Entertaining Tips From A Swiss Hostess

Mother Fromage 

Everything I know about hostessing comes from my mother who was born in Geneva. To most, she was known as “The Frau” – she was a strict-as-nails German teacher in our midwestern hometown. To my brother and I, she was Julia Child crossed with Nancy Sinatra. She loved high boots, and she was always cooking.

My brother André and I were her sous chefs. In the ‘70s, we whipped cream for her gourmet club tortonis; in the ‘80s, our mother discovered the Moosewood Cookbook and we became her renegade vegetable peelers. When our mother entertained, the house had to be spotless, the lighting perfect. André and I cued the right records, served drinks (usually in costume), and made sure all the teak furniture legs were feather dusted.

Now that André and I are grown, we laugh at the hostessing traits we have inherited. Our mother taught us something beyond Swiss fastidiousness; she taught us how to stage domestic bliss, with all the right candles and details. Mother Fromage arrives tomorrow. You can imagine what I am doing right now. That’s right, putting a chocolate on her pillow.

Ten Tips From A Swiss Hostess

1.    Always keep a Ziploc bag of cigarettes in the door of your freezer. Defrost one as necessary, before or after guests arrive. (This is André's flourish.)

2.   Candles on the table always. Fresh flowers, too. Carnations are economical; they will last a month.

3.   Leave chocolates on pillows, sparkling water by guest beds.

4.   Never eat anything under bright lighting. Dimmers, people, dimmers!

5.    Cook in the dark, or near darkness. It feels more sensual that way.

6.   Plan surprise readings over dinner – poems by Emily Dickinson are fun to say, especially after a few glasses of wine.

7.   Avoid the hair-pulling task of making pie crusts. 

8.   Swearing in the kitchen only, please.

9.   Serve hot drinks in the afternoon when people get cranky. Make paper hats.

10.  A cheese board for lunch means you don’t have to cook two big meals.

My mother lives in Wisconsin where she is close to the dairy epicenter. My brother blogs at Andredarlington.com. As you can see, he inherited the Swiss upper lip and the widow's peak.

Here we all are, two winters ago. Note the flowers, the lighting. 

Cheesegiving Ideas

One of the things I like to do when I can’t fall asleep is dream up menus. It’s a strange obsession, I know. Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the Thanksgiving dinner I’m planning for my Pops and his wife, Dayle, who will be flying in from Iowa. I’m even considering changing the name this year to…yup…Cheesegiving.

It might be overkill to put cheese into every dish, but I’m definitely planning to blast through tradition and try some new recipes. Here are some fave ideas, culled from food blogs, that I'm considering:

- Ezra Poundcake posted a butternut squash casserole recipe with cheddar cheese. This could be a nice change-up from sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

- Who doesn’t love a cheese appetizer, or an amuse served after the salad course? The Cheeselover posted about tumblers full of marinated goat cheese served with a mini baguette. It looks fairly easy to recreate, although she doesn't give an exact recipe.

- Blue Kitchen’s wild mushroom casserole with ricotta has me moaning within. Maybe for supper the night before Thanksgiving?

- I have a weird food crush on Closet Kitchen’s Jalapeno Popper Dip. It’s a little bit bowling-alley, but it would make for great nosh while people are chopping.

- Homemade butter at Food in Jars looks like something good to have on hand. I'm a cheese lover and a butter gal.

- Because I hate the thought of not having a solid breakfast before I start cooking, here’s what I’m thinking for Thanksgiving morning: Smitten Kitchen’s Bloody Mary’s, baked eggs, and chive biscuits. I’d add some cheddar to the biscuits, of course.

Finally, I can't resist previewing the baked blue-cheese-stuffed miniature pumpkins I tested the other night, thanks to Deborah Madison. The photo is at the top of this post. I'll be sharing the recipe at this Saturday's tasting, then I'll post it online. I think it's the best of Cheesegiving in a shell -- blue cheese, cream, black pepper, and individual pumpkins, all baked into a glorious blend of sharp, sweet, and saucy!

What are you making for Cheesegving, dahhhhlink?