Feast the Chronicle – June 6, 27, and July 4

Because I am embarrassingly behind on cooking Jessica Grann’s recipes, I decided to tackle some of the recent dishes in a batch. I pieced together a few recipes into a casual dinner party and invited our dearest friends over to enjoy it. (And weigh in with their thoughts, of course.)

To start, I flipped through the pile of Chronicles my husband had saved with me to see what we were working with. I needed a main—pasta alla vodka—perfect! A vegetable—summer squash skillet. And a dessert—hummingbird cake. These three recipes seem to pair together really nicely, were simple enough to whip up in one afternoon, and, most importantly, seemed like something both adults and children would enjoy.

Let’s take it dish by dish, starting with the main (“Pasta alla vodka,” July 4). So here’s a confession—I don’t like pasta. It’s never been a go to dish for me, I don’t like the texture, and I find most sauces to be lackluster. But I knew that a pasta dish would be a big hit with a group, and our gaggle of children. I was gearing up to pitch “pink pasta” to my daughter, but she was delighted to help cook.

I was genuinely shocked at how much I enjoyed this recipe. I used a super basic marinara sauce, but vodka really added another layer of flavor and the cream made it really rich. I chopped up the onions finely, so you couldn’t see them (for the kiddos). Thankfully, you definitely could taste them. I found myself happily eating a bowl (or two!) of this, and enjoying a few days of leftovers. This demands high quality parmesan, and thankfully I had a block from The Cheese Guy sitting in my fridge from Shavuot. The whole group thought this recipe was a winner and I am going to add this to my dinner rotation.

Second dish, our side (“Summer squash skillet,” June 6). A stunning display of farmers market produce. The squash and zucchini are so plentiful and so cheap this time of year. I was very excited about this dish, so I made the mistake of chopping up a yellow squash and *two* zucchinis, rather than the one recommended. It all went fine, but if you’re overeager like me, please make sure you have a sauté pan to handle it. With every stir in the pan, I launched rouge zucchini slices all over the stove stop. A large sauté pan can really only accommodate two squashes and a shallot.

Although no kids indulged, this dish was a win. We all found ourselves stirring the zucchini into the pasta. It’s quite simple to prepare, but do spend time caramelizing the shallots because they shine, and choose beautiful squash that can stand alone.

Lastly, our dessert (“Hummingbird cake,” June 27), the dish the children were arguably the most excited for. I am super familiar with this cake—there is a recipe for one in my family’s cookbook and I grew up with hummingbird cake served at many parties. I was so excited for the nostalgia!

Everyone was thrilled to end the night with this—it was a bit of a showstopper for a weeknight dinner. I only had 8 inch rounds, so my daughter and I ended up assembling a two-tiered cake. You do, in fact, need to double the frosting recipe for a stacked cake, as Grann notes. We didn’t do this and ended up with a naked cake vibe, with patchy sides.

I generally wish the pineapple and banana stood out more in this recipe, and I would toy around with adding another banana or using larger chunks of pineapple. It tasted a lot like a spice cake. I don’t quite remember what it tasted like growing up, but I was hoping for something more banana-ey. Honestly, smear anything in cream cheese frosting and I am in heaven.

This truly was a feast, and every recipe was honestly great! We had so much fun hosting a Chronicle dinner for our friends.