UrDreamPlanner's Monday Inspiration: Celebration Food!

It's Monday and I don't know about you, but I love to be inspired! I get inspired by life! A smell, sound, just seeing something beautiful, can spark a bit of inspiration up in me. One thing that can always inspire me is, FOOD!!! Yes, I love food! Besides being a very picky eater and allergic to the entire nut family, milk and chocolate...I LOVE TO EAT! So today's inspirational post is about food!! And not just any food, but food that guests dream about when attending a wedding or event!

Celebration Food!

Celebration Food is what I like to describe as "fun and tasty" food that you eat at weddings & events. 

 As a guest, you have two expectations:

{Found via: "i shoot my dinner blog"}

-Expectation #1: You are expecting it to not taste like your basic "wedding" or basic "party" foods. (Guests want to walk into a room and see decorated tables. A nice spread of something delicious. They don't want to eat basic turkey and gravy. Guests come seeking Filet Mignon topped with mashed potatoes that look like a flower and dressed with baby carrots & asparagus in some amazing sauce! Or at least something equally fancy and yummy.)

 {Found via Colin Cowie's Rules for Great Wedding Food}

-Expectation #2: You are expecting to leave full! (When attending a wedding or event, guests expect to eat! The "Celebration Food" is the highlight of the morning, afternoon or evening. Be prepared to feed your guests because they came hungry. Don't scare your guests, with food that looks so foreign you end up wasting your money because everyone just picks over their food. Give your guests familiar options, so they can actually enjoy the food!! Food makes guests happy, and happy guests dance, take pictures and rave about your wedding or event!)

When deciding what food to serve to your guests, think about their common likes and dislikes. Consider any allergies and diet restrictions. Guests are coming to celebrate you, as you are the guest of honor. However, you as the guests of honor should treat your guests like royalty AND royalty eats well!! So get inspired by the guests you invited and make sure the "Celebration Food" is fun and tasty!! 

Be Inspired!

Talk To Me:

What is your experience with "Celebration Food" when attending a wedding or event? Rate it on a scale of 1-10, was is it excellent(10) or horrible(1)?  What is your favorite food to see when attending a wedding or event? Share your stories below in the comment section!! :-D

 

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Sincerely,

{Thursday's Food Tidbit}::Wedding Etiquette Tip #3-Eat, You Should Enjoy It Too!

{Thursday's Food Tidbit}::Wedding Etiquette Tip #3-Eat, You Should Enjoy It Too!

Today's wedding etiquette tip is dedicated to the Bride & Groom! Wedding day is your day and all about you! You've spent months or years planning a beautiful wedding; picking a beautiful location, selecting the best dj, entertainment & caterer, etc. The food portion of the wedding is always a memorable part for the guests and should be memorable for you too!

At every wedding I've found that the Bride & Groom don't really get to enjoy the food that they carefully picked out for their guests to enjoy. I know you want to enjoy the day, dance all night, mingle with your guests, etc; but eating is also important!

Wedding Etiquette Tip To Go:

(( Dear couple, enjoy your dinner! After all you picked these items because they were something that you wanted to have on your special day, so why not take some time to enjoy. I promise your guests won't mind if you take time to enjoy dinner also. :-D ))

<---- {Wednesday's Inspiration}::Wedding Etiquette Tip #2-Listen, We Care!

{Thursday's Food Tidbit}::Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps-Yum!

{Thursday's Food Tidbit}::Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps-Yum!

Today I want to share with you a recipe from a chef that makes some amazing dishes!! Aaron Mc.Cargo Jr. won season four of The Next Food Network Star in 2008 and aired Big Daddy's House in August of 2008. Since then Aaron Mc.Cargo Jr. has been producing non-stop amazing dishes.

Below is a must try recipe and since your recieving this awesome recipe early in the AM you still have time to run to the market and try it for dinner tonight. What's great about this dish is that it takes less than 30 minutes and it's on the rather healthy side!!

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

(Time Yourself Here!)

~~Ingredients~~

Spicy Salsa:

• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup sweet marinated peppers, chopped (recommended: Peppadew)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapenos, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blue Cheese Sauce:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup blue cheese
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 lime, zested
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Buffalo Chicken:

• 1/4 cup mild hot sauce
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• Olive oil, for frying
• 16 Bibb lettuce leaves, washed, dried, and separated

~~Directions~~

For the salsa: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Allow to marinate.

For the blue cheese sauce: In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, blue cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, lime juice, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste. Mix in the cilantro, chives, and parsley.
For the chicken: Place the hot sauce into a bowl. Dredge the chicken with the hot sauce. In a casserole dish, mix together the flour, salt, paprika, and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture. Shake off any excess flour.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil to about 1/4-inch up the sides of the skillet. 

When the oil is hot (it will bubble around the handle of a wooden spoon), add the chicken to the skillet. 

After 4 minutes, turn the chicken over and cook until the chicken is browned and cooked through, about 4 more minutes. Place the lettuce leaves on a platter and spoon the chicken into the lettuce. 

Top the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the blue cheese sauce and salsa. Serve immediately.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I too will be experimenting with this great recipe and posting my experience and would love to share your experiences too. If you don't get to this yummy recipe tonight, try it out this weekend and email your experience with pics to info@beautifulbeyonddreams.com. Would love to share your experience on the blog!!

<---- {Wednesday's Inspiration}::Texture's Talk

{Friday's Spotlight}:: ---->

{Thursday's Food Tidbit}::Cocktail Hour

{Thursday's Food Tidbit}::Cocktail Hour

I love weddings whether I am a guest or the planner. Being a guests does have it's perks because I get to attend and enjoy the cocktail hour and that means enjoying the food! Last week we talked about the great wedding drink "Shirley Temple's" and this week I would like to focus on the cocktail hour as a whole. When doing the meeting for the cocktail hour think about your guests and also the type of reception you will be having.

The purpose of the cocktail hour is to provide your guests with a pre-dinner teaser. This teaser should be light and have a few options that are appeasing to everyone in attendance. Advice: don't fill your guests up during cocktail hour. Allow your guests to have enough food where they can still eat the food at the reception.  Remember you are paying for this and you do not want wasted food at the end of the night. 

Cocktail hours are a great transition from the ceremony to the reception. Enjoy planning your special day and think about your guests belly's as your selecting your menu options and quantity.

Are you having a cocktail hour? If so what kind of foods? If not, what made you not decide to do one? Do share!! :-)

<---- {Wednesday's Inspiration}:: Tradition- "Jumping The Broom"

{Friday's Spotlight}:: ---->

Love Bite #10: 3 Course Romantic Dinner!

Hello, today I actually thought pretty hard about what I wanted to write about regarding Valentine's Day. So since I love food and absolutely love to eat food, and even more cook food, I thought why not do it on cooking a romantic 3 Course Dinner for two! I found some amazing recipes and will be doing a dessert that I saw on Rachel Ray! So get your pen's ready and let's create some magic for Valentine's Day in under an hour and all for just under $30.00 for two!!

Love Bite #10: 3 Course Dinner for Two!

1st Course: Ceaser Salad with Cucumbers!

(My loves favorite, you can change this to make your significant other happy.)

$7.50 for two!!

You will need:

1 head of romaine lettuce

1 bag of crutons

2 cucumbers

1 bottle of ceaser dressing

1 container of parmesan cheese

Directions: Take your head of romaine lettuce and rinse it, roll it up and cut it into nice bite size pieces. Take your cucumbers, rinse them, peel them and slice them to liking. Place both the romaine lettuce and cucumbers into bowl and pour bag of croutons over top. Pour in bottle of Ceaser dressing and put a lid on the bowl and shake so the dressing mixes into all the ingredients. Depending on your time this can be made first and stored in the fridge or made second to last for absolute freshness! When served shake parmesan cheese over salad enjoy with a nice drink!

2nd Course: Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon w/ Light Mashed Potatoes & Sauteed Mixed Vegetables

(More recipes like this one can be found at www.delish.com/recipefinder) 

$16.00 for two!!

"Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon"-$7.00

(Prep Time: 15 minutes, Cook Time: 6-10 minutes)

You will need:

2 (5 to 6 ounces each) filet mignons (about 1 1/2 inches think)

Course salt and very coursely ground pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Red Wine Sauce:
1 cup of red wine
2 tablespoons of butter, cut up
Course Salt

Directions: Season filets very generously on both sides with salt and pepper (especially pepper), patting in firmly. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-high. Cook filets until desired doneness, 3 to 5 minutes per side (depending on thickness) for medium-rare. Remove strings from filets, and serve with Red Wine Sauce, if desired. 

-To make Red Wine Sauce: Place wine in a small saucepan; boil until reduced to 1/4 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; add cut-up butter, and swirl pan until butter is melted and sauce is thickened, about 1 minute. Season with coarse salt.

 "Light Mashed Potatoes"- $4.00

 (Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes)

You will need:

2 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon of butter

3/4 teaspoons of salt

1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half, warmed

Directions: In 4-quart saucepan, combine potatoes and enough water to cover; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water; drain potatoes. Return potatoes to saucepan. Mash with margarine and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Gradually add warm half-and-half, continuing to mash potatoes until smooth and well blended; add reserved cooking water if necessary. Transfer to serving dish. Makes about 4 1/2 cups.

 "Sauteed Mixed Vegatables"- $5.00

(Prep Time: 1 minute, Cook Time: 10-15 minutes)

You will need: 

1 tablespoon evtra virgin olive oil

1 small shallot, minced

4 cups of mixed froxen vegetables-corn, carrots, green beans

1/2 teaspoon dried dill or tarragon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in frozen vegetables. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in dill (or tarragon), salt, and pepper. 

3rd Course: Waffle Brownies Topped w/ Fresh Strawberries & Cool Whip

 (Visit www.rachelrayshow.com/food/recipes for many more desserts like this one. This requires a waffle iron.)

$7.00 for two!!

 

(Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time: 10 minutes)

You will need:

1 box of brownie mix

2/3 cup of vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 container of Fresh Starwberries

1 container of cool whip

2 teaspoons of sugar

Directions: Rinse strawberries and cut off the leaf part, slice in half and add a sprinkle of sugar, let sit until ready for use. Preheat waffle maker to medium-low. Prepare brownies according to mix directions, omitting any water or milk. Pour 1/2 cup of the mixture per square in the waffle maker. Bake for 10 minutes. Once baked, open waffle maker and turn off the heat. Let brownies sit until slightly cool, about 3 minutes. Add fresh strawberries and two scoops of cool whip! (Cool whip can be supplemented for two scoops of ice-cream!)

Be sure to visit tomorrow to read about "Love Bite #11: Creating the Mood!"

With LOVE,