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^{Entertaining A Crowd}

I love throwing parties. Of course, the planning, the coordinating and the cleaning up afterwards are hassles. But to fill the dining room table with food is my passion. Secretly, I think I would like to try catering as a career, among the many other things I would like to do, someday. Last November I grabbed the chance to give two parties back to back at home. The first one was for my husband, having a get-together for his colleagues, their spouses and children, a total of 16 adults and 3 children. Quite a few among this crowd are vegetarians so I decided to make all but one dish vegetarian. I bought the brie, the crackers, the cake, the brown veggie platter and the meat/poultry platter, but made the rest myself with a lot of help from ready-made egg rolls and dumplings which I simply fried and steamed right before serving. What is a brown veggie platter? It is the combination of a vegetarian smoked duck sliced up and a spicy pressed tofu and pickled vegetable cold dish. I bought both from Saratoga Natural Food Store where they have many tofu products for vegetarians.

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.