Derby Party!!!

Hello, my name is Matt. This is my first (of many posts). Let me start by saying how very excited I am that Ben and I have begun doing this. Not only is it a wonderful opportunity to catch up with and communicate with an old friend, but it also allows us to pursue our passion...cooking.

So without further ado, let me tell you about a derby party I attended yesterday in San Francisco. The setting was perfect: a beautiful backyard on a perfectly sunny day. There was something for everybody: dresses, huge hats, babies, and....GREAT food.

My friends Sara and Paul hosted the party. Paul decided that it would be fitting to buy a propane fryer. I think this was most appropriate. In all there were two fryers going, one with chicken and the other with catfish. For a first timer, I thought the chicken turned out great.

Lately I have decided that if I am going to bring food to a party, I want to prepare it myself. I don't knock anybody who decides to go to a store and get pre-made food, but there is a certain satisfaction I get from doing it myself. Going with the Southern theme, I brought two appetizers to the party - cheese straws and pimento cheese.

I got the cheese straw recipe from the Joy of Cooking. I would say this recipe book is a most for every novice cook. It has everything you would ever really need to know about food preparation and ingredients. The recipe is pretty simple: butter, flour, a little Worcestershire sauce, cheese and salt. The recipe also called for crushed red peppers, but I did not include it. Even though this was my first time making the cheese straws, I think they turned out pretty well. The straws were nice and crispy on the bottom and had a nice crunch. If I would have been preparing this dish for myself, I would have added Cayenne pepper for a kick, but I am always cautious about overpowering people when I do not know exactly who I am cooking for...

The pimento cheese recipe I got from foodnetwork.com. I felt a little guilty about this because usually I make my grandmother's recipe which I have grown up with. But, in the interest of trying out different recipes and expanding my own culinary experience, I decided to look for another recipe to try. This recipe was not so good for you: it contains mayo, monterey jack and sharp cheddar cheeses, garlic salt, pepper, cream cheese and crushed pimentos. Whenever I search for a recipe on foodnetwork.com, I generally look for one with the best reviews and also read the user posts because I like to see how the people who have tried the recipes changed it, in case I want to follow their lead.

The recipe called for beating the cream cheese, which I liked. However, I though there was too much of a mayo flavor coming through (and I even used less than what the recipe called for) Overall, I thought this recipe was good, but it was not my grandmother's! Maybe I am biased, but it didn't taste like home...

But, with good friends, good drinks, good food, and good weather I could not complain. All in all a wonderful derby and day.