pie dough change-o

In my family, the leftover pie dough is as big a deal as the actual pie. We make Dum-Dums out of them—a cinnamony pinwheel cookie whose name origin nobody recalls and appears to have no logic.

I adore these cookies, and they only appear around the holidays, so they’re a real treat. They won't win any beauty contests, but they're awfully tasty and smell divine. Once, my family made Dum-Dums and ate them all before I awoke. I was SO MAD. Perhaps it was my own fault since I slept in so late—that was my family’s stance—but I felt deeply wronged.

Recently I discovered these cookies don’t have to be a holidays-only kind of thing. I made a pie for a potluck, and, as is customary in my family, I used a recipe that gives you enough dough to cover the top of the pie, but then I didn’t cover it. I made Dum-Dums with the extra dough and served them to a friend one early evening. As it turned out, they are the perfect little sweet thing to serve a guest. I told my friend the story of the all the Dum-Dums being gone before I awoke. After eating one, she said: “I would have been mad about that, too.”

Dum-Dums

Leftover pie dough
Butter, melted
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Nuts, finely chopped (optional)

Measurements are impossible for this recipe since it all depends on how much leftover pie dough you have. (Or make the pie dough, skip the pie and bake these.)

Preheat oven to 325.

Roll out the dough so it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Brush with melted butter. Cover with a layer of brown sugar—add as much as you think you’d like. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nuts, if using. (Pecans are a nice addition.) Roll dough into a log, then slice into roughly 1/4-inch slices. Put on baking sheet and brush with more butter, if desired. Bake for about 15 minutes or until dough is cooked but not brown.

Best served warm.

spike it

When it comes to ice cream floats, two options come to mind: root beer or Coke. I never thought there was more to the float world.

Then, one quiet day, the folks of Tastings in New York told me about an entirely new float. These floats were a giant hit at their summer parties. They involved alcohol. Also fruit. The visionary creation? Prosecco floats!

Bon Appetit introduced Tastings to the light-alcoholic-fizziness-meets-strawberry-sorbato combo. And the drink is, I’ve decided, the perfect hot-day refresher. It's also such a pretty addition to a bridal or baby shower. And while Bon App’s homemade sorbato (sorbet-meets-gelato) sounds delicious and not-that-hard-to-make, my approach is especially low-tech.

Spiked Floats

Place 1-2 scoops of store-bought sorbet of your choice—Haagen-Dazs’ strawberry, raspberry and peach are all great. Fill glass with Prosecco or other sparkling wine; 7 Up also works for a teetotaler version. Add 3 or so raspberries or other pretty fruit. Serve.

And be forewarned: This opens up an entire world of spiked floats. After this, I was an unstoppable-spiked-float force. I created what I call a Southern Spritzer by adding the leftover peach sorbet to 7 Up and bourbon and am officially smitten with this drink. I’m now contemplating my next spiked float move….

4th of july recipe roundup

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Fireworks, check. Charcoal briquettes, check. Sunscreen, check. You're ready for your big 4th of July party. Or are you? Do you have a that cocktail that everyone's going to be asking for more of? How about a summery dessert?

Never fear — we've gone back into our recipe vault to bring you some oldies but goodies to cap off your bash.

• Frozen whiskey sours: They're sweet and citrusy and the perfect cocktail to chill the masses while waiting for the sun to go down.
• Watermelon granita: This dessert takes the ultimate summertime fruit and freezes it into delicious icy goodness. We even tell you how to spike it for the grownups.
• Fruit dip: It doesn't get any easier than this creamy concoction. With ingredients you probably already have in your cabinets, you can whip it up and just add fruit.

a little layering

 

Sometimes you want your cocktail to say “America.” I know I do. So with July 4th on the horizon, I decided to create a red, white and blue striped beverage to toast our country. I figured learning to layer a drink would be easy enough.

I was wrong.

Not that I was unprepared. I did some research on layering drinks and discovered heavy liquids should go at the bottom, lighter ones at the top. So I decided to start with a grenadine syrup-based concoction; blue curacao would be my middle; and a light, white-ish Prosecco would top the whole thing off. The layers would be in the nontraditional red, blue and white order, but people would get the idea. Also discovered during my research: You should pour liquids over the back of a spoon to help them disperse.

chocolate fix, fixed

I have this horrible habit of attempting far more than is reasonable when I entertain. Lately, I’m trying to rein myself in.

I had a successful foray in restraint when I prepared an Easter dinner and decided to nix the homemade apricot custard tart I was planning in favor of a build-your-own-s’meeps station. The s’meeps were a hit (mainly for their sheer kookiness), and, quite frankly, a good lesson for me in successful-yet-totally feasible entertaining.

So when friends invited me over for dinner recently and gave me dessert duty, I decided to go interactive again. But this time with five-minute microwavable individual chocolate cakes.

First, I’ll give you the recipe—it’s from a forward my mother sent me that doesn’t list the original source of the recipe. (Sorry, Original Source Person—speak up if you’re out there!) Next, I’ll tell you how my friends and I fared on the project.

Fun with pancakes

Have you noticed an increase in expensive kitchen gadgetry for kids, like bendy man spatulas and mouse measuring cups? The aim is to make cooking fun for children. Hello! Put away the credits cards and just do this: Clean an empty plastic ketchup bottle and fill it with pancake batter.

The opening is perfectly sized for making funny pancakes. Before the ketchup bottle discovery, the most I could do to impress my toddler was drop two blobs of batter into the skillet to make a lopsided snowman. Now I can spell names and create turtles, flowers, puppy dogs, caterpillars and bunny ears (well, that one looks more like the “peace sign” hand gesture, but whatever). The point is, the sky’s the limit, almost.

Here are a few tips:

• If you’re spelling a name in batter, write backwards so the pretty, golden brown side will be on top when you flip it.

• Since the batter expands, it's best to stick to shapes with rounded features, avoiding sharp angles and triangles. Sadly, that means no kitty ears.

• Use ¼ more mix than your recipe calls for. Otherwise the batter will be too thin to hold a shape.

• To fill a standard 24-ounce ketchup bottle, use about 3 cups of batter.

• Add a tablespoon a flaxseeds for a tasty health boost. Flaxseeds are a great source of Omega-3s, but they also add a mild nutty flavor to pancakes.

Chickens are the new black

Sure, the Obamas planted a Victory Garden, and these days urban and backyard gardeners from Brooklyn to the Midwest to San Fran are impressing their guests with salsas and salads plucked from their own sunny plots.

But can a tomato plant decorate your party? Will it entertain your guests? Certainly not. That’s where chickens come in. They’re budget-friendly — we paid $11 for each of them, plus a coop — and they even supply food!

Plus, chickens bring:

• An element of drama. Where will they run next? What are they scratching at? Can I pet them?
• The ultimate eco-friendly appetizers. From the backyard to the kitchen, there is no carbon footprint for fabulous deviled eggs!
• Coolest kid on the block status. Sure, your friends have the newest iPhone, but chickens? That’s the next level.
• Children love chickens! For petting, have an adult hold the chicken, beak facing away, while the tyke pats the smooth back feathers. Kids love chasing them too; don’t sweat it, chickens outrun little ones. Warning: My birds peck at beak-level food; when kids eat ice cream cones, put your feathered friends in the coop.

Ultimate, No Carbon Footprint Deviled Eggs!
Match the herb to the cuisine you’re serving. Going Greek? Add oregano. Good old American? Chives or dill will do. Italian? Try basil.

• 1 dozen fresh eggs
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (low-fat will taste just as good)
• 1 teaspoon. dried herb of your choice, plus a dash for sprinkling (got fresh? Use about 3 times as much, minced)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Place eggs in pot; add cold water until eggs are covered by an inch. Bring to boil over high heat. Cover, remove from heat and let sit 17 minutes. Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and water. Transfer eggs to bowl, and chill until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes (this makes eggs easier to peel and prevents the dark coloring around the yolk).

Crack shells gently; peel, rinsing if necessary to remove shell. Slice each egg in half lengthwise. Transfer yolks to medium bowl and whites to platter.

Using back of fork, break up yolks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon dried herb and mustard; stir to blend thoroughly. Correct seasoning if necessary.

Using small spatula or spoon, portion yolk mixture evenly into halved whites. Sprinkle yolk mixture with herbs and serve.

Serves 12 as appetizer

just chillin'

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White wine might be the perfect accompaniment to a summer dinner party. But how many times have you realized only moments before your guests arrive that you've forgotten to chill your bottle of wine? We've got a tip that'll give you ice-cold wine in less than 10 minutes with nothing more than ice, water and salt.

Here's what you do: Fill an ice bucket about a third full of ice cubes. (Staying true to my statement above, if you don't have an ice bucket, you can always use a large mixing bowl or even your kitchen sink.) On top of the ice, spread a generous handful or two of salt — about a third of a cup. Work the bottle of wine into the ice cubes, then fill the ice bucket the rest of the way with cold water making sure as much of the bottle is submerged as possible. Violà! You've got super-cold wine in no time. And trust me, this works a million times better than shoving it in the freezer for a few minutes.

We're filing this under another one more way that salt saves the day.

Bacon Doughnut Burger recipe

Leave it to sexy soul singer Luther Vandross to come up with the ultimate in over-indulgence. Elvis, your fried peanut butter and bacon sandwich has nothin’ on this.

For Fathers’ Day, here’s what most people usually make: hot dogs, beans, burgers served on normal buns (I shudder at the thought). Imagine how excited Dad will be when he experiences the crazy salt/sweet intensity of the bacon doughnut burger.

It’s certainly not good for you. In fact, if you have high cholesterol, for the love of God, stop reading now. But it’s unquestionably tasty and popping up all over the place, from a tiny doughnut shop in Massachusetts to the Food Network (Paula Deen created one for the “ladies” with an egg on top).

Here is the original recipe: glazed doughnut, hamburger patty, cheese and bacon. For a truly authentic experience, use a Krispy Kreme.

top it off

I’ve learned the hard way that no matter how delicious your dish, people are not going to eat it if it doesn’t look delicious. (Don’t even get me started on the pecan pie incident.)

So over the years I’ve paid close attention to the best way to make my table and food look awesome. Here’s what I’ve picked up:

• Like a big (but extremely prepared and party-savvy) dork, the night before the party I set my buffet table. I place all the serving platters where they’re going to sit on the table, put out corresponding utensils, and then stick Post-its on the dishes indicating which food item goes where. This is helpful in soooo many ways. It makes sure the look of the table doesn’t get lost in the last-minute details of throwing a party. It forces you to make sure all the servingware is available (and not, for example, languishing in the fridge filled with other contents). And if friends come over beforehand to help you with the party, they can just follow the Post-it notes and fill empty dishes without stopping you in your last-minute party-throwing frenzy.
• Group guests’ plates, utensils, napkins, etc., together in an easy-to-spot place. I stumbled upon a new way to present these essentials by placing the plates and napkins upright in a copper basket whose purpose I’ve never understood and putting utensils in short crystal and silver vases.
• Cheese can be downright artful if you vary cheese shapes, such as cubes, small wedges and slices. You can arrange cubes and wedges (for wedges, think slightly larger than a cube) in rows like a little army of cheese. I’ve also seen cubes mounded on top a round of a different type of cheese. Go for a fallen domino effect with slices. Use strawberries and grapes as colorful garnish.
• Melon balls can be ho-hum, but I’ve seen them become adorable when served on skewers. Thread four melon balls on a skewer and serve them sticking upright either in a patch of wheatgrass or in a Styrofoam base placed in a pot.