Made at Home –
February 1, 2012
My favorite hobby is tablescaping and in order to enjoy that,
I also enjoy collecting unique dinnerware patterns! My collecting started with a stack of pink
Depression Glass dessert plates given to me as a wedding present by one of my
aunts. I didn’t really like them, but a
couple years later I used them to set a pretty springtime luncheon table. My friends complimented the table and I fell
in love with colored glass. My quest
began! I promised my husband that I’d
never collect anything that I wouldn’t use to set a table. A few years later he reminded me of that
promise and told me that he knew I could set a different table every day for
the rest of my life! That probably
wasn’t true then, but it certainly is now.
Recently, my daughter and I were shopping in the antique stores in Murphysboro. You should probably know that I had just purchased two sets of china from George’s Resale, but on that day it was a stack of chocolate brown and white plates in Sis’s Collectibles that caught my eye. Actually, it was more than a stack of plates; it was almost twelve place settings of beautiful Franciscan china in the Tonquin pattern. The set was missing a few cups and saucers. Until recently, when I’d find something that I was interested in purchasing, I’d come home and check my reference books and get online to be sure I could purchase replacement pieces. Now, I just stand in the shop and get out my very intelligent cell phone and get online to find all the information I need. My favorite online replacement store had the cups and saucers, so I came home with a couple boxes of china!
My friends are always asking me to include ideas about creating
tablescapes, menus and dinner party themes in my columns!
Here’s how it works. Tonquin is a pattern that was produced by
many china manufacturers in a common process, which is the transfer of a copper
engraving onto a piece of white stoneware.
The engraving is usually a picture of a special place and gifting a
piece of this china was similar to sending a post card from a far-away place,
that most people would never be able to visit.
The place in the Tonquin pattern
is a beautiful Asian plantation house sitting on the bank of a river. On the river is a pair of swans. Swans speak romance to me because they mate
for life. Romance equals Valentine’s Day
and because the china is chocolate brown, we’re having a chocolate valentine
party and setting the table with my new, old china! That’s
how a tablescaper thinks!
The chocolate dessert recipes that I’m sharing with you
today are intended to be made in very small portions. They are rich in calories and love, and
moderation is the key to healthy eating!
So, get out your tiny cordial glasses, custard cups and sauce bowls to
set up your servings. Each of these
recipes includes a helpful shortcut! Let
your guests choose the number of tiny portions they want and they’ll love every
bite, because these will have been made at home!
Chocolate Peanut
Butter Banana Pudding
Ingredients:
2 cups of ready-made chocolate pudding
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soft butter
2 Tablespoons milk
8 tiny bananas
Whipped cream
Crumbled cookies
Layer this dessert in 8 small glasses. Slice half a tiny banana in the
bottom of each glass. Divide the
chocolate pudding between the glasses.
To make the next layer, whip the peanut butter, butter and milk and
place a little on top of the pudding. Slice
each of the remaining bananas lengthwise, and stick two slices in each of the
glasses. Garnish with whipped cream and
crumbled cookies.
Mini Tiramisu with Coffee
Meringues
Ingredients:
1 packaged pound cake
½ cup strong coffee
2 Tablespoons coffee liqueur
6 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 pint whipping cream
Chocolate syrup
Mini meringues, maraschino cherries, sliced almonds for garnish
To make the mini meringues, whip 2 egg whites until they form soft
peaks. Whip in ½ cup of confectioner’s
sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Form 12
mini meringues on a silicone baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 300 degree
oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven off,
but leave the meringues in the oven for another hour.
To prepare the dessert filling, whip the mascarpone cheese,
confectioner’s sugar and almond extract until smooth. Add the whipping cream and whip on high
speed until the filling gets thick and fluffy.
To compose the desserts, put a teaspoonful of chocolate syrup in the
bottom of each of 12 glasses. Combine
the coffee and liqueur and cut the pound cake into 1-inch cubes. Dip each cube into the coffee mixture. Place a few cubes in each glass. Put some of the cheese filling over the pound
cake and top with a meringue kiss, a cherry and a sprinkle of almonds.
Chocolate Brownie Bites with Lynn’s
Orange Fluff
Prepare your favorite brownie box mix and cut the cooled brownies into
small pieces. Use a pastry bag to pipe
fluffy orange icing on top of each brownie. You can also use an ice cream scoop to place
the icing on the brownie. Lynn, my
blogging friend from Philadelphia, recently shared this icing recipe.
Icing Ingredients:
1 3-ounce box of orange gelatin
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup boiling water
In a large mixing bowl, place the gelatin mix, sugar, egg white and
vanilla. Turn your mixer on high speed
as you pour in the boiling water and continue beating until the icing forms
stiff peaks. This will take a few
minutes. This icing is similar to the
old-fashioned 7-minute frosting, but much easier. Any flavor of gelatin works, but it cannot be
the sugar-free variety.
