kmah's Profile

Just went to a wedding in Michigan City last fall- there was a great butcher shop there- maybe some local meat/jerky with your cheese plate?

Also I've done a lot of tea parties. Scones freeze, as do lemon bars and a lot of other bar cookies. Tea cakes (loaves)- lemon poppy, pumpkin, etc. also freeze well. Brown butter cake (financier-almond pear would be great) holds very well, even at room temperature. For sandwiches, many can be assembled in advance, just cut near to when you'll serve them so they don't dry out. Also try doing wrap/lavash sandwiches that can be rolled up and then sliced, because they'll pack compactly into your fridge.

Biscotti or other cookies that keep well at room temperature?

Just made great lamb meatballs- baked in tomato sauce into which I put a pinch of saffron. Yum.

You can make little fruit/nut clusters with white chocolate and dried cherries or cranberries.
I also like to add some to my lime/lemon curd (just stir it in while it's still hot) for a subtle flavor and extra richness.

I grew up near Virginia Bakery and I believe I remember their champagne cake being a chiffon cake with whipped cream frosting and a light custard filling. Looking online there seem to be many champagne cakes, but this looks like a good place to start: http://bakingbites.com/2007/12/champagne-chiffon-cake/
I'd fill it with bavarian cream (pastry cream lightened with whipped cream) and frost with sweetened whipped cream.

For future reference, iodized or sea salt can be twice as 'salty' --by volume--as kosher salt (because one is fine grain and the other is flaky)-- if the recipe was written for kosher salt but didn't specify so, this might be the problem.

My best discovery of late is that if your ginger is frozen or semi-frozen, it grates like a dream. I keep my ginger in the freezer, let thaw a few minutes, and then use a microplane. It doesn't gunk up the grater like it does when at room temperature, and seems to grate finer.

I love the beggar's purse and blini ideas- another idea would be to make miniature savory blintzes- salmon and (lemon) cream, etc folded inside a crepe. These would be easier to store (stackable), and can be browned to serve hot.

chocolate (covered) raisin clusters.

Garibaldi cookies

In addition to what's already been said, I would add that for me, a stove isn't just for cooking, it's a landing pad for hot pans of all kinds. I've lived in so many apartments where the stove was the ONLY heatproof counter to set hot things. I think if you do choose to have a small range, put in tile or something heatproof around it so you can move hot pans on and off easily.

Bacon, onions, frozen peas or corn, frozen bit of tomato paste, sometimes an egg...Delicious.