Friend Appreciation Day

(I know this isn’t a warm weather entertaining tip, but that will come.)

I just wanted to say that over the past few years my professional life has been with a significant number of people who didn’t think I did enough for them and didn’t think I was enough for them. This is a tough industry to be inside.

The past month, I’ve been surrounded by folks outside of that who think I am enough, and that I do enough and they encourage me to grow.

And it’s made all the difference.

So thanks, thanks, thanks to all of you who say,
“Helen Jane, you are enough and let’s grow together.”

Because it’s quite seriously changed my life.

Smoked Salmon Spirals

These are from Ann Hodgman’s book Beat That! which changed the way I thought of food forever. Before this cookbook, all I knew of cookbooks had was the useful but slightly dry Joy of Cooking, or The Settlement Cookbook, or Weight Watchers recipe cards for mock-a-mole (faints).

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
Juice and grated rind from 1/2 lemon
3 minced green onions — including about 3 inches of green
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill, plus more for garnish
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
8 large flour tortillas, 10 inches in diameter
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 pound smoked salmon, thinly sliced

Beat together the cream cheese, lemon juice and rind, green onions, dill and paprika. You can use a hand mixer, a stand mixer or your own mighty muscles. After these are blended, stir in the capers.

Spread each tortilla with one eighth of the cream cheese mixture, leaving a 1/4 inch margin. Cover the cream cheese with slices of salmon.

Roll the tortillas tightly, pressing down hard as you roll. Wrap each rolled tortilla in plastic wrap, good and tight. Chill at least 3 hours, no longer than 12 (the tortillas get crunchy and the salmon gets weepy.)

To serve, slice the rolls 1/2 inch thick. Arrange each slice on a serving dish and garnish with a wee dill sprig.

These are perfect to bring to those warm weather late brunches. They fit the gap between breakfast and lunch and look more elegant than the tortilla roll styling would imply. As Ann says herself, “Whenever I serve these spirals, people bolt them down without even chewing, like seals catching fish.”

And I must concur.

Helen Jane’s White Sangria Recipe

Helen Jane’s White Sangria Recipe

Ingredients
4 peeled and sliced kiwis
1 bag frozen sliced peaches
1 container of strawberries, sliced thin
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup white rum
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
2 cups white grape juice
1.5 L Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
Lots of ice

Directions
Throw all the fruit in bottom of a large pitcher or punch bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Pour 1/2 cup white rum on top of the fruit and let it sit for about an hour. Pour the big bottle of white wine in there with about 2 cups of white grape juice. Add more sugar if you need it.

Stir, add ice cubes and chill.

Folks will ask you for the recipe.
And lo, you’ll have one to share.

Ideas for Summertime Happy Hours

I’m falling behind a bit on these — the video ain’t quite yet done and I’m a day back — but I know you forgive me. There’s so much work being done lately, and it’s really very exciting. Also, it looks like I’ll be attending BlogHer again this year and really, that’s the best news I ever heard.
(Besides the fact that my 10 year college reunion AND my bridesmaid’s wedding are that same weekend.
Oooh! It’s going to be a rip-roaring good time!)

Okay, here are all the warm weather happy hours we’ve either thrown or want to throw. Feel free to plunder the list.

Tacobar.
Well duh.

Dip and Punch.
My roommate in DC and I threw a Dip and Punch party where everyone brought either a dip or a punch. We served a house punch and extra dippy foods and the whole thing was a hoot.

After work Sapporo and make your own sushi party.
James and I took a sushi class at our local community college and our lives have been forever altered. Add to that a great relationship with our fish monger (hi Osprey Seafood!) and you’ve got yourself a killer DIY happy hour.

Chili feed.
Some nice cool beer and root beer, pick up some cornbread at the store and keep a crockpot of chili bubbling away while you’re at work. Have friends pop over on their way home for a nosh and a toast and you’ll be the hit of the block. Don’t forget the green onions and shredded cheddar!

Summertime blues.
Get yourself some stinky blue cheeses, some Sauternes and some great blues music and you’re all set up to throw one of the more memorable happy hours the world has ever seen.

Aperitif Mischief. (Pronounced MisCHEEF.)
So many aperitifs in the world, so little we know about them. Marinate some olives and beans while you’re at work. Fire up your panini grill and invite folks over to try some of these lesser known (and lesser alcohol) cocktails.
Lillet on the rocks with the traditional orange slice! Campari and soda water! Pastis! Try them all!