(light music) - This program is brought to you by the members of WCNY.

Thank you.

- Nationwide, Hungry for History markers from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation highlight unique foods and traditions, including salt potatoes and Berry Dairy Days, available through grants for communities and nonprofits.

More at wgpfoundation.org/tv.

- Syracuse sits in the heart of New York State, with access to the Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks, from city vibes and great local eats, to live music and festivals that roll on year-round.

Four seasons for everyone.

- Liberty Tabletop has been crafting flatware in America for over 20 years and is dedicated to supporting our community and preserving the craft of flatware manufacturing.

- Spatchcock Funk is in the house.

Our house and your house too.

You know where the party's at?

Wherever you're at.

We're gonna teach you how to throw the best parties, the best dinners, the best get togethers.

All you need is the people you love.

And we'll take care of the rest.

Spatchcock Funk, dope food, strong drinks, great stories.

(upbeat music) Yo, you ever wish you could get another swing at a big moment in life?

Nostalgia can be great for our mental health, regret, not so much.

So we're running it back tonight, baby.

As a youngin', we have all these memories that fill us with joy and some that make us cringe our faces off.

Sometimes we wish we could relive days from the past and other times we wish we could just forget 'em.

Don't beat yourself up over the past though, learn from it, move on, care for yourself.

Take a do over.

One of those days, the prom baby.

Some people loved it, some hated it, and some just plain skipped it.

If you could go back in time knowing what you know now, what would you do?

At the Funk, we're all about giving second chances and taking 'em too.

- Yo, Matt, does this, look straight?

- I'd take another swing at it, dog.

Anyways, we believe in helping people be their true selves.

I mean, all about creating the environment where you can be you.

You gotta be yourself because everyone else is already taken.

So, throw on some sharp threads, a killer dress, and get up.

We got a promposal for you.

This is "Crown Royale."

(upbeat music) When you're trying to rock out a prom for the ages, all generations, you gotta go all the way in with a great cocktail.

And that's what we got here today, y'all.

This is a Classic Rainbow Sherbet Punch, which we call Rainbow Warrior Punch, and we'll explain why in a second.

But this goes way back to the 50s, man, celebrating anniversaries.

Our grandparents made this and it is absolutely killer.

It's called Rainbow Punch because obviously Rainbow Sherbet, multiple colors.

We have multiple colors in all of our ingredients here to get this really cool concoction of things.

And that's how we roll, y'all.

We like to have people of different races, different genders, whatever, however they get down, man, we're down for it.

And the prom that we're throwing, right, has to make things different.

We want people that feel like they can be themselves, y'all.

The first ingredient we have are a couple cups of some store-bought punch.

You know the type you'd find in the 50th state.

Then we've got some healthier stuff.

Couple cups of pure pineapple juice, that natural sweetness because I'm naturally sweet.

750 milliliters of a white rum.

The rum plays well with all the sugary sweetness.

We've also got a little bit of limoncello that our friend Joe made, which is great.

Little bit of pomegranate liqueur, a little fun flavor, and then a whole bunch of melon liqueur.

Keep whisking that up.

Get it nice and evenly mixed.

Then we've got a whole big ole two-liter bottle, lemon lime soda that gives us the fun bubbles we want, more of the flavor.

I'm gonna whisk it as I pour it in here.

Rainbow Sherbet Punch needs rainbow sherbet.

What it also does besides create this cool effect like that, right?

Little creaminess to the punch and a velvety mouthfeel, which is always great in a cocktail.

I'm ready to saddle up as a rainbow warrior, y'all.

I'm gonna give myself a healthy little portion here because I'm ready to party.

We're gonna garnish this with a lemon wedge, but any color that changes will work out.

To all the people who gotta be themselves, this drink is for you.

(upbeat music) For the "Crown Royale," we are upleveling stuff we've had back in the day.

Remember going to prom when you were a kid?

They might have had shrimp cocktail, which is fun, might have had burger sliders, whatever it may be.

We're taking that old menu and doing it up Funk style.

Our shrimp cocktail is different than everybody else's, man.

What we do is we take actual shrimp scampi, we're gonna scamp you up, then chill it and then serve it.

And also our cocktail sauce is off the chain, y'all.

The main star of this thing?

The shrimp themselves, you get 'em raw and most of the time we like to get rid of the tail, but not for shrimp cocktail, a little handle.

You just take the legs.

I've already deveined them.

And there you go.

So, we've got 15 of 'em there.

That's one pound.

They're good size.

This is a Thai chili cocktail sauce that also has a little vodka in it.

You can skip the vodka if you want, but we like it because we like to drink.

We're gonna put some ketchup up in here, some horseradish.

We've also got Thai chili sauce, which adds a really nice sweet flavor to it.

A little bit of vodka, sriracha, some chili garlic sauce, then some black pepper and some salt.

Mix this up and then let it chill.

This flavor though, is just a different profile, that again, stands out when you're trying to get all ready to party.

The scampi goes quick if you're doing it right, and this is the right way to do it.

Start by adding olive oil and butter into your pan.

We're gonna add in some minced garlic and cook it till it's fragrant, y'all, just look at the prom.

People smelling good, looking good.

That's what you want, baby.

I'm gonna take my shrimp and while I've got one side faced up, I'm gonna take some Italian seasoning and I'm gonna hit one side of it.

So, I'm gonna drop all my shrimp into the pan on one side and they're gonna cook pretty fast because we don't wanna overdo 'em.

So, about a minute, maybe each side till you see the pink start to come up on the bottom.

Now, I've got 'em up on this one side, I'm gonna hit the other side.

Little bit of crushed red pepper too, just to bring out all the other flavors.

It won't make it too spicy.

We wanna have a little bit of like some caramelization on the shrimp.

So, when it's sitting there cold next to sauce, it just looks right.

Like that person you see across the prom and you're like, "Man, I just gotta dance with that dude."

That's what we want our shrimp to look like.

Now, I'm gonna flip 'em.

Yeah, we got a little bit of the char on the side, which we want.

And after we flipped 'em, we're gonna go about the same amount of time.

But we're gonna really help these beautiful babies out by adding some wine to the party.

And sometimes the dinner might be going slow.

Add some wine to it and that'll help you out pretty quick.

So, we're gonna take some wine.

We're also gonna give the juice of half of a lemon.

We're gonna keep cooking that.

Basically your shrimp will be done when it cooks down.

Yeah, they're looking beautiful.

I got a clean tray.

I'm just gonna remove 'em to the tray.

Let 'em sit out at room temperature for a few minutes.

Then I'm gonna throw 'em in the fridge for at least 20.

A lot of tight dresses, beautiful suits tonight.

But man, this might be the prettiest thing I'm gonna see besides my wife that is.

We're gonna garnish it with a little bit of fresh parsley 'cause that looks cool as we're serving it.

So, I'm gonna take one of these beauties, dip it into this Thai chili vodka sauce.

This shrimp might be the king of the prom tonight.

(upbeat music) Time to remix this prom, y'all.

We got the music going and we are gonna learn to dance.

I'm here with Stephanie and we're about to learn some new steps with our friend Yulia.

- So guys, what do we know?

- Well, let's show you, this is the typical move I've got here.

So, I'm gonna start like this.

I might move my hand down a little bit, you know, and- - Oh God, and I move it up.

- Okay, we got some work to do.

- Yeah.

- All right, all right.

- So, I would like to recommend the dance, it's foxtrot.

I like to say it's the king of all dances.

- I like it.

- If you know how to dance foxtrot, it's super simple and super easy to learn the other dance.

- Beautiful.

- So if I can have you guys pair up for me, you're gonna go hand in hand like you were to walk on the street.

- All right.

- Beautiful.

You're gonna grab her shoulders.

- This is how we walk down the street.

(group laughing) You just wanna take the lead, what's up?

I love it.

- Here, let me show you where that comes from.

So, if we turn lady under, is that a handhold we find?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Hand goes on his shoulder and you go on a shoulder blade.

- Yeah.

- Beautiful.

So, this is what we call frame position.

We like to say leaders start with left foot.

Followers start with right foot.

- I'm a leader and I'm lefthanded, so left foot - When are you ever the leader?

- Right now?

- Okay.

- You can discuss that later.

- Beautiful.

(group laughing) - So, I like to say we're gonna have two steps forward and two steps backwards, starting with the right foot and the left foot.

So, you're gonna go forward, forward, forward, forward, side together, side together.

Beautiful, again.

- [Both] Forward, forward, side.

- Beautiful, no money on the floor.

We don't have a reason to look down.

Try it again.

Here we go.

- [Both] Forward, forward, side, together.

- Beautiful.

- Okay.

- And now we're gonna go into a promenade position.

- [Both] Forward, forward, closing, side, together.

- Beautiful, again.

- Forward.

- He keeps winking.

- Forward, side, who's leading who in this partnership?

Make sure you're holding onto your lady.

Yes, don't let go.

- She's trying to escape.

I'm trying to- - Well, don't let her go.

So, one more step for you.

It's gonna be called a rocking step.

- Oh, there's more, ooh.

- And it's a way for you guys to turn around a little bit.

Five, six, seven, and forward, turn back, side, together.

Take your lady with you.

Five, six, seven, and forward, turn back, side, together, again.

Forward, turn back, side, together.

One more time.

- Okay, okay.

- Eye contact.

- Okay.

- Five, six, seven.

And forward, turn back, side, together.

Forward, turn back, side.

Take your lady and forward, turn back, side.

There it was.

(hands clapping) - Alright.

Yeah.

Woo!

- Done.

- Fabulous.

- Ballroom dancer now.

- Good job.

So, let's try with some music?

- Let's do it.

- Oh, music.

- Oh yeah.

- Right.

(upbeat music) - What are we doing?

- I don't know.

Step in and then I'm gonna go like this.

Pull you back in.

Gonna go like this.

Pull you back.

- Here we go.

- There it is.

- There we have it.

- Yeah.

- Julia!

- If you want my moves right there.

- Brilliant.

- We're ready to party.

Let's go.

(light music) The best part about a second-chance prom is you have a second chance to make anything you want.

So, we're making Cummerbund Busters.

Now, cummerbunds, as you might recall, are these things that go around your waist.

I hate wearing them because, you know, it doesn't show off my best features, but we like to bust them out.

So, I would not wear a cummerbund to this prom.

I'm not planning on it, but I'm gonna make something that's gonna make you stretch out a little bit.

You need some volume if you're drinking alcohol and just parting in general.

Stuffed mushrooms are easy to make at home.

They're great with leftovers.

I do that all the time.

Stuff left in my fridge, jam it in there and we're gonna jam it in here right now.

The first thing we're gonna jam in is actual, we're using cornbread stuffing, the type you get in the box.

Then the protein we have in this is chorizo.

I got a pound of chorizo or so, and I chopped it up into little cubes and then I sauteed it in a pan.

So, I took that chorizo out of the pan, but left all that juicy, great chorizo grease.

And then I did a whole white onion.

Doesn't look white right now because it has chorizo grease all in it.

And then now I'm gonna add in some of our spices.

So, I've got some fresh thyme I picked from my own garden.

I got some crushed red pepper.

Now like we do, we add a lot of heat to things, but it doesn't make things spicy.

It brings out the other flavors.

There's a ton of fat and salt in here, so we're gonna add that in.

We're also gonna add in a little bit of acid.

So, I've got some juice of half a lemon.

Then I've got a little bit of roasted red pepper.

Now I'm gonna mix this all in and get that evenly mixed.

The red pepper adds more sweetness and some color to it.

And then also again, more moisture.

After that I got some smoked paprika to go with the smoked chorizo.

A little bit of salt and pepper.

People are gonna look good tonight.

I want 'em to feel good.

I want 'em to taste good food too.

That's what it's all about, right?

We're making food and throwing a party for people to correct.

They had a bad night, didn't go to their prom.

We're trying to make sure they've got the best experience ever and these mushrooms are gonna help.

I've got a whole bunch of Manchego cheese.

Manchego and chorizo are like perfect together.

You know that couple that you're kind of jealous of?

There'll be a few of those at the prom tonight that are just awesome to be around?

They just work well together?

Manchego and chorizo are that.

All mixed up there.

Let's talk about mushrooms y'all.

We've got here white button mushrooms of various sizes because some mushrooms are bigger than others.

That size doesn't matter here.

The best thing about a stuffed mushroom though is it's beautiful and it comes off looking great, but you've gotta make sure it can fit your hand.

It's gonna work well when someone's taking a bite of it.

to get 'em ready though, take one of your white mushrooms and then use your thumb and pop the stem out.

Then I take the back of a spoon and I scrape as much of the gills, the filter, I guess.

Gills, filter Same thing for me.

So, once we've got these done like that, they're gonna look like that.

Now, let's get stuffing, y'all!

Take one of our mushrooms, I hold it in the bottom of my palm and I press it down.

I might feel part of the mushroom crack or split on the side.

That's okay.

It'll still hold its shape.

We've got a greased foil pan we're gonna use today.

Then I take some of that Manchego cheese and I press it firmly in the top.

This way I know it's gonna stay on there.

Hit it with a little bit of green parsley and then I'm gonna load up my pan.

Then it goes in the oven at 350 for like 20 minutes till all the cheese melts.

Cummerbund Busters, y'all!

I'm about to bust into one right now.

Just cheesy chorizo-y goodness.

(light music) That's a hot date right there.

(upbeat music) The protein for the "Crown Royale?"

Foie Gras Sliders.

I'm super amped.

I love Mardi Gras.

I like foie gras.

I just want to get gras into it.

We're gonna make this thing jump, y'all.

Foie gras is fantastic.

So when we're growing up, some people go to the fast food restaurants, some people have sliders.

We're gonna make a baller slider that you will never forget.

However, if you're pregnant, do not eat these.

Foie gras is not good for pregnant people.

Our prom is gonna have two pregnant women there.

So, I wanna keep y'all healthy.

It's very rich in vitamin A. That's not good when you're trying to grow a baby.

It's a combination of awesome flavors that all of them compliment both foie gras and fatty ground beef, just works.

So, first we're gonna make a mayo that actually we're gonna put on the top of our stuff.

I've got some mayonnaise here.

I've got some pureed peaches that I took out of a can with the syrup and just ran 'em through a food processor.

Then I've got some cognac, y'all.

Cognac, come on, baby, pass it.

It is fantastic.

Then for some acidity in here, we have some champagne vinegar because we're getting fancy, y'all.

A little bit of granulated garlic.

And then to bring out all that fatty goodness, a little teeny bit of hot sauce and mix this all up.

And this, by the way, works on regular burgers, works on roast beef sandwiches.

It's just truly delicious.

But I wanna mix this first so I can get it in the fridge and let it chill a little bit.

Let the flavors meld while we make the rest of the burger.

Let's make this ground beef ready for this party, y'all.

Got a big old mixing bowl, ground beef, 80/20.

We want as much fat in here as we can get.

We've also got a whole bunch of shallots that I sauteed butter.

We're also gonna add in some mushrooms.

I like mushrooms on a steak, on a burger.

Let's face it, this is a fancy steak you're having as a slider.

We've got some clean portobello baby mushrooms and I'm gonna shred 'em into the ground beef mixture.

This gets to that mushroom flavor in there that I really like, but it also adds in some moisture.

As the burger's cooking, it's gonna get really juicy and fantastic.

Finally, some healthy doses of salt and pepper.

I'm gonna mix all this by hand.

When we're bringing things together, people together, right?

We want all sorts of people.

Like pregnant people probably weren't at my high school prom.

The school probably frowned on that.

I don't know about it, but we're all for it here.

If you love people, we love you and we want to get down with y'all.

Here comes the magic act, baby.

Take our tray and I'm gonna take a nice handful of this ground beef mixture and I'm gonna make it into a really, really round ball first.

I'm gonna flatten it out almost like you're making a smash burger because we're gonna fold in the Foie gras.

So, I've got my little patty here and I'm gonna press it wide.

I'm gonna put it on my plate for a second on my pan and keep pressing it out.

Then I'm gonna take a nice healthy piece of foie gras off of here and I'm gonna fold it back over the top into that ball shape again.

And I'm gonna keep padding it, smack it up, flip it, rub it down, spank a little bit with consent, and then I'm gonna have my whole slider with the foie gras in the middle.

So, as it cooks, that fatty goodness just permeates throughout the patty.

Then I'm gonna salt and pepper each one when I got 'em all together.

You can't really have too much salt or pepper on these things.

It's gonna be great.

Yo, we want our prom sizzling.

So, we got our flat top sizzling right now.

Time to get cooking.

I'm gonna throw a whole bunch of butter on one side so we can toast up our buns.

Right?

We like buns in every which we can get 'em, toasted or the best because it can actually absorb all that liquid.

The integrity of it won't fall apart in your hand.

So, I want a good amount of butter on here.

Get 'em on here for maybe a minute each side till you see that nice golden brown crust on it.

Now comes my favorite part.

Little hot oil on there.

Mix it with the butter.

We're gonna cook up these sliders, babe.

We're gonna go about two, two and a half minutes on each side.

Now we're gonna flip these guys with that nice crust on it.

Yeah.

(sliders sizzling) To top things off, we are gonna top 'em with brie, a nice mild brie, fatty that brings out all this salty flavor that we want.

(meat sizzling) Okay, okay, now we working, y'all.

Take these beautiful babies off and I'm gonna let them rest.

They've been doing a lot of work, so we're gonna let 'em rest for about five minutes.

Yes, this is what I'm talking about.

We made three, sliders are typically served in three.

You might notice ours are a little big 'cause we like things big and round.

We wanna put the friction on 'em, baby, and they're beautiful here.

How we do it is we have our toasted roll, take a couple pieces of baby spinach, or adult spinach, depending on how you're feeling that day.

We drop our beautiful slider on there with a nice slice of tomato and then on the inside of our top, oh it's almost too beautiful to eat, but that ain't gonna stop me.

Mm.

The shallots, the foie gras, this is the perfect bite.

I didn't want to eat the whole thing and I'm going to anyways, but I'm worried my tux won't fit right now.

See ya at prom.

(upbeat music) Yo, this prom is jumping off right now.

- It is, for sure.

- I gotta tell you, my prom was neither up nor down, it was just okay.

You know what I mean?

- Mine was about the same, I have to say.

I think prom is wasted on teenagers.

- Oh, totally.

- I think something like prom should really be for people that can like thoroughly enjoy it to the fullest.

- Oh yeah.

- And at 17, 18.

- They dunno what they're doing.

- No Absolutely not.

- In anything for that matter.

- No.

- I lost my keys and I wasn't drunk.

I lost my date.

I didn't lose my virginity.

I just like- - I didn't even have a date.

- No date.

- I went with my friends.

No, yeah.

- All right, that's a winner.

- Yeah.

- How about you?

- I had fun anyways.

- I had a date, but he did not do his job.

- Which job?

- All of them.

- Oh, man.

- It's a sore subject.

- Okay, we're here for you.

- I know.

I trust this space.

- Okay.

- We entered the prom.

Beautiful.

Beautiful venue.

Big staircase.

I had a fluffy dress.

I was feeling myself.

- Flowing and glowing.

- Curls, braces shining.

- Polished.

- She was here.

- Okay.

- So ready to descend the staircase and enter the venue.

- Yeah.

- Say hello to my fellow band mates.

- Yeah.

- And that's when it happened.

- What?

- The tumble.

- Oh no!

- Down the stairs?

- Yeah.

- Oh no, where was the date?

- It was like an early 2000s movie.

It was awful.

No, he did not do his job.

And that's what I'm saying, is that- - Yeah.

- He's probably in jail right now.

- Well, if he's not, let's find him tonight.

- Kick him out.

- Toss him down a set of stairs.

- Yeah, he's gotta go.

So, were you sober?

- I was sober.

I had braces and I played the clarinet.

- Okay.

- Sobriety, check.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- How about your crush?

Like, was the date the crush or was your crush in the crowd seeing anything?

Like did you look up and see like the love of your life and you're like, wah, wah, wah?

- My ankle was crushed.

My ego was crushed.

- Do you think everyone else also thinks back on their prom and remembers Amanda fell down the stairs?

- I was just gonna say, they're like, "Oh my god, Amanda fell down the stairs that night."

- In my mind, that's all people remember.

- Yeah.

- When they think back to their prom.

- I think- - Is me falling down the stairs.

- You know what's funny?

In our lives we always think like, "Oh my God."

And people don't even notice that.

You know what I mean?

- No.

- It's so funny.

So, let's crush some drinks.

- Yeah.

- Crush some music and have a great time.

And we got no stairs here, so that's pretty good too.

- Yeah.

- Doing it right.

- That's why I'm here.

- Let's do it right.

Here's to prom.

You know we love to party.

But we really love making people feel good about themselves.

So, you want some prom nostalgia, maybe your favorite series as a kid.

Go get it.

You wanna try a new job?

Try something out.

Go get it.

Rekindle some romance.

Maybe make out with someone for the first time.

Go get it.

Okay, go get it.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

That's what I'm talking about.

Be responsible.

Know your bad limits and stretch your good ones.

Be yourself at all times, at all costs.

I gotta go make an announcement.

(microphone squealing) All right, y'all, we are so glad you guys came to party with us tonight.

And party with yourselves.

And that's what it's all about.

Being around each other, caring about each other.

Second chances, first chances.

So, right now is an important moment to recognize some awesome people.

All of y'all, and two of them really rose to the top here.

We are gonna celebrate our king and queen and they've been together forever, y'all.

But they look fantastic.

Like they don't look as old as they actually are.

Now we wanna recognize that they are people like you that have gone through a bunch of stuff, lived, fired it up, partied, and are here tonight.

So, drum roll please.

(drum roll) Ladies and gentlemen, Gary and Maria Kassel (crowd cheering) Yeah.

Yeah.

Second chances and good parties.

Go get it.

- Hungry for History markers from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation shares stories behind regional dishes and local food festivals, including Smith Island Cake and Spiedie Fest, available through grants for municipalities and nonprofits.

wgpfoundation.org/tv.

- Syracuse sits in the heart of New York State, with access to the Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks.

From city vibes and great local eats to live music and festivals that roll on year-round.

Four seasons for everyone.

- Liberty Tabletop has been crafting flatware in America for over 20 years, and is dedicated to supporting our community and preserving the craft of flatware manufacturing.

Liberty Tabletop.

(bright music)