It’s been a few days since my last post, but I have been so busy!  I have actually been working on my thesis (no really I have – I can’t believe it either!), started Crossfit, and it was my turn to host a weekly Game of Thrones viewing party.  Let me just say, the GoT party was by far the most enjoyable.  I was also lucky enough to have a friend take photos of the party you can check out Akane Photography and like her Facebook page here! 

Usually the menu we choose for the party is medieval inspired and the food is always beyond tasty – the bar had been set very high for me from the nature of the last parties I’ve been to.  I went to my old faithful for some recipes the goddess Martha Stewart.  Her website is beyond phenomenal and there are thousands of free recipes that will impress anyone.  

I decided to go for a hand pie for starters that is in Martha’s ‘Pies & Tarts‘ book.  I LOVE that book – never in my life have I used a cookbook so much even though it is only pies and tarts.  I don’t like being a ‘fan-boy’, but Martha really knows EVERYTHING about baking/cooking/cleaning/folding the list obviously goes on. 

So the hand pies – this version included roasted cauliflower, menchango cheese, hazelnuts, olive oil, and garlic.  The crust came together nicely in my food processor and rolled out nicely with my Kuhn mini roller.  

Mini Cauliflower/Mangeno Cheese Hand Pies. Photo from Akane Photography 

They were good, but I wish I had put more spices in the mixture itself. It also needed a sauce because the texture was all the same.  Next time I’ll leave the cauliflower in little pieces like Martha said instead of pureeing it all together- I don’t know what I was thinking defying her!  Plus this hand pie would be really easy to customize – I would try it with broccoli, squash, asparagus, zucchini … etc.  

I had an extra sheet of pastry puff left over from Easter in the freezer so I decided to use it up.  The Pepperidge Farm website has some cute, easy, and fun recipes for all their products (including Goldfish!).  This recipe included a small cube of smoked gouda, apple, scallions and some lemon juice. So easy! 

Smoked Gouda Apple Puff Pastry. Photo from Akane Photography 

Next up – tea sandwiches!  I’ve been craving these little puppies since my family went to High Tea over the holidays.  I decided to try a Mango Chutney Egg Salad Sandwich and a Cucumber Onion Sandwich.  Both were super tasty and beyond easy.

Assorted Tea Sandwiches. Photo from Akane Photography 

Look at those little carrot flowers! Since discovering the whole Bento world I have made a few small purchases.  I purchased a carrot cutter and some adorable mini cutters (I used those on the hand pies above).  I am sure I’ll be buying more small pieces, because Bento is so much fun.  If you’re interested, Happy Little Bento is my favorite Bento blog. Be warned though – it’s so cute you can’t look away. 

There were miscellaneous dips and cheeses as well – those are always a great standby, because all you have to do is set them out!  I finished, of course with some ‘box’ cupcakes and got fancy and made some delicious frosting from scratch if you can believe it.

Dothraki Vanilla Cupcakes with Neufchâtel Frosting. Photo from Akane Photography 

The frosting was 3-4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 a stick of softened butter, 4oz of Neufchâtel cheese and 1/4 Cup Milk.  The flavor was very good and a unique alternative to the ‘too sweet’ buttercream.  I had a few people ask me here how I get the frosting so smooth – I stopped and realized I use a huge spatula to ice cupcakes and it just naturally leaves large smooth marks. I topped the cakes off with some sliced almonds (dragon scales) and I used those mini cutters to cut out cherry blossoms from fruit leathers! 

All in all the food was very tasty, GoT was super good, and we finished the party off by doing a hilarious photo op. There are a ton of other funny photos on Akane Photography‘s Facebook page, but this was just too priceless not to share here.

 “You can dress us up, but you can’t take us out.” Photo from Akane Photography