shower the people you love with love

Saturday kicked off the wedding festivities for my sister, Christianne. I flew home to host her bridal shower, along with her two bridesmaids, Casey & Nancy Jane. I planned the menu to be comfortable, but light, and inventive and diverse. I wanted the best flavors to come out in all of the dishes.

We started with Kir Royale's--my favorite Paris cocktail. A thimble-full of creme de cassis liqueur and a long pour of chilled champagne.





Guests dined on:

White bean crostini with thyme, lemon and garlic (my mother expertly sliced the bread on the bias so we'd have these lithe little crostini.



Next, open-faced salmon sandwiches with watercress and roasted red pepper aioli. I roasted the peppers (actually, my dad did) on the grill in the am, and added mayo as needed along with lemon juice and fresh cracked pepper. I painted it on the sourdough squares with a paint brush, and topped with grilled salmon and several watercress leaves.



Lettuce cups with chicken salad with craisins and pecans--to die for. Deceptively easy to prepare, and the bibb lettuce cup was the perfect accessory for the salad.



And last, my nod to ethnic diversity-vietnamese spring rolls filled with shrimp, bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber, green onion, fresh mint and cilantro. I've made these before, but this time I sauteed the shrimp instead of poaching it. It was sauteed with garlic, ginger and cilantro. The dipping sauce was a melting pot of peanut butter, asian fish sauce, soy sauce, scallions, ginger, garlic, vinegar, and brown
sugar.



And, we can't forget dessert-strawberry tiramasu. I recipe I've adapted from Giada--to make it into individual servings. And-hazlenut chocolate mousse topped with a chocolate starfish (the theme of the wedding).







We had a wonderful time, laughed a lot and everyone enjoyed Christiannne opening her gifts....I couldn't have done it all without my team of sous-chefs-so thanks!