Parties That Cook’s Most Romantic Date Night for Couples. Ever.

Friday, September 23rd, could have been our typical Date Night Couples Cooking Class in San Francisco, but we had big plans. One guest in particular was a little more excited — and probably a lot more anxious — than the rest. This guest, Ray, had reached out to us over a month before the class asking if we could help him set up a marriage proposal. We could tell he was excited, feeling very positive and eager to pop the question. (Our all-woman office was buzzing with anticipation!) Ideas bounced back and forth about when he would want to ask, how he wanted to do it, and what we could do to make it happen. With the help of Chef Irfan Dama, we finally landed on the means.

Couples arrived at the venue by 6:30pm and all were excited to get started. Chef Irfan began his usual demo, teaching some helpful tips and tricks pertaining to the evening’s recipes. He had set up camera equipment, and casually explained it away as the filming of a training video for our chefs.

**BLOG UPDATE**
We have now received the video for this proposal! Check it out below…
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During the demo, Chef Irfan spoke on the similarities between peppers and love. “If there is a vegetable that symbolizes love, which would that be? No, not onions… though onions make you cry. I would have to go with the pepper. Just like love, peppers come in several shapes and forms. Just like love, you will find that peppers can be sweet, sometimes bitter and sometimes fiery. Peppers add interesting and complex flavors to your food, and love does the same to your life —  a little sweetness, a little spice, a little color and LOT’S of flavor. If you don’t handle a pepper correctly, it could be disastrous; you could end up with a real mess. But if you take care of and foster the love in your life, like you correctly add peppers to your food, you’re sure to have the most interesting and adventurous experiences.”

Chef Irfan called upon Ray and his girlfriend, Cassie, for assistance… He had quietly hidden the ring inside a bell pepper. (It’s really easy to cut around the stem and slip the ring through.) Chef Irfan stressed that correctly chopping the pepper is KEY to successful integration in the dish. How true that is was less pressing than how carefully Cassie had to slice the pepper without hitting the ring!

After a month of planning, hoping, and holding our breath, we can now relax and say Mission Accomplished. Cassie found the ring, and said YES!!!! Surprisingly, class proceeded as usual, with the exception of one new bride-to-be beaming around the kitchen and one very, very happy fiance.

Congratulations Ray and Cassie!!! We are so glad to have played a part in this special moment. We wish you the best of luck, and hope you always remember how it all went down.

Parties That Cook’s Halloween Treat Recipe: Chocolate Pretzel Cookies with Dipping Sauce

DoughThis Halloween, let’s mix things up. It’s time to stop drudging to the store for 10lbs of candy when we all know you only get 7 trick-or-treaters. While handing out home-made edibles might not fly in your neighborhood, these Chocolate Pretzel Cookies with Mexican Hot Chocolate Dipping Sauce are scarily delicious. Sure to be a crowd-pleaser, make these sweet treats for your next holiday party.

Chocolate Pretzel Cookies with Mexican Hot Chocolate Dipping Sauce
This recipe can also be found in our Appetizer Recipe Library!

pretzelsIngredients
Chocolate Pretzels:
Nonstick baking spray
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Coarse sugar, for garnish
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Mexican Hot Chocolate Dipping Sauce (Makes 2 cups):
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 ounces Mexican chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Garnish:
Toasted coconut
Powdered sugar
Mint sprigs

Methods/Steps
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Prepare Pans: Spray sheet pans with nonstick baking spray.

Melt Chocolate: Coarsely chop the chocolate and place into a stainless steel or oven proof bowl. Place bowl into the oven to melt for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Alternately, place chocolate in a double boiler and gently melt, stirring frequently.  Let chocolate cool. For a helpful video on how to melt chocolate, go here!

Creaming: In a large bowl and using a hand or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the cooled, melted chocolate, then vanilla; mix well.

Mix Dry Ingredients: Place flour and salt in a separate bowl and quickly whisk to combine and break up any clumps. Gradually add flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture, a little at a time, and blend well. Divide the dough into fourths and wrap in plastic wrap. Press wrapped dough gently to form a thin disk and freeze or refrigerate dough until firm, about 10-15 minutes, in the freezer.

Roll Dough: Roll each disk into a 6-inch log. Cut each log into 1/2-inch slices; roll each slice into a 9-inch rope, dusting with powder sugar as needed. Place ropes onto greased sheet pans and form into pretzel shapes.  Space the pretzels 1 inch apart. Sprinkle a little bit of the coarse sugar onto each pretzel to resemble pretzel salt.

Bake Pretzels: Place sheet pans in the oven and bake for 7-9 minutes or until firm. Rotate pans halfway through baking. Remove sheet pans from oven and let cool 1-2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Do not let pretzels sit any longer on sheet plans or they will crumble when removed.

Make Chocolate Sauce: In a saucepan, heat the cream and milk on medium until small bubbles appear around the edge.  Add the sugar, vanilla, cayenne and salt. Place chocolate in medium bowl.  Slowly whisk heated milk/cream mixture into the chocolates to melt and integrate. Return mixture to pot to keep warm over very low heat until ready to serve.

Serve: Transfer pretzels to a serving dish. Pour chocolate sauce into a decorative bowl and serve immediately.

Makes 24 Chocolate Pretzels.

Recipe created by Parties That Cook® | www.PartiesThatCook.com.