Articles about Happy Hostess

The Happy Hostess Presents a Dinner for Two: Valentine’s at Home (Recipes Included)

posted by Lesley Mann Lynch | February 5th, 2013 11:00am | filed under cocktails, Happy Hostess, Uncategorized, Valentines Day | 1 Comment »

Chocolate-hazelnut cake with chocolate-banana ganache and raspberries.

For those of you wishing to avoid the crowds of people rushing out for their prix fixe this Valentine’s Day, plan an intimate dinner at home. You can spend the money you save on a day-after couples’ massage.

Blood orange and champagne cocktail

Normally, I would give tons of advice about how to get the pasta from the kitchen to the table in less than a minute or how to time your courses, but I won’t. The whole point of eating in for Valentine’s Day is that you can eat at 5:30 or 10:30, or you could never get past the cocktails and leek and chard tarts. Chocolate ganache can be better for breakfast anyway.

Well, perhaps a few pieces of advice are in order. If you want to eat this savory tart (jump to see the photo) as badly as I do, you need to remember one crucial point: the puff pastry must be defrosted in the fridge the day before you bake the tart. You really don’t want to see how ugly a last-minute defrost of puff pastry can be in the microwave. And, really, I w0uld be doing you a disservice if I didn’t tell you that you really must have your butter and asparagus shavings ready the moment you pull your pasta from the boiling water. Fun can be structured. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

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The Happy Hostess Presents a Healthy Menu For the New Year (Recipes Included)

posted by Lesley Mann Lynch | January 21st, 2013 1:02pm | filed under Ethnic Food, Happy Hostess, Recipes | 4 Comments »

Lemongrass-chicken soup (photos by Lesley Mann Lynch

I’m not a New Year’s resolution kind of gal. And you won’t be seeing me sign up for a juice cleanse anytime soon. Mother Nature gave me her own version of the juice cleanse over the holidays that left me with my head in the toilet for four days. By the time January 1 came around, I was ready to give up my Gatorade and chicken broth diet for real food.

I was all too excited to cook the recipes I had earmarked over the break in Burma, Naomi Duguid’s hot new cookbook that so many people have been praising. As a self-proclaimed adventurous eater, I take pride in the fact that I prefer ‘authentic’ cuisine over the watered-down American fusion version and can handle a serious amount of spicy heat. I have built up my sense of pride only to show you how far the mighty fell last week. I did make a multi-course meal’s worth of recipes from Burma, in the hopes of sharing a Burmese dinner party idea with you. A few bites in, I threw it all away. The flavors were way too much for me. This is not Duguid’s fault — I’m convinced I was just not strong enough for it.

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The Happy Hostess Plans a Christmas Dinner Party (Includes Recipes in a PDF)

posted by Lesley Mann Lynch | December 12th, 2012 9:30am | filed under Christmas, Happy Hostess, Holidays | 3 Comments »

As I described in an earlier post, my Thanksgiving menu is set indefinitely in my eyes. Christmas, on the other hand, is not. The first word that comes to mind is celebration, then slightly fancy. It’s difficult to make a potluck of 20 sides appear elegant, so I always leave that for Thanksgiving. As I set out to plan this year’s Christmas dinner, I planned around some of the first things that pop up when I think of a celebratory dinner: champagne, multiple courses, and a special dessert. Game on.

Green beans with walnut sauce, mustard-coated rack of lamb, and celeriac and potato mash

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Be Thankful: The Happy Hostess Has Your Thanksgiving Plan

posted by Lesley Mann Lynch | November 13th, 2012 10:32am | filed under Happy Hostess, Holidays, Long table dinners, menus, Thanksgiving | 3 Comments »

Whenever my mom and I host Thanksgiving, Mom will call me at the beginning of November to establish a game plan. The conversation is always the same:

Mom: I cannot believe Thanksgiving is three weeks away.

Me: I know. I haven’t even started thinking about Christmas gifts yet.

Mom: Let’s not think about Christmas. What should we serve for Thanksgiving this year?

Me: How about trying something new? I was thinking about [insert something nontraditional].

Mom: That sounds great, but you know everyone will want a turkey. Should we do both?

Me: No, that would be so much food, and they wouldn’t really go together. You’re right. Let’s stick to the usual. We can experiment at Christmas.

Jump with me for a fool-proof Thanksgiving dinner plan.

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