Summer salads are always a treat. When they are made by Good Gracious Catering they are an extra special treat. They combine the freshest ingredients and wonderful seasoning to produce absolutely delicious food. Their motto is “We embrace the seasons and all of their offerings. We choose to provide menus filled with the freshest local produce, local sustainable seafood and organic meats and poultry. Our cuisine is all prepared in house from scratch using the finest ingredients”.

Pauline Parry, the President and brain of the business was gracious enough (sorry, I couldn’t resist) to provide us with two wonderful summer recipes. You will need to experiment a bit with quantities. Enjoy!

The salty and sweet combination of this Summer fruit Suprise is a winner!
The recipe is below

Watermelon and Strawberries with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Seedless watermelon, cut into chunks
Large and small strawberries, cut or whole – depending on size
Feta Cheese cut in small chunks
Fresh blueberries
Balsamic Vinaigrette – recipe follows

Mix fruit and feta together gently. Add a handful of blueberries and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.

Balsamic Vainagrette – 1 Tbl Dijon Mustard, 1 cup balsamic vinegar, half a cup lemon juice, 3 Tbl. garlic, 3 cups olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. Blend everything in a Cuisinart except the oil. Slowly add oil to emulsify.

Haricot Vert, Artichoke, Orange Pepper & Sweet Pea Sala

Fresh peas (or frozen if you must)
Hericot vert
Baby artichoke
Orange peppers
Champagne Dressing

1.Blanch Haricot Vert beans in boiling water for two minutes. They should cook but keep their color.

2. Drain hot water from beans and place in cold water with ice to stop the cooking.

3. Take fresh peas from their pods – cook in boiling water for one minute or defrost frozen peas

4. Roast baby artichokes that have been soaked in marinade (recipe follows). Roast until tender, about a half hour at 400 degrees. Cool and cut into quarters. You can cheat and buy marinated artichokes in a jar.

5. Cut tops off of the peppers, take out seeds and julienne.

6. Toss all vegetables with Champagne Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Vegetable Marinade

6 cups Chardonnay white wine
1 and a half cups red wine vinegar
one half cup cup Dijon Mustard
one half cup minced garlic
one eighth cup paprika
one half cup each of rosemary and thyme
12 cups olive oil & salt & pepper to taste

Measure all of the ingredients except oil into a large “sour cream” bucket. Whisk by hand. Slowly add oil, stirring to emulsify.

This recipe will yield one and a half gallons! Use it on chicken, fish and meat. Be creative.

Champagne Dressing

1 Tbl. minced garlic
4 Tbl Dijon Mustard
three quarters cup champagne vinegar
3 cups olive oil & salt & pepper to taste

Blend everything in Cuisinart except oil. Slowly add oil to ingredients to emulsify.

We at Pryor Events thank Good Gracious!

Who can resist piping hot donuts? If those donuts were bite sized and contained only 26 calories – even better. If they came in flavors such as Vermont Maple Syrup, Cinnamon & Sugar, Lemon and Vanilla that would be almost too good to be true.
Pryor Events loves The Fry Girl.

These donuts are almost healthy – your guests will be able to eat donuts without the guilt.

I recently discovered a real Jewel in the South Bay. Lido di Manhattan Restaurant in Manhattan Beach is a charming, wonderful restaurant. It’s the kind of place you could eat at several times a week and never get bored with the menu. The food is described as Italian-California Fusion. Lisa, the owner is pleasant and accommodating. She adores running her restaurant and this is evident in the care she takes in every aspect of her prized endeavor. Lisa hosts parties, fundraisers, meetings and cooking classes. Lido’s Thursday night wine tastings are quite popular. A different winery is brought in each week. Lido does outside catering as well. All of the pasta, salad dressings and bread are made in house from scratch. Once you try Lido you will return often.

The interior of the restaurant is intmate and comfortable

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2011/06/02/ojai-wedding-from-the-hidden-garden-pryor-events