A Special Celebration!
Entertaining at my Bedford, New York farm is always so much fun, especially when I host momentous occasions.
Yesterday, I invited more than 60 people for dinner to celebrate all those who have worked with me for 20-years or longer. Our feast centered around an Argentinian theme with foods prepared on an asado grill by Chef Pablo Calandroni - whole salmon, rib eye steak, beef short ribs, pork spare ribs, sweetbreads, chicken, and morcilla sausages. My friend Chef Pierre Schaedelin of PS Tailored Events also prepared a variety of delicious fresh salads - Spanish criolla salad, black bean salad, three-color carrot slaw, potato salad, beet salad, and my daughter's flavorful chopped salad with corn and jalapeño. Everything was so delicious, everyone went back for seconds and even thirds. For dessert - refreshing fruit ice pops, shortbread cookies, and tres leches cupcakes.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- It was a beautiful summer evening for a party. For this gathering, I decided to have a sit-down dinner for all 64 guests. We used green and grayish tan linens and my Drabware plates for the long table.
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- For the centerpieces, we placed potted herbs down the entire length of the table. I bought the chairs years ago during my catering days – 450 wicker chairs and they still come in so handy for these large parties. Each longtime employee had a small gift from me at their place setting.
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- Here is my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, with his son, Mingmar, and his wife Pema. This day was Chhiring’s actual 20th anniversary working with me at the farm.
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- Video editor, Paul Delmiche, is another longtime colleague who started with me in our Westport television studio in 1997. Here he is with line producer, Jon Coniglio, who has also been with me for a number of years.
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- Here’s Lorna Aragon and her sister, Elizabeth. Lorna has been with me for more than 20-years – working with our flagship magazine, Living. Lorna oversaw the table setting for this event.
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- Many of you may recognize my longtime food editor, Sarah Carey, who has been with me for more than 20-years. Here she is with her wife, Maryann Vanderventer, who also worked with me on my television show.
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- Before dinner I welcomed everyone to Cantitoe Corners and thanked all the longtime celebrants for their years of hard work and dedication to my farm, my company, and my brand.
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- Not far from the table was the giant asado grill filled with so many delicious foods. The charcoal was lighted three hours earlier to get it perfectly hot for cooking.
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- Asado chef, Pablo Calandroni, and his sous chef, Kevin Thomas, cut all the meats for the buffet as soon as they were done cooking.
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- These chaffing dishes are heated with charcoal from the grill. Each one held a different meat – everything was so delicious.
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- Here is a first helping – a little bit of everything cooked so perfectly.
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- Kevin and Pablo stopped for this quick photo. Be sure to see more of Pablo’s great feasts on his Instagram page @asado.561.
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- My executive manager, Dorian Arrich, smiles for this photo with Fernando Ferrari, who has worked for all my television and video programs and shoots for more than 25 years.
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- The salads were all so beautiful and delicious. Chef Pierre used vegetables from my gardens to make them. We also had corn on the cob.
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- This is my daughter Alexis’s chopped salad with corn and jalapeño. It takes a bit of time to dice all the ingredients, but it is so worth it.
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- And look at this gorgeous deep red beet salad. The beets were harvested from my garden just the day before.
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- We also served cocktails – Martharitas and sangria. Here is our excellent wait staff.
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- And of course, we enjoyed lots of Martha’s Chard, my new chardonnay with 19Crimes. On the left is Snoop Dogg’s Cali Rose, also a big favorite.
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- For dessert, ice pops served in individual cups – currant, black raspberry, coconut, peach, lemon, and red raspberry. It was hard to choose just one.
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- Sarah Carey made these delectable tres leches cupcakes with candied orange slices.
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- And my favorite brown butter shortbread cookies – dessert was so perfect.
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- Each employee gift was wrapped in the same blue and white of the Argentinian flag to go along with our theme.
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- I gave Bandolier phone cases – the original luxury crossbody leather case. Practical and functional, I’ve been using them for several years and love all the different styles and colors. It was a perfect evening and perfect party with friends. And, you’ll soon be able to watch me make some of the dishes from this party on Roku!
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