All posts tagged: appetizer

5 tips to choose a wedding menu

On October 18, we celebrated my daughter and new son-in-law’s wedding in Purcellville, Virginia. I could go on and on about every detail — the gorgeous setting at Shadow Creek Weddings & Events; the most beautiful wedding flowers I’ve ever seen, thanks to the unflappable Barbara Von Elm of Growing Wild Floral; the well-researched wine and all-Colorado beer selections (my husband’s job); and of course the heartwarming gathering of family and friends to witness God’s hand in uniting two wonderful young people. But let’s not forget one thing. I’m a food writer and editor. I wanted to be sure we fed people well. And not just well, but memorably well. My daughter put me in charge of choosing and working with the catering and event service, which was far and away the biggest budget item for a wedding of this size (about 150 guests). After a lot of research, we settled on A La Carte Catering & Events based in Haymarket, Virginia. Let me just say up front: Good call. I lost count of the number of people who told me that this was …

Wild Duck Pate

It’s finally fall again. And my husband, Dave, is happy because fall ushers in hunting season. I could write a lot about lessons learned while being married to a conscientious, deeply ethical, nature- and animal-loving hunter (in fact, he’s the first hunter I ever met, way back in college). But I’ll save that for another post. Suffice it to say that over the past three decades, I’ve had to learn how to cook a lot of wild game meat — mostly dove, duck, goose, and pheasant. This Wild Duck Pate recipe is without a doubt our favorite game-meat creation to date. It’s a labor-intensive recipe, but trust me, it’s worth the effort. People go absolutely nuts for this when we serve it at parties. One guy recently asked me if I knew its street value. Unfortunately, this recipe does not work with domestic, store-bought duck, which is much fattier and milder than wild duck … so you’ll have to make friends with a duck hunter. Bosley’s Wild Duck Pate 3/4 pound (24 tablespoons, or 3 sticks) butter, …

Try this super tasty, gluten-free holiday appetizer

If you’re gluten free, you know there is a huge difference in the quality and palatability of gluten-free crackers out there. Some are truly inedible; others are “fine, good enough” but nothing special. That’s why I am truly thrilled with Crunchmaster crackers. These crackers just might be my favorite crackers ever, gluten free or not!