A great idea for any holiday gift!

By candia | Published: December 23, 2011

My parents sent me lobsters for Christmas. Not sure when they left the water, but they arrived at 9:00PM Thursday night. Now, at this time, I am in bed sick as a dog, but my husband tells me that they sent cooked lobsters for a Christmas gift for my family, and I think what a great idea. This is great for us, but especially  for people who live in land locked areas of the country….those same people who don’t have access to fresh fish or fresh lobsters, as we do that live in New York…

Now, I am a little nervous about eating lobsters that have been cooked who knows when and arrive in a puddle of water……I mean at Cater to You, my place of employment, my chefs would make me throw them out…but we are extra careful….but the company that sent them says you can refrigerate cooked lobsters and eat them the next day…SO TODAY IS “THE NEXT DAY”…..AND AS A RESULT I HAVE BEEN HARD AT WORK.

So far, I have made a lobster salad (thank you Joel for teaching me how to make an incredible one this summer), and I have prepped a lobster pot pie. I was making chicken pot pies for dinner this evening, so I just made extra sauce and put in the lobster..I figure if it cooks again we will be safe eating it….and I am going to make a stock with all the shells. I never seem to do that when I buy lobsters and cook them myself (by the way, you all know how easy that is to do and have seen my previous posts on the subject)…so this is a great treat for me..and I can freeze the lobster stock for use later this year!

So….below you will find my recipe for pot pies…but before I do that, let me give you the name of the company that sends these lobsters…..The Lobster Net. and they are on-line, I would however, if you are going to buy this wonderful gift for someone……buy only live lobsters…then  you know they are fresh, plus…… be a really nice person and let the person to whom you are sending get some kind of email that they are  receiving “a dinner surprise” on X night. This way, they know to A : not go out to dinner and B: don’t prepare dinner.

Some of you may think that this will spoil the surprise, but believe me it will not. The gift will be even more appreciated than you think and if the day of scheduled arrival is some big shindig in the life of your recipient, they can probably change the delivery date and make it even more special!

I hope you all enjoy the recipes below..super easy, takes about 20 minutes total.

CANDIA’S CHICKEN OR LOBSTER POT PIES

Ingredients:

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut up into bite size pieces
  • three packages dried mushrooms, I use chanterelles, morrels, and whatever else is in the store
  • 1 onion (I leave this out, you will want it) or 2 shallots
  • 1.5 cups of heavy cream
  • white wine for deglazing the pan
  • defrosted puff pastry
  • salt and pepper
  • butter

What you do:

  • put the mushrooms in warm water for about 15 minutes
  • if you are using onion or shallots, cook them briefly in a non stick pan in some butter..(if you don’t use them, skip to next step first)
  • saute the chicken in a non stick pan with some butter for about 5 minutes and you can turn the pieces so that they get browned.
  • deglaze with the white wine (use your judgement on how much….a small glass)
  • put the mushrooms which have been “wrung out” into the pan with the chicken and the cream….salt and pepper and let reduce about 3 minutes..you want some sauce.
  • put the mixture into a gratin dish or individual ramekins
  • roll out the puff pastry and cut pieces to fit your ramekins or gratin dish…leave a small hole in the middle so the air can escape
  • wash the pastry with an egg wash (yolk)
  • put in oven at 375° for 20 minutes
  • Enjoy with a glass of nice White Burgundy.

For Lobster……you follow all the same instructions. Since the lobster I received is already cooked, I just cooked it in the pan for about 1 minute to not over cook, but to get the same effect. Should be yummy.

So, my parents don’t read this blog…..but I may tell them I blogged about the wonderful Christmas gift….and hope that they have inspired you to think about this original and fantastic gift for your friends and relatives, not just for Christmas, but really anytime of the year….Thanks Susan and Dad.

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Cindy Adams really is tops…don’t you read her everyday?

By candia | Published: December 14, 2011

I have  been carrying this scrap of paper for about two weeks in my adgenda..yes, the Hermès blue one that I will never part with….because I read it in Cindy Adam’s column in the Post and I just adored it.

We all know she has a sharp tongue, and who can’t appreciate her final lines, “only in New York kids, only in New York”. So I don’t remember which day it is from…..”Prayer heard out on the North fork; ‘Dear Father;Please. For this year a thin body and a fat bank account. don’t mix them up again as you did last year;”….

This is the funniest thing I have read all year. I think everyone knows that there have been many challenges in my life this year and that sentence above sums up two of my major issues….I mean, it is three years since I left Woman’s Day and three years I have been FAT. Sure, there have been weeks of watching and even fitting back into some clothes, but now, I am just beyond….and the thin bank account….it has never been thinner….I used to joke that I was “downwardly mobile”, well, this year certainly proved I am almost at the bottom……. by the way, that beautiful bag is my idea of something so beautiful and you could certainly make it “fat” for next year…lots of room to fill with money…

So…I am not one for New  Year’s resolutions per se…..but this quote got me motivated on both those fronts. Time to step up the game and as I have said, “get the magic back”. I have a plan….check in with me in a few weeks to see how it is going……

In the meantime, come back later this week for my Christmas tree solution……I am “hating it less”…..but it is the worst one I have ever had……

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I dont’ like my Christmas tree…this is why I feel more comIfortable paying more….

By candia | Published: December 12, 2011

Yesterday I made my pilgrimage to cut down my Christmas tree. A tradition I have enjoyed for a few years. I go with two dear friends and their son in Roxbury CT. Now we knew that this year was going to be hard as our ususal place was wiped out last year…I had a place I discovered this summer in Salt Point New York, but made the decision to trust Bart and David and try this new “place”. I was attracted by the price….$30 for any tree. I mean, that sounds great right?

Well, I should have known, as my friend Larry always says, “we feel comfortable paying more” and I wish I had followed my instinct and gone to my NY place, and just joined Bart and David for lunch yesterday…because to be honest more than half of the fun of our outing, is just getting together with them, the tree is just the by product, so to speak…

Ever the optomist, I approached the tree farm..and I loved the owner…he was trying, but I wasn’t so sure…and even though my son had an idea of what he liked (and I really should have taken what he suggested)..I fell in love with the color of a particular blue spruce….and it was crooked, so immediately I loved it…Remember we are talking $30…..per tree. I even considered two..thank goodness I didn’t do that, I would really not be happy now.

So we cut it down, shoved it IN, yes, that is right, IN the Hertz car (nice Mercedes 350 SUV..lots of room) and went home. Got it upstairs….and it shed lots on the way up as there aren’t nets in these places where you cut down the tree and certainly not for $30…and I hate it. It is scrawny, it is prickly, the leaves are not “bushy” and it curves…… I actually like the top, and true I haven’t taken a great photo, and I like that you can see the trunk….but I don’t like it, what came over me to pick this tree? I didn’t want to hurt the feelings of David and Bart..that they had brought me to a place I just didn’t like….there were better trees, but I just lost control..

Why do you think I am showing you photos of the trees of past years? Well, I do have a solution……and that is for later this week….but the bottom line is this….Nice Jewish Girls are supposed to buy their heavily marked up trees on the corner of 2nd avenue…pay more and get it delivered….

We will see……send your thoughts on this poor tree….to candia@candiastyle.com

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The best Thanksgiving ever!

By candia | Published: November 27, 2011

This has been probably the worst year of my life….I thought things would get better but unfortunately they have not..however, there is always next year and one must continue to make an effort to make the next day even better…and in reality, I am very thankful for a lot and that is probably why this was the best Thanksgiving ever….

The “torch was passed” to me from my Aunt Sheila this year to do Thanksgiving. Even though I have a very small apartment (ok, my  husband says I can’t keep saying that..but the truth is 1350 sq ft is not big)..I couldn’t wait to serve 23 people. I spent weeks with the menu planning…of course I couldn’t do it “traditionally”….and I was even refining up to the last minute…I planned, and shopped for days. I began cooking the weekend before, but the real crunch was from Tuesday night, I took off Wednesday, and of course on Thursday…..but I loved it every minute.

Dumb as this sounds, I forgot to take pictures, so here you will see the remnants of the day…but somehow that makes it even more special..you have to imagine being there, and I hope my family can do just that.

Along the way, I had several adventures that I must share with everyone as they provide not just a laugh, but some life lessons. That is the theme of today’s post…tomorrow you will get some recipes.

1. Get help designing your space. I have a Courbusier glass table and I have had 12 at the table in the past (a little tight)..but what to do with a total of 21 (grew to 23)? add on some extensions? Help! Call Party Rental and get real help. My friend Sandy who works there, whom I met through my current employment, was gracious enough to come to my place and advise and she gave me fantastic advice..some of which I listened to….She wanted me to remove the furniture and put the table (two 8 foot tables) in the middle of the living room….so I decided to agree with the two long table option (we had discussed making small 4 tops as an option…not bad idea for separating the kids from the adults….but I figured out that by moving my furniture to the “left” and shifting it’s position..I could do the two tables on the wall where you see the chairs now…Sandy recommended the most wonderful chairs and I hope you will all take note. “crystal resin”..they are basically clear with silver, which is the color of my apartment..and a white cushion. They also can stack, so if you don’t have the rentals picked up immediately, they take up very little room vs the wood ones. Thanks Sandy!

2. Sometimes it might be better to pay a real florist to design your flowers. So, I decided to be “cheap”…years ago I had spent hundreds of dollars on flower arrangements for my tables and so I felt that I could organize something myself by visiting the flower district on 28th street. Never again!!!. I did some advance work to scope out where I might like to buy from, thinking I had a pretty good “eye”…Forget it..unless you have a degree in flower arranging, stick to buying roses or single flowers…we are amateurs! I did the scope out, but when I returned at 7 am on Wednesday, not only was it confusing, it was horrible. I won’t name names of establishments..but basically, if you aren’t in the “club” you might as well not go…mean, and the prices changed depending on if they liked you or not…..Although I did get some nice things, I didn’t save money and I felt completely “ripped off”…skip this, find a real florist for your parties…

3. Trust your instincts: after above, I had decided to do vegetables on my table. I had done this a year ago and it was successful and so I decided to try it again and mix in apples as my place card holders. I figured everyone would eat theirs’ (wrong) and the colors with the cabbages would be great…I did put some small roses on the table, some turnips, some figs and lots of votives and silver candles (I buy them in bulk all year round to be ready)..and I think it was a success.

Enough for today….food tomorrow and more about why even though it was difficult to get everything together and my parents didn’t attend, it was the best ever!

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