Kimberly Schlegel Whitman: Modern Game Night

We had such a blast at our Say It With Clicquot Modern Game Night but it wasn't just fun and games! We ate a bit too!

Of course, everything we served fit our theme but was still easy to prepare and tasty as well! Everything goes with Rose and Champagne so it wasn't hard to find the perfect treats.

We started with some savory bites:

I love these modern serving pieces from Finell The coolest!

Mini Beef Sliders with Bacon, Beets and Smoked Paprika Aioli

Makes 12 sliders

2 lb beef tenderloin cooked medium rare, sliced

2 lb fresh beets (red or gold) cooked until soft and peeled, sliced

12 slices Canadian bacon

12 soft mini rolls

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 roasted bell peppers (cut into hearts and diamonds)

Mix together the mayonnaise, garlic and smoked paprika and spoon onto the soft rolls. Add the sliced beef, beet and bacon and top with the bell pepper heart.

Smoked Pork and Cilantro Pancakes

with Jalapeno Cream Cheese and Peach Chutney

Makes about 18 appetizer pancakes

For the pancakes;

1/2 cup blue cornmeal

½ cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 Tbs sugar

1 egg

¾ cup milk

½ cup finely chopped cilantro

½ cup finely chopped green onions

corn oil

1 cup whipped cream cheese

1 jalapeno, finely diced

8 ounces smoked pork or chicken – shredded

½ cup peach chutney

Cilantro to garnish

In a large bowl, mix all of the pancake ingredients together. Heat and Lightly grease a skillet with the corn oil and spoon the pancake mix into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until brown on the bottom and then turn over to cook on the other side for a further minute. Remove to a cooling rack.

A simple touch to add to our game night theme: we arranged crackers in alternating directions on our tray to make a checkerboard pattern.

Fold the jalapeno to taste, into the cream cheese and spoon or pipe with a star tip onto the pancakes. Top with the shredded meat (optional) and finish with a little peach chutney. Garnish with cilantro.

Smoked Salmon Lollipops

Makes about 12 lollipops

8 ounces cream cheese

12 slices smoked salmon

1 Tbs horseradish sauce

12 lollipop or popsicle sticks

Soften the cream cheese and mix in the horseradish. Prepare one-inch diameter balls of the cream cheese, roll and refrigerate.

Cut circles of smoked salmon large enough to wrap the ball of cream cheese.

Wrap each salmon circle around the cream cheese, and twist a sheet of plastic wrap round each ball to form a round shape. Place each ball in fridge until ready to use.

Remove the plastic wrap and carefully place the lollipop stick into the bottom of the smoked salmon ball.

Serve chilled. Garnish with chopped chives (optional)

We arranged these to look like pool cues!

Next came the sweets! I always think that the serving pieces are just as important as the treats themselves so I played around a bit with my Minnie and Emma lucite tray. It is seriously the most versatile entertaining item I have ever owned! I've used it on coffee tables to wrangle books, remotes and a candle or at parties to serve everything from cocktails to treats like we did here. For our Say It With Clicquot Modern Game Night, we lined up some scrabble pieces, most of them random and a few spelling out Veuve Clicquot, and stuck them on the copier! We printed out the paper, laminated it and replaced the monogram sheet that comes with the Minnie and Emma tray with our new sheet!

It was the perfect tray to serve our Double Chocolate Domino Brownies!

Double Chocolate Brownies

Makes 12 brownies

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter

8 ounces dark chocolate

2 cups sugar

1 tbs instant espresso powder

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp salt

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup dark chocolate chips

How perfect was Amber's playing card purse for Modern Game Night???

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a ¼ sheet pan. ( 12x9x2)

Melt the 1 ½ sticks of butter with the chocolate in a large bowl.

Whisk in the sugar, espresso powder, vanilla and salt followed by the eggs.

Fold in the flour and chocolate chips until combined and spread evenly into the sheet pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the top has a dull effect. DO NOT OVERCOOK

Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and leave to cool and set.

BROWNIES ARE BEST SERVED FROM THE REFRIGERATOR - cold and chewy !

Ping-Pong Bat Cookies

¾ cup butter, softened

1 cups white sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

8 ounces green fondant paste

½ cup vanilla frosting

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll out the dough onto a floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles with a 2 inch cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Break off a piece of dough and shape like a ping-pong bat handle and stick to the circle of dough with the beaten egg.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

When cool, roll out the fondant and cut a circle using the same round cutter and stick to the cookie using the vanilla frosting.

Ping-pong ball can be made using rolled white fondant or melting 2 ounces of white chocolate with

2 Tbs heavy cream and refrigerating until cold, then shaping into a ball.