, but if you're going to use it immediately and want to have everything set up on one table, you can put it out on a trivet.

5. pre-heat your oven to 375 in time for when guests arrive. i found that baking our little cocottes for 15-20 minutes did the trick. you can certainly turn the broiler on to get some more color on the tops, but i didn't because i am terrified of the broiler. 

6. if you don't have mini cocottes or other little oven safe dishes, you can nix the baking step all together. for this route, cook the pasta right before it's time to dish up, and whereas for a baked mac you'd want your pasta pretty al dente, cook your pasta fully so that it's ready to eat.

7. have snacks and drinks ready for while the mac is baking. and keep them on the lighter/healthier side since mac and cheese is so darn filling. (same goes for dessert! save the rich chocolate cake for a salad party.)

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!!

everything bagel cheez-its

in

when i arrived in tampa for cousin mia's bat mitzvah utterly famished and then was able to immediately pacman seven soft homemade chocolate chip cookies all by myself in my hotel room, i knew that it would be a good weekend. that mia totally nailed her welcome basket. and i was right, her bat mitzvah was indeed the greatest bat mitzvah ever (not just because i snuck into the kids' side of the party and got a t-shirt airbrushed with a chihuahua (?)). mia's welcome basket, in all its chocolate chip cookie and florida oranges glory, totally inspired eggboy and me to want to give our out-of-town wedding guests the same warm sweet welcome when they got to town.

in a perfect world, we would have picked up all of our out-of-town friends at the airport with a homemade lunchable and plenty of warm cookies in tow, but we were busy frosting cakes and stressing out about where to put the tractor that was taking up our entire dance floor, so mum and i did the next best thing and made up cute hotel welcome baskets that (we hope) said prepare for a weekend of fun, cheese, and sprinkles. i loved putting those baskets together! they were actually welcome sacks because they were in fabric flour sacks from the mill that processes eggboy's wheat, but if every task for our wedding was as fun as putting together welcome sacks, by golly, i would get married to eggboy a million times.

our welcome sacks consisted of:

everything bagel cheez-its (recipe below!)

sprinkle biscotti

za'atar popcorn

ring pops

blood orange hard candy

almonds

apples and oranges

little bottles of wine

my eyeballs just about popped out of my head when i saw that everything bagel cheddar exists. it is so good. i am such a fan of this movement to apply everything bagel seasoning to more things than just bagels. i basically want to sub everything bagel cheese anytime a recipe calls for cheese: everything bagel cheeseburgers, everything bagel pizza, everything bagel grilled cheese. everything sounds so good with everything bagel in front of it. so i'm starting small, with a nice cheesy cracker that highlights the flavors of this tasty cheese. it's based on my sriracha cheez-it recipe, and if you can't find everything bagel cheddar at your grocery store, you can certainly use plain cheddar and add a few teaspoons of everything bagel seasoning to the mix. 

everything bagel cheez-its

makes about 4 servings

ingredients

8 oz everything bagel cheddar, shredded*

1 c flour

a good pinch of kosher salt

a few turns of black pepper

4 tb unsalted butter, cold and cubed

2-4 tb cold water

*i hate shredding cheese so much. almost as much as i hate using the can opener. i've definitely made this recipe before by ripping the cheese up into chunks, adding it to the food processor with the flour, salt, and pepper, and processing the heck out of it before adding the butter.

clues

preheat oven to 350. line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

place cheese, flour, salt, and pepper in a food processor and pulse until combined. add butter and pulse until the mixture turns to small pea-sized pieces. continue pulsing and add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture resembles couscous and sticks together when you squeeze a small amount in your hand. turn it onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to work the mixture together into a ball of dough. roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness and then cut out 1 1/2-inch squares. place them 1 1/2 inches apart on your baking sheets, sprinkle with a bit more salt if you'd like, and bake for about 20 minutes, until they're lightly browned.

enjoy!

-yeh!

jerusalem bagels, harissa honey labne, and a middle eastern wine & cheese party ( + a giveaway)

in

you know what i love about being a grownup, other than being married and being able to buy nice overalls without fearing i'll get too tall for them? getting away with a 4pm wine and cheese party. like, really partying, getting to sleep by 9, and then waking up early enough to make sweet potato gnocchi and accomplish one bread rising cycle before the sunday morning political shows even begin. i love it. i love being old. i love having wine glasses from our wedding registry and i love putting out olives with my cheese even though i don't eat them. 

(remember the 10pm party from college? how did we do that?) 

my 4pm wine and cheese party was my first ever wine and cheese party and i can't believe it's taken me this long to have one. it was so fun and grownup. we played records as the sun set, and talked about baby showers and bachelorettes. in brooklyn, my idea of a fancy cheese plate would have consisted of an oozy epoisses and some delicious old chatham... maybe a hunk of bleu des causes and a ramekin of salvatore ricotta... but here, with no cheesemonger in site, if we want to get fancy we're forced to be way more creative than going to the store and buying a wheel of cheese (not that there's anything wrong with that): marinate all the feta, strain all the yogurt, drizzle on the date honey! before long i had myself a middle eastern cheese party menu and it tickled me so. i did have to google middle eastern cheese and in a perfect world i wouldn't have driven all the way across town in a failed search for halloumi, but i'm v happy with how it turned out. v v happy. here was our menu:

harissa honey labne // it's sweet, hot, and refreshing all at the same time. i was afraid its pepto bismol-ish color would scare my friends away, and maybe i was hoping that would happen so i could have all of the leftovers to myself, but alas (or luckily) they loved it. recipe below.

marinated feta, inspired by eva // because feta is just so much classier when it's in a brick and all prettied up with herbs, no?

dates stuffed with cream cheese, sprinkled with smoked maldon salt, and drizzled with date honey // dates drizzled with date honey... is that what meta is?? major hugs to chanie for the israeli date honey hookup.

dukkah crackers // mmmm these are so good and made with chickpea flour, so they're gluten free. you can make them with za'atar or dukkah or both.

jerusalem bagels // jerusalem bagels are fluffier and way bigger than new york bagels. they're best shared with a bunch of friends on the streets of jerusalem with a little baggie of za'atar for dipping. and it turns out they're also best shared with a bunch of friends on a farm a million miles from jerusalem. recipe below.

olives, olive oil, za'atar, roasted chickpeas, grapes, nuts, and honey // noshies and condiments, noshies and condiments.

a trio of halva for dessert // classic, cinnamon, and coffee flavor, straight from the machane yehuda market in jerusalem, also c/o chanie because that girl knows the way to my heart <3 <3.

pinot noir // ok, this isn't middle eastern, but we had a ton leftover from our wedding :)

harissa honey labne

ingredients

1 qt plain full-fat yogurt

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 tsp harissa powder

4 tsp honey

olive oil

clues

line a strainer with cheese cloth and set the strainer over a large bowl. mix the yogurt with the salt and then pour it into the cheese cloth. let it strain in the refrigerator for 24 hours, checking once or twice to pour out the liquids from the bowl. 

place the strained yogurt in a large bowl and mix it with harissa and honey, spread it on a serving plate and drizzle with olive oil. serve with crackers or bread.

jerusalem bagels

makes 6 large bagels

ingredients

4 c bread flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tb sugar

1 c warm water

1/2 c warm milk

1/4 c olive oil

1 egg, slightly beaten

sesame seeds and salt, for sprinkling

clues

in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. add the water, milk, and oil, and mix for about 10 minutes, until you have a nice smooth dough. transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let rise for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

on a work surface, divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll them out into long pieces, about 1 1/2 feet long, and shape into ovals. place them a few inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment, brush them with the egg, and sprinkle all over with sesame seeds and a few pinches of salt.

let rise for 30 more minutes. preheat oven to 350, and then bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned.

serve warm, with za'atar for dipping.

-yeh!

this post was done in collaboration with le creuset in celebration of their new wine and cheese line!! the goodies i used for this post are their round platter with cutting board, large carafe, compact lever (which is some serious magic), and foil cutter. it's a beautiful line that could maybe even make a night of velveeta and two buck chuck feel classy (hehe). oh oh! and do you want to win a round platter, a compact lever, and some other fun le creuset goodies??? leave a comment here with your favorite cheese!!!!!! open to u.s. residents. update: this giveaway is now closed.

p.s. (!!!) in march, i will be taking my first ever trip to north carolina for a weekend of eating, food styling, and fly fishing on cold mountain with eva and carey! it'll be the tastiest slumber party in all the land. care to join us??? right this way.

vanilla cake, vanilla frosting, and a marzipan succulent

in

oof! nobody told me that the first week back to work after a wedding/chrismukkah double feature is about as fun as peeing in a public bathroom. *flips hair/rolls eyes* ok, i'm being extremely dramatic, but still, i was a grumpy gabby more times this week than i'm willing to admit (maybe i've got a case of the januaries???), so i'm just going to weed all of those out and tell you about some of the finer moments from these past few days:

eggboy and i made butter!!! we were discussing the origins of fairy bread and how we could elevate it to best fit our grownup married life and i suggested using homemade butter, to which he responded what? no. that's wizardry. you can't make butter. and then i showed him, the old heavy cream in a jar way, and it blew his mind. he tried to drink the whey because he thought it would make him buff. 

the destruction, or rather transplanting, of my gingerbread farm. i was ready to burn it to the ground because it's taking up precious dining room space and getting coconut everywhere, but eggdad refused to see that happen, so i think he's actually "renting out space in our basement" to store it while he researches the best shellac method for gingerbread buildings. 

my first hotdish. ok, for how many failed recipes i made this week, i deserved to nail this one on the first try. i nailed it like a nail gun going into plywood. nay, styrofoam. it smelled so good, it tasted great, and it's even healthy. as soon as i figure out how to make it look not like the grossest barf in all the land, i'm going to show it to you!

a whole bunch of "cold day" pictures and texts from my parents, in chicago, depicting "cold day" marathon bread baking sessions and "cold day" crafts. they were cute, but from what i can understand, a "cold day" is like a snow day without a whole lot of snow, just a lot of cold. and based on my weather app, that cold was a balmy one degree. did you know that in the st. paul school system the temperature requirement for a cold day is negative 40????? chicago, you are a bunch of penises*.

*ugh, you're right, i shouldn't judge, i don't ever leave the house during the winter and when i do i look like a michelin man. 

my brunch club began to plan the baby shower for our first brunch club baby!!!!! i've never planned a baby shower before but i am soooo excited. it's not for three and a half months and i already have the menu planned. teeny weeny sandwiches, teeny weeny scones, teeny weeny cocktail weenies. 

and for what is sure to be the finest moment of this week: egg mama's birthday tomorrow!!!! seven cheers for egg mama. egg mama is an o.g. farm wife, a master at many things (my favorite of which is chicken and dumpling soup), and the best mother-in-law an egg girl could ever ask for!!

this little cake is for her and it's a great great grand baby of magnolia's chocolate cupcakes. i've made that chocolate cupcake recipe countless times and each time people tell me that it's the best cake they've ever had. even "people who don't normally like cake" like this cake. it's so rich and unbelievably m-word (ok, moist). i've had difficulty finding a vanilla cake that i love just as much as those chocolate cupcakes, almost to the point of obsession, but i think i've found it. this vanilla cake retains the fierce moisture that makes those chocolate cupcakes so good, yet it's just the slightest bit denser, making it easier to handle in layer cake form. the one pictured here is a half batch, which i've simply baked in an 8" pan, frozen over night, and then cut into three 3 1/4-inch rounds and frosted. you can choose to frost it all naked (like the one in the picture) or double the frosting recipe and slather it up because it is january 8th and your diet should be over by now. 

vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and a marzipan succulent

makes one 2-layer 8-inch cake

ingredients

cake:

1 3/4 c sugar

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp each: baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt

2 large eggs

1 c buttermilk

1/2 c flavorless oil, like canola

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c boiling water

frosting**:

1 c unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 c powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

a pinch of kosher salt

**this will make enough frosting for a naked cake (like the cake in the picture). if you'd like to slather on a thick layer of frosting all over the cake, double this recipe.

succulent:

a nice handful of marzipan

green food coloring

flower cookie cutters in three sizes (or you could free-hand it!)

 

 

clues

cake:

preheat oven to 350.

grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.

in a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. in a medium bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients except for the boiling water. whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then stir in the boiling water. it will be a very thin batter. pour into cake pans and bake until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 28 minutes.

let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn onto a cooling rack.

frosting:

use an electric mixer to beat all ingredients together until smooth. taste and add more sugar, if desired. 

to assemble:

level your cakes and slap a hefty dose of frosting in between them and on top. smooth a thin layer of frosting all over the edges and use a bench scraper to scrape down the sides until they're smooth.

succulent:

knead a small amount of food coloring into your marzipan. roll it out on a surface dusted with powdered sugar and cut out three flower shapes in three different sizes. stack them up with the biggest on the bottom and press down in the center so that they stick. you could also place a small dollop of frosting between them to help them stick. crimp up the flower petals to give it some dimension. place it on your cake!

 

happy birthday, egg mama!!

-yeh!