Sunday, October 24, 2010

Happy Birthday, Dorie Greenspan! Hummus and Cheez-it-ish Crackers

In Dorie’s honor today, a group of  Tuesday's With Dorie and French Fridays With Dorie bloggers got together and planned a spectacular meal using recipes from Dorie’s new book, Around My French Table.

I chose to make a couple appetizers from Around My French Table and here at our house, we had a healthy veggie feast with Dorie’s recipe for Hummus and her Cheez-it-ish Crackers.  I loved both recipes.  The hummus is great and I was even able to get all my boys to try it (some even ate more than just a “try”).  It’s probably a good thing Kevin was teaching the night we did it, he would not consider the spread we had a dinner, but I fooled the boys and they were fine with it. 

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The hummus was super simple to make and had just the right amount of garlic and cumin (I used the full suggested 1/2 teaspoon).  (I’ve been turned off by some hummus I’ve tried that seems to have more garlic than beans!)

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Looks like a perfect party spread to me and it made for a perfect light dinner when all the boys wanted to do was eat so they could go back outside and play the new tetherball we got them.  Of course, hummus just wouldn’t do, we had to get out the ranch dressing and salsa to go with the veggies and chips and crackers to please them as well. 

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These crackers are addicting and really good.  You can see black specks in them because Dorie suggested using white pepper and I didn’t have any so I used black pepper.  But it didn’t really matter, with the pepper and little bit of cayenne sprinkled in, I thought they had just the right amount of zip and were perfectly crisp, flaky and cheesy.  I only made half a recipe, because if a cracker isn’t shaped like a little goldfish around here, it’s just not going to get eaten by most.  So, I also hate to admit that after a couple days, I think I was the one who ate most of the half recipe. (Shriek.)  Hey, I was celebrating, after all, Dorie’s birthday only comes once a year, right!  I have just about every cookie cutter in the world, it seems, but I suppose I need to find me a goldfish cutter!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DORIE!  IT’S BEEN A REAL TREAT BAKING AND NOW COOKING ALONG WITH THESE TWO GREAT GROUPS AS WE MAKE OUR WAY THROUGH YOUR GREAT BOOKS!  HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY!

(If you don’t yet have Dorie’s books, Baking From My Home to Yours and Around My French Table, they are a great addition to any cookbook collection.)

Be sure to check out Dorie’s Virtual Surprise Party at Phe.MOM.enon!

23 comments:

Nancy/n.o.e said...

THat is one impressive spread, Katrina. You put more work into that than I do for most of our dinners! And for the record, I've been known to enjoy just apps for dinner myself. And dessert for breakfast, but that's a different story altogether...

Love this happy birthday party for Dorie and seeing how we all celebrated with her.

natalia said...

Ciao Katrina ! What a wondeful set up you made for the hummous ! I love you crackers too !

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

Beautiful. That looks like it is enough to feed an army.

Leslie said...

Wow! You made dinner out of an appetizer! You are one resourceful mom! The crackers and hummus sound so good I'm going to have to try them (like everything else in the book). This was such a fun thing to do and I'm glad we all got to do it together!

Di said...

Lol. I need a goldfish cutter, too. =) I've made the hummus, and it was delicious. Now I have to try the crackers! We've done stuff like that for dinner before, and my girls always think it's great.

♥peachkins♥ said...

I love hummus! yours looks uber delicious! and look at those dipping items!

Cristine said...

Your spread looks great! I can't wait to try both recipes!

Marthe said...

Wow Katrina, both the Hummus and the Cheez-it-ish Crackers look so good! I'm usually not a big fan of Hummus either due to too much garlic, but will give this one a try now!

Anonymous said...

Lovely! My husband loves hummus, I need to try this soon. So glad you joined in on the bday fun! xo

Lisa Ernst said...

This looks like my kind of meal! The only thing missing is....chocolate.

AmyRuth said...

Wow Katrina, your "eye appeal" efforts paid off. Great spread and photo. I can't wait to try the hummus. I love the it for a snack or for a meal. Glad you could pull that off too. You're not alone, my hubs is the same way. he he The crackers look amazing I can imagine a tone of ways to use them. Thanks for showing us.
Loved coming to Dorie's party too. A very fun virtual celebration.
AmyRuth

Anonymous said...

This looks like a perfect dinner to me! I've been wanting to make a "snack dinner" for a while now, and with all the great recipes in the first chapter of Dorie's book, I think I will need to do that soon. Those crackers would be really dangerous to have around the house!

Beth said...

Looks delicious. I love those quasi-meals that I can make when it's just the kids and me!

mike said...

A spread fit for a Birthday Girl - I'm sure Dorie would love it. So much time and effort - what a delightful spread. I'm new to hummus but you've made it look very welcoming.... especially the crackers - those look treat!

Mary said...

Yum...great pick. I can't wait to try this one myself. It was so fun to celebrate Dorie's birthday TWD style!

Lisa said...

That looks like an excellent dinner to me. I'd take your cheese crackers over the little goldfish ones any day.

Unknown said...

These all look great Katrina! I'd like to sample everything :) I didn't realize it was Dorie's birthday today. I can't imagine how thrilled she will be by your post. I certainly hope she sees it.
You are a party hostess with the mostest!!

dorie said...

Katrina, thank you so much for making my birthday so wonderful. I love that you made the Cheez-it-ish crackers in triangles. Why didn't I think of that!!?? Abnd I'm so happy that the boys liked the hummus -- my "boy" is still on the fence.

Emily said...

Yum! The hummus looks awesome!

Kayte said...

Wow, I want to party at your house. Even without the food, but this just puts it over the top. I missed out on this...maybe next year. Very fun.

Spike said...

sounds like the perfect dinner spread to me! I can't wait to try those crackers

Julie said...

That really is a great looking spread! I've never had homemade hummus, but it looks wonderful.

Eliana said...

These look awesome Katrina. These are the first two recipes I flagged to make from the book and now you have me really excited to try them.