Dipping Your Way Into Holiday Parties - No. 8
And who to call if you're looking for a sous chef
Welcome to another Tuesday with Vegarie! If you’ve made your way here, but you’re not really sure how—sort of like when you’re hungover at the supermarket looking for Pedialyte and all the aisle numbers have suddenly turned into Egyptian hieroglyphics—worry not! Clicking below to subscribe decodes all those hieroglyphics straight away. Also, when you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll get a weekly dip recipe and inspiring stories from women in food.
Considering it’s Tuesday, I hope you’re not reading this hungover. But if you are, no judgment. Personally, as an unmarried New Yorker with no kids, I often spend my Monday nights drinking too.
Writing this now in what many consider the busiest and blurriest time of the year—the week before Christmas—I feel a mix of emotions. Self-inflicted anxiety from gift-giving. Knowing full and well that every year Christmas is on the same day and that I have ample time to order thoughtful holiday gifts, wrap, and ship them—the entire calendar stretch between Thanksgiving and December 15—I inevitably wait until the last moment, freak the fuck out, and order tube socks with people’s faces on them because they have speedy next-day shipping. Mild cheer, mostly from the warm fuzzies of cocoa or a hot toddy. Extreme exhaustion, from darkness, but also from covering shifts all the way up to Christmas day so that people with kids and families nearby can celebrate together—unmarried New Yorker without kids. And then there’s the mild panic, due to the fear of awkward party chitchat or getting stuck in the corner of a hot New York apartment with someone’s weird cousin. The, “I know, I can hardly believe it hasn’t snowed either,” or “wow, you have a card collection of rare horses, yeah that one looks so soft…” Or far far worse, the thought of wandering home from a potluck without my beautiful serving treys and feeling the social pressure to act like I’m not worried about when I’ll see them again.
So, due to this wild range of emotions—and a desire to keep all my serving treys—most of my energy outside of work has been spent thinking about what to cook to perk up the mood, which events to attend, and which I want to host myself. Also, there’s a bit of erratic messaging to find anyone who will still be in New York City to keep me from spinning rapidly into madness as the streets empty and we enter 2023.
In these crazy few weeks, on top of learning to say “no,” more often than I’d like—I’m thinking of you mushy cookies I politely nibble on but want to spit out, or the fifth holiday gift exchange I pretend to care about—I’ve found that it helps me to feel a bit more cheery to host a few of my own gatherings. Because this time of year should also include some pleasant traditions too, right? Why not choose your guest list—surround yourself with amazing women, build your own menu, bake yourself a flan with citrusy caramel, wear slippers around the party, and not have to spend $40 on an Uber home at the end of the night because you’re already home.
This last weekend, I threw my first event of the season. And to be honest, my first solo dinner party for more than 6 people. Everything, from the old closet door we used as a dining table, to the BYOW (bring your own wine) vibes, to the self-reflection card to end the night, hit perfectly. I just had an amazing time with these ladies and couldn’t stop smiling at how lucky I am to have some really intelligent, eclectic, and beautiful people in my life. I would certainly dub this a night that we—myself included—could enjoy a stress-free holiday moment, genuinely enjoying each other’s company, and making less of a fuss over the season.
So! What did I learn? What did I do right and what would I do differently at my next gathering? I’m so glad you asked and I will pass along this wise advice for your reading pleasure.
Invest in some reusable plastic wine glasses
I know, I know. Less plastic. In the interest of less stress, dishes, and broken glass…I used paper plates and napkins for this party. I also invested in some cute reusable plastic wine glasses that I think were an amazing call. They look great, no one broke them all across ze hardwood and I can pack them up to use at my next party. Easy, boom, done.
Think about your audience and how everyone will fill their plates
I definitely over-cooked for this one. I had 11 guests, including myself I was cooking for 12, which I’d never done before. I made three whole branzinos, one pound of pesto pasta with broiled tomatoes, seven sweet potatoes: speared and baked with nuts, citrus, and herbs, and two salads. I also had a whole table of cheeses, labneh, sourdough, anchovies, olives, and bell peppers that I roasted and pickled. OH! And I made a boozy, citrusy flan. I realized when everything started coming out that the snacks and salads alone probably would’ve done us in! Needless to say, I had a lot of leftovers.
Set a mood
My amazing roommate is much better at this than I am. She flipped my office into an adorable and moody dining room. Set with dimmed lighting, tea candles, flowers, and tunes. It felt like I was on a cute date with all my favorite girlfriends. For me, this made the night that much more special.
Get yourself a sous chef
If you aren’t planning to already, find yourself a sous chef. One that keeps her cool, understands the vibe you’re going for (Alison Roman, we’re looking at you), and knows how to taste and season food. Olga was the most helpful sous a gal could have. She came a couple hours early to help me whip together my salads, set the cheese table, taste the food, provide emotional support when I tried to flip my branzinos (mistake) and smushed them…And on top of that she brought fresh flowers and ice. Save yourself the trouble, just call Olga. Her number is 555-555-5544. You won’t find better than her.
Don’t flip your whole fish, even in the recipe says to do so
It was my first time making a whole fish. I’ve done many a filet, boiled lobster at work, fried all kinds of things at home, but never baked a whole fish. To keep it intact and have a crispier outer portion, simply salt ahead of time in the fridge (2-3 hours prior is cool)—this will make for a crispier outer portion—and broil for the last 2 minutes that your fish is in the oven. Trust that it’s fish and you can only over-cook, not really undercook it.
Don’t have chairs or even a dining table? Worry not
I had a last minute panic when I realized I didn’t know where anyone would sit in my tiny New York apartment. We literally used an old closet door on top of my office desk, an un-used curtain as a table cloth, then patched together chairs from all over the house, donations from friends, and borrowed a few from the bar (thanks Talea!)
Ask your guests to bring their favorite drink
It was a fun talking point—and also just super helpful—to ask everyone to bring their favorite wine or drink to the party. People would tell me why they made their choices, and I got to learn about a non-alcoholic champagne that was delish (shout-out to Sophia for that find!)
Holiday Dip Tips - “Dipping All The Way”
Quick and Easy
Labneh
For this one — don’t bother double-straining yogurt blah blah, and making your own with some crazy cheese-cloth you found online. Hanging it from your kitchen cabinets and dripping cheese goo all over for a day just isn’t worth the result in my opinion. Buy some labneh at the store, and simply grate fresh turmeric for sweet earthiness, and add some black pepper. Maybe some parsley if you have it. Boom, done. Best dip you’ll ever have.
Homemade hummus
I think hummus is the easiest dip you can make at home. And whether you’re using canned chickpeas or boiling dried, the flavor and texture is just miles better at home than store bought.
Here’s my process for a Sesame Mushroom Hummus 🍄
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
1-2 Thai chiles
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 can (15oz) chickpeas
1/2 cup baked shiitake mushrooms (5-6 mushrooms) — plus more for topping!
1/3 c tahini
2 Tbs sesame oil
1 Tbs tamari
Optional topping (sesame seeds, more sesame oil, mushrooms)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly coat shiitake mushrooms in sesame oil, with a dash of salt to taste. Bake mushrooms until light brown and crispy (about 10 minutes, but check on these as all ovens are different).
Peel your cloves of garlic and give your chiles a quick chop. Toss into the food processor with your lemon juice. Pulse it a couple times and then let this soak. It will take a bit of the sting out of the garlic.
While this soaks, drain your chickpeas & rinse. This part is important for the texture, I would not recommend skipping this! Add can of chickpeas to a medium pan and cover with water. Add a dash of baking soda to the water. Bring the chickpeas to a boil and then turn back to simmer for about 15 minutes. This will soften up the chickpeas and remove some of the nonsense outer casing.
When time is up, drain the water into a strainer, and rinse the chickpeas with cold water. Discard any of the casing that remains in the bottom of the strainer, we don't want it.
Allow to cool a couple of minutes before adding the chickpeas and mushrooms to your food processor. Combine, add tahini, sesame oil, and tamari.
Place an ice cube on top of your mixture and puree in processor until smooth, adding more oil or tbs of water if too thick.
The ice cube helps with fluffiness, adding the water slowly instead of all at once. Make sure the ice cube is sitting on top as you do this and not blending into your mixture like a smoothie.
Should blend until fluffy & thick! Top with some pickled mushrooms and dip everything in.
As usual, thank you again for reading this week’s newsletter and supporting my work! I’m still growing my writing skillz and in the New Year I will be looking for more women to interview.
Please leave a comment or send me an email at vegarie.content@gmail.com if you know of any lovely women in food who should be featured on this newsletter!