Entertaining A Crowd
On the heel of my husband's party, it's my daughter's birthday. Her birth is such a joy to us that I make it a point to celebrate it every year. This was her 3rd birthday. She hasn't made many friends on her own yet so we invited our friends who have children of similar age to come and have a play date on her birthday, which happened to be on a Saturday. We wanted to start early because she still takes nap in the afternoon. The party will have to break up around 3 in the afternoon, so we invited everybody to have a birthday brunch with us. The menu for the brunch party does not deviate much from the buffet lunch, except instead of a brown veggie platter, there is a plate of cocktail shrimps and instead of noodles there is a loaf of home-bread-machine-made panettone.
Menu 1: Buffet Lunch for Sixteen People
Brie & Crackers
Hot Barley Tea
Cold Yogurt Drink
Cake
Fruit Cocktail
Green Veggie Platter
Brown Veggie Platter
Fried Egg Rolls and Steamed Dumplings Platter
Noodles with Stir-fried Tofu and Lima Beans in Bean Paste
Stir-fried Sticky Rice
Corn Chowder
Potato Salad
Tofu and Marbled Egg Mix
BBQ Pork and Soy Sauce Chicken Platter
Menu 2: Birthday Brunch Party for Eight Children and Their Parents
Brie and Crackers
Coffee and Tea
O.J. and Apple Juice
Birthday Cake
Fruit Cocktail
Panettone
Veggie platter
Cocktail Shrimps
Fried Egg Rolls and Steamed Dumplings Platter
Fried Sticky Rice
Marbled Eggs and Tofu Mix
Potato Salad
Green Veggie Platter and Walnut Dressing
2 lbs. asparagus, tough white stem part removed
4 large salad tomatoes, slices
1 large English cucumbers, sliced
1 lb. green beans
1/2-cup walnuts
1/2-cup olive oil
2-tblsp rice vinegar
1 garlic glove
In boiling water, blanch green beans and asparagus, about 30 seconds
each. In a large plate fan out asparagus, tomato slices, cucumber slices
and green beans. Blend walnut, garlic olive oil and vinegar in a food processor,
set aside. Pour dressing on to vegetables right before serving.
Noodles with Stir-fried Tofu and Lima Beans in Bean Paste
1 package of pasta, cooked, rinsed in cold water, drained
1 cup lima beans, fresh or thawed
1 cup pressed tofu cubes
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
8 ears dry shiitake mushroom, soaked and diced
2-tblsp cooking oil
4-tblsp salty soybean paste
2-tblsp soy sauce
Heat oil, brown onions first. Add mushrooms, carrots, and stir to mix.
Add tofu and beans, and stir some more. Add bean paste and soy sauce, and
mix well. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool before mixing with
noodles. Serve warm or cool.
Stir-fried Sticky Rice
1 cup uncooked sticky rice grains
1/2-cup raw peanuts, soaked in water
1/4-cup shallots, diced
1/4-cup shiitake mushroom, soaked and diced
4-tblsp soy sauce
2-tblsp cooking oil
1/4-cup water
Cook sticky rice and peanuts in a rice cooker with 1 cup of water. Heat
oil, brown shallot bits first. Add mushroom, soy sauce, and water. When
the rice and peanuts are done, add them to pan and stir to coat rice with
sauce. Rice will be hard to mix since it sticks to the spatula. Just keep
on doing it until every grain of rice is coated with sauce. Serve warm.
Corn Chowder
1 cup corn kernels
1/2-cup tofu, diced
1/2-cup yam, diced
1/2-cup cucumber, diced
1/4-cup chopped scallion
1 cup broth
4 cups water
1/2-teasp salt
Dash of pepper
Bring water and broth to boil. Add tofu, simmer 5 minutes, add corn
and cucumber, simmer 5 minutes, add yam, salt and pepper, simmer 5 minutes.
Sprinkle on scallions right before serving. Serve warm.
Potato Salad
4 hard-boiled eggs, diced
3 large potatoes, boiled and diced
1/2-cup green peas, cooked and drained
1 large tomato, diced
4-tblsp mayonnaises
1/2-tblsp mustard
Let potatoes, eggs and green peas cool. Whip together all ingredients
and refrigerate the mixture. Serve cold.
Tofu and Marbled Egg Mix
4 marbled eggs
12 oz soft tofu
1/2-tblsp sesame oil
1/2-teasp salt
1 tblsp chopped scallion
Remove tofu from package and water. Let tofu stand in room temperature
for a while to rid excessive water. Diced up marbled eggs in a big bowl,
add tofu. Use a spoon to stir and mix, add salt and sesame oil. Mix well
and chill. Sprinkle on scallions right before serving. Serve cold.