Happy New Year!

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I can’t believe we are saying goodbye to 2011 today!  We will enjoy a smaller New Year’s Eve thisyear than we did last year. Suzanne, Kevin and their son will be joining us for Mexican food(ordered in), games and movies. 

I’m in total hibernation mode, so I'm keeping everything simple.  I’m using the same tablesetting I used for Christmas.  After seeing a beautiful table in Southern Living with blue, silver andgreen, I decided to make a blue table runner for my Christmas table.  The blue fabric I found has a smallbright green stem that is perfect for Christmas. 
 I added my green Crate and Barrel chargers and used mybeautiful Lenox Butterfly Cloud dinner plates.  The Princess House Fantasia luncheon plates for salad addeda sparkly touch, and I added the green glass napkin rings and my favorite greenwater glasses.
 My green trees and mercury glass candleholders and votivesfinished the look.  I think theblue, green and white table is a winner (if I do say so myself).
I made these Onion Squares for our Christmas cocktail party.  I’ve made them a few times in the pastto rave reviews.  For the cocktailparty, I substituted whole-wheat pastry flour for half the all-purpose flour.  I won’t make that substitute again. Thewhole-wheat pastry flour made the dough a little heavy.   The dough is light and airy whenusing only all-purpose flour, so I didn’t change the original recipe.  The topping is delicious.  The onion and rosemary cook down to analmost jam like consistency, and pair beautifully with the blue cheese.  Caramelized Onion Squares are elegantappetizers to serve at your next cocktail party.


Caramelized Onion Squares with Blue CheeseAdapted from epicurious.com Printable RecipeCrust2 cups all-purpose flour2 teaspoons baking powder¾ teaspoon salt¾ cup whole milk¼ cup olive oil2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Topping2 tablespoons unsalted butter2 tablespoons olive oil3 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary1 teaspoon sugar½ teaspoon salt
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
CrustPreheat oven to 425°F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir toblend.  Whisk milk, olive oil andmelted butter in a liquid measuring cup. Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour milk mixture into thewell.  Stir ingredients until justblended and smooth.  On a lightlyfloured surface, roll the dough into a 10x13-inch rectangle.  Transfer the dough to a rimmed bakingsheet.  Re-shape the dough into arectangle, and pierce dough all over with a fork.  Let dough rest at room temperature while preparing thetopping.
ToppingMelt butter with the oil in a large Dutch oven over highheat.  Add onions and cook untilthe onions are soft and beginning to brown, stirring frequently, about 10minutes.  Add rosemary, sugar, saltand a generous grinding of black pepper. Reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook until the onions are soft and dark brown, stirringfrequently, about 20 minutes. Cool.
Spread onion mixture evenly over dough.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake until crust is golden and thecheese is bubbling, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares.  Serve warm or at room temperature.