Man I am SO lazy. I have SO avoided writing this blog about the housewarming & rehearsal dinner I catered back in August. Hell a picture is worth a thousand words right? I'll let the pics speak for itself & lay off on my infamous long winded commentaries. The night before I left to Atlanta for my brother's wedding I catered a party for two of my friends from my old softball crew Lance & Martha... 100 people showed up it was NUTS! I planned & prepped the whole menu myself & the morning of the party Mimi surprised & said that she wanted to come & help... I LOVE this woman!!!! She was so killer in that kitchen. She is such a wonderful addition to my life & has the best intentions & plans for the growth of Single Serving. Check out these bad boys we concocted:
I made the Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes because we drank a lot of car bombs when we played softball & this was thee first thing Lance requested

Star Studded Cast: eggplant for the eggplant crostinis

Balsamic vinegar & sugar for the balsamic simple syrup for the watermelon, tomato & basil skewers


Getting ready to mash the eggplant



Baked & ready to spread on top of a crostini

Star Studded Cast: Smac-K-N-Cheese

I add kielbasa sausage to mine

as well as red, yellow & green peppers

Laying the 6 cheeses

Hot sauce makes the heart grow fonder


Pork shoulder for the Griot

I haven't seen bitter orange or mojo this big since Miami I was so STOKED this is what I used to marinate the griot

Marinated griot (Haitian pork chunks)

Star Studded Cast: bread, chimichurri & parmesan for crostini




Finished Griot with Piklis (Haitian pickled hot salad with habaneros)... the BOMB no self respecting Haitian lives without this!

Mimster building the Watermelon, tomato & basil skewers

Empanadas with chimichurri


Griot

Mmmmmmmmmmm PIKLIS!!!!

Smac-K-N-Cheese

Arroz Primavera (Veggie Yellow Rice)

Pretty darlings

Bacon Wrapped Nanners... the easiest & BEST appetizer in the WORLD!





Prosciutto, Arugula, Mushroom, Red Onion & Black Olives Herbed Crust Pizza with Truffle Oil

Mimi laying out the truffle oil

My rock... STAR

Mini Phillies








Someone walked into the sliding door & did THIS! You just can't let EVERYONE in your home... HA!

Entertainment. I love this kid


Lance & Martha



My brother married a Mexican girl & the entire process of their wedding was being filmed by MTV 3 called "Quiero Mi Boda" it's a reality show focusing on cross cultural marriages. I wanted to marry the cultures with the menu also by mixing both Haitian & Mexican influences. It was a MAD house so unfortunately I don't have a lot of pictures of the food. It was a 3 hour sit down dinner because we had to stick to the show's "schedule". Guests arrived 2 hours late. I literally had an hour to finish 5 courses. The experience still makes me sick to my stomach. Hands down thee WORST day of my life. Here's the menu:
(Click menu below to view what I made)

As soon as I got back from the store I took everything out of the bags & started practicing the table setting at my Uncle's house, I'm a DORK!

I made wine tags with each guests name

I fell in LOVE with these bowls by Rosanna I found at Tuesday Morning. I brought 12 back with me.


Serving trays






I couldn't find Canton Ginger Liquer so I made a vanilla ginger simple syrup myself. Did you know you can't buy beer out there on a Sunday AND they don't sell liquor in the grocery store?!?! Terrible! I added the syrup to tequila, soda & muddles grapes & cucumbers so damn good, yup that drink got me through one extremely bizarre day... it also put me on my ass too!




Ingredients for Coconut Polenta

Cream of Coconut

I love the chunks of coconut from the coconut water.

Allowing the polenta to set.

Cutting them


I made eggplant crostinis again

Ingredients for Avocado & Coconut Ice Cream... my Mom ate FOUR bowls of this


Lime Mexican Wedding Cookies I decided to make last minute to surprise my brother's wife





Along with the wine tags I had picture place settings for the guests

Mango Salsa for the Coconut & Masa Encrusted Tilapia

Cutting the Jicama for the Haitian Carnitas (Griot) skewers

Breading station for Coconut & Masa Encrusted Tilapia

Grilling the polenta

Coconut & Masa Encrusted Tilapia

Avocado & Coconut Ice Cream


The day before I left my Mom threw me a birthday party. My first one with my family in 17 years. She made ALL of my favorites. Griot, macaroni au gratin, tongue, rice & beans... the woman smacks my ass in the kitchen

Avocado and Coconut ice cream???? You crazy. I soooo want to try it!!! :)
ReplyDeleteYou went all out. There's too much food in here to even remember everything on the menu! The empanadas and eggplant crostini totally stand out, as well as cupcakes. Who doesn't like cupcakes!!?!
ReplyDeleteThank you Double D... you guys ROCK!
ReplyDelete