So I send off my "here's who I am and what I can do for your event" email. No response. I call the listed phone and leave a message. No response. Another email. Nothing. Finally I get a call... long story short, the person who generated the lead is the party girl, not her parents (Mom lives in Orlando, Dad here in Ft. Myers). After several poor communications from her we finally meet this last Saturday -- 7 days before the event was supposed to take place. She had no location (Dad's condo could never hold 50-60 teenagers!!). No guest list (but she did tell people she was going to have a party). No idea of food ("I like to eat at Olive Gardentm."). And a maximum budget of $500. For dinner for 50-60 people plus site rental, plus decorations! In short a typical teenager -- NOT A CLUE as to the way The World really works!
Please... please... If you are planning a party and want me (or anyone else) to cater the event for you:
1. Pick a place.
2. Pick a date.
3. Start a guest list.
4. Have some idea of the kinds of food you want
Then contact your Personal Chef/caterer. Realize, up front, that a catered event is NOT cheaper than going to a restaurant, and that you will NOT get a catered event for $10-$12 per person (you'd be surprised how many people think they can get a party of 40 catered for $400 or less!!). If you do get a quote for that kind of money, realize that you're going to get what you pay for -- not particularly good food, not food prepared by caring professionals -- not Good Eats.
If that's all you can afford, may I suggest two viable options:
1. "Costco catering" - pay for the membership if you don't have one, and then buy frozen megapacks of this and that. Heat and eat.
2. Call out for delivery pizza or subs.
Enough rant!
Welsh Skillet Scones
For breakfast this past weekend I made Lady Sally some scones. These scones don't even need the oven (an important factor as we head into summer); they are prepared and "skillet baked" in 20 minutes or less. This is perfect if you have an electric skillet, but they are also suitable for a large skillet or griddle pan on the stovetop. You can change out the fruit, of course. Chopped apricots or plums, raisins, currents or any dried fruit will go well. These are not the overly sweet scones you typically find in America, they are a bit more traditional, but tasty with a schmear of butter.
Welsh Skillet Scones
2 cups AP flour
½ cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Black Cardamon seed
6 whole Allspice berries
1 stick cold Butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup Zante Currants
¼ cup dried Blueberries
Start heating the skillet to 325F. Put
the dried fruit in a cup of hot tapwater to soften. Grind the
cardamon and allspice in a mortar & pestle or coffee grinder.
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder,
salt and spices into a largish bowl. Cut the butter into the flour
until it looks like granules. The best, but messiest, way to cut in
the butter is rubbing the flour mixture into it between your fingers.
Drain the fruit and add them to the flour, tossing to distribute
evenly.
Beat the egg and milk together then
pour it over the flour-fruit mixture. Stir the liquid in with a fork
until it forms a soft dough. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured
surface and knead it 10 or 12 times. Divide into thirds. Pat each
third into a 3/4” thick disk; then cut each disk into quarters or
halves. Cook the scones 3-5 minutes per side until nicely browned.
Then put on a cooling rack and cover with a tea towel for a couple minutes. Serve hot with a schmear of butter.
Papaya in Paradise
The other day we harvested what is hopefully the first of several large papayas from a tree that Lady Sally's daughter started from seed about 3 years ago. The tree is about 7 ft tall now, and has yielded at least one large (16" long) papaya per year for the last 3 years.
I have to admit to not being particularly fond of fresh papaya -- until the other day. I have for a long time liked dried diced papaya in my signature Trail Mix. But to me, fresh papaya always had a sort of funky, nose wrinkling, taste/scent. Lady Sally set me straight with slices of lemon. Yep. Lemon.
Fresh papaya from The Tree
If you haven't, you owe it to yourself to try fresh diced papaya with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. The suddenly enhanced flavor reaches out and grabs you! Folks rave about papaya smoothies and such, but honestly the fruit is rather bland and tasteless -- until you grace it with lemon.
Last year, Lady Sally was out of town when the papaya came ripe. So I peeled, seeded and sliced it and tossed it in the freezer for her. One thing led to another and that fruit was not eaten until the other day. Sally expressed the opinion that it wouldn't be "that good" compared to fresh, if thawed. So I thawed some to test the idea.
There was a textural difference, it's true. And the taste, even augmented with lemon, was not quite as good. But combined with other fruit and Greek yogurt, frozen/thawed papaya will make a passable (and pretty) smoothie or custard.
My Signature Trail Mix
Equal parts by weight, available from your local store that sells "bulk goods":
Diced Papaya
Plain M&Mtm Candies
Raw, Unsalted Peanuts
Blueberry Granola
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