The Apartment Farm

It feels good to be back. We’ve had thunderstorms all weekend, so it’s good to be indoors doing cozy things. I’ve been cooking like crazy lately – mushroom pasta (recipe for that coming soon -it’s tasty!), soups, stir frys, steaks, brunch things… it feels so good to come home from a long day sitting at a desk and just mince and chop and stir and taste. There is something real and necessary about it that calms the spirit and makes the aches and pains of the day go away.

Crafting has been slow, mostly because the cold rainy weather makes me want to curl up with a book and read, but I have been getting into card making again recently. I made some cute glittered valentines last month, and more postcards and seed envelope cards are on my agenda soon. I just purchased a couple new sets of glitter so I’m trying to dream up a neat project to utilize those.

Seed starting is about to beging – still a little too damp and chill to get that into full swing. I’ve got two types of lettuce and two types of tomatoes that I’m going to try to do this year, and I’d like to get some red bunching onions as well. I’m also going to try growing strawberries from seed. The herbs are all looking pretty good – the basil is both sending out new shoots and flowering, so I’m going to try to transplant the new shoot before the mother plant goes to seed. The rosemary and the parsley are sending out new growth like crazy, and the bay tree has some new spring buds starting to form.

The big question for today, however, is what to make for dinner. Perhaps scalloped potatoes with turkey ham and steamed broccoli, or balsamic pork chops, or a vegetable soup…

Now, I’ve had a few friends ask me why I felt a post like this was necessary. Other than throwing some beer in the fridge or having a few bottles of wine in the pantry, most people that I know can’t assemble a good mixed drink at home. Margaritas using frozen bucket mix from Costco does not count! Now I surmise that this is the case because most people go out to the bar and have a professional mix their drinks for them. I do that too – Sara at Ole St. Andrews, our local pub, is a real pro. That place is like our living room sometimes (doesn’t hurt that they have excellent fish and chips!). But I digress. So I suppose the thinking goes that if you’ve got a great bar around the corner, why have one at home? Well, sometimes you don’t feel like going out, but you’d still like a gin & tonic. And yes, I’ll play the economy card here – a bottle of decent gin costs the same amount as just three drinks here in good old Chicago. So get the most bang from your limited buck, you’ve got to mix up at home. Don’t be scared. It’s easy.

Start with classics. For classic drinks – martinis, gin & tonics, etc., you only need the basics. An essential to one person might be fluff to another, but my suggestions (my favorite brands as well – mostly handcrafted stuff) are:

- Tito’s Vodka

- Origine Gin

- Maker’s Mark Whiskey

- Sailor Jerry Dark Rum (in my opinion, light rum is useless – just drink vodka!)

- Le Compte Calvadoes (apply brandy – better than plain brandy I think)

- Lemon and lime juice (I try to keep the actual fruit in the house, but backup bottles of organic juice are always in the fridge)

- Tonic Water

Tools are simple enough. A bottle opener. A jigger (one of those measuring things) and a cockail strainer are sufficient. Oxo makes a nifty, compact bar set that I own and can personally vouch for – I use it all the time. It also comes with a few neat extras like a citrus knife, mini cutting board and a cocktail spoon.

Recipes are essential if you’ve never mixed drinks yourself before. The internet is your friend. That’s the Spirit is a pretty entertaining and comprehensive site. I also recommend keeping a good book or two at the bar. In addition to being useful for the recipes, they’re also good looking and great conversation starters. I recommend The Ultimate Bar Book. See how simple it can be? So get mixing!

Ah, the dinner party. We all have these notions of Sunday roast beef, white tableclothes and people making small talk with drinks while the over-ambitious appetizers burn in the oven 20 minutes past the time they were supposed to be done. Or maybe I’m being pessimistic…

At any rate it certainly doesn’t have to play out that way. Having a few friends over for dinner shouldn’t be all that complicated, and you can certainly pull it off. If you keep it simple.

The first concern is the guest list. I would recommend six people for the dinner party novice. It’s enough to get a mix of personalities and make for an interesting evening, but not so many people that you feel overwhelmed with feeding them and keeping them entertained. The obvious bonus to six being your magic number – you don’t have to do the dreaded “kitchen math” of altering your chosen recipes – most cookbooks these day have recipes that are made to serve four to six.

Which leads us to the food. Menu planning is very much akin to drawing up your Christmas wish list. Everything looks wonderful and you get carried away. It all looks so straightforward on paper. Eight courses, each with their own wine pairing? Marvelous! No. Not marvelous – it has the potential to be marvelous, but only after you’ve mastered three courses without a hitch. Remember that each dish in each course is made up of differenet components – some of which can be prepped in advance, but the timing can be different for each dish. So you have to think about all of those dishes making it to the table at the same time, and preferably hot. So start with three.

It’s easiest if your appetizer and your dessert are dishes that you can prepare ahead (or mostly). That way you only have to worry about putting together your entree at the last minute. Some suggestions for good courses:

Appetizer – composed salads are good. You can have the salad assembled in the fridge and add the dressing right as you’re about to serve. Tarts are also good because you can prebake them up to a day ahead and then serve at room temp or warm slightly right before plating – onion tart is my favorite one. Something classic you could do as an appetizer is also shrimp cocktail – which nearly everyone loves. But instead of serving it with just cocktail sauce, serve it with a trio of sauces (all of which you can make ahead) – cocktail sauce, a ceviche-style sauce and a pesto sauce – you could do anything you have a taste for.

Entree – I’m a big fan of one-dish preparations for the dinner party. Pasta dishes are wonderful and nearly foolproof – pasta bolognese, gramigna all salsiccia e vino, lasagna – all good choices. Roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots is a classic. The ubiquitous pot roast – do a beer pot roast in the crockpot – super tasty and super easy. Coq au vin is upscale favorite of mine. I tend to serve the entrees family-style at the table – not only is it easier on you the cook, but it puts everyone at the table at ease as well.

Dessert – parfaits are classic and tasty – a little pudding and whipped cream layered in a champagne glass never looked so good. Cake is always a hit (and can be baked the day before). Molten chocolate cakes are tasty and can be popped in the oven for 10 minutes after you clear the table – by the time everyone has their after dinner drink in hand, they’re coming out of the oven. A box of speciality chocolates is always a big hit as well – and it’s perfect on the off chance you’ve completely forgotten about dessert. Keeping them on hand as a back up plan in case something goes wrong with your planned dessert (not that it will!) is a good idea too.

Drinks – keep it simple. Mixed drinks are cumbersome if you’re planning on making them yourself while you cook. If you’ve got someone else to play bartender for you then go ahead, but I find that a nice bottle of prosecco is great apertif. Everyone loves sparkling wines and prosecco won’t break the bank – I’ve had lovely bottle for about $10. Wine or craft beer is good with your main course – make the choice based on the crowd your serving and what you’re making. Beer is great with pot roast, while wine is great with pasta. And for your digestif, espresso as well as either a bottle of port wine or calvados are good and go with just about anything.

The final touches to any dinner party involve the decor. Keep your table simple – a nice white tablecloth, your best dishes and silverware. Include a pepper grinder and salt cellar on the table so your guests feel free to adjust the seasoning to their tastes. A simple table arrangement lends festivity – a few votive candles on mirrors, a low vase of flowers, or something seasonal – for example, a grouping of gourds in the fall or a bowl of dyed eggs in the spring. Finally, back ground music is nice. Stick with the classics and have the volume low so conversation can still be had.

And remember – there are only disasters if you make mishaps into drama. Glide over any mistakes, laugh off the little pieces that don’t come together as you wish, and you and your guests will still have a perfect dinner together.