Childhood Feast

Shortly after last year's dinner party with Vic & Co., I started thinking about the next time I'd host a big dinner party for this same group.  I started thinking of putting together a party centered on childhood food.  I began sketching out ideas in my head.  And then the unthinkable happened.
Next Restaurant announced that its third re-make would be childhood foods.  While most people were excited beyond words, my heart sank.  I almost gave up my idea.  Next is a world-class restaurant with some of the most innovative chefs on the planet.  I am merely a home cook who dabbles in dinner parties as a hobby.  There was no way my version would be as good or as creative as theirs.  I was ready to throw in the towel.  But then a good Friend talked me off the ledge.
"Look," she said.  "No one expects a home cook who's never been to culinary school to compete on that level.  Just do your own thing.  And did it ever occur to you that you should be excited you're thinking on the same cutting-edge level as the guys at Next?"

Oh.
Well, when you put it that way...

So I stuck with my original idea and called the night, "Looking Back:  a Grown-Up Take on Childhood Food."  Here are the highlights:

The table:

The guests:

Starter:

Amuse Bouche

Pineapple, red pears and blueberries in ginger-mint syrup with dried cranberry garnish

Toast:

Bruschetta

Rosemary bruschetta with goat cheese, herb-roasted red peppers, prosciutto, and dressed baby arugula

Alphabet Soup:

Consumme' with peas and carrots

I had originally wanted to spell each person's name in his or her bowl of soup, but I realized alphabet pasta only contains about 8 of the 26 letters.  Also, the picture doesn't fully do the consumme' justice - it was perfectly clear.

Pizza:

Thai-inspired

In honor of yesterday's snow storm, and all the childhood memories associated with growing up in the Midwest, I served the pizza on snowman plates.

Hamburgers:

Moroccan-inspired

Mini Moroccan hamburgers with apricot glaze in bite-size pita with

savory citrus carrot salad

Stop Playing with Your Food and Eat Your Vegetables:

Marbles.  Legos.

Red and white pearl onions glazed with apple juice and herbs
Roasted beets with honeyed goat cheese, fresh basil and dressed spinach

TV Dinner:

Chicken Bites.  Corn.

This dish was fantastic...and I was so busy frying chicken and plating the dinners that I forgot to photograph it.  I fried up some spicy chicken thighs and served them with Mel's Pumpkin Mole and Corn Maque Choux.

Fish Sticks:

Orange Roughy Parmesan.  Orzo.

Rustic orange roughy parmesan, classic orzo, and parmesan tuile with parsley oil garnish

Visiting the Ice Cream Truck:

Popsicles

Pineapple-Mango ice with hints of savory citrus in sweet orange-mango sauce.  When I brought out these desserts, several of my guests explaimed, "Oh!  I remember those!"