01/17/2018
I’m a Southern girl; and when I was growing up, few women worked, and many of them had household help. Entertaining was relatively formal and elaborate.
Fast forward fifteen years; and I’m a divorced mother working full time in the day time, teaching part time two evenings a week, and driving to graduate classes at USC-Columbia one night a week. At this point I should have forgotten everything I learned from my mother about entertaining and descended into Styrofoam plates and plastic forks. But old habits die hard; and over the years I’ve discovered a few tricks that make the busy woman’s entertaining look at least one notch above Chinet!
• A Better Bread Basket: For slightly formal occasions, straw bread baskets just don’t make the cut. What does, though, are those silver-plated baskets that FTD used to use for flower arrangements. They polish up pretty and lined with one of your “orphan” napkins, they’re downright elegant! You can find them in thrift shops, where they’re very inexpensive; so buy several in different shapes and sizes.
• “Orphan” Napkins: I never pass up nice cotton or linen napkins at yard sales or in thrift shops because there are only one or two that match. Use them to line bread baskets or mix and match at the table with neutral china. Most of the time they are only 25 or 50 cents each. The most I’ve ever paid for one was $1.50 for an absolutely gorgeous big linen dinner napkin with ecru cutwork on one corner. Do avoid synthetic or synthetic blend ones, though. They always look slightly sleazy.
• Freezer Friends: There are several things that I always have in my freezer. One is Geraldine’s Cheese Straws. Frozen, they keep for months and are [almost] as good as homemade—and if you have an hour or so warning before guests arrive, they thaw quickly. If you have no warning, a minute or two in the microwave on “defrost” setting, and they’re ready to serve.
• Another freezer staple is Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry. Sometimes I cut a thawed sheet into squares, bake, and serve as “crackers” with cheeses. Guests think that’s cool, and it’s almost no work.
• Slightly more work but impressive are palmiers (French for “palm tree”). These can be made as a sweet to serve with coffee or tea or as a savory with wine. This month we feature the savory version:
Thaw one sheet of pastry for thirty minutes. Roll on a lightly floured surface to make a 9” by 11” rectangle. Cut the rectangle crosswise into three three-inch strips. Mix ½ cup of good parmesan cheese with a pinch of cayenne pepper. Spread 1/3 of parmesan-cayenne mixture on each rectangle and fold rectangle in half. Then fold in half again and bring sides together like a book. (See photo). Wrap in waxed paper and put in refrigerator for one hour. Remove from refrigerator; and using a sharp knife, cut each section into five slices. Lay slices on parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes in a 400 ° oven. Turn slices over, brush with egg wash (one egg beaten with one teaspoon water) and bake ten minutes longer. Makes 15 palmiers.
• Also among my other freezer friends are slightly sweet “tea
cookies,” such as Walker’s Pure Butter Shortbread or Italian amaretto cookies. For either tea or breakfast, I keep small loaves (purchased at the Downtown Sumter Farmer’s Market, of course!) of banana nut bread or sweet potato pecan bread. Both are wonderful with cream cheese.
• My final entertaining hack for this month is my collection of small dessert plates. I pick them up—again inexpensively-- at yard sales, flea markets, and thrift shops. Bu patterns that look good in your house, and they will all go together when you mix and match them. A plain white cocktail napkin pulls everything together.
I think that my mother would be happy that I didn’t forget everything that she taught me!
~ Kay Rhoads, la bella vita
