Kayla's "21st Birthday Anniversary"

Last weekend I went home to upstate NY to celebrate my younger sister's 22nd birthday. I decided to use this as an opportunity to try out a new recipe - especially since everyone would be three-sheets-to-the-wind anyway and would eat whatever I made. I mean if that doesn't scream perfect opportunity then what does?

After the long drive home on Friday, I finally made it, changed my clothes, and hit the town with my sister. We went to Bombers Burrito Bar in  Schenectady, and met up with some of our mutual friends who still live in the area - although secretly we  were hoping to catch a glimpse of Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, or Eva Mendes, who are all currently filming a movie in our area. When we failed to see them, we eventually decided to call it a night. 

We arose early Saturday morning and hoped to immediately start preparing the food and decorations for her party... but we instead spent the majority of the morning cleaning up my little brother's mess which had successfully consumed our entire basement.  After cleaning up we finally headed to the grocery store, followed by the liquor store :) - my menu for the evening was going to be salsa, buffalo chicken dip, caprese pockets, and white sangria. 

I've already posted a brief recipe for salsa, but here it is again....

The key ingredients are green peppers, tomatoes, garlic, jalepenos, red onion, cilantro, and lime. You should also season with garlic salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to add heat. 

        

I think that grilling the peppers and jalepenos just a little adds a
great smokey flavor to the salsa! They don't need to be cooked
through, just enough to have a nice char on the skin.

Ta-da! There would be two thumbs up but as you can see, he has a chip in the other hand.

Since I have an entire blog post dedicated to buffalo chicken dip, please feel free to check that out - I've actually updated it with some more photos about the process.  I will now jump right into the fun stuff - my caprese pockets. 

So these were a lot more work than I had anticipated. I was kind of tired from making the previous two dishes, so I couldn't really give this one my all. I made about 20 pockets and finally gave up because I was getting tired, and I needed to shower and start on the sangria... which was clearly going to be the most important "dish" of the night... especially if everyone was going to enjoy the pockets. 

For the pockets you will need the following ingredients:

Puff pastry

cherry tomatoes

fresh basil

mozzarella cheese (I used the smallest balls I could find... ha ha ha)

salt, pepper, and garlic salt

additional suggestion: drizzle the inside with a little balsamic vinegar OR serve some on the side.

So I started by rolling out the puff pastry... I soon realized that I suck at using a rolling pin. Suck. When you're doing this make sure to use enough flour so that nothing sticks. I should probably mention that you first need to let the puff pastry thaw before you roll it. I waited a little too long though and it got very sticky. I would recommend using it when it's still a little hard. Probably about 20 minutes into the thawing process.

I know it looks ridiculous... cut me some slack please. 

After you have rolled out the dough so that it's about an inch or two longer on each side, you need to find a cup or small bowl that will allow for about a 3 inch diameter. Use this as a "cookie cutter" and cut out a bunch of circles. 

Once the circles are cut, slice a cherry tomato in half, layer a basil leaf on top, top with 1 - 2 balls of mozzarella, and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and/or garlic salt. After you do that, use a little bit of egg, and brush the edges of the puff pastry.

The greasy box in the back is a box full of pastries my sister
and I had picked up while out and about running our errands...
energy food!

Fold the puff pastry over and use a fork to seal the edges. 

So you might be saying to yourself, hmmm this seems a little time consuming - well you'd be right. This did take me a little bit of time, so I would recommend doing all the prep work beforehand, and then you can just assemble them in a more assembly line style - I think this would help move things along faster. 

I put together these puff pastries earlier in the day, and planned to pop them in the oven once party guests started arriving... I will get back to whether-or-not this happened a little bit later.

On to the fun stuff - Sangria! Here's something everyone needs to know about me... if I find white sangria on a restaurant menu, I'm ordering it. Morning, noon, or night, Monday through Sunday, I love white sangria. Sooo I decided I would make my own. I know everyone is hoping this will be followed up with a picture... but obviously both it and I were gone by the time I thought to take a photo. Regardless, here's the recipe:

White Grape Sangria

• 1 bottle of white wine, I used sauvignon blanc - one of the super big bottles
• 1 bottle of white grape juice
• 1 cup of vodka (approximately)
• Fresh fruit: (I used what looked good in the store)
• 2 green apples, chopped 
• 1 mango, chopped
• 1 bag of grapes, 1/2 frozen, 1/2 not frozen and halved

I chilled everything first, and then mixed it all together in a big bowl with a ladle for easing serving. The grapes acted as ice cubes, but I also served it with ice on the side. Don't add ice to the actual sangria because it will just water it down... and no one wants that.

The sangria was delicious... so delicious... and unfortunately I consumed a few glasses just before I put the pockets in the oven. My mom called to me while I was in the hot tub (obviously having forgetten about the pockets) and informed me that the pockets were done (We baked them in a 400 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes. The puff pastry should be a nice golden brown).


Moment of truth....

I thought they tasted good, but they were a little bland, and definitely would have benefited from some salt and pepper. Next time I will absolutely s+p both the outside and inside of the pastry. After trying one I accepted the fact that they could have used a little more TLC, and headed back to the pool - only feeling slightly defeated. I was ecstatic, however, when I came back inside and saw a full kitchen of kids and only one pastry left! Alas, my excitement was short lived because not long after entering the kitchen my mom quietly informed me that the dog had eaten them all... 

Look at that face... I clearly couldn't stay mad.

All and all I would say that the party was a complete success. The weather turned out perfectly and was conducive to a pool party. The entire night was filled with great friends, somewhat delicious food, and lots of hot tubbin'. Oh and the most important - Cake from Villa Italia! (Amazing bakery located in Schenectady, NY).

Happy birthday Kay! <3