A New Years Celebration!

There is nothing like bringing in the New Year with family and friends. For a simple and delicious New Year's Eve dinner you might like to try all or part of the menu I served at a holiday celebration this past weekend. Recipes follow the party photos.

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Appetizers
Smoked Salmon with toast points
Crab dip with crackers
Assorted cheeses with sliced ficelle bread
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Entree and Sides
Beef Tenderloin with Bernaise Sauce
Mashed potatoes with Parsnips
Steamed Broccolli with Hollandaise
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Salad
Baby Greens with roasted pine nuts and sliced pear
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Dessert
Brownies, Lemon Bars and Seven Layer Bars
Fresh Fruit
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Getting ready.

Here come the appetizers!
(Even in a small kitchen, there is room for everyone.)

Appetizers in the living room.

A little cooking help is always appreciated.

The mashed potatoes are ready!

Is it time to eat yet?
(This is a good view of the small passage way from our tiny kitchen to the living room.)

A toast!
(Seat everyone together, even if your dining room is tiny. This makes for good conversation, more fun and a warm comfortable feeling. Here, three generations of family and friends - 12 adults plus 2 young children - are seated at the same table.)

Dinner is served!

Mangia!

Recipes

Bourbon-marinated roast tenderloin

(from the Chicago Tribune 12/18/96)

Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 12 adult servings

1/3 cup bourbon
1/4 cup each: packed light brown sugar, soy sauce
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon oil (I like to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1 small onion, finely minced
1 teaspoon each: minced fresh rosemary, Worcesterchire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 beef tenderloin, 4 to 5 pounds

1. Combine bourbon, sugar, soy sauce, mustard, oil, onion, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaf in small bowl; stir to dissolve sugar.
2. Transfer marinade to a large, heavy-duty plastic food bag. Add meat, seal tightly and refrigerate 12 hours or overnight, turning bag over several times. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking.
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Remove meat from marinade and blot dry. Place in shallow roasting pan. Bake until temperature, tested with instant-reading thermometer, reaches 130 degrees for medium rare, about 35 minutes; or longer as desired. Tent with foil and let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Mashed Potatoes with Parsnips
(My recipe so proportions are approximate)

1 5 pound bag of medium red potatoes
4-5 medium to large size parsnips
1 stick salted butter
2 cups half and half (more if desired)
Salt to taste

1. Peel potatoes and parsnips and cut into large pieces. Place potatoes and parsnips in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until a fork can be inserted easily into potatoes and parsnips.
2. Drain potatoes and parsnips in a colander and let sit for a few minutes. In same large pot used to boil potatoes and parsnips, melt butter then add half and half and stir. Add potatoes and parsnips along with salt to taste (I like about 2 teaspoons).
3. Mash potatoes and parsnips by hand or use a mixer. Add salt as needed to taste. Serve garnished with parsley.

Hollandaise Sauce and Bernaise Sauce

This is as easy as it gets. Buy the Knorr hollandaise and bernaise sauce mixes and follow the directions.

Salad with Baby Greens, Roasted Pine Nuts and Pear
(My recipe so proportions are approximate)

1 bag baby greens
3 Bartlett or Bosc pears
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 bottle Robb Ross Red Wine Vinegar and Oil Dressing (available at most grocery stores)
Salt to taste

1. Saute pine nuts in a dry non-stick pan on medium until brown; about 2 minutes. Let nuts cool.
2. Cut pears into thin slices length wise.
3. Place green, pears and pine nuts into a large salad bowl. Sprinkle with olive oil add a pinch of salt and mix to coat greens with oil. (I do the mixing with my hands, this seems to work best.)
4. Add 1/4 of the Robb Ross dressing to the salad and mix again to coat the greens. Serve salad on dinner plate or separately.

Everything Else Including Desserts and Appetizers

Call me lazy, but I buy all my desserts and appetizers. It makes things much easier and I'm able to enjoy my guests and the party. Of course, many of you are much more talented and organized than I am so you can probably whip those appetizers and desserts together in a minute. I'd love to have your recipes!

Happy New Year!

Genevieve

New Jewel Box Home Features Coming In Spring!

'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be free,
'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place that's right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
- Simple Gifts, 19th Century Shaker Hymn by Elder Joseph Brackett

Thank you for your very nice notes asking where I have been. You are so thoughtful to write. The Jewel Box website and blog are my passion, but as often happens, life gets in the way. As some of you know, I have a full time job which has kept me unusually busy over the last few months. Also, my older son is applying to college and the sheer volume of paperwork has been staggering. Filling out the Financial Aid Form (FAFSA) should be listed as a method of torture by the CIA.

As for the website, I am planning to add more photos, create a seasonal newsletter, and have a feature where visitors can share their own stories about small home living. Everything should be up and running by early April, but don't be surprised if it slips to later in the month. Another 'cheese plate' crisis could halt my forward progress. Just the other day I was asked to run over to church and re-plate the cheese and deli tray, which had arrived on, God forbid, a plastic platter with saran-wrapped cheddar. Not to worry, after the substitution of a handled rattan tray and the addition of a few grapes and gourmet crackers, it was fit to grace the pages of Martha Stewart Living.

In the meantime, here are a few quick tips for springtime entertaining.

1. Sofa Magic. Let children, pets and family sit or lay down only on one side of your sofa cushion or cushions. Don’t worry if drinks, food or dirty paws leave stains. When you have a party, just flip the cushion over to the ‘good’ side and your sofa will look like new.
2. The Salad is in the Bag. When entertaining, assemble all your greens and salad fixings in a bowl. Mix the salad dressing, then combine the greens and dressing into a clean white kitchen garbage bag. Twist the top of the bag closed then shake the bag gently a few times. Pour all the salad contents from the bag into your serving bowl and wipe away any spills. The greens will be perfectly coated with dressing and ready to serve.
3. Flowers and Fruit - The Perfect Pairing. Add fruit to your flower arrangements. Apples, lemons, limes and oranges are not only perfect for anchoring flowers in a vase or bowl, but also look beautiful.
   

Until next time,
Genevieve

How to Throw a Dinner Party and Keep Your Sanity

Oh, the fun of arriving at a house and feeling the spark that tells you that you are going to have a good time.
-Mark Hampton

Let's talk about dinner parties. The Food Network makes it look so easy! Paula Deen, Rachel Ray and Michael Chiarello effortlessly pull together a several course meal that is beautifully plated and ready to go before guests even arrive! This, my friends, is not possible in the real world. I do love my Food Network shows, but they are not reality TV. When it comes to entertaining, the dinner party is the hardest event to pull off. Almost once a month I throw a dinner party, either family dinners, dinners for friends, or dinners with work colleagues. Every single time, about one hour before people arrive, I ask myself, "What was I thinking?!!" Then, as the minutes tick away, I realize yet again, that I am not and never will be Martha Stewart. There will not be lemon slices in the water, nor individual place cards at each setting and perfectly pressed linen napkins. In fact, on at least two occasions there was not even time to take a shower, but guests didn't seem to notice. I find that candle light and lots of good wine hide a multitude of sins. And yes, the enormous effort involved in throwing a dinner party, is worth it. Just make sure to give yourself a few days to recover after it is all over.

Let's look at the basics of a good dinner party:

The Purpose of a Dinner Party. Dinner parties are all about great conversation and good food. Celebrating a special occasion or accomplishment only adds to the fun.

The Guest List. Guests are the ‘Rock Stars’ at a dinner party. To create a memorable event, bring the right players to the table.

· How many to invite? Decide how many people can sit comfortably at your dinner table. I can seat eight with plenty of leg room, or a very cozy ten.

· Who to invite? The success of any dinner party hinges on the invitation list. The food can be spectacular, but if guests feel like they can’t, or won’t talk to each other, the party might as well be a wake. The key is to invite a mix of people who will naturally talk and laugh when brought together. How do you do this? Make sure connections between your guests already exist or will easily arise. Guests who don’t expect to see each other again, will not make an effort to mingle.

Food and Drink. A dinner party menu should not be complicated. Good simple food made with quality ingredients is always the best choice. Choose an entrée that always tastes delicious, and build the meal around it. If you don’t cook, find something you love from at a caterer. I like to build my dinner party menu around a marinated rosemary beef tenderloin. Let’s look at a sample menu.

Course	Food	Drink
Appetizers	Assorted cheeses, a crusty baguette and smoked salmon	Cocktails – Gin & Tonics, Martinis, Scotch & Water, Wine
First Course	Baby salad greens, red, orange and yellow peppers with balsamic vinagarette	White Wine – Chardonnay
Entrée	Marinated rosemary beef tenderloin, twice-baked potatoes and grilled asparagus	Red Wine – Cabernet Sauvignon
Desert	Grapes, strawberries, lemon bars and fudgy brownies	Espresso coffee and After Dinner Drinks – Port, Sambucca, Limoncello, Cognac

Entertainment/Activities. Conversation and food are the entertainment/activities at a dinner party. To keep conversation lively, I like to bring up a few topics of interest for all guests. Its good to have a mix of subjects, some humorous and some involving current issues. It’s also nice to focus the conversation with a toast during the entrée. This can be a toast to the guests or a celebratory toast recognizing the accomplishment of one individual.

Staging and Flow. When throwing a dinner party, plan on using three rooms: the living room, dining room and the kitchen. The beauty of a dinner party in a Jewel Box Home is that all these rooms are close together, so guests never feel neglected and you are able to be part of the action.

Good luck with your next dinner party and let me know how it goes!

Genevieve