My friend Clare Adams took these lovely pictures of some of the food at the tasting and book signing the other night, and I thought I'd share them here with her permission. Rinne brought the summery flowers and let T. arrange them in those cute apothecary bottles.
I had tons of help filling tacos, pouring little cups of hot-pink cold beet soup, slicing bread and spreading it with fresh cheese and butter, scooping out single-cherry tastes of clafouti, and even dumping good crunchy tortilla chips into my big old butter-washing bowl for dipping into last year's super-spicy salsa verde. I didn't do a thing all evening, now that I think about it, except enjoy myself.
Rinne's sister, Lucy, who has the soul of a high-end caterer and the work ethic of an early American settler, arranged everything invitingly on two big wooden farm tables, with pretty paper napkins (Ikea, I think), rough linens, ironstone plates and platters, and in some cases simply dry waxed paper sheets (my beloved Kabnet brand, which I'd gotten to hold the tacos). And Lucy kept those tables looking spiffy and abundant all night long. D.'s coworker Anne and her daughter showed up during preparations and instantly set to work making tacos, refilling platters, and basically doing everything I'd expected to be doing.
T. helped me trim the little threads from the cards—she cut the corners off most of them too. (Here's a bad preparty shot I took of that cake, showing my genius cutting job in all its forty-eight-tiny-slice glory:)
It was a great time, and I felt very lucky to have been able to meet so many people who are enthusiastic about cooking and eating—and canning.
I had tons of help filling tacos, pouring little cups of hot-pink cold beet soup, slicing bread and spreading it with fresh cheese and butter, scooping out single-cherry tastes of clafouti, and even dumping good crunchy tortilla chips into my big old butter-washing bowl for dipping into last year's super-spicy salsa verde. I didn't do a thing all evening, now that I think about it, except enjoy myself.
Rinne's sister, Lucy, who has the soul of a high-end caterer and the work ethic of an early American settler, arranged everything invitingly on two big wooden farm tables, with pretty paper napkins (Ikea, I think), rough linens, ironstone plates and platters, and in some cases simply dry waxed paper sheets (my beloved Kabnet brand, which I'd gotten to hold the tacos). And Lucy kept those tables looking spiffy and abundant all night long. D.'s coworker Anne and her daughter showed up during preparations and instantly set to work making tacos, refilling platters, and basically doing everything I'd expected to be doing.
T. helped me trim the little threads from the cards—she cut the corners off most of them too. (Here's a bad preparty shot I took of that cake, showing my genius cutting job in all its forty-eight-tiny-slice glory:)
It was a great time, and I felt very lucky to have been able to meet so many people who are enthusiastic about cooking and eating—and canning.
7 comments:
Beautiful! Just beautiful...I wish I was there!
TRC: Thank you! I wish you were here too!
All you have to say is "tacos", and I'm there! Everything looks delicious.
By the way, I'm very impressed by your cake-cutting skills; I remember the first time I saw someone use the circular-cutting-technique, and I was a little bit too impressed. As the unofficial dessert cutter at work, I try to put it to good use.
Margie: I totally learned that technique from someone at an old job who always had to cut the office cakes. This was probably sixteen years ago, and I'm still impressed.
I am so sad that I missed this. it looks like it was awesome! I'm so excited for your book, Liana! Jacob REALLY wants to try canning.
Liana, I have a question about your book, and I didn't see a location your website to email you privately. My question is are your recipes for canning FDA approved? Have they been tested by others who can check their longevity and safety? Since the book is still only pre-order, I can't check the book and find out! Thanks.
Jen: Sorry to be so slow responding to your question—I've been computerless for the last couple days. I went ahead and answered it, along with a few other questions, in a post, here: http://pieandbeer.blogspot.com/2010/07/asked-questions.html
Hope this helps!
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