There’s nothing like a deadline to help a girl get moved in! When Ghirardelli approached me about hosting a tasting and pairing party for their Intense Dark chocolates, I may have thought better of it considering we just moved into our place a month ago. I love chocolate, of course, and you know I love wine, and parties… don’t get me started. I truly couldn’t resist, though, when I learned that during the month of October, Ghirardelli would be donating $50,000 plus $1 from each specially marked Intense Dark chocolate bar to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The tasting parties, would be a way to help raise awareness, and so, I was in!
Last Saturday, with the help of two of my besties, I put the finishing touches on my living room and kitchen (we won’t talk about the bedrooms). I’d already been cooking for days prepping a pretty extensive tasting menu.
Before we get into the menu, I’d also like to thank Leslie Sbroco who was so kind as to give me some amazing wines, especially the extraordinary Sandemand Armada Rich Cream Oloroso Sherry which, I’m still savoring the last few sips of.
Evening Dream 60%: Yuzu Pots De Cremes, The Gluten Freed Gourmet’s Gingerbread, Lemon Brioches
Served with: Rieslings, Ice Wines, & Late Harvest Rieslings
Twilight Delight 72%: Spiced Plum Jam, Spicy Caramel Sauce, Strawberries Blueberries and Raspberries, Ciabatta,
Served with: Garnacha, Spanish Red Blend, Merlot, Bay Spiced Lager
Midnight Reverie 86%: Carmelized Onion and Parmesan Tart on my flakey crust, Goat Brie, Roasted Figs with Bacon and Balsamic
Served with: Malbec, Syrah
Toffee Interlude 60%: S’mores in a jar featuring boozy (rye) marshmallows & Coffee Confiture,
Served with: Tawny Port, Sherry, Ruby Port, Belgian White Ale, & Belgian Black Stout
The guests began arriving at around 7 and included some of my favorite people in the blogging community including Chef John of Food Wishes and his lovely wife Michelle (of SFQ Sauce Fame), Stephanie of Desserts for Breakfast, Anita of Dessert First, Angela the amazing pastry chef and writer of the San Francisco baking Examiner, Mary of The Gluten Freed Gourmet, Annapet of The Daily Palette, Carina of Mission Fruition, Kris Mulkey, Sean and Joey of Cooking with Sean and Joey, Kate of Blue Chair Fruit, Ashley of Spirit of the City, a secret guest whose name I will not mention, and that’s just over half of the fantastic guests! It was such a pleasure to have my new home filled with laughter and conversation all night. There was talk of food, wine, and chocolate– conversation filled every corner.
We drank, and tasted well into the wee hours of the evening, and Ruby dog came up to join us once most the guests had gone home for the evening.
Some of the favorite pairings of the evening seemed to be the onion tart and the figs with bacon with the 86%, the yuzu pots de crème and the gingerbread with the 60%, and the spicy caramel with the 72%. Guests were split as to whether they loved the toffee chocolate with the s’mores or whether the darker (less sweet) chocolate would have been best. I fall into the latter category, although don’t get me wrong, the toffee was awesome.
All in all, it was so much fun. I am constantly reminded how much I LOVE being a member of the food blogging community. I’m grateful that that folks at Ghirardelli chose me, and pushed me to get my house together that much faster.
I can’t wait to have another party! And speaking of parties, I invite you to join a Twitter Chat tasting and pairing party with Leslie Sobroco on Wednesday October 5th at 5pm PST (8 Eastern) #TGTASTE is the hashtag. More information on the twitter chat here.
Recipes for yuzu pots de crème, spicy caramel, onion tarts, and boozy marshmallows may just appear in the following days and weeks. What do you think you’d like to see first? Let me know in the comments below.
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sponsored post: this has been a sponsored post. Ghirardelli Chocolate Company has provided cash compensation as well as product. My policy is to only accept compensation from companies whose products/services I enjoy. The monies received have had no influence on the opinions expressed in the article above, and I was not asked to review or provide an opinion of the product provided.
There's nothing like a deadline is there? Your food looks amazing, please post the recipe for boozy marshmallows, they sound seriously tempting! Your post has got me even more excited about hosting our next party – not until Christmas, but no doubt it'll come around very quickly!
Nicola
You did Layer Cake Malbec too! It was a huge hit with us in LA/Orange County Intense Dark Party. Isn't that wine fabulous?
OMG I love it, it's going into my regular rotation.
Your home looks so beautiful and inviting; what a bunch of lucky guests! I'm always on the lookout for yuzu in the Ventura and Santa Barbara farmers markets and am hoping I will come across some soon. I can't wait to see the recipe for that. In the meantime, I will just sit here and crush over the caramelized onion and parm tart. Dare I ask if the fig-bacon-balsamic trio went along with it? If so, I may lose my mind…
Lori, thank you so much. I felt lucky to have such a marvelous bunch in my home. I'll admit I did not find fresh yuzu, but used cold pressed yuzu juice and the zest of a grapefuit, some meyer lemon, and an orange. The fig bacon balsamic was in the same grouping as the onion tart, yes!
It all looks fabulous!! Onion tart recipe please!
Looks like a lovely evening of wonderfulness! I will go buy a ghiradelli intense dark bar now because that is as close as I'll get to the experience way out here.
Your new home is gorgeous – Can't wait to visit and see more! So proud of your first successful party in the new home, you're a rockstar!
Sabrina, thank you so much for such a wonderful evening. All the food and wine was so delicious.
I would love to see the onion tart recipe or the toffee. I really, really want the pie crust recipe.
Never has such hard work been so much blasted fun. Thank you for giving Heather and I free reign with decorating, thank you for asking me to be a part of the cooking (almost a year after you tried my gingerbread!), and thank you for inspiring me to have smores on our Christmas dessert list. You continue to awe, inspire, and amaze me! Xoxo
Thank you so much for all your hard work and friendship. Getting ready for the party was a total marathon and you two were amazing. I could not have done it without you. Your gingerbread was amazing as is everything you make. Love you love you love you.
The party was so, so wonderful! Thank you for having me! 😀
Thank you Stephanie, it was so nice to hang out. The flowers were gorgeous, and some of them are still going strong!
holy smokes, this looks/sounds so fabulous. you truly outdid yourself. I wish we lived closer so I could invite myself over for your fabulous parties! p.s. from what I can tell, your new place is darling.
Such a beautiful party so much amazing work went into everything! gorgeous 🙂