Archive for the ‘ Parties ’ Category

A Couple Odds & Ends

Author: ilana

Dec 22

A few weeks ago I ran into a friend and she asked me how I liked the cheeses Kirios surprised me with for our semiversary. I’ve been meaning to report back, and appreciated the nudge! So I’ll give you a few follow-up tidbits to a couple of posts, and then I’ll let you know about the cheeses.

Holiday Parties – Remember when I told you that my office hadn’t even sent anything out about a holiday party yet? Last Thursday, an email was sent out gauging interest in a potluck for today – the Thursday before Christmas. Now, I’m actually leaving the office at noon to go to the doctor. But let me tell you, other than me, there are probably 3 people from our department who are here today. Unsurprisingly, a follow-up email went out saying there wasn’t enough interest to have a potluck. The original email also said we’ll be having a “New Year’s luncheon” in the second or third week of January. Yea… our manager totally forgot to have someone plan a holiday party. Epic office fail.

Meat Pizza – Apparently, completely distraught over the lack of lamb bacon from my trip to Koshermart, Kirios called the store the following day to see if it was now in stock. And it was! He was planning to surprise my brother, sister-in-law, and me with it last Wednesday, but when he had a 4pm meeting scheduled, he knew he wouldn’t have time to pick some up when he got home from work. So I took my sibs back out to Koshermart, and we were all able to enjoy a lamb bacon pizza in the end afterall. And I froze the beef fry strips so Kirios and I can enjoy them another time 🙂

Now the cheeses – overall, I’ve been enjoying all of the cheeses Kirios brought me. I’m sad that they’re mostly eaten by now, but also excited to go back out and buy more cheeses. I guess I’m hooked now!

The fontina was the “least scary” cheese. I’ve had it before, afterall, I studied inItaly! It’s salty and melts well, it’s easy to grate, and I especially like having it with pasta.

The comte, like the fontina, was relatively mild. It’s less salty than the fontina and has a nuttier flavor, in part due to its thick rind. I especially enjoy the comte in sandwiches.

The creamy toscano with espresso delighted Kirios and I both. It’s an incredibly flavorful cheese, that I would eat anywhere, anytime.  My only complaint is that the espresso shavings on the outside of the cheese get messy. But they do add to the flavor, Kirios is especially fond of pieces that include the espresso itself. It’s definitely a cheese I’ll be purchasing again. And since he liked it so much too, Kirios will complain less about the fact that I’m rebuying instead of trying something new 😛

The Spanish cheese tapas sampler with iberico, cabra al vino, and manchego was a nice snack to have with crackers and a bottle of wine. And it’s easy to serve, since the cheese is pre-sliced into wedges. While the first two cheeses tasted pretty similar to me, I do think the wine in the rind distinguished the cabra al vino. And the manchego had a fruitier taste than the other two. All three go nicely together.

Finally, there was the semi-scary looking wild blueberry vanilla chevre. Despite being a soft cheese, it’s not bad at all. I do like goat cheese, and get it on dishes at restaurants from time to time. But I’m still a bit at a loss as to what to do with it at home. This particular goat cheese tastes like yogurt with a thicker consistency.  I wouldn’t eat it at the same time as my other cheeses, since it’s sweet instead of salty. I think it would be really great on a bagel. (Although admittedly I haven’t bought any.) I’ve had it on toast as a morning snack, and when my brother and sister-in-law were visiting, they topped some homemade blueberry muffins with it. Overall, a nice cheese… but I still can’t help but think of cheese as a savory snack.

As for the other surprises, I’m almost out of chai powder, and we have yet to try the mulling spices, but are still looking forward to doing so this winter!

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Filed under: Food, Holidays, Parties, Trying New Things

Don’t Kill the Dinner Guests

Author: ilana

Dec 22

Dinner party etiquette can be extremely complicated, and while I don’t typically host formal events requiring the use of a confusingly high number of scary utensils, there’s one rule I try to live by: don’t kill the dinner guests. I learned from my mother, when inviting someone for the first time; always ask if they have any food allergies. What about other food restrictions, medical, self-imposed, and the ever pleasant ridiculously picky eaters? Depending on the type of event and the number of people you’re cooking for, it can get tricky.

When you’re not serving a meal, it’s typically pretty easy to provide a variety of snacks that can keep everyone happy. And individuals with more difficult restrictions are generally accustomed to asking in advance, bringing something along they can eat, or at the very least, showing up with a full stomach. But when it comes to a home cooked dinner, I have a lot of sympathy for people with dietary restrictions. After all, I keep kosher and I have Crohn’s Disease. I think choosing to keep kosher is similar to choosing a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I have certain traditions, beliefs, etc, and while others may not share them, I want them to respect them. And while my disease is well-controlled through medication and for the most part, it won’t hurt me to eat anything in moderation, there have been times when that’s not the case, and my diet is incredibly restricted. I may not go into anaphylactic shock, but trust me, Crohn’s flairs aren’t pretty, and can lead to severe malnutrition, dehydration, and a need for serious drugs, hospitalization, or even surgery.

Generally, by asking people if they have allergies, they’ll volunteer any other pertinent dietary information. But at the same time, it’s not as wishy-washy as asking people if they have any likes or dislikes. If someone doesn’t like the texture of mushrooms – will eat them if they’re mixed all together, but pick them out if they’re big enough pieces, tough toenails! (I know – what a ridiculous phrase. My boss says it all of the time and I couldn’t resist.)

So this brings me to the Friday night Shabbat dinner party I hosted last week. My brother was visiting from Seattle, although his wife had to leave for New York Friday morning. Kirios was busy with his company’s holiday party. But I was taking the day off to spend time with my brother, and wanted to ensure that our evening was filled with good food and good company. I invited our first cousin who lives in the area, as well as her roommate who is also a friend of mine. I invited a childhood friend who lives in the area, and hadn’t seen my brother for a decade, and with his boyfriend. 6 people, no problem. There were a couple of allergies in the group – tree nuts, fish, sesame, and cocoa. As depressing as being allergic to chocolate sounds, this didn’t seem like a menu-planning challenge at all. In honor of my brother and cousin, and I decided to make our Grandma Magda’s Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage – a real patschke recipe that I had never tried myself (Yiddish for a production), but a wonderfully heavy and distinctive meal for a winter’s night.

Then all hell broke loose. And by that, I mean my brother casually asked if he could invite his fraternity brother who lived in the area over for dinner. I can seat 8 at my table, and cooking for seven or eight isn’t really any more work than cooking for six, so I naturally agreed. In fact, I had recently seen this guy at an event, which he attended with a lady friend. So I told my brother to go ahead and invite his girlfriend as well. They both graciously accepted our dinner invitation. “Ask about allergies,” I instructed my brother. Turns out the girlfriend is a diabetic who eats no carbs (including rice) and is allergic to soy. GREAT.

That’s when I started to panic. I realized it would be easy enough to keep some of the stuffed cabbage separate for her, without any rice mixed into the beef, and without any sugar in the sauce. The Hungarian version of this recipe is sour, and only includes a spoonful of sugar anyway (unlike the Polish, who make it sweet with raisins). Obviously I was planning to make challah for Shabbat, which she wouldn’t be able to eat. But I was determined to plan the rest of our menu to include her dietary restrictions. In the end, my brother and I settled on making a butternut and acorn squash soup, and roasted broccoli, onions, and mushrooms to accompany the cabbage. We were told she could eat fruit, nuts, and chocolate for dessert. Since nuts and chocolate were already on the allergy list, we had been planning to make an apple crisp. For our diabetic guest, we took some of the sliced apples, doused them in cinnamon, and baked them for her.

In the end, the stuffed cabbage and the rest of the food came out well. No one went hungry, and as far as we know, no one got sick from our food. I’d consider that a successful Shabbat!

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Filed under: Food, Health, Holidays, Parties

Holiday Parties

Author: ilana

Dec 12

During my last trip to the supermarket, I replenished my supply of olive oil and bought a box of Hannukah candles. Kirios’ parents put up their Christmas tree and lights (I’m still waiting for them to bake their Greek cookies though!) Although I’m not quite sure what happened to fall, it’s official: the holiday season is here.

As a young professional, the holiday season usually implies two things – holiday parties and empty offices. Every company celebrates the holidays a little differently – some host classy formal affairs, others challenge their employees to drink to the point of being ridiculous without jeopardizing your job.

When you work for a quasi-federal/severely in debt institution such as the Postal Service, however, holiday celebrations are typically limited to pay-your-way affairs. Two years ago, my manager brought in donuts and hosted a small gift exchange before our department went out to a nice restaurant for lunch. I supplied 50 homemade latkes to represent the festival of lights. It was a nice time, and my supervisor voluntarily covered lunch for his employees.

Last year, my department opted for a swanky lunch at an Italian restaurant along with a Postal Trivia activity. It too was a nice affair, but it set me back $35. My fellow young professionals (there were 3 of us under 30…) bemoaned the cost of a meal we didn’t get to choose, and discussed passing up on the party. But alas, when someone 3 levels above you in the corporate food chain invites you to a luncheon, non-attendance doesn’t seem to be a viable option.

And this year? Well, my manager has been so swamped and things around the Postal Service have been so depressing, no one’s even mentioned a holiday party. Sigh.

In contrast, Kirios’ office party is usually a fancy event with a nice dinner and an open bar. Employees are sent home with a token gift (last year it was Ralph Lauren drinking glasses) and participate in a white elephant gift exchange. The owners purchase all of the gifts, last year’s most coveted prize was an iPad. Kirios didn’t win it, but he did walk away with a netbook, and his coworker sitting next to us went home with $300 cash. Not too shabby. Unfortunately, Kirios will be attending his office party stag this year, since my brother is coming to visit. Although it’s not a great loss, I can’t help but feel disappointed that I don’t get to pretend for an evening that I work someplace that likes to celebrate and treat its employees to a night out.

I guess for this year, I’ll be enjoying holiday parties with friends, homemade treats, and other holiday rituals. And of course an empty office for the next couple of weeks 😉

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Filed under: Events, Holidays, Parties

Come Together

Author: ilana

Oct 22

While middle school is far behind me, I must admit, I have a bit of a clique issue. Many of my greatest friends from college are, well, a bit cliquey. They are all awesome people, which is in fact why I am friends with them. Individually, they are all nice outgoing people who are happy to hang out with a new face. But sometimes something happens when you get a few of us together in the same room. It’s as if they (we?) are so content talking amongst themselves that they see no reason to meet anyone else who may be at the same event.

The cliquey-ness is not a new diagnosis. It was already a well-known subject when we were in school. I had been close friends with a few of them since the very start of freshman year, but it took me about a semester to gain full membership status with everyone when I started hanging with the whole crew junior year.

Since graduating from college, we’ve all dispersed a bit – we have a friend who sails around the world working on a cruise ship, one who moved to Guam, and even a Marine Corps Officer who recently returned from Afghanistan. But there are still a bunch of us in the Greater DC area and when it comes time to throw a party, such as the one Kirios and I hosted for his birthday the other week, they all do their best to show up. And then the party splits in half; there’s them, and who ever else shows up – usually a hodgepodge of folks I’ve met since graduating, a few people I knew from before school that have wound up in the area, a coworker here and there, and now of course the friends I’ve made through Kirios. Some of the hodgepodgers know each other already, but regardless, they usually all meet and mingle.

This past weekend I attended a birthday party for my friend Rachel who I met through Kirios. It was a similar situation – a Sunday afternoon affair with an incredibly long window for people to show up. (There was less of an emphasis on drinks though, since no one had off this past Monday.)  Rachel and Kirios went to high school together and have remained good friends. Since I came into the picture, Rachel and I have become good friends as well, so I didn’t hesitate to attend her party solo with Kirios out of town for the weekend. At the party, other than the birthday hostess, there were a couple people I had met multiple times and even invited to past parties that I had hosted. There were also a bunch of people I had only met once or twice, at other events Rachel threw. One such acquaintance said to me, “How have you been? I haven’t seen you in forever! …It must have been… Rachel’s birthday last year already?!?” Of course, there were also a couple people I had never seen before in my life, but no matter. We all got together for a large game of Apples to Apples and were enjoying each others’ company. When that broke up, I talked to people about their jobs, relationships, and hobbies. (And of course their ever important sports-team alliances – it was a Sunday so I was naturally rocking my Hines Ward jersey.) At one point in the early evening I taught a bunch of people how to play Trivial Pursuit, and by the time I left to meet up with another friend for dinner, every one at the party hugged, waved, and/or wished me goodbye.

When I met up with my other friend for dinner, I told her how nice everyone had been at the party. Being one of my typical “hodgepodger” guests, we couldn’t help but compare with the party for Kirios’ birthday the week before. My friend suggested that I encourage everyone to play a game at a future party in order to promote more interaction, as we had at Rachel’s. In the past, I’ve always enjoyed a good game of Taboo or my Pittsburgh crew’s favorite, Time’s Up! But I typically try to go with the flow when I host parties, lest I overwhelm myself. (which I do quite frequently) So I have to wonder, what’s the secret to throwing a great party? Is it necessary to bring everyone together, or should you let it be – if those who want to meet and mingle are doing so, and old friends are having a nice time catching up amongst themselves, who am I to intervene? And if I do want to encourage people to forge new friendships, are games the best way to do it?

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Filed under: Birthdays, Parties

Sunday Party

Author: ilana

Oct 15

Last Sunday we hosted a party in honor of Kirios’ quarter-century birthday. Kirios really wanted a Saturday night party, with hopes that things would get so crazy I’d kick everyone out of my apartment and lead the procession straight to the bar for debauchery and dancing. Unfortunately for him, the Saturday preceding his birthday was Yom Kippur, and I wasn’t exactly up for throwing (or even attending) that sort of shindig after spending the previous 24 hours fasting. Many of our friends spent that day fasting as well, and did I mention I was invited to four break-fasts? We decided that this Saturday (today) night would suffice to throw a party, but then Kirios’ parents announced that they would be taking him to New York to see his yiayia (grandmother) and aunts this weekend. And that left us with a Sunday affair.

Now, Sunday afternoon and evening is a fine time to get together with friends, and the fact that Kirios, myself, and many others were off of work for Columbus Day this past Monday only improved the situation. But hosting the Sunday afternoon/evening party is a whole different beast than a Saturday night rager. First there’s the time frame – when do you invite people to come? We decided that 4pm would be a fine start time – that way we wouldn’t have to rush to get ready in the morning — especially helpful since I was in Baltimore observing the holiday on Saturday, and didn’t have time to prepare at all – but still early enough that anyone who did have to wake up early for work on Monday would still be able to stop by for a while. Still wanting it to feel like a late night party with potential for a bit of craziness, Kirios set the end time at 11:30. He then went back and changed it to 3:00am without telling me. Men!

Then we had to decide what to do about food – right smack in the middle of our party time frame is a little thing I like to call dinner. But we have to make some compromises, it’s just not practical to invite everyone you want, supply drinks, and supply a full meal. So we decided that we’d purchase more substantial snacks, but not a full-out dinner, and hoped for the best. We had the typical chips and dip and assorted sweets, all trumped by the gooey delicious Monkey Bread Kirios’ dad baked in lieu of a traditional birthday cake. We also make a trip out to Costco and purchased frozen spanikopita and mozzarella sticks.

The final important decision in planning Kirios’ party was deciding on a theme. Kirios thought “birthday party” counted as a theme. Booooring! I love throwing a good theme party. It gives people something to get excited about, a chance to think about the party in advance as they plan their outfit, and something to differentiate it from all the other parties they attend. And if you’re just not that into the theme, I’m not going to be turning people away. Party City trips bring me great happiness, and over the years I’ve managed to collect quite a few pieces of flair to pull out depending on the theme du jour. In the end, the choice was simple for Kirios – I love theme parties. He loves me. Thus when we throw a theme party and everybody wins.

My former roommate and her hubby came over for dinner a couple of weeks earlier and came up with the winning theme – plaid, in honor of Kirios’ massive collection of plaid shorts. Kirios spends nine months out of the year wearing plaid shorts, a t-shirt, and brown flip-flops. He even has a plaid bracelet. He gets teased for it frequently, and in time, I’ve come to appreciate it along with his other quirky traits. Funny thing though, I didn’t own a single piece of plaid other than some old pajama pants from high school. So Kirios and I hit up the mall one night before the party. (I wanted to find him a birthday present; he insisted we spend the whole night picking out plaid for me…) Apparently, plaid is quite the fad these days. Hipsters have paired their plaid button-downs with skinny jeans and thick black glasses and made it theirs. Thus, finding plaid was no problem for me or the majority of our guests.

So with all of this planning, how did the party pan out? Our first guests arrived around 4:30, our last guest left at 1am. The number of guests probably peaked around 7 or 8pm. But there was some confusion about when the best time to show up was – in fact, after texting several times to gauge how the party was going, Kirios’ best bud finally made it out around 7:30, when others were already winding down. We decided the window was a bit too big for sustained party strength overall.

The Costco snacks were a real party pleaser – I have never seen a plate empty so quickly as when those mozzarella sticks came out of the oven, and a ridiculous 2 lbs. of guacamole was consumed. But despite our guests’ healthy appetites, we still have half a package (44! mozzarella sticks), sitting in my freezer. And plenty of spanikopita, chips, and other treat as well. Not to mention abundant amounts of beer and liquor. I guess you could say my kitchen has the ultimate bachelor pad stock up these days…. And one thing’s for sure – in order to clear it all out, I’m just going to have to throw another party!

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Filed under: Birthdays, Food, Parties
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