Dinner party with my wife's department

My wife, Ann, hosted a company party for her department at our house about a week ago. I was “volunteered” to cook so I set about to make up a cocktail style menu with my usual twist on ingredients and techniques.

I wanted to make food that was out of the ordinary that would make people stop and think. I was limited to a certain budget and actually came in well under the approved amount. The dinner was set for a Sunday night ( why, I do not know) so we used pretty much the whole weekend to get our house together and prep all the ingredients.

For the longest time we have been meaning to get curtains for our living room and dining room, this seemed like as good a time as any. We (Ann really) also recovered our dining room chairs. The whole weekend seemed like a blur and Sunday evening came quick. There were so many things that we wanted to do to the house that were left undone. We had a whole bag of new towels and bath rags sitting in our office that never made it to the bathroom .

The evening was a success as far as I know, everyone liked the food and seemed to have a good time. As much as I hate all the hours Ann puts in,the company she works for has a good group of people working there and I always have a good time at their functions(especially when I am not catering them ;)

The menu is as follows :

Rosemary and Black Pepper Popcorn (not pictured)

Miso Caramel Apples with Wasabi Peas

Pickled Grapes

Meatball Sliders with micro arugula

Yellow Tomato Gazpacho with pappadums crostini

Caesar Salad with Asiago Cheese

Nutella "sponge" with sea salt and parmesan cheese

Parmesan Ice Cream with Nutella Powder - I was scared that this dish would be looked at sceptically, it was a hit:)

Passion Fruit Marshmallow

Crawfish Cheesecake

Comments

[Roberto N.]

Looks damned good.

[Deborah Dowd]

What an outstanding menu- I am sure your guests were blown away! I have only had a work event at my house once and I can attest that it is a good excuse to get things done around the house that have been on the to-do list for awhile!

[susan]

wow, your menu is impressive! love all the photos too. i need to invest in a light box. would you mind explaining how the crawfish cheesecake was made?

[Erin]

What a feast! I am sure your guests enjoyed it, I know I would :) The desserts sound especially interesting.

[Passionate Eater]

Parmesan ice cream?!? I look forward to an in-depth post on this later!

[Becca Porter]

I want more info about your photo set up. I need a system when I get my new camera.

The menu looks great!