Megan & Matt's Memorial Day Dinner

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend (if you're celebrating) and had a chance to relax! Today we celebrated with our good friends, Megan & Matt, who prepared an amazing dinner. The following is their delicious menu and links to the recipes...

Thank you Megan & Matt for a wonderful evening!

Hummus Platter:
Garlic Hummus & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus
with red bell pepper strips & baby carrots

Ham & Cream Cheese Roll ups

White Chocolate Glazed Popcorn

Spinach & Cranberry Salad
with Poppyseed Dressing

Crispy Grilled Asparagus

Parmesan Crusted Sweet Onions

Whole Wheat Couscous with Toasted Pecans

Chicken, Pineapple & Strawberry Kabobs

Megan's "Famous" Snicker Surprise Cookies

Chipster Topped Brownies

Read more »

Southwestern Spin on Memorial Day

Today for the Memorial weekend holiday, we spent it with family and food. My mother in law, aunt and nephew came over to join us for dinner before we headed out for the movies. I wanted to prepare a menu that not only captured some summer favorites but also put a spin on things. With a handful of ingredients on hand, I was inspired to put together the following Southwestern inspired menu. Feel free to click on the links for recipes!

Southwestern Sliders

Tangy Green Guacamole
Tortilla Chips & Salsa

Black Bean & Corn Salad

Yellow Rice & Pigeon Peas

Baked BBQ Pork Ribs

Tropical Fruit Shortcakes

Read more »

Chef Spotlight: Rick Bayless

This month's Chef Spotlight we highlighted Chef Rick Bayless. He's a local favorite in Chicago since his restaurants, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo are established here.

Award-winning chef-restaurateur, cookbook author, and television personality Rick Bayless has done more than any other culinary star to introduce Americans to authentic Mexican cuisine and to change the image of Mexican food in America.

Rick is fourth generation in an Oklahoma family of restaurateurs and grocers. From 1980 to 1986, after studying Spanish and Latin American Studies as an undergraduate, and doing doctoral work in Anthropological Linguistics at the University of Michigan, Rick lived in Mexico with his wife, Deann, writing his now-classic Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking From The Heart of Mexico (William Morrow, 1987). The New York Times’s legendary Craig Claiborne hailed this work as the "greatest contribution to the Mexican table imaginable." -- Rick Bayless site

Friends and I came together with dishes prepared from his recipes and it was a wonderful dinner event. Who needs to go to Rick's restaurants when we can get a taste of his creations at home among friends (and at a fraction of the price)?! Here was our Rick Bayless dinner menu, with links to the recipes... (along with a submission from fellow bloggers, JS & TS of [eatingclub] Vancouver.)

Tangy Green Guacamole
Classic Ceviche
Acapulco-Style Shrimp Cocktail
Mixed Vegetable Salad with Lime Dressing
Mexican Tomato Rice with Roasted Chicken
Camarones a la Diabla "Devilish Shrimp"
Today's Mac & Cheese
Chicken Enchiladas Verde
Panque de Maiz (Cornmeal Poundcake)

Camarones a la Plancha (Shrimp a la Mexicana)
from JS & TS of [eatingclub] Vancouver

Read more »

Monthly Dessert Swap/Exchange: BYOFI!

Last month, friends and I gathered for a dessert swap/exchange where we all bring something sweet to share and everyone takes home a little bit of all the offerings to enjoy. For May. I offered to host and because I love themes, our dessert swap/exchange was a BYOFI... bring your own fondue item!

(Thanks to Cathy & Eli for taking the following pics!)

Everyone that attended brought something to dip into the various sweet fondue sauces I prepared. But of course, before we started dipping, we enjoyed a few savory bites to whet our appetites. Being that it was just a day before Cinco de Mayo, I had a few Mexican inspired bites on the menu (feel free to click on the links for recipes!)

Beef & Chorizo Sopes

Mojo Chicken quesadillas
Classic Guacamole
Pico de Gallo
Tortilla Chips

For our dessert swap/exchange, I prepared the following sweet fondues...

White Chocolate Fondue
Buttery Caramel Fondue
Cheesecake Fondue

While friends brought the following sweets for fondue dippers and other sweet treats:

Mado's shortbread - Wendy

Homemade Marshmallows - Christina

Pocky Cookie Sticks - Christina

Butter Rum Cake - Dimitra

Un-Sandwiched Macarons - Eli

Candied Ginger, Orange and Lemon Peel - Cathy

Rosemary & Lemon Cupcakes - Yumi

Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake - Maureen

Dulce de Leche-Pecan Ice Cream - Sharon

Sponge Candy - Cathy



Chocolate Macarons - Eli


Banana Pound Cake - Molly


...and my contribution, Tiramisu Cake

Read more »

Chick Flicks: Steel Magnolias

One thing I like to do on my spare time (which doesn't come very often!) is watching movies. When my husband is around, movies we watch are usually something violent, action packed or involves Sylvester Stallone or Clint Eastwood. Sometimes those movies just don't appeal to me and I'd prefer ones that are more commonly known as "chick flicks." You know the type... movies that touch on women's issues, tug at your heart strings and well, make you cry.


Thankfully I have some girlfriends who enjoy those kinds of movies every now and then, so today I invited them over for a Chick Flick Sunday. We watched the classic movie, Steel Magnolias. It's a great movie starring Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Sally Fields, Darryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacClaine. This movie is one that involves weddings, pregnancy, motherhood, mother/daughter relationships and the strong friendships between a group of southern women.

As you may know, I can't have guests over without anything tasty prepared! For this girlfriend gathering, I had a few eats where some were inspired by southern cuisine including (with links to recipes!)...

Chicken N' Waffles Bites
Bacon, Tomato & Dill Dip
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Kettle Chips

Cupcake Truffles

Read more »

Dinner Party Menu: Lenneah & Josh

Tonight we had some friends over for dinner and it was such a great time reminiscing of our previous workplace. We knew each other from one of the top employee benefit consulting firms we used to work for a few years ago. We've since moved on but it was such fun talking about the unique office culture and all the numerous acronyms our workplace was known for. For our dinner, I prepared a simple meal of the following menu (click on the links for recipes!):

Appetizer
Multigrain Crackers, Double Cream Brie & Fresh Strawberries

Salad
Classic Caprese Salad

Entree
Spicy Shrimp & Bell Pepper Pasta
in a Syrah, tomato & basil sauce
& warm ciabatta rolls with butter

Dessert
Double Chocolate Mocha Brownies

Read more »