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Delicious pancake recipe, with the best tangy ricotta flavor I've had yet, but I was disappointed they weren't fluffier with all those egg whites. Maybe I overworked the batter, but these weren't even half as thick as my usual buttermilk pancakes. the lemon curd was delicious though, and great on cold leftover pancakes.

I've had those Northstar pancakes. They're one of my first Columbus, OH food memories, and probably still one of the fondest!

Very late, but understood!!

I had a fantastic wedding party about a year ago -- mostly wine and champagne with a signature cocktail (vodka and strawberry lemonade) and a sort of light, buffet-style meal. There were about five passed apps, and then some simple buffet foods -- unusual cheeses, breads and dips, lamb meatballs with yogurt sauce, cous-cous salad both with and without chicken, poached salmon with several different sauces, new potato and green bean salad, lots of beautiful fresh veg, and fresh fruit, with a multi-flavor cupcake tower for dessert. Everyone loved it, had lots to eat, and it came in WAY under the expense of a usual wedding meal.

Congrats! I love these type of weddings, more casual & fun. I used to be a catering manager at a hotel and did a couple weddings that were cocktail hour type weddings. They were 3 hours long. The 1st 2 hours were hors d'oeuvres and the last hour was the cake cutting. If you're not serving dinner, I would definitely do it between lunch and dinner, like from 3 - 6. Also, you probably want to go a little heavy on apps since people are expecting to eat so maybe 10 pieces per person per hour. Wine & Beer is also a great way to go. For food, a fruit, cheese & veggie tray is always popular. You also might want to try a pasta station, pasta is pretty inexpensive, but make sure to get bite size pasta (no spaghetti or fettucine) so there is not any mess. I'd reccommend passing hors d'oevures so people won't pile them on to plates (they'll go much slower this way). The last wedding I went to (which was super fancy), they were passing mini burgers, which were the big hit! People LOVE mini-versions of things. I would pick around 5 different types of apps to pass, and make sure to include a veggie option, chicken, beef and a seafood.

The more I think about this the more I have to say, what a great idea not to have a big meal--at every wedding I've been to, most of the guests fill up on appetizers anyway and the main course is served late, often poorly, and even if it is delish (like the last wedding I went to) it's served to guests who are so tired and stressed out their tastebuds are shot.

For cheap appetizers, fruit and cut up veggies with dips are always welcome, especially for people who are picky, dieting, want a salad before consuming more substantial fare.

Fancy breads, cheeses, dips like hummus, olives, and cured peppers and pickles are nice for a spread, hold well in the heat--and are vegetarian.

Make sure to have a variety for special diets, like vegetarians, nut-free, and so forth. Some kid-friendly stuff if there are children.

I'm not a big fan of Italian stuff with red sauce in formal wear!

I hate to disagree and suggest something more expensive but--please serve wine as well as spirits. Not only do some people only drink wine but it's also less of an alcoholic risk--some people can get a bit out-of-control with very strong cocktails.

@LiveToEat that's exactly what I was thinking, re Orangette. Her wedding photos, the catering, it was all exactly how I want my wedding to be!

Good suggestions above. As a catering server, make sure you serve things that can be eaten standing up and in single or a few bites. No forks or knives unless you have adequate seating. I've seen many beautiful hors d'oeuvres fall to the carpet because someone couldn't just pop it in their mouth.

Good tip on checking out Martha Stewart's hors d'oeuvres. You could go the international route, but if you would rather be more traditional, things like fruit kabobs, veggies and a sophisticated dip, nice crackers and international cheeses are crowd-pleasers. I would also check out Orangette (a food blogger in Seattle who just got married last year) scroll down to "So We Feasted." The food at her wedding was beautiful and very expressive of her and her husband.

For our wedding we had a mid-afternoon reception and served egg rolls (though we're hardly Asian...it was from my husband's favorite restaurant), fruit trays, veggie trays, and of course cake. People loved the egg rolls and felt they were enough to make a meal, even though it wasn't intended as a full meal. A local Chinese restaurant makes their egg rolls from scratch and they are worlds better than anything you can get premade or frozen. We ordered the egg rolls from them and then the trays from another restaurant that does catering. It was quite economical because we didn't have the whole thing catered from one place and had a few church ladies keeping the buffet tables full.

For something med budget I would run and grab a copy off amazon of the marth stewart hors d'oeuvres cookbook. Also ask the caterer what their speciality is. What will be in season at that time? Try and remember messy means people will mess their clothes.

I should never go into electronic stores. And the thing, is I KNOW THIS. I went to buy a 32-inch LCD on sale not too long ago, and was sure it was the right model for me. I had researched it, and was confident in what I was going to get. My plan - IN and OUT of the store with my new TV.

Well... Instead of IN and OUT, I was there for 2 hours, and came home with a larger more expensive 42-inch, and instead of LCD it was Plasma.

Before that, I was going to buy a Nintendo Wii just for fun when there's a house full of people -- Today I'm the proud owner of BOTH the Sony Playstation-3 and Microsoft XBOX-360. And I didn't even get the damn Wii.

Don't you see? See why I shouldn't go into these stores?

Anyway, I went to get my new camera, and before I knew it, the excitement of all the bright and shiny technology got me again, and instead of just a camera, I had a $1,000 'hybrid' in my hands. It was a full blown digital camcorder, but also took high quality still-shots.

The wheels in mind are turning..... "Sure, I need this because I want to eventually do my own video segments on the site. Maybe even video reviews. Yeah man, I NEED this. BUY IT - BUY IT - BUY IT"....

Anyway, God Blessed me with a good friend, and that friend came with me this weekend, and reminded me that I was getting carry away... again. He reminded me that I just starting a brand news site, and this was no time to suddenly try to become Steven Spielberg. And that my previous electronic adventures created debt that took a long time to pay for.

So today my friends, I stand before you with the same old 1 megapixel clunker, and I've decided instead to purchase my new camera ONLINE, away from the lure of the hands-on world of the brick and mortar retail store.

I will provide an update, and hopefully a happy ending to this story, soon.

@FFC remember, you have to let us know what you get. Samples are required as well! ;-)