Long weekends are great for weddings, especially ones where many guests are traveling.  My sister, Liz, went to a wedding this past weekend in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The bride and groom are her neighbors in suburban Washington, DC.  They live just a few doors down from Liz and her husband John, who are newlyweds themselves (and served amazing chocolate peanut butter wedding cake at their beautiful reception). Because she knows that I love anything sweet and chocolaty, Liz sent me an email to share her recent baking project with me.  Her friend, the bride, was planning an elaborate Viennese table at her reception, and Liz volunteered to make some goodies.&nbs...

Tags: cake, wedding, bride, cookie icing, reception, truffles

My friend Kathy is a master at cooking for a crowd. She has often had pool parties in their backyard with guests numbering in 50s and 60s – can you imagine? We all bring a dish to share but still, there have been times when we run out of food. Now I know better and usually bring three dishes to share and then I double or triple each one. Kathy recently had a Sunday afternoon party to celebrate the wedding of her daughter.  Many of the guests were from out of town and so I knew that they wouldn’t be able to bring anything. I told Kathy that I’d make four batches of a tortellini salad that would serve around 50 guests. I prepared all of the ingredients in ...

Tags: party, salad, wedding

Have you ever heard of galumpkis? I hadn't until last weekend when we attended our nephew's Ukrainian-American wedding in Westfield, Massachusetts.   At the reception for 300 guests, the tables were set with many wonderful cold salads, lox, a meat pâté and a plate with little fried foods ...

Tags: beef, cabbage rolls, pork, rice, wedding

I attended the wedding of a former roommate in NYC a couple of weekends ago. The event was unbelievably elegant, from the ceremony at ...

Tags: New York CIty, appetizers, wedding