Calendar Girls: biking, pie and fun dinners

Biking through southern Minnesota (from Lanesboro) over a long weekend with two girlfriends: 140 miles biked, 5 pieces of pie, 1 day kayaking and great food throughout the weekend.

TV Dinners: Mad Men 3 anyone?

From Epicurious.com comes such a great idea - TV dinners to coordinate with your favorite TV shows. I don't care about Lost, CSI, Gossip Girls or the Office (only sometimes) - but Mad Men - it's my FAVORITE!

Season 3 is set to air this summer (although the date is a little hazy at this time) with encore presentations of the smokin' hot end of season 2 throughout the build-up. Not familiar with this must-see show? Check out some trailers on AMC's site for a peak.

For your Mad Men TV Dinner Party

Menu from epicurious.com

Spicy-Smoky Peanuts

Fillet of Beef Wellington

Creamed Spinach

Golden Potato Gratin

Baked Alaska

Find the perfect 60's Cocktail:

Jackie O

Vodka Martini

Emma Peel

Looking for the perfect table setting? Check your local Target for some killer Orla Kiely retro inspired home goods. check out the original posting on Apartment Therapy for some great photos like this one. I found that my Target had the goods - but moved it to the back storage room because there wasn't enough to fill the endcap. All I had to do was ask a nice red-shirt and I got my table cloth plus some really cool serving dishes.

So - it looks like i'm all set for my Mad Men party. I can't wait!

Homage to Mad Men

Breakfast Reigns

Breakfast for a crowd takes planning, proper timing and a flexible sleep schedule.  Wednesday morning was a large group monthly meeting hosted by my 7 person team. Having the baking bug, I volunteered to bake everything needed for this breakfast and everyone else could just pitch in for the ingredients. I get to bake and everyone else just has to show up - it's a win-win!

The Plan: make everything "mini"

This will encourage people to actually eat MORE than they would if everything was normal size. I don't want to bring food home or 

have leftovers to throw away. Make things mini - and people will eat 2 or 3 or 5 instead of just 1. 

Menu: Cinnamon Rolls, Blueberry Muffins, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Biscotti (see last post), and fruit salad (made by another 'doer' 

co-worker.) Click on the links above for the recipe.

The Timing:

Weekend: read recipes, write shopping list and go shopping

Monday evening: bake biscotti

Tuesday: run after work, shower, start baking.

7pm: make double batch cinnamon roll dough (recipe posted is a 

double), let raise for 1.5 hours

7:45: make blueberry muffins (makes alot - 

3 pans!)

9:00: make banana chocolate chip muffins 

(2 batches)

9:30: punch down roll dough, cut into 1/4 portions, make filling, roll - cut - 

space out 

in jelly roll pan

10:30: finish filling, rolling, and cutting buns - put filled pans into fridge

10:45: make cream cheese 

filling - put into fridge, 

pack up plates 

- silverware - oohh, placecards - I can use those for labeling the goods!

11:00: go to bed - try to sleep. I hope I don't miss my early alarm.

3:30am: pull buns out of fridge onto the counter to come up to room temp. Go back to sleep. I love baking. 

6:30am: put still-cool buns into cold oven, turn on to 350. Buns RISE during the prehe

ating - it worked! I LOVE BAKING.

7:10: Condo smells GREAT. Timer has not gone off, but it smells too good... SH**

7:11: pull out rolls, throw away the edges that got burned on the bottom. Quick - remove from

 pans to help stop the cooking. Smear with frosting to help keep buns soft. Place in gift boxes lined with parchment (easier to throw away at work than a rubbermaid).

7:35: throw hair up, make-up on - late for work!

8:35: People are eating. Did you actually make this? This is the best breakfast we have ever had. THANK YOU.

College Night!

Another fun Friday night party - this time the theme was college night. Everyone wore garb from the alma mater, favorite college 'games' were played, and the menu - well see below. It was so much fun to see the elder crowd learning how to play flippy cup - i mean, when you learned how to play drinking games could you play with people in their 50's or 60's? 

Menu: 

Papa John's pizza

bologna sandwiches

Cosmo Jello Bites/Jello Shots

Sugar cereal "snack mix"

Cosmo Jello Bites

4 packages raspberry jello

1 1/2 cups boiling cranberry juice

1/2 cup pom (or more cranberry)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup vodka

Adjust liquid proportions to taste (if you want them stronger - decrease the juice)

Cut into triangles and stick in a popsicle stick for the 'martini' look. 

These were really tasty! I didn't have enough room on the plate to make them all into martini glasses, so i just stacked the extras in the middle. These are just like jigglers - and easier to eat than a jello shot.