June Sunday Supper: The Saucy Tart + Knife Party

This month's Supper is a doozy. First I am going to do all the cooking. I am trying to get closer to opening The Saucy Tart and I need help, specifically from your taste buds. I am going to be in the kitchen experimenting with different ingredients, techniques and combinations. Go Science Experiment! So I need everyone to descend on Musick Manner to deliver their constructive criticisms. The menu is not set but will of course consist of sweet and savory pies. I am going to visit the Farmer's Market this Saturday and the next to collect seasonal fare, gathering my 'secret ingredients,' creating a sort of challenge for myself.

The second special addition is featuring: Knife Party!

a new Austin business that specializes in making things sharper, even your comebacks and quips. The Best Part: they are donating all proceeds to Grazing and Giving. So here is a rundown of some tools they can improve for you and their corresponding fees.

Average Kitchen Knife 5-9 inches: $3

Kitchen Knife Under 5 inches: $2

Kitchen Knife over 9 inches: $4

Serrated Knives: $4

(no micro serration style)

Scissors: $5

Fabric Shears: $7

Pocket Knives: $2

Chisels: $3

Planes: $3

Machete: $7

Axes: $7

Swords: $10

Bring your empty bellies, your dull blades, something to sip on and of course your smiles, infectious laughter and plenty of ways to 'test' your newly sharpened blades.

April & May Sunday Suppers

So technically April's event was a brunch but I am combining the two months so we can get to the June supper. We collected a combined $217 bringing our total to $659, not bad for 5 months. the food for the brunch included:

All the Afore mentioned items Plus:

Muffaletta Crepes

Spinach Gruyere Quiche

Veggie Sausage and Herb Quiche

Deviled Eggs

in three flavors=> yum

For our Mexican Fiesta we seriously pigged out on:

Refried Bean Dip

Black Bean Salad

Adobe Pepper Vegetarian Nachos

Beef Tacos

Cheese enchiladas with sour cream sauce

Cheese enchiladas with a homemade red sauce

Chicken Enchiladas with sour cream sauce

Chorizo with roasted garlic and potatoes Tamales

Refried Bean & Cotija Tamales

Chayote and Nopalitos Salad

Melon & Jicama Salad

Fresh Fruit

Cinnamon & Lime accented Rice Pudding

Fresh Corncake

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Sangria

Margaritas

Looking at the amount of food we had, you would think eating it would be a daunting task but we managed it pretty effectively. Go Stomachs! And there was some leftovers for lunches during the week. That is a total success.

This month in celebration of the end of Lent (well not really) and my love of all things brunch we are changing the celebration to an earlier time: 11am. So come get your brunch on. So far on the menu:

Sunday, Bloody Mary, Sunday

Carmelized Onion & Goat Cheese Bread Pudding

P&P Hash (peppers and potatoes)

Crumble Top Orange Muffins with Orange butter

Brunch is so inspiring that it is very possible we will add more to the menu depending on how many are able to make it. Hope to see you there.

GG's March Madness Sunday Supper

With funny names like boxty and colcannon, it is a wonder any Irish food makes it on the table. But after tasting both of those foods from the Emerald Isle you realize the genius of Irish cookery. So,yes, it was a difficult task to find food for the menu, especially since the day turned out to be so sunny and warm and no one was really in the mood for a meaty Irish stew. Lucky for us what we might have lacked in the food department, we made up in libations, mostly in the form of Irish Whiskey and Stouts. So as you can imagine by the end of the night we were singing old folksongs from the 'homeland'. Well not really. It was a good time though and you know the Irish they are fond of those so I feel like we did them proud with our celebration. Cobes and I also learned a lot about Irish food history in the process of developing our menu. Colcannon, while not only being a good choice for our feast because it is generally vegetarian, but also because it is one of the quintessential dishes from Ireland with interesting customs. Cobes and I were toying of the idea of trying to do a veggie version of corned beef and cabbage when I found out it is not considered a true Irish dish because it was mostly consumed by the wealthy. Then Coby nearly had his heart broken when he learned about bread baking in Ireland especially when the process called for baking relatively small loaves for an hour. Well, his worry was for nothing because while his breads were different than his usual, they were still delicious. Enough dazzling you with all the historical background and on to the nuts and bolts of the Supper. We raised $147 which brings our total to $442. WaHoo! It really adds up. So here is what we enjoyed food and drink-wise.

Cold Irish Coffee (Texan-style)

Imperial Stout Bread

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Boxty

Serrano-Spiced Applesauce

Kale Salad

Potato Chips with an herbed dip

Colcannon

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with frothy inspired frosting

John's boxty were amazing and according to him 'easy to throw together'. Oh sure John, maybe for you. I was also impressed by Julian's bravery in confronting his fear of dogs. He will be cured of that fear in no time. I was also glad that my folks made a special trip down here for it and I hope they get a chance to come down again soon. Take a look at the tomfoolery in these photos.

March Madness

So it's not the basketball March Madness but it is the Irish kind which I am sure is more lethal. Here is what is on the menu from the Sanchez Musick Front:

Totally Irresistable Irish Coffees

Colcannon

(which is a buttery dish of cabbage and potatoes and I do mean buttery)

Some beer spiked breads

&

Possibly (yet not confirmed) Chocolate Stout cupcakes

Lots of Grazing & Lots of Giving For February's Sunday Supper

On Sunday we had such good food, good weather, and good company. Thanks everyone for coming out and bringing such yum for your tum food. And we raised $158 for the Austin groups for the elderly so that brings our total to $295 . Unfortunately I did not get to take many pictures at all and I was especially not able to capture much of the food before it was demolished. Here's what we got to enjoy though:

Dips

babaganosh

hummus

onion yogurt

classic pesto

red pepper pesto (my now new favorite)

country style Greek eggplant

roasted red pepper and feta

herbed white bean spread

fresh mozzarella & herbs marinated in oil

Michelle's famous veggie queso

Salads

Cucumber & Tomato

Greek Inspired Orzo

Mains

Falafel

Eggplant & Potato Moussaka

Breads

Greek Pitas

Lemon Garlic Loaf

Desserts

vanilla sugar cookies

yogurt lemon and orange cake

baklava

(which was gone before I could even try a bite Thanks Sam!)

So if you missed it this time these were the key events:

Coby & Co. trying to play Bocce Ball in the backyard, which meant anyone standing in the backyard was at risk from a flying ball. Sorry Kerryl and Sam.

I guess Coby decided to move on to what he thought was a less dangerous activity, peeking over the fence to see our new 'neighbors' who had pitched a tent in the field behind our house. Little did he know that this would lead to a call to the cops and some wacky action in front of the house. Long story short a woman approached the fence and asked for help because her boyfriend had just beat her up. The cops came out and they were embroiled in that until the dark hours. Oh My!

Some funny food anecdotes:

I was really missing my camera when Jonas sneaked a gigantic piece of yogurt cake from atop the stove and dove in. I swear it was the size of his head. He managed to finish it though, no trouble with that piece of deliciousness.

& Don really cracked me up when he arrived for the second time with fire in his eyes, demanding to know where the orzo salad was.

All I can say is YUM! The food was definitely amazing. Thanks everyone for making such fantastic food appear at my house.

Check out photos from February's event

So here goes for the menu so far:

Herb Scented White Bean Spread

Country Style Eggplant Dip

Tangy Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Dip

Veggie Moussaka

Variety of Flatbreads from the Coby Oven

Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Pesto

Sir Yums a Lot Olive Tapenade

&

Dessert-tasic Baklava

Please let me know if you have anything to add or any questions!!

Cheers and See you in the Manana.

February Sunday Supper

So after all this cold weather all I can think of is warm, comforting food and the time I spent in warm, comforting Greece. So for February's Sunday Supper I thought I would combine the two! On the menu for the feast is:

Veggie Moussaka

(which is a creamy, yummy baked casserole full of vegetables)

Assorted Greek inspired Dips & Spreads

And of course Coby will be opening his Pan-Dora's box full of flatbreads

Also I heard a rumor that Allison wanted to try out a Spanakopita. Let us be your guinea pigs,

A-Train. No pressure, though. Well, that is all from headquarters. I hope I will see you all next week.

Veggie Pot Pie Chowder

This is an adaptation of Regina Campbell recipe I found years ago in Regina's Vegetarian Table. So if you like this one, take a look at that collection, there are lots of good things in it.

Serves 4 to 6

11/4 cups diced potatoes

2 cups sliced mushrooms ( I, since I do not enjoy the fungus, left them out but I thought I would leave them in the recipe I adapted from)

1 cup chopped leeks

1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)

3/4 cup sliced baby carrots

4 tablespoons butter (I used a vegan butter spread)
1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 to 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

(or fines herbes to taste) Freshly ground black pepper Pinch of white pepper Savory salt (or salt)

5 tablespoons flour

2-3 cups lowfat milk or soy milk depending how juicy you want it (I used more vegetable broth)

salt

1. 
   
   saute vegetables in 1 tablespoon butter and vegetable
   broth, starting with potatoes, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add
   seasonings, being generous with the Italian seasoning and black
   and white peppers.
   


2. 
   
   melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan
   over medium heat. Do not burn butter. Sprinkle half of the flour
   into melted butter, stirring quickly. Add 2 tablespoons water to
   remaining flour and mix to make a thin paste; set aside. Add the
   milk slowly, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. (Add more
   milk if it is too thick, as it will thicken during baking.)
   


3. 
   
   pour sauce over vegetables and add more salt if necessary.
   


4. 
   

   You can either top this with a piecrust to make a pot pie or serve a more liquid version as chowder. With the chowder I made piecrust crackers to serve with it, which just consisted of pie crust that I added a little kick of pepper to, cut into fun shapes.

5. If you put a piecrust on top this should fit in a 9x9 square or a 9in pie pan. Bake it at 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.
   

Peeps and Treats

The First event went off without a hitch and I can say my only complaint was all the leftover food I was forced to shove in my face. There were lots of sweets. Ben brought his now famous Marscapone Cinnamon Rolls, Monica baked a delicious pumpkin bread, Dacia was milling her own flour for her chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. On the savory side Allison & Tony brought a to- die for creamy onion dip (and some spicy brownies) Zac and Leslie brought marinated fresh mozarella & bread (and bags of ice after my distress call) the Banes brought an irresistable jalapeno cheddar corn bread and lots of people brought one of my favorite savories: BEER. We also picked the Austin groups for the Elderly to donate to and for January raised $137. Go us! Thanks to Monica for helping the night before with the chowder from the comments I received it was a hit so I am posting the recipe for that dish.

January Event Pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47300548@N07/show/

An Idea Is Born

Grazing and Giving was an idea I hatched a few months ago when I was trying to figure out a way to see more of my friends, who all have very full lives, and at the same time give back. OK, and, I admit it, try out some recipes on unsuspecting, trusting and hungry folks. So GG, as I affectionately call it, resulted from both personal and altruistic motives. The idea is this: a monthly gathering, a potluck of sorts, to reconnect with old friends or a place to make new ones. Coby and I will be making a couple of simple dishes and anyone that wants to connect with their inner Julia Child or if you are just wanting to experiment with a new recipe, we welcome all food. But I know that cooking is not everyone's forte nor does everyone want to prepare food all the time so just joining us and contributing to the festivities is just as important. So that is the Grazing part.

I am lucky enough to be surrounded by generous, amazing, and talented people that have inspired me and I would like to create an atmosphere that I have been so lucky to bask in. So that is where the Giving part comes into play. I thought that we could share some of what we have with those who need it most. I thought as a group we could pick an organization and contribute every month at our GG meetings. Then at the end of the year we will present the collection to the chosen non-profit cause, a Christmas present of sorts. I am open to ideas on how to choose a group but my initial thoughts were to pick three local charities, display informational materials at the January event along with a bin associated with each and the one that has the most dineros will determine the organization we will be donating to for the rest of the year. I am asking to give what you can. I was thinking along the lines of what you would have spent on a meal for you and your family but I want to stress that you should contribute only what you can, there are no minimums and if you aren't in a place to donate we still want your exquisite company.

Now to the logistics: I am starting this blog so that it is easier to communicate with everyone, post any changes, collect ideas, discuss menus and collaborate on what to expect, especially in the food and drink arena. So here are the details that I will be putting in the invitation:

Place: Coby&Dani's Casa

704 Colonial Park Blvd

Austin TX 78745

When: January 31st

Starting at 4pm

Things that will not make it on the invitation:

Menu

Veggie Pot Pie Chowder

w/Pie Crust Crackers

&

Just Like Your Mom Makes

Spaghetti & 'Meat' Sauce

Also Coby will be putting on his kneading gloves and creating some bread masterpieces. With the exception of the piecrust crackers, I think that everything listed will actually be vegan so those of you who are vegans, counting calories or just vowing to eat healthier you should be covered. If any of that changes I will update it here. So that is it in a long winded nutshell. I would appreciate any ideas or contributions creative or otherwise.