Gale Gand at Elawa Farm- Backyard Entertaining

On Wednesday, friends and I attended another of  Gale Gand's cooking classes at Elawa Farm in Lake Forest.  For foodies and cooks, taking a class with Chef Gand is a "must do", if at all possible.
She's witty, funny and seriously entertaining, along with the fact that the girl knows how to cook!
This week's class focused on preparing a no-hassle meal for entertaining family and friends in the backyard. 

The Menu

 

Mint Limenade with Bourbon

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

Mustard Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Golden Beet Salad with Sugar Snap Peas

Pineapple Fruit Skewers

 

 

 

A nod to the mint julep with crushed ice and muddled mint

 

 

Chef Gand discussing the day to day challenges of raising teenagers- and wondering

why the bourbon looked a little lighter in color than usual ??????

 

Gale slices the golden beets into little divets- not the usual little squares.

So much prettier too!

 Sliced the blanched sugar snap peas on an angle!

 

Always thinking about the presentation.

 

Golden Beet Salad with Sugar Snap Peas

 

 

 

 

 

Piping the sriracha deviled eggs

 

The technique of peeling a pineapple

 

Imagine this pineapple filled with fruit skewers - cute idea!

Need some of that divine lemon curd from the last class to dip the fruit in-

After cooking the tenderloin in the oven to an internal temperature of 140 degrees and letting it rest,

Chef Gand slices the pork.



The perfect little bite - slightly pink and very  moist.

After class , we toured the organic gardens of Elawa Farm.

 

They grow vegetables and herbs to sell at the weekly markets at the farm.

 



 

Flowers are grown to sell at the weekly garden markets at the farm on Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays.

 

Hollyhocks are in season now and being sold at the market..

 

 

 

Being inspired by the class, I head to the Lake Bluff Farmers market and hope to find golden beets!

 

Success- and a few more goodies.

 

I'll make Gale's beet salad and try my hand at preparing that gorgeous romanesco.

 



 

But before I start on that beet salad -

A Mint Limenade with Bourbon sounds divine!

 

Cheers to Gale Gand!

 

 

Note:  Gale Gand is founding executive pastry chef and partner of the Michelin Star restaurant Tru in Chicago, host of Food Network's Sweet Dreams and the author of 8 cookbooks.  She just opened a new restaurant in Chicago called  Spritz Burger, with the Hearty Boys.  She has a root beer company, Gale's Root Beer and received a James Beard award as Outstanding Pastry Chef.  For more information about Gale go to www.galegand.com

 

 

 

 

The Perfect Shade of Pink- Hand-Dyed Ribbon

One of  our customer's daughters is getting married soon.  I was asked to hand-dye 350 yards of ribbon to tie on to the menu cards.  And the color chosen just happened to be my favorite color of pink!  As I began planning  the process of dying this massive amount of ribbon, one of my friends sent me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for my birthday. And it just happened to have the inspirational color! Stunning David Austin roses- my absolute favorite.

 

I knew that this was the perfect shade of pink -

Pretty good match - don't you think!  Using an ivory color French seam binding, I used two colors of pink dye to get the multi-colored effect. 

 The roses are starting to wilt now, as  it's been a week since my birthday. But I think they are lovelier as they begin to fade and gave me more inspiration to create that shabby chic pink.

 

390 yards later- all piled on the kitchen island- dried and ready to pack.

 

The mother of the bride purchased this rhinestone birdcage at our last sale.

 I wonder how she will use it- 

 

 

 

Yes- it the perfect shade of pink!

4th of July - Lake Bluff Style

It is a fabulous day in Lake Bluff for the 4th of July- 75 degrees, sunny and a slight breeze. The lake is bright blue and soft waves are gently coming on to the shore.  It's perfect!

The houses in town are decorated to the nines for the holiday! 

 

Here are a few of my favorites this year!

 

                  These homeowners even painted their lawn with red, white, and blue stars!

 

                      Time to get a few red, white and blue touches out on my porch-
 I love to unpack these vintage "Old Glory" pillows every year for the fourth of July.

 

Add a few more touches -

 

Pull out the flow blue platters and dishes.

Couldn't resist putting flowers from the garden in this British tea caddy- very red, white and blue too!

 

Some patriotic cupcakes from Goodfellows in town.

 

A big bowl of strawberries for munching.

 

And an old fashioned favorite- so American-

 

Strawberry Pretzel Salad served parfait style in American eagle compotes.

 

 

Finally time for the annual parade -

 

 

 

So from our house to yours-

 

Happy 4th of July!  It's great to live in America!

 

Recipe for

 Strawberry Pretzel Salad

 

CRUST

2 2/3 cups crushed pretzel sticks

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

3 T. sugar

 

Mix crushed pretzels, butter and sugar. Press into a 9 by 13 baking dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Cool

 

 

FILLING

 

 

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar

2 c. Cool Whip

 

 

Blend cream  cheese and sugar together.  Blend together with Cool Whip.  Spread over cooled crust and chill.

 

 

TOPPING

 

6 oz. pineapple juice

6 oz. box strawberry jello

2 10 oz. unsweetended boxes frozen strawberries

 

 

For the third layer, add enough water to pineapple juice to make 3 cups of liquid and bring to a boil.

Add Jello and stir until dissolved.  Add frozen strawberries and mix well.  Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the mixture is mostly conjealed.  Pour on top of Cool Whip layer and let chill for 4 hours. Serve that day or next day. (Pretzels get too soft after that) Serves 12