Pampered Chef

Among Cassie's many endeavors is her new role as Pampered Chef consultant. To kick off her sales career, we hosted a Pampered Chef party at our house. Since it was her first demonstration, it was helpful that she knew most of the guests. People who own any of the products, love them and we were all promoting our favorite tools. I'm still working out my final order. There are a lot items I would love to upgrade in my kitchen.

This was the first time in months that we have had company since we have been unsure of our moving situation, but we decided to just go forward with our out life and we love entertaining so this was a great opportunity to put our home back in order. It was a lovely mix of guests and it was great that we could have some time to socialize while supporting Cassie (and ordering some new kitchen items too!)

I provided a light harvest meal that was almost entirely local from the Hoboken Farmers Market (what am I going to do for produce when they close at the end of the month?). I reconfigured some other recipes that I've made before and was happy with the results. This menu served a dozen guests:

Butternut Squash Soup:
Saute:
1 Medium peeled and chopped butternut squash
3 Carrots chopped
1 Apple peeled and chopped
1 T minced fresh Ginger Root (I used a microplane)

Cover (just barely) with Vegetable Stock and add Salt and Pepper
Bring to a boil and then simmer until squash is very tender (about a half hour)
Puree with immersion blender, food processor or blender

Potato Leek Soup:
Saute in Butter:
6 peeled chopped Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 sliced Leek (choose a fat leek or use 3 skinny ones)
1 sliced Fennel Bulb and/or Leaves (optional)
1 T Crushed Fennel Seed
Add 6 Cups Vegetable Stock
Salt and Pepper
Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender. Puree with immersion blender, food processor or blender just until smooth (over processing will make it gummy)

Salad with Maple Dressing
The Maple Dressing recipe is in the Thanksgiving blog entry. It is made with Maple Syrup, Cider Vinegar, Olive Oil, Mustard

The Salad was Mixed Greens topped with:
Organic Feta
Thinly sliced Red Onion
Thinly sliced Red Apple
Sliced Heirloom Yellow Plum Tomatoes
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper


Pears Baked with Cardamom Syrup
Place peeled cored halved Pears cut side down on Buttered baking sheet
Sprinkle over pears:
Brown Sugar
Crushed Cardamom Seed
1/2- 1 Cup of Water
Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes turning twice and adding water if needed
Serve warm or at room temp