HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
Few months are as green as March, especially since its 31 days have the privilege of hosting St. Patrick's Day, the first day of spring, and the vernal equinox (science lesson to follow). Celebrate a March birthday with a tasty dinner party by serving Savory Apple Bleu Cheese Tartlets, Broiled Herbed Lamb Chops, and a Brandy Alexander Souffle. During dinner, fill your conversation with March fun facts (and educational too!) to keep everyone on their toes at this birthday party.
Sweet apples and savory bleu cheese combine into amazing appetizer bites! I've included a crust recipe in this appetizer but you could always just pick up an unbaked frozen crust from the store to make these mini tarts.
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 1 Cup all-purpose flour
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 Cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
- Filling:
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 Cup crumbled bleu cheese
Steps
- To make crust: Add flour, cream cheese, and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Form dough into a flat disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut out 3-inch circles using a cookie cutter or a drinking glass. Press circles into cups in a mini-muffin tin. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- To make filling: Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and sauté, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender, about 8 minutes. Add brown sugar and cook for about 3 minutes more until sugar caramelizes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to serve, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add 1 heaping teaspoon of apples into each dough cup in the mini-muffin tin and top with crumbled bleu cheese. Bake for 10 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately.Makes about 12 appetizers
Recipe from Jeanne Benedict's Sophisticated Entertaining. Though the title suggests a broiled preparation, these lamb chops are also wonderful when cooked on an outdoor grill. Place chops on a clean grill about 6 inches above medium coals. Cook for 5 minutes on one side and the flip chops over and cook for another 5 minutes or until desired doneness.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 1 Cup olive oil
- 1/4 Cup Applejack or apple brandy
- 1/2 Cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 Cup minced fresh rosemary
- 1/2 Cup minced fresh sage
- 1/2 Cup minced fresh thyme
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon pepper
- 12 (4 oz.) lamb loin chops, about 1 1/ 4-inch thick
- 6 cloves garlic, quartered
Steps
- Whisk together butter, oil, apple brandy, lemon juice, rosemary, sage, thyme, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Arrange lamb chops in a 9 x13 baking pan and pour mixture over chops. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Turn lamb over after 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove lamb chops from marinade and set aside. Place pan with solidified marinade in oven and cook for 3-5 minutes until marinade liquefies. Remove herbs with a slotted spoon. Dip lamb chops in marinade and coat top and bottom sides with herbs. Cut 2 slits down into top of lamb chop and insert quartered clove of garlic into each slit.
- Preheat broiler on high. Place lamb chops on rack in broiler pan so that chops are 6 inches from heat. For medium-rare lamb chops, broil 5 minutes one side. Turn chops over and broil 5 minutes on the other side. For medium chops broil 7 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and serve hot.Makes 6 servings
Recipe from Jeanne Benedict's Sophisticated Entertaining. When I think of souffles an odd analogy comes to mind: Rock climbing. Sugar is often sprinkled on the bottom and up the sides of individual souffle dishes. The theory is that the souffle needs something to grab onto as it rises in the oven and "climbs" the side of the dish.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Cup milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra sugar to coat baking dish
- 2 tablespoons brandy
- 2 tablespoons crème de cacao
- 6 large egg whites
Steps
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter 1 1/2 quart souffle dish. Sprinkle sugar over bottom and sides of each dish. Turn dish over and shake out excess sugar.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Add milk and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and beat in 1/4 cup sugar, brandy, and crème de cacao. Beat in egg yolks all at once until blended.
- Using clean beaters, beat 3 egg whites on high speed in a large bowl until foamy. Gradually beat in 2 tablespoons sugar until frothy. Add 3 remaining egg whites and 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Eggs should appear shiny and not dry. Gently fold egg whites into egg yolk mixture. Spoon batter into prepared dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes until center is puffed and golden brown.
- Remove from heat and lightly sift powdered sugar over top. Immediately place souffle dish on base heat proof base plate and bring to table. Puncture top and spoon souflee on to individual plates. Serve hot with sweetened whipped cream on the side. Makes about 12 servings
March's name is somewhat militaristic in that it comes from "Martius" or "Mars," the Roman god of War. Ironic, since this month's catchpharse seems to be, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb," symbollic of blustery weather at the beginning of the month and the promise of calm spring days at the month's end.
Birthday Party Dinner Ideas
- January Themed Birthday Dinner
- February Birthday Dinner Menu
- Black and White Birthday Bash
March Birthstone: Aquamarine
- The serene Aquamarine gemstone is the birthstone for March. The gorgeous color gives the stone its name and it is a variety of the mineral Beryl. Many people prefer the stone to have more of a blue quality than green and experts heat the crystal to achieve that effect. Brazil is the largest producer of Aquamarine stones due to the many mines in the area, which makes sense given the hot temperature necessary for the mineral to turn into that beautifully colored gemstone!
March Zodiac Signs: Pisces and Aries
- The two Zodiac signs for the month of March are Pisces (@February 18 to March 20) and Aries (@February 18 to April 19).
- Pisces means "circle of life," and true to the title it completes the Zodiac as the twelfth astrological sign. A pair of fish symbolize this water sign and those born under it are said to be sensitive, resourceful, empathetic, and adaptable.
- Aries is depicted by a ram and starts the Zodiac circle as the first astrological sign. Those born under this fire sign have been described as adventurous, resilient, courageous, and sometimes moody. The ruling planet for Aries is Mars, appropriate for a March baby!
- One's personality and path in life can hardly be summed up with "What's your sign?" Zodiac sign character traits can be amusing, uplifting, or dooming, depending on how you look at them.
March Fun Facts:
- The vernal equinox is on or around March 20th or 21st each year. What's an equinox you muse and then look up various scientific answers online that make little or no sense? Very simplistically, the vernal equinox is when the sun shines directly over a point on the Earth's equator. Although this event is marked by a date, it is actually a moment in time. For example, the March 20, 2010 equinox will occur at 17:32 (or 5:32pm) at Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This happens twice a year with the autumnal equinox being September 22nd or 23rd. Science lesson done.
- March 21st is the first day of spring.
- March 17th is St. Patrick's Day, favorite holiday of this article's author, Jeanne Benedict.
- The Finnish call March, "maaliskuu," which comes from "maallinen kuu," and means "earthy month." The name comes from the hope that earth or dirt will actually be visible under the snow during this time of year.
- March is National Craft Month, American Red Cross Month, and Irish-American Heritage Month, among others!
- Not only is the phrase, "March Comes in Like a Lion," a go-to weather predictor, it's a Japanese TV show about, Rei, a 17-year-old pro shogi player in Tokyo. He is an orphan and has a friend with many cats.
Feel free to leave a March fact as a comment on this article!
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