foodie staff party

This was the first time we had 7 people (adults) over to our cute apartment. Some staff members of Satoshi's department are readers of this blog. I'm not too sure what kind of food they had in mind, but they were excited to come over and have dinner.

I didn't get to take many photos (was busy cooking and tending the "bar"), so I'll talk about what I served and show you the dishes that I served it on. Most of these dishes are made by a company called PTS International. The name of the plates is called"Westbury Court Lyrical Blooms". I couldn't find a website for these dishes, but did find one for replacements on Replacements.com. I bought these just before moving to Japan. It was a nice investment.

Starters: Layered Bean Dip. This is Satoshi's favorite. Ask him what he wants to be served at a party that we throw and this is the first item out of his mouth. Tortilla chips fit nicely in this bowl. This dip is very easy to make, put a layer of refried beans at the bottom of your serving dish. Next add a layer of chopped onions. Mix a scoop of taco mix into a container of sour cream, add this to the layer of chopped onions. Next add layer of chopped tomatoes (seeded), and layer of chopped black olives. Add your favorite guacamole or sliced avocados to the olives and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with corn chips.

Blackened Ahi (Maguro). I put cajun seasoning on the outside of the maguro and fry in a pan with some oil for 5 seconds on each side. I'm glad I got this plate just before moving to Japan too, it is definitely a hit at parties.

Main Dishes: Steak with roasted onions. I grilled steaks and roasted onions. The onions were really easy to make, just drizzle olive oil, and grind some pepper and salt on top. Roast in oven for about 30 minutes.

Pork Ginger. This is another easy dish. Marinate the pork overnight in 1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. sake (rice wine) and 2 Tbsp. shoyu (soy sauce). Add some minced ginger. Minced garlic optional. Cook well and top with chopped green onions.

Pasta salad: Farfalle (bow-tie pasta) and Penne with chopped salami, tomato, red onion, carrots, capers, red bell pepper. Salad dressing was the lemon-oregano vinaigrette that I previously posted about here. I actually wanted it to be all Farfalle, but the supermarket that I shopped at before the party, didn't have any :( Still, I think it turned out well.

Dessert: Apple-blueberry crisp. I found some fresh Oregon blueberries at our supermarket and added them to this recipe from International recipes.net. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was a nice ending to the party.

His staff came bearing gifts, too.

A new toy for Satoshi-this gadget adds gas to the beer as you serve so that it can give the "coming from the tap" feeling. Of course, Satoshi hates to read manuals--so he let his staff figure out how to put the gadget together...

Arare (rice crackers) from Funahashiya, a well known maker of tea sweets.

And a gelatin dessert called Goro from Taneya.

Notes to self: invite a little less guests (or make it pot luck) to enjoy self, food and conversation more....

Hope you had a nice weekend!