I Want to Have a Party

Today at our ladies luncheon we had a demonstration from a chef from the Texas AgriLife Extension of Potter County. It was right up my alley. Everything looked so delicious, but the best part, it was EASY. I mean really easy. Most of the items she showed us how to prepare was made with prepared ingredients. Now that's my kind of cooking. Both of the agents talked about how presentation is just as important as taste. I think they are right.  One of the agents read an excerpt from an article about a research team that used a prepared brownie. They served it three different ways: on a napkin, on a paper plate, on a china plate. Then they surveyed everyone they served to estimate a price they would be willing to pay for the brownie. The average price for the china served brownie was $1.50. The price for the paper plate brownie was $.75 and the napkin brownie . . . $.50. So you see presentation makes a big difference. It was such a neat demonstration I texted (yes, that's right, me who doesn't text) texted Kevin to bring my camera up.
Here are the photos of the food.


The first one was called "Steak and Potato Shooters." It simply is packaged potato soup, blended and thinned just a bit. Then to distribute it she put the soup in a ketsup type squeeze bottle to make it less messy and easy to fill the shooter glasses. She also suggested to bring a pan of water to boiling, then reduce the heat to very low and place the squeeze bottle in the water to keep it hot without constantly having to reheat your soup. You could also keep them heating in a crock pot turned down to low. The steak kabob on the top of the glass is prepackaged from Sam's Club. I loved this idea.

Food number 2: Brownie bites from Sam's, dusted with powder sugar. Then a dollop of Cool Whip (add a little vanilla or almond extract for a little punch) topped with fresh fruit. I loved the jelly beans for the staging. How colorful and clever. She said this would be great for a kids party.

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Food number 3: Just some mixed vegetables tossed with a vinaigrette. Again the presentation on the black beans was creative. She said she just spritzed the beans with vegetable oil, stirred to coat the beans, to give them a little sheen. The presentation bowls were purchased for a nominal fee at a local Asian market.

Food number 4: More of the steak bites from Sam's with a pre-cooked shrimp. Check out the miniature bamboo forks.

 Food number 5: More soup in a shot glass. This time pre-packaged tomato basil soup, again use a squeeze bottle to distribute,topped with a basil leaf and a crouton. The hors d'oeuvres on the black spoon was a tortellini, either from Market Street salad bar or from the frozen food section. Topped with some julienne bell peppers with chives sprinkled on top.

 Food number 6: Mixed fresh fruit with some seasoned pecans from the salad bar at Market Street. Presented on small bamboo plates on a large bamboo server. Cute.

 Food number 7: Sauteed shrimp served in a martini glass with lettuce, cilantro, avocado and lime juice. She said she got the glasses I think at World Market for $2 each.

Another view of the shrimp.

Food number 8: Prepared pound cake, cut with a biscuit cutter, layered with flavored Cool Whip and topped with fresh fruit.

Food number 9: Ramen Noodles believe it or not. She prepared them according to the instructions using only one season packet. The sauteed some vegetables, added some peanut butter. Tossed in the noodles until everything was coated. Served in mini-takeout containers. She got the containers at the Asian market.

At the end of the presentation I said "I'm ready to have a party!" Best of all, easy to do! I'm ready to go shopping at the Asian market, anyone want to go with me? She actually gave us the recipe for the Shrimp Martini, Spicy Ramen Noodles and the Baked Potato Steak Shooters. If you wantany or all comment and leave me your email address if you are a new reader and I'll send them to you.

It was an awesome luncheon.