The Star Trek Party

We've been having some crazy movie marathon parties lately, and I've really been going all out food wise, but unfortunately I keep forgetting to take pictures. (If you have any food pictures from the Lord of the Rings or Star Wars party, please email me.) But finally at the Star Trek party, I remembered to snap a few shots.

The Star Trek cookbook didn't offer a whole lot of recognizably Star Trek themed food, so I had to improvise. There were originally going to be cake pops, my party staple, but my experimentation into brownie cheesecake pops was disastrous. Luckily in the 11th hour I remembered this recipe for blue velvet cupcakes, a little blue candy wafers for antennas and I was able to make cupcakes to look like Andorians (Star Trek aliens).
Also on the dessert roster and Star Trek themed, "blood pies". In Star Trek it's an organ pie eaten by Klingons, but that seemed pretty unsavory, so I opted to make tiny portable cherry pies instead. The dough gave me a little trouble, and I wish I could have used fresh cherries, but the end product was very tasty. The only real issue was that the name confused those at the party who haven't watched much Star Trek.
I've had a real love affair with ice cream sandwiches lately, and this time I decided no cutting corners. I made the cookies and the ice cream. Both are made with Earl Grey Tea (the favorite drink of Captain Picard), the recipe for the shortbread can be found here, and the recipe for the ice cream here. I like making ice cream sandwiches, but I feel like they get forgotten by the guests because they're in the freezer.
The dessert menu didn't feel complete though, I was convinced something was missing. Then I stumbled upon this recipe for chocolate tofu pie. I was intigued. I think it's time to start adding a healthy component to the menu, we have so many parties, I don't want to fatten up all my friends. The pie was delicious, who knew tofu plus chocolate equals delicious chocolate pudding? I used bananas instead of strawberries because of budget constraints and I think it was a better choice.
Alright time for savory snacks. I really had some super tasty Arancini (risotto balls), of course they aren't Star Trek, but a quick name change fixes that. I baked them instead of frying, because I hate frying food at parties (big mess, oil everywhere, food sits and gets greasy), so baking was an obvious choice. I think they were a little underseasoned, but I think that's just my over critical nature.
We used to make Taco Dip for our parties all the time, and I thought it needed a revival. If there's one thing I know, it's that people love cream cheese, they just can't get enough of it. However, they also don't notice if you replace regular with fat free (another attempt to lighten up the snacks), served with baked Tostitos Scoops it was practically guilt-free.
Now I don't want you to think I've gone entirely health crazy, the main event were the Photon Torpedos or meatball subs. Homemade meatballs baked and then smothered in marinara sauce in a crockpot. I wish I'd gotten a picture of one of the subs made, they certainly were delicious.Wait what's that in the corner of the photo? My dad mixed up a big batch of Romulan Ale (a distinctly blue Star Trek beverage). From the tiny sip I had, it seemed pretty tasty. I'm not sure what the amounts were, but I know the mix was Mountain Dew Voltage, Sprite, and Pineapple Parrot Bay. We served it in champagne flutes to give it a more alien look.

Garlic Scape Part 2- Garlic Scape and White Bean Dip

This morning I decided that I was tired of being sick. I just started this blog and I'm just not ready to take a break from it yet, so armed with an Iced Caramel Macchiato I made my way to the grocery store.
Grocery shopping is my ultimate cure-all.
All I needed was cannelloni beans, but I picked up all the ingredients for tomorrow's risotto.

While this recipe has olive oil in it, you could just as easily omit it and double up the amount of chicken broth if you want to keep it fat-free. You could also substitute a clove of garlic for the garlic scape. Or you could throw in some roasted red peppers. You can treat it like hummus, put it on sandwiches (instead of mayo), and dip raw vegetables in it (instead of ranch). It's a tasty, healthy alternative.

Garlic Scape and White Bean Dip
15 oz can of cannelloni beans, drained
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of chicken broth, low sodium
1/3 of garlic scape, minced
salt/pepper
yellow tomato, chopped (for garnish)

Blend the cannelloni beans, garlic scape, broth, and oil together in a blender or food processor (you can use less liquid if using a food processor, but it took quite a bit of liquid to get my blender moving). Once the beans are a smooth puree, salt and pepper to taste.

Empty into a bowl and pile up tomatoes on top. (I think some shredded carrots would look pretty if you don't like tomatoes.)
Serve with toasted bread.

Wait...why isn't my bread toasted? I'm embarrassed to admit it, but after I sliced up some beautiful ciabatta bread and placed it under the broiler, I completely forgot about it. I got to it before anything terrible happened, but I wanted to include this as a warning.

***No matter what, never walk away from the broiler.***