Spectacularly Delicious

1. Best Meal: Our wedding party. After sharing our lives for 29 years, Steve Russell and I married in September. 125 guests (45 of whom were family, pictured) celebrated in Greenwich Village on a sunny Sunday afternoon overlooking downtown and the harbor. Highlights of our spectacular feast included four types of caviar, toasted ravioli, lobster rolls and a four foot long chocolate butter cream frosted yellow cake layered with white chocolate ganache and raspberries and topped with gold leaf lions from the Sullivan and Russell family crests. Thank you Gabrielle of Go Catering.

2. Best Tableware: We are most fortunate to have been gifted with exquisite Richard Ginori and Royal Copenhagen china, Simon Pearce and Tiffany crystal and numerous one-of-a-kind treasures like this bone china and gilt tureen. Number 108 from an edition of only 200 pieces, Professor R.W. Baker of the Royal College of Art created this timeless beauty in 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.  

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3. Best Kitchen:  House Beautiful's Kitchen of the Year with Tyler Florence. Speaking of queens, our fourth annual kitchen was the "most beautiful kitchen in the world," according to the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin, who stopped in one morning. Spectacularly Delicious took center stage with a demo of Rock Lobster Dumplings in honor of our Rockefeller Plaza location. The recipe is an adaptation of S.D.'s Cilantro Sichuan Wontons, and if you've got a half hour to kill, by all means watch it on our YouTube channel.

4. Best Organization: Steve implemented his highly scientific organizational scheme which now ensures an optimum space/inventory ratio ensuring that even the most obscure items in our batterie de cuisine can be located at a moment's notice. The closet shown is one of three new satellite storage areas under Steve's supervision.  Good thing too because this has been a banner year for yard sale finds like the copper cookware shown below.  

5. Best Web Traffic Growth:  In 2011 SpectacularlyDelicious.com's unique visitors per month increased 400% while average monthly page views grew a whopping 800%.  Jams and jellies continue to be a top traffic driver (thank you Punk Domestics) so stay tuned for more canning from Springy Banks Road.

6. Best Recipe: The number one recipe fulfilling our core mission –  a dish with a proper name which requires specialized equipment and is both unusual in taste and presentation – was Pheasant Under Glass, judged by number of page views.

7. Best Celebrity Recipe:  Based on page views Elsie de Wolfe's Pancakes Barbara was the champion.

8. Best Video: Our SpectacularlyD YouTube channel is fast approaching 125,000 video views. The snappy two-minute How to Make Carrot Flowers is the far and away winner with more than 86,000 views.

 9. Best Book: Mycophilia by Eugenia Bone. Read the New York Times review – and you can order your copy of Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms immediately by clinking this link.

10. Best Yard Sale Find: Remember this Neptune's Glory centerpiece acquired for $15?  Reader JW in Illinois found the exact same piece on the Web's premier antiques site, 1st Dibs for $1,500! 

May 2012 bring only the best for you: Great food enjoyed in good  health with the love of family and friends. 

– Sean and Steve.

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Written by skfsullivan on December 30, 2011 under ALL RECIPES, Dessert, Famous Chefs, Kitchen Gadgets.