for the potluck, i decided to make croque monsieurs, veggie panini sandwiches and brie+cranberry puffs. they turned out great, if i may so myself...but the events that preceded A's party were pretty much like a cross between an episode from bridezilla (or insert show with crazy women here) and the breakup, where vince vaughan comes home with three lemons instead of twelve (without the fighting of course!).
at 10:00 am i thought i had everything under control. at 11:30 john got me cooking arugula instead of baby arugula. at 11:35 he was on his way back to longo's. 12:00 john comes back with the right arugula. by 1:00 i was burning things trying to multi task, looking for tape, yelling at no one in particular and drying my hair.
i relinquished everything to john, being the calmer and more patient one (and the sweetest thing in the world), and when i came down, the kitchen was spotless.
hardeehar.
and i say i work best under pressure.
in the end, everything turned out great and we got to A's house all in one piece. there was LOTS of karaoke, board games and fun.
(but of course i forgot her gift)
just in case you needed something for your next holiday potluck, here are the links/recipes. i thought that the brie+cranberry puffs are great to bring for work, instead of your typical box of chocolates or candy canes. :)
my friend virginie says that croque monsieurs are the parisiens' version of street meat. can you imagine?
*instead of coating it with egg, i grilled the sandwiches and topped it with bechamel sauce with gruyere cheese and broiled it in the oven. make sure to watch over the oven. i burnt four yesterday and set off the smoke alarm.
no recipe link. i made it vegetarian for A...this is how i normally like my sandwiches made from fast fresh foods. in this sandwich i had sundried pesto spread, baby arugula, goat cheese, roasted red peppers. i brushed both sides of the baguette slices with olive oil and grilled them.
cranberry+brie puffs
these are really yummy! no need to slice that cheese up and place it on some type of cracker, nosiree! all you need to do is pick one little puff up and gobble it.
* when making these, you don't need to get rid of the skin, just in case you didn't know. because i didn't. :)
have a great week, all! three more days before christmas!
pearl and A.
4 comments:
this is wondeful! how did you do the moustaches?
So, you want to be an event planner! It's not an easy job (long hours, crazy schedule, mostly contracts, could pay a lot more...) but it's also very cool. It's the perfect balance between creativity and management...the best of both worlds!
I did a bachelor degree in business with a minor in tourism. Part of that minor was in event planning and in eco-tourism. After, I decided to specialize in "green" event planning. You should also do that...employers like that a lot ;)
For the past 5 years, I did many events in Montreal. My first contract was for the Montreal World Film Festival. I was in charge of all the people invited by the festival (VIP, directors, actor). My favorite was Kathy Bates (Misery). She was so sweet with me. And since you like French things, I also worked with Anna Karina!
After that, I did many cocktails, galas, fundraising events...but in winter it's a little more difficult to get a good contract so I also did some communication jobs (jobs ask for both most of the time anyway...you should also do that...it helps a lot!). I worked for the UN during a climate change conference (as the communication assistant of the UN spoke person). This is when I met Bill Clinton (don't know why but he is very "sexy" in person!).
There are many ways of becoming an event planner but you have to be good at a few things no matter what: management (planning, budgets, human resources, etc.), communication, creativity and the most important stress management!
Oh, don't tell anyone (!) since I might not get it but today I did an interview to work at the Montreal fashion week(s) and festival!!! That would be ssssoooo great!!!! And it's full time :)
Anyway, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me...most people (my family and friends) don't really get the point of an event planner so it's fun to talk to a future event planner!
Oh, and you get to wear nice cocktail dresses ;)
Bonne soirée!
Claudia xox
Happy birthday, dearest Melissa! xo
Those veggie paninis look amazing!
Post a Comment