- Hey guys, this video is part of a special collaboration
between my channel and Rachel Talbott's channel.
All around the idea of summer entertaining.
Now if you're not familiar with Rachel's channel,
you are in for a treat.
I encourage you to head on over there and subscribe
and there you will find all kinds of great beauty tutorials,
DIY projects, as well as tips for your home.
So throughout the next three weeks,
Rachel and I will come together
to give you a double dose of summer entertaining.
So for my part, I'm going to show you
some great ideas to get the food on the table
and Rachel is going to show you
how to get your house in order,
and together we hope to inspire you
to entertain in style this summer.
And I will also be uploading my
regularly scheduled video on Saturdays,
so this way you will have two videos
to look forward to for the next few weeks.
So today, Rachel and I are tackling
the drink and appetizer party;
one of my favorite ways to entertain in the summer.
So I'm going to share with you three appetizer ideas
that I think are perfect for having somebody over
for a casual get-together, or if you're watching the game.
And Rachel is going to share with you some tabletop ideas,
that will help personalize your party,
through a beautiful tablescape.
(guitar music)
Okay, so let me show you how to make my sweet and salty
rosemary cashews.
So in a large saute pan,
you're going to place three tablespoons of butter.
Once that's nice and melted you can add
one tablespoon of honey
and two table spoons of brown sugar.
Go ahead and whisk that up until everything is combined.
And then we're going to add one pound
of raw, unsalted cashew nuts.
Now the nice thing about this recipe is
you really could use any nut you like.
I really like cashew nuts, but if you prefer almonds,
or pecans, or walnuts, go ahead.
And you just want to stir up the nuts
until they are nice and coated.
And then we are going to transfer them
to a rim lined cookie sheet
and you're going to pop in the oven
at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
for just 10 minutes.
And what you're going to do is every three to four minutes,
go in there with a spoon and just toss them.
And you'll see they'll start to get golden brown,
and buttery and look really delicious.
Then once your cashews are done,
you're gonna take them out
and allow them to cool on your cooktop,
and while they're cooling you wanna add in
two tablespoons of freshly minced rosemary.
The nice thing about this recipe is as those nuts
are starting to cool, they're still warm.
So when you add the rosemary
and toss it in, the warmth of the cashews
will start to release all of those oils in the rosemary
and really flavor your nuts in a great way.
And then you're also going to add
a little sprinkling of your favorite sea salt.
So that's it, that's all you have to do.
Now you can make these in advance
and you can leave them right there
on your cooktop just cooling,
and then moments before your guests arrive,
you can reheat them and pop them in a 300 degree oven
for just about five minutes, and the will warm back up.
But all the heavy lifting is done, which is nice.
(guitar music)
So everybody likes a quesadilla certainly at a party,
but when you combine a cheese like Brie,
and mix it with something like a sweet pear,
it sort of takes the idea of a quesadilla
and makes it a little bit more
fancy without a lot more effort.
I really like to use those tortillas that are uncooked.
You can find them usually in the
refrigerator section of your supermarket.
They just make the most wonderful quesadillas,
and it's perfect for entertaining.
But if you can't find those, you also could
just use a regular flour tortilla.
That would work as well.
So the first thing we're going to do is just
cook our tortillas on both sides,
making sure that they're nice and golden brown.
Then we're gonna take some Brie
and just place it on the lower half of your tortilla.
And on top of that you're going to add some sliced pears.
Go ahead and fold over your tortilla
and then put it back on your pan
and lightly grill it on each side,
just making sure that it's nice and golden brown.
So what I like to do is make a batch of these
and put them on a cookie sheet
and keep them in a 325 degree oven, just to keep them warm,
and keep that cheese nice and melted.
So this is a good thing to do maybe 10 or 20
minutes before your guests arrive.
So that way when everybody comes through the door,
you have these delicious, warm quesadillas,
ready to greet them.
And then to serve, I like to cut them into wedges,
and serve on a nice cutting board.
I keep the wedges kind of small
because they are a bit rich, but they are delicious
and most people cannot eat just one.
(guitar music)
Okay, warm and gooey appetizer taken care of.
Now we are going to do appetizer number three,
something crisp and refreshing.
And for me, there's nothing more classic
than a crudite platter with green goddess dressing.
Something I love to serve in the summer time.
Let me show you how easy it is to make.
So in a blender, you're going to add a cup of mayonnaise,
and a cup of sour cream,
three-quarters cup of fresh parsley
and I don't even really chop it up that much
because the blender will actually do that part for you.
A quarter cup of dill or tarragon.
Now tarragon is really traditional
for green goddess dressing,
but I find tarragon can sometimes
be hard to find at the supermarket,
so dill is sometimes a little bit
more available, but either one will do.
Then you're also gonna add a quarter-cup of fresh chives,
a tablespoon of lemon juice, two garlic cloves,
and a quarter-cup of water.
Now at this stage, it is traditional to add anchovy paste
to green goddess dressing,
but I usually don't like to do that
because I find vegetarians will usually gravitate
towards a croudite platter and I don't want to say,
Oh wait there's anchovies in there.
So I just kind of leave it out,
but if you wanted to add it,
by all means, it would be very traditional.
And you're also going to add a little
salt and pepper to taste.
Go ahead and whirl that up
and your green goddess dressing is done.
(guitar music)
When it comes to choosing vegetables for my crudite platter,
I always like to focus on color, texture, and size,
because if you have a nice assortment
of all of those things working together,
it'll make for a really pretty presentation.
So for me, I like to do something tall,
like some baby carrots, which are nice
and slender and give you that burst of color.
Next to that, I like to add in some
sliced radishes for a little bit of bite.
And then next to that I'll use some broccoli,
because broccoli has a wonderful texture to it,
and that burst of green is just so summery.
Then on the other side I'll cut some baby zucchini,
again for something tall and slender.
And then I'll place some endive leaves.
I like the color and the texture.
They're also really crisp on a hot summer night.
And then I also like to use a little bit of cauliflower
because you get that burst of white
against all of this color, and then you
also have a really pretty texture.
And then if I have room,
I'll also nestle in a few cherry tomatoes.
And then the final step is just to add in your
green goddess dressing
and you'll see that beautiful color just brings
all of these vegetables to life.
It is the perfect display for summer,
that's not only refreshing and delicious, but healthy too!
The really nice thing about this appetizer is if
the guests don't eat all of the vegetables,
and sometimes that can happen with a crudite platter,
that's okay, because they're all cut up and ready to go.
I save them and I pop them in my fridge
and they make for a perfect snack
in my kids lunch box the next day.
So there you have it, my trio of appetizers.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
And now that you've got your snacks in order,
you need to head on over to Rachel's channel,
and find out how to get that table in order.
She's got some great ideas for a beautiful tablescape.
Alright you guys, I hope you enjoyed this collaboration,
and we will see you back here next week
for another double dose of summer entertaining tips.
Until then, bye.
♫ You know I could have been a painter,
♫ mix in some colour to your life's
♫ create a disaster piece named the man
♫ and he is god of wive.
♫ Some day, la la la la la la
♫ One way, la la la la la la la
♫ Some day, we can make it out of here ♫