Keeping Hot – Hot and Cold – Cold!

Hello again and welcome to a new set of natural disasters this week – hurricane Irma hits Florida and the southeast, 8.0 earthquake in Mexico, and huge fires in Oregon and Washington.  Yikes – once again it seems sort of trivial to be discussing party planning with all that is going on in our country.  My thoughts and prayers have been and continue to be for those impacted by Harvey, Irma, Katia, the fires and the earthquake.

Ok on a lighter note – how many of you have struggled to keep food that you are serving at the right temperature?  Keeping the food that should be hot – hot, and the food that should stay cold/cool – cold. I am right there with you! In keeping food hot we can use warming trays, hot plates, and crock pots.  Keeping food cold is not a problem short term (1 hr), but if your party or event spans a few plus hours then that is a different story.

Carla Hall, chef and co-host of ABC’s “The Chew” has a couple of great tricks for keeping food cold in an article called “9 Clever Party Planning Secrets to Steal From Caterers”.  She recommends crushing ice cubes in food processor (or you can buy crushed ice or use crushed ice from your refrigerator). Pack the ice in a bowl, leaving enough room for another bowl to be nestled into the ice.  Then freeze the set up until you are ready to use it.  (2nd picture is using the 2 frozen bowls). I have done something similar but I like her idea better except – you can’t freeze crystal!! When serving shrimp I have filled a pretty crystal bowl with ice cubes and layered saran wrap over the top of the ice.  Then I nestle a small bowl of cocktail sauce in the middle and lay the shrimp on top of the plastic wrap around the cocktail sauce. Decorating with lemon slices and small sprigs of curly parsley. 

The other suggestion she has is more decorative.  Freeze flowers or herbs inside ice cubes that you can display with a dish you are using with ice.  Here is my take on that.  We have 2 sizes of ice cube trays – one that makes 6 – 2”x2”x2” cubes and the standard size ice cube tray.  Now a lot of us have ice makers in our refrigerators and don’t have ice cube trays anymore.  I say splurge and spend a few dollars and pick up 1-2 ice cube trays to have on hand for creating decorative ice cubes and surprising your family and guests!

So how do you freeze flowers and herbs in ice cubes.  You will want to use distilled water that has been boiled for a clearer/cleaner look.  The first one I used filtered water and the ice cubes are cloudy.  The second one I used boiled distilled water and you can see the difference.  I let the water cool before filling the tray. Place the flowers in upside down. Fill the ice cube trays about a quarter full and freeze completely.  (It is a little hard to tell that the tray is only filled part way before I put it in the freezer.) Then fill the rest of the way and freeze.  I set a timer for about a couple of hours per layer as a reminder – otherwise I will never remember to continue to fill up the trays.  If the cubes are going to be used for decoration only – the flowers do not need to be edible.  I used what I had in our yard and what I could find around our neighborhood – basil leaves, rosemary and rosemary flowers, geranium pedals (the pink ones), a small rose and I have no idea on the ground cover flowers – but I was looking for different colors.  I think posies, pansies, violets, impatiens or rose petals would also make for beautiful decorations.

Whatever flowers or herbs you choose to use – it will light up your table and they are sure to evoke a lot of oohs and aahs.  Give Carla’s recommendation a try and see if your cold dish doesn’t stay colder longer.  Remember keep your hot food hot and your cold food cold.

Happy Planning!  What’s your next party?


“Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.”  H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

2 thoughts on “Keeping Hot – Hot and Cold – Cold!

  1. Pat Thompson Reply

    I am almost fanatic about hot-hot and cold-cold. Last thing I want is to have my family and friends get sick! I have done the “ice bowl’ and that usually works. I really LOVE the idea of flower cubes. What a neat idea!! Bet you could use small fruit like raspberries and blueberries, too. Thanks for the great ideas!

    • Jill Baker Post authorReply

      Thanks Pat. I didn’t want to get into the whole food science – maybe another blog I will. What a great idea of berries. Those would work perfekt – and also go great in any punch or other beverage. Love it – thanks so much. I will mention your suggestion in next week’s blog!!

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