Wedding Food Idea

Max dear, you must have a cookbook full of coleslaw recipes. I guess it is that German, Polish, Irish gene pool that craves solid peasant food. No, I don’t think I have any coleslaw recipes that call for bourbon, but let me think about that for a while. If you count wine vinegar as alcohol, there actually are a number of slaw recipes with it.

I remember that slicer thing you mentioned. The T.V. ads showed a housewife swiftly turning out reams of sliced potatoes and carrots. It was about as truthful as those fancy knife ads we see today. As I recall, after a few times of fighting with the machine, they went to the back of the cupboard.

Did I mention that over the weekend we attended the Martin’s daughter’s wedding? It was such a refreshing change from the blowout bashes that so many young women stage today. The very IDEA of spending $50,000 to $60,000 and UP for a wedding!! It is obscene.

Rachel was a lovely bride and the reception, while small, was elegant. I say that partly because Rachel and Evelyn consulted with me about the menu. The wedding and reception were held at their home and consisted of appetizers, an tiered wedding cake that wasn’t dry and tasteless, and a rosy punch that exactly matched the colors of the bridesmaid’s pink dresses. We had to work a while to come up with the color matching.

Evelyn and I prepared most of the food ourselves and I decided that we needed to keep it simple so Evelyn wouldn’t stress out on Rachel’s big day. We had a tray of fresh fruits, a tray of assorted cheeses and crackers, a selection of tiny cocktail sandwiches, and Burgundy Mushroom Appetizers. With about 60 expected guests, we made up five makings of the recipe several days in advance and stored them in my fridge. The flavor is rather different than most pickled mushrooms and the color is so pretty. I recommend this recipe highly.

Burgundy Mushroom Appetizers:

4 pounds mushrooms
1 pound butter
1 tablespoon Accent
1 quart red wine
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups boiling water
4 beef bouillon cubes
2 chicken bouillon cubes

In a large stockpot like the Farberware Classic Stockpot with a cover, place all the ingredients in and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 3 to 4 hours until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Mushrooms should be burgundy in color.

Serve slightly chilled as an appetizer. Store in a covered Pyrex container in the refrigerator.

Serves about 25 as appetizer.