SB provided the happy hour appetizer. Something I'd never seen before, and now I'm so happy I have- "The Mounds". Little "mounds" of pepperoni, red onions, Parmesan cheese, artichoke hearts, capers, green chilies, olives, tomatoes, I could go on... all dressed in balsamic vinegar, olive oil and some other goodness. I'll let her tell you more if she so decides.
Dinner I had made mostly in advance, it would have been no fun (and impossible with 3 babies) to spend hours in the kitchen.
First I made Giada's Orzo Salad with a couple modifications. Green onions instead of red, roma tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, no mint (ew- on pasta?), and I added feta cheese and spring mix lettuce at the last minute.
Then for the Chicken BLTs. This was the first time I'd fired up the grill without M. Even with having to switch out the propane tank and the small grease fire I started (you can grill bacon, right?) it was a success.
Marinaded chicken (fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, black pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary, red pepper flakes, white wine vinegar, olive oil), bacon, lettuce and tomato with Barefoot Contessa's basil mayonnaise on a ciabatta roll
And for dessert Nell brought melt-in-your-mouth gourmet cupcakes from a local Memphis bakery. The green one is a grasshopper (mint) and the chocolate one is called, prozac. Isn't that cute?
They were good. Not sure if you can tell...
Which brings us to breakfast. Leslie made her Overnight Blueberry French Toast. Sigh.
For lunch I made Pioneer Woman's chicken salad, although I did omit the celery. I just love fresh dill...
and yes, that is some leftover orzo pasta and "mounds" over there. When all those mounds get together and form a little mountain, you're gonig to need another sleave of crackers.
Saturday night we went out for Mexican. Sunday morning we were back to our roots.
Nice to go. Nice to come home.
yum! You're such a wonderful hostess. The meals we've been dreaming and planning turned out quite nicely :) Thank you for inspiring me to try some new recipes and for directing me to some good cooking blogs, haha!
ReplyDeleteyummmmmmmmmmmm!!! you girls ALMOST make me want to cook...
ReplyDeleteHey Lindsay! I created an account here just so I could comment on your delicious meal! I made the orzo pasta salad. It was great, even with the mint. I put in just a pinch of fresh mint. The marinated grilled chicken was a hit with the family on Sunday. Keep the recipes coming!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed it! I was really impressed with the orzo salad- good to know about the mint, I'll have to try it next time! I suppose you can't go wrong with fresh herbs. :)
ReplyDelete[...] are the leftovers I wanted to use: 3/4 a lemon, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1/2 package orzo, and Boris’ final harvest (I am pretty sure that apostrophe is [...]
ReplyDelete