cooking

Welcome to the inaugural post of my new blog:

“Heather’s Recipe Dressing Room”

I love planning a party! Love trying new recipes, and love a mouthwatering presentation!!!

Here are 3 recipes I tried at a recent gathering at my home:

Main course:

From Julia’s album Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

A+ recipe for sure, and it was highly received by all of my guests.  The recipe has several steps and requires adequate kitchen tools, but is well worth the effort.

I chose to use fresh butternut squash, and utilized my Ninja blender to create the milk, pepper, squash, ricotta, and nutmeg puree.  Changed the recipe up a bit and made a second puree of ricotta, fresh uncooked spinach, mozzarella, minced garlic, and pepper.  Layered the purees in between whole wheat pasta, topped with mozzarella, parmesan, sliced black olives and oregano.

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On a scale of 1 to 5, with five as the most difficult of recipes, I would give it a 3, just due to the number of steps, time involved, and how messy the kitchen was post recipe (always a factor!)

On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the tastiest recipe I would rate it a 5.  Very tasty, the purees were creamy, the ricotta gave the vegetables a savory taste, and the touch of garlic, olives and oregano gave it a pleasant kick.

And presentation gets a 5, especially when you slice into the layers and see all the colors.

All around excellent recipe that I highly recommend!!

Beverage:

Detox water punch

So easy, so tasty, and so pretty!  This is a drink I make for myself at the beginning of every week in a large jug that I keep in the refrigerator .

Very simple recipe: filtered water, sliced fresh lemons, sliced cucumbers, sliced strawberries, chopped fresh mint and chopped fresh ginger.  If you are making it for a party, I would recommend making it in a jug the day before and refrigerating it overnight.  This will allow all of the flavors to seep into the water.

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Ease of recipe 5, only involves peeling and chopping.

Taste of recipe 5, very tasty, hydrating, and refreshing.

Highly recommend for a daily beverage, and presents beautifully (a 5!) in a punch bowl for a gathering!

Dessert:

From Food Network Naked Chocolate Cake

Another A+ recipe with beyond presentation appeal for a gathering!!

The cake is easy enough to make, but does require a kitchen aide or equivalent, and the initial mixture made of coconut oil, applesauce, brown sugar, yogurt and extract requires a mixer with a paddle attachment.

Made some really “accidental” tweaks to the recipe, forgot to add the chocolate chips into the batter before putting it into the oven, so instead sprinkled chocolate chips on each layer.  Grapes were not on sale at the store, so went with fresh strawberries, fresh raspberries, frozen blueberries and the prettiest fresh blackberries I have ever seen!!!  Made a fresh whipped cream from heavy whipping cream, confectionary sugar and almond abstract(was out of vanilla) and drizzled each layer with store bought chocolate sauce.

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Ease of recipe 3-4, several steps and really does require a kitchen aide or equivalent for the batter and fresh whipped cream.

Taste of recipe 5.  Incredible in taste and presentation, also a 5.  It's a must try!

Happy party planning and stay tuned for a few original recipes to be presented next week.

Please submit recipes and ideas to be tried and rated!

I’m here to help you “try them on!”

~ Aunnie H (What my nephews, and now my sisters call me…)