Writing a Dinner Menu for Guests: The Menu, their selection options, tips, advice and ideas.

I love to cook. But I don't always have time. I have found tho that staying on top of these at home chef skills help me keep my edge both in my business and as a mom.

Here is a recent selection I put together for a meeting of friends at my home. After getting any food allergies and cultural preferences down, I pulled from my repertoire of everyday yummy meals I can easily kick up to fancy.

My friend who knew both guests helped me make some selections.

I always offer a meat and a fish. Sides are usually vegetarian to appease anyone eating light or vegetarian. I don't tend to serve basic salads (lettuce and veggies) unless its our summer block party and I'm feeding 50+ people. 

My little secret: everyone thinks I worked all day and magically whipped together a multi course meal in 2 hours. That's Not the case. 

"Black beans are rinsed and simmered in onions, garlic and peppers, or my homemade frozen cubes of sofrito."

My soups can be made ahead, up to 2 days (and taste better if the flavors meld over at least a day).

Meats can marinate a day ahead, and be popped in the over with little handling. Or a slow cooker will do the trick with pulled pork or braised beef dishes.

I love fresh ingredients- but I am a mom, who works. So i have learned how to freshen canned goods. Black beans are rinsed and simmered in onions, garlic and peppers, or my homemade frozen cubes of sofrito. Beets get sliced and a squeeze of lime. Mandarins don't need extra love because they absorb the flavors they are presented with. This also goes for pre-sliced servings or shredded carrots versus my doing the sou chef work. Nearly everything can be bought convenient style. Butternut squash, comes frozen and cubed - easy peezy goodness.

In this same tone, raw ingredients are served fresh, always. Fresh bread- greek style is excellent for table service. With that our local market has Amish and Polish butter where the flavor comes thru in every schmear. Soften butter at room temp for 15 mins before serving. A fancy plate and butter knife helps make it appealing.

"Fresh bread- greek style is excellent for table service. With that our local market has Amish and Polish butter where the flavor comes thru in every schmear. "

Desserts like flan are a make ahead must, needing time to cool. And bought ice cream is easily topped with frozen fruits and sugar, heated in a sauce pan for an easy compote!

Starters of course can be slices before guests arrive. I save time by opening all my cheese packages in advance and store in an air tight container. That saves 15-20 minutes easily when guest arrival is approaching. The same goes for rinsing grapes when they arrive at home. Get it done and forget it. (Also dried fruits can replace fresh, so I always have a bag in the pantry just in case.) these time savers let you have those extra moments for pouring wine and resting as you wait for guests.

So now: Open container, slice cheeses, arrange pre-washed fruit. Replace in container and display. Open crackers, pour into basket. Done. Wine please.

Dinner for the Great Meeting: 

Hows arrival around 4:30? 

These are my specialties. Happy Selecting. 

Dinner Served Family Style

Starters:

- Cheeses, grapes, and baguette slices and those target crackers ;-)

Table Starter:

- Red Beets and Spinach salad with mandarins and a balsamic reduction.

Pick a Soup: (served with Greek Bread and Polish Butter)

- cup of soup: corn chowder w or w out shrimp 

- OR Butternut squash

- or seafood soup (sopa de mariscos).

Babcias Pierogi will be served w sour cream.

Pick 1 an additional entree...:

French-ish

- Shrimp Creole: shrimp saute in red tomatoe sauce with veggies and creole -not spicy- seasoning. Served over white Jasmine Rice. Siraha sauce or tabasco on the side.

Mexican Style -

- Fajitas with lotsa of veggies mixed peppers, onions. And served with a variety plate of seared steak, chicken and shrimp.

Toppings on table: sour cream, cheese (fresco or cojito), cilantro, etc.

Or Soft shell Tilapia Tacos.

Same toppings as above.

Guatemala:

Tostadas Guate style - a make your own fun light meal.

Make your own tostada; Layer onto a Crispy tortillas:

1. 1 spoon of this Veggie base: red beets, carrots, green beans, diced and cooked.

2. toppings at the table: ground beef, onions (raw), mexican cojito or fresco cheese, boiles egg slices, lime weges, sour cream.

3. Sauces: dallop of tabasco, horseradish, (even wasabi - not true to the original dish).

3. Enjoy over a plate! 

Homemade Salsa, with our Garden Red Japanese and Yellow Tomatoes.
This day I served it up with scrambled eggs. Fresh. Easy! 

Pick your 1 starch and 1 veggie:

- Baked rosemary garlic red potatoes (or fingerlings if I can find them!)

- green beans sauteed & lightly breaded,

- tri-color carrots in sweet glaze

- black beans and rice (Puerto Rican Style, made with a homemade sofrito base).

*if you pick tostada I recommend rice, and black beans will be served on the side. Tostada really is an all in one kind of meal.

Desserts

- Drink: Eisewine (Icewine) and Djadeks (grandpas) wine

Small servings of a variety of: 

- Homemade Flan

- Homemade Crepes with Nutella or Butter and Sugar

- or custard ice cream served with a compote fruit reduction, berry mix. Or mango.

- expresso, or americano, served with pan warmed milk (light froth) for  coffees or blooming flower green tea.

         ### 

Can't wait to see what you pick!!

Make Mistakes, breathe, reflect and Laugh.Out.Loud.

A Chicago Experience for Our Winter House Guest

Yes I did paint our Guatemalan cousins name on a shovel! And yes i did make him shovel snow, in Chicago on a freezing day!! When we were planning his Visit and his bucket list - his father said to include "shoveling snow" as a Chicago Experience! I said I'd have a shovel with his name on it!! And we did. 

Other Chicago experienced he had that he would probably never have at home included Archery with us and holding several pieces from my fathers gun collection! 

All Those Family Gifts: When A House Guest Returns Home Souveniers from Chicago

Our cousin is returning to Guatemala and with him we will send lots of fun gifts for the family. Now, our family over there is large, break the bank large, so we are only sending to the family that we socialized with and who hosted us when we visited years ago.

On his arrival here, our cousins Father and Mom splurged on our kids and all the cousins with traditional Guatemalan gifts for the American Cousins:

- 2 Large Dolls for Baby girl in traditional dress with braided hair.

- Hackie Sacks, crochet in traditional colors.

- elongated minions also in traditional colors and crochet

- keychains with a Quetzal Coin attached

- keychains made to look like traditional shirts. One will be used as an xmas tree ornament to remind us of his visit during Christmas time

- Sweet candies to share at the Christmas table

- traditional wood toys like spinning tops and a ball on a string caught in an attached cup

- traditional shirts for the boys

(As an aside for our wedding gift these cousins gave us a heavy bedcover and pillow case in Guatemalan patterns / colors.)

The Booty - his luggage going home....he brought 4 different coats and ski pants here, however heading home to Guate he won't need that stuff - luckily one whole suitcase is just gifts!

I was taught when you buy something on vacation, get what is unique to the area, maybe food or crafts. I often see people send tshirts, and I know they have tshirts in stores there, and might think that's all we Americans love. Here's what We the American Cousins sent home as gifts for our Guatemalan family: 

- since I am of Polish Heritage, and it is unlikely that any of the family has been / or will go to Poland I sent a 4 pack of beer in cans for an Uncle we like and his son. They come shrink wrapped in plastic - $5 

*(I confirmed in advance who drank alcohol and who didn't.)*

- a bottle of Sweet Polish wine for the Aunt who let us stay with her during our visit, made traditionally soaking fruits in sugar. "Nalewka Babuni" - $10

- English tea biscuits, bag of Italian biscotti, and butter cookies in tins. (Cookie tins add weight to luggage, know your airlines weight requirements and check the scale for overages on the luggage.) Many purchased at TJ Maxx and Marshalls -$2-$5 each

- Polish chocolate bars and Toblerone Chocolates. Including a few extra bars for anyones gift I might have forgotten. $1-2 each.

- Crocs for his Mom. Shes not a frilly girl, doesn't wear a purse or jewelry. So comfy walking shoes that last forever! $60

- apparently his mom Loves Marshmallows and eats them by the bag full! So we hunted for a large variety. The dollar store had valentines sales and we bought 6 kind there, our fruit store had Halal kind. Wowser $1-2 each

- his dad LOVES star wars. And after the holidays we found lots! Keychains at the lego store of C3PO and R2D2. $6 each

- Star wars t-shirt at the Disney Store was $19.85 (ouch). Target had a $12 shirt while Ross had a $8 shirt. And 4 glass Star Wars decal cups for home the family could share.

- A young teenage cousin in the family received and handmade necklace my cleaning lady / neighbor makes. Tiger eye and lovely. $5

- 2 teachers (pre-K and 6th grade) received Chocolate bars for themselves and books in English for their classes, both new and gently used from our library - we own 526 books, so we can spare a few classics. Dollar store and TJ Maxx. $2-5 and free

- a model airplane collecting adult cousin got a flat metal sheet, die cut pieces to assemble a small plane. $6 at the Science Store - which we visited by coincidence. Baby girl bought marbles there, large ones!! 

As for our Cousin, he took home a goldmine of gifts! Including the 6 different Chicago theme / team hoodies he received. 

And from his Christmas and time with us, our Teenage Cousins got:

- a birthday dinner at Rainforest Cafe (gift of an experience)

- a Joker lego keychain

- winter gloves with texting fingers. He claims he wanted gloves for the cold morning in Guatemala! Ha!

- Hats that said Chicago. Apparently I thought of this gift before because he had 3!!

- a goosebump book from my attic (great series of safe fear / scary books for preteen 11-14 year olds)

- a musical snow globe with santa - they don't have that in Guatemala.

- a Christmas stocking with his name on it

- a homemade Rafael TMNT ornament (1 of 4 made for my 3 kids + him)

- New Years Day at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament + souvenir plastic cup (gift of an experience)

- countless Museum Visits (illinois residents have free days) (gift of an experience)

- Chicago Bears tshirts and pajama set. (PJ's make a great gift as many families share a home with many family members and do use PJs for bed!)

- I printed out the photos I took throughout his stay - 146!! I had been uploading them in the new Snapfish app! Super easy to use. The app allows you to upload photos from your phone and then I go online - to use discount coupon codes - and order for delivery or a pick up at Walgreens. Super Convenient.

- his homemade journal, see in a House Guest Post, here. We wrote in my spaghetti recipie he loved and glue in his Chicago Vacation Bucket List.

(- I haven't made any insects set in epoxy resin, but I will this spring / 2015 collecting season! It'll make a great and legal to export gift.)

- his own crocs, with the added layer for warmth. Easy removal at home and last longer since it'll be slightly larger without the insert.

- Slippers from his gift basket. In my fantasy head he would've read the books on American National parks and canyons, ha! So those stayed here. If he showed an interest I would've given those to him.

- a remote control car and an XBox model figure from a game. He played with each one once but claimed to really like them?

- his playstation 4 from dad was really all he felt he needed, so any cash, went to his PS4 for an all access game pass

- candy for his friends, Jelly belly flavors, sour patch candy, jolly ranchers... You can't get these strong delicious candy flavors in Guatemala. 

- one gift stayed here and that was his shovel with his name painted on it.

I am certain the family is loving their treats and gifts. And I know our cousin loves his crocs, hoodies and PJ's back at home.

Make Mistakes. Breathe, reflect (realize 2 months is way too long for a moody teenager to visit) and Laugh.Out.Loud

Handmade Gift: Butterfly Feet from Baby Girl

We recently had to accumulate gifts for our cousin heading back home to Guatemala. On the list were cheap tchotchkes like Chicago keychains and magnets. But when I was a young traveler my parents taught me not to spend money on - well - crap. Unless it was something I really wanted or was requested specifically. (I'll post the full list of guft ideas for families abroad shortly.) 

So I convinced our cousin that we would send food and drinks that couldn't be gotten at home. In Guatemala culture there is a lot of coffee drinking, so cookies and biscuits go well with their breakfast and dinner coffee. Amongst ither edibles like Wendel Polish Chocolates. But all this guest shopping brought me to grandmas birthday. Aren't we all tired of crap gifts?

Maybe I am overly sentimental but I love handmade gifts, both giving and receiving. Who has time to make things anymore? And that's partially what make these type of gift all the more special! The thought is time consuming as is the making of it. 

And so came the first "gifts" for 2015. And Baba got this glorious painting, framed. It was inspired by my baby girl who was excited her own birthday was coming one day after Babas. And when we were sharing her bday present wish list, she said "I will give Baba a Kiss and a Hug for her Birthday." That was sweet enough - amd when I happened to see a pair of baby feet on Pinterest, I knew where the quote belonged!!

 

Here are nearly 3 year old baby girls feet, in Pink Acrylic, pressed on. With sharpie marker outlining the details of the butterfly image form, and the quote.

Happy Birthday Mom's, Grandmas and Baby Girls everywhere!!

Make Mistakes. Breathe, reflect and Laugh.Out.Loud.

Crushed Inspirations in the form of a House Guest

On December 18, 2015 a gift basket greeted our house guest! Our 13-year old cousin from Guatemala received: a teddy bear, Spiderman slippers, a national geographic kids (his reading level since his primary language is Spanish), a pair of longjohns to prepare for the Chicago cold and a journal I made him with his name on it and an American Eagle background. 

In my fantasy brain he was going to write a few sentences everyday on the variety of activities we will do... Like I had done when we visited Guatemala in 2000 and 2002 and 2003. And he would of course have said "Thank You" for the considerations for his comfort and feeling at home.

Nada - zilch - zip - zero - zippo! My shock and horror to the experiences that would follow. Okay, he wasn't a little terrorist, but this teenager put my to work on my parenting skills that I thought were pretty darn good. I approached this situation with humor, creativity and occasionally, in the later weeks I showed my emotion and tears so my sweet cousin could see I was genuine, human, and not always a rock.

As for this post, I am reminded that I enjoy blogging. I enjoy keeping this e-journal for myself documenting and reflecting on the issues that face me as a mom. Blogging has helped me process through issues and child hood matters, which in turn, I hope is helping make me a better mother. But my writing inspiration came to a screeching halt in the form of a teenager! Our 2-month house guest.

Who knew mild disrespect, cave like hibernation and incessant COMPLAINING could lead me to stop doing what I love. Teenagers have powers beyond there own understanding. The ability to whittle us down to core emotions, and without all their effort wear down our intellectual ability.

Its T minus 3 days to his departure and I'm feeling like me again. It took me this long to "break" some of our dear 14-year old cousins bad habits and bring him over to our side of reality. As with most kids, I think hes a hood boy, however his own alienation into PS4 games and you tube videos All.Day.Long. Created a monster! A child who uses minimal vocabulary, who is BORED without high level intense stimulation that video games provide. Going for a walk, or theatre and dinner at Medieval Times wasn't enough to squish his boredom. Even worse, movement over 20 minutes cause muscle pains in his legs and arms.

Over the course if the last few weeks  I learned A LOT about teenagers, my feelings about parenting in difficult circumstances, and handling a house guest who needs to be "retrained" to respect adults. This experience of tending to our cousin during his 2 month visit here has prepared me for my own teenagers who will be here sooner then later... And I hope I can muster the strength to make the changes I SEE we MUST do NOW, to prevent frustration - for them and us parents - in the future. 

What I am planning the the stories and things that happened will make their way to this blog... For now I am happy to have found my writing voice again and to get my house back. Older son keeps saying he's so happy to get his Bed back!

Make Mistakes, breathe, reflect and Laugh.Out.Loud