Snap, Crackle, Ka-Boom...

The catch phrase of the evening was "I'm speechless." One after the other, clients, friends, vendors and even a few "hangers-on" came up to me and said, "I'm speechless."

The evening was magical. It was the 4th of July. We held our First Annual Snap, Crackle, Ka-Boom! Party. It was meant to be a special way of thanking our largest clients, our favored vendors and our precious friends. Eleven courses of food in a picnic on our Chicago roof terrace, starting at 5:30 in the evening and going until "dawn's early light or until we were all too pooped to pop."

Speaking of pop, the whole party revolved around the fireworks but not the regular fireworks put on by the city. That whole show, attended by 1.5 million strong, was held the night before. We watched those fireworks too, from the comfort of our rooftop vantage point.

But these fireworks, the ones on the 4th of July, BEAT the multi-million dollar show. How? The 4th of July fireworks are put on by every civic organization, every church group, every country club, private individual and even some wealthy "nut balls" who want to just plain show off. The extravaganza starts informally just before dark and goes on well into the night. This year we all went off to bed by about 1 AM and, believe me, they were not finished firing off the fireworks when we retired.

Everywhere you looked--360 degrees of fireworks. Some close by, others in the distance. Every color, size, shape and noise imaginable, all going off in unison. All for free viewing with your favorite cocktail or dessert in hand. That's why everyone came up to me at some point and said, "I'm speechless." Not one of them had ever seen anything like it.

I knew we'd blow them away.

The teens in attendance thought they'd be bored at this party. When the fireworks started you should have seen their eyes. Then you should have seen their faces when we got out the spotting scope and they could watch fireworks through a 60X powered lens. No computer game could compete. This was live action taking place right in front of their eyes and they had a ZOOM in their hands!

We had to dodge a few raindrops during the evening, and at one point I looked like Michael Jackson standing in front of the grill turning steaks while my husband held a huge umbrella, trying to keep me and the meat dry. It never really poured though. And every time it started to rain, it quickly dissipated and the guests were able to go back outside once again for one more course of appetizers or to take in more fireworks as the night went on.

The evening really was magical, one I hope our guests never forget.

The chocolate tart (recipe below) is one dessert I won't soon forget. This is a takeoff of a recipe I saw in a newspaper a while back, so I can't take full credit. I did make a few adjustments and I hope you like them. Next time I serve it I think I'll add fresh raspberries on the side. Consider that an idea you can incorporate your first time out, if you choose. This is one rich dessert. Enjoy it in small portions. That's plenty!

The rest of the menu for the evening is included in the link for inspiration (http://www.dinnerwithzola.com/recipe.php?recipeId=00000206).

Chocolate Cr`me Tart with Deep Chocolate Crust

Crust:
Butter spray
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (Oreo is one brand)
4 Tbl butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch spring form pan with butter spray. Pour crumbs in pan along with melted butter. Combine the mixture with a fork until well blended. Press the mixture with your fingers along the sides of the pan up the edge about an inch and along the bottom to make a crust. Bake for 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.

While it's baking, prepare the filling.

Filling:
12 oz. mascarpone cheese
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate cut into bits and melted. (Use good chocolate. Ghirardelli is one brand.)
2 tsp pure vanilla
2 Tbl strong brewed coffee

Mix all of these ingredients with a spoon or your mixer on low speed. You need to do this while the chocolate is HOT. Be sure to keep mixing until the mixture is completely brown and no white streaks of mascarpone remain. Now pour the filling in the cooled crust and put the tart in your refrigerator. It needs to be in the refrigerator at least an hour to firm up. After an hour you'll need to cover it with plastic wrap so it doesn't get a film on top of the tart. You can do this up to a day ahead. If you want to decorate your tart, you can cut a decoration out of paper (stencil) or use a commercially made stencil and place it on the tart before serving and sprinkle on powdered sugar. Then carefully remove the stencil. This will make a pretty design. For the 4th of July I put a large star stencil on top.

Here's the most important hint for good flavor. Take the tart out of the refrigerator about an hour ahead of serving. I take it out when I am serving appetizers. This tart tastes so much richer when it's just slightly cool and not COLD.

Enjoy!