Thursday, April 5, 2012

Welcome to the Garden Party!


As the South transforms and the flowers begin to awaken and bloom we are glad we have yet again weathered the colder months for the glorious spring.  The breezes of fresh air are heavy with the smell of all the beautiful flowers blooming and we are ready to celebrate one of the South’s most exciting festivals.  The North Carolina Azalea Festival begins next Wednesday and we are ready!  Things have been bustling around the office; ticket sales have been incredible and people are genuinely excited for all the events surrounding the Festival.  Phone calls have poured in from all over the South as visitors plan their activities during their stay in Wilmington next weekend.  A gentleman from Florida called yesterday and requested souvenir books from this year’s Festival; his wife is a graduate of New Hanover High School and they lived here for quite some time and always enjoyed the Festival.  Since he and his wife cannot make the Festival for its 65th anniversary he still wanted to have a little piece of the Festival.  This year has been especially exciting for me as the Festival’s first intern; a lot of work goes into making this such a wonderful event! 

It has been so beautiful outside lately I thought I would share a few delicious recipes from the Junior League of Wilmington, North Carolina cookbook entitled “Seaboard to Sideboard Entertains.”  After looking through all of the recipes I have decided I must try them all, but the book has a Garden Party menu that sounds delightful!  Below is the Garden Party menu and few of the recipes.

Garden Party Menu
Azalea Punch
Honeydew and Lemon Grass Soda Water
Seaside Gougères
Vodka-Infused Tomatoes
Carolina Crab Dip
Spinach Tomato Dip
Cream Cheese with Apricot Preserves
Cucumber-Watercress Tea Sandwiches
Pimento Cheese Sandwiches
Rosemary Pimento Cheese Sandwiches
White Cheddar Pimento Cheese Sandwiches
Devonshire Grapes
Chess Squares
Chocolate Chip Cake

Seaside Gougères
1 C. water
½ C. (1 stick) butter
1 C. all-purpose flour
4 eggs
3 scallions, chopped
1 Tsp. dry mustard
1 Tsp. white wine and Worcestershire sauce
¾ C. (3 ounces) shredded gruyère cheese
8 oz. fresh lump crab meat, flaked
1 can (6 ounces) crab meat, drained and flaked

Bring Water and butter to boil in a saucepan.  Remove immediately from heat.  Add the flour.  Beat with a wooden spoon for 1 minute or until pastry is smooth and forms a ball.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Stir in the scallions, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce and cheese.  Fold in the crab meat.  Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until puffed and golden brown.  Cool slightly before removing from the baking sheet. 

Serve warm as an appetizer or as an accompaniment to soup or salad.  


White Cheddar Pimento Cheese Sandwiches
8 C. (2 pounds) shredded white cheddar cheese
1 (4 ounce) jar pimentos, drained and chopped
1 ½ Tbl. sweet relish
2 C. mayonnaise
12 to 16 slices sourdough bread

Combine the cheese, pimentos, relish and mayonnaise in a bowl and mix well.  Spread on one-half of the bread slices.  Top with remaining bread slices.

Makes 6 to 8 sandwiches.

Devonshire Grapes
2 pounds seedless green grapes
2 pounds seedless red grapes
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 C. sour cream
½ C. granulated sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
4 ounces pecans, lightly toasted and chopped
2 Tbl. light brown sugar

Rinse the grapes and remove from the stems.  Dry the grapes thoroughly.  Beat the cream cheese, sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.  Fold in grapes by hand.  Chill, covered, for 3 to 24 hours before serving.  Sprinkle with the pecans and brown sugar mix until evenly distributed.



Chocolate Chip Cake
1 (2 layer) package yellow cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix
2 C. (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
12 ounces pecans, coarsely chopped
4 eggs
1 C. sour cream
2/3 C. vegetable oil

Combine the cake mix, chocolate chips and pecans in a bowl.  Stir in the eggs, sour cream and oil.  Spoon into a bundt pan sprayed generously with non-stick baking spray.  Bake in pre-heated 325 degree oven for 1 hour.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Serves 16 


The food in the book sounds and looks scrumptious and I highly recommend heading over to Junior League of Wilmington, Inc.to purchase one.

Everyone is so excited about the North Carolina Azalea Festival and we cannot wait for y’all to join us as we celebrate everything wonderful in the South.  Go to our website, the link is above and see all of the wonderful events that are starting less than a week away!




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