Duck Dinner

This past weekend I had my friends, April and Wes and their sons, over for another Saturday Night Supper. This menu was inspired by some foods we got to sample at the Taste of the Nation Event here in Orlando.

Everything turned out well but the hit of the evening was the cheese spread!

Menu - June 2010

Appetizers

Four Cheese Spread with Toasted Pecans and Craisins
Tomato Bruschetta

Dinner

Duck 2 Ways
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Limas with Bacon

Dessert

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Roll

My daughter has been asking me to make the pumpkin roll we enjoy during the holidays. Needless to say, you do not need to wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas to enjoy this treat so we made it for our most recent Saturday Night Supper. To lighten things up we did not use the cream cheese icing that is the norm for this dessert but instead filled it with a carton of light cool whip.

Pumpkin Roll

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts or pecans

1 8 oz container light cool whip

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 15x10 inch jelly-roll pan very well and coat with flour. Beat eggs and sugar together until thick and lemon colored. Beat in pumpkin, lemon juice and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture. Spread into pan and sprinkle with nuts.

Bake for 13 - 15 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. While the cake is baking, coat a large cotton towel with the 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. When the cake is done loosen it all over with a spatula. Turn out onto the sugared towel. Immediately roll it up starting from a short side. Let it cool. Once cooled, unroll cake and spread with the cool whip. Wrap and refrigerate until serving.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.

First of Many Saturday Night Suppers

Tonight I hosted my first true Saturday Night Supper. We had April and Wes and their son’s, Casey, Jonathan and Stephen, over for dinner.

I have not done as much entertaining as I would like in the last few years. There always seems to be something that needs to be done or gets in the way. Not fun things either - things like cleaning the house or getting it properly decorated before having guests in or worrying that the menu and cooking won‘t stand up to snuff. Lately I keep thinking about that quote from Erma Bombeck, “I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.” The quote was part of a list she made of things she regretted not doing after she found out she was dying from cancer. My wish is for everyone to have a nonexistent, or at least a very short, list of regrets, and then, only minor ones. The above is one I am going to cross off of mine because I do plan to enjoy being surrounded by my family and friends on a more regular basis. I love to cook for people and to watch everyone enjoying themselves. If some things flop (which they will) then so be it. It will provide a good laugh I am sure.

I kept things pretty simple for this menu. I always try to serve a variety of different things so that there is something for everyone’s taste. Tonight we were also celebrating Casey being potty trained. I had promised him a dinosaur cake when he got out of diapers. A few days later he was done. Rather than try to make a cake shaped and decorated like a dinosaur (I am well aware of my limitations), I decided to go the route of placing plastic ones on a cake. The bonus here is that he got to take home some prizes! My 8 year old twin daughters helped decorate the cake. They love being creative and the cool thing about doing it with a cake is that the cake gets eaten and does not produce additional clutter. While I would certainly love to keep every bit of their artwork, it just is not feasible. I always feel so guilty when they ask about a specific piece that I chose not to keep a week or so after it has left the house. At least I can honestly say “I don’t know” when they ask if I know where it is. After all it may be at the landfill or still on the truck!

Anyway, without further ado, here is the menu for this Saturday Night Supper:

To Start Things Off:

Assorted Cheese and Crackers

Black Bean Hummus

Artichoke and Green Olive Tapenade

Pita Chips for dipping

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The Main Course:

Mojo Marinated Rotisserie Chicken

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Dill, Feta and Pinenuts

Greek Style Spaghetti Squash Salad

Focaccia

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Dessert:

Dinosaur Cake