Pictures from Cinco de Mayo Housewarming

The biggest success from the Cinco de Mayo party was the beef fajitas and of course the seven layer dip. For the beef for this party I used flank steak from Kroger. Dave uesed a tenderizer to thin the meat and we marinated it for 24 hours with lime juice, garlic, olive oil, liquid smoke, salt and pepper. It was incredibly moist and really flavorful.

For the seven layer dip I used Rosarita Vegetarian refried beans (3 cans), 3 bags of Quac Sals (you can find this in Kroger vegetable area), Large container Daisy Sour Cream mixed with taco seasoning, 3 tomatoes, 1 container blak olives sliced, 2 bunches green onion and colby monterry jack cheese. This is always a hit!

I also made Trey's Mom's Green Sauce but not many people touched it. I need to tweak this recipe.

Elizabeth's Disco/Mexico Bridal Shower Brunch

Boy the title says it all. The shower I am cohosting on Saturday is a compilation of all sorts of themes. So here is a translation of sorts:

Mexico - Elizabeth and Rob are having a Mexico destination wedding
Disco - Well Elizabeth loves Disco music and it sounded like lots of big ol' gay fun
Brunch - The shower is taking place on a Sunday at noon to accomodate for several guests working on Saturday and we all love to gather for brunch and drink champagne
Bridal Shower - This is a bridal shower afterall

So to carry off all the themes I stocked up on disco balls from Arnies on Saturday. I got 6 4" disco balls, 1 12" with a motor that spins it, disco ball necklaces for each guest and even got disco plates (Arnies total $87.01). For the Mexico part my friend Miriam made these wonderful colorful tissue paper flowers for the Cinco de Mayo that I am borrowing, I have a bunch of chili pepper lights, Mexico decorations and of course teh menu will contain chips, salsa and quesadillas.

I was reading Racheal Ray Magazine last night and came across a fruit salad recipe that I am going to try. Here is the recipe:

Fruit Salad with Black Pepper Dressing, Rachael Ray, May 2008
Ingredients
2 bunches fresh mint leaves, washed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon pepper
4 teaspoons cornstarch
6 large peaches
1 honey dew melon, cut into wedges
1 cantaloupe, cut into wedges
4 cups strawberries
2 pints raspberries

Directions
1. In a small saucepan; combine 1 cup of water, one half of the mint leaves, sugar, vinegar, and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of water making sure to get out all of the lumps. Stir this into the saucepan with the dressing and bring it back to a boil. Remove from the heat, let it cool for about 10 minutes and strain.

3. In a large bowl toss the dressing with the honeydew, cantaloupe, peaches, and strawberries, (I would add the raspberries midway through tossing so they don't fall apart) Top with the remaining mint leaves.

Grocery Lists:
Shrimp
Tortilla Chips
Corn Starch
Honey Dew
Cantalope
Peaches
Strawberries
Raspberries (I may use blueberries instead)
Flank Steak
Chicken Breast
Spinach
Mushrooms
Garlic
Tortillas
Green Onion
Swiss Cheese
Monterrey Jack Cheese
Saltine Crackers
Limes
White Onion

Cion has volunteered to make his homemade red salsa and spinach dip, Kim is bringing the Tres Leches cake, James is in charge of the alcohol.

Several Down and One Left

I know I have been delayed on posting a few pictures but lately on Sunday after partying on Saturday I am pooped. Plus Monday - Friday I am strapped to an office chair trying to make money for all these fabulous parties.

So... Jimmy and Donald's Housewarming has concluded as has the crawfish boil and Miriam and Tom's Housewarming/Cinco de Mayo. Below is a summary and results for each party.

Jimmy & Donald's - They couldn't have picked better weather that weekend. It was amazing. We all sat outside among the wonderfully shaded backyard drinking some purple passion concoction of Jimmy's. The menu was well executed by Jimmy and consisted of a really awesome spicy bean dip served with veggies. I was also a fan of his black eyed pea dip. For this party as you remember I just contributed cookies and my goat cheese spread (recipe below). Perhaps I can talk Jimmy into releasing on of the previously mentioned recipes for me to post.

Crawfish Boil - Where to start.... Dave and I prepared the red beans Friday night as well as the pasta salad. This allowed for us to have a little more time for set-up on Saturday morning.

Saturday morning we created a guy by the name of Homer in the parking lot of the Hideaway on Richmond and Dunvale at 10:00am. He sold us 3 sacks at a $1.50 a pound. It was quite the spectacle. He had two huge trucks with big freezers on the bag and they were full of large sacks. Now these crawfish were not small. They were quite large so I think we got a great deal.

After picking up the mudbugs we were off to Deidra's house to drop them off. We set up the tables and taped newspapers to them as our table cloths. Let me tell you this was high class. Jenny (our recruited chef) and Adrianne arrived at 1:00 and we started to purge the bugs and make the seasoning. Now Jenny did something quite interesting, she steamed the bugs not boiled them. The seasoning consisted of garlic, italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, seafood boil, orange juice, lemon juice. She mixed all of this together and would pour this mixture over the bugs as they were dumped into the hot pot. They were absolutely wonderful and were quite spicy. My lips burnt for days afterwards. I do have to say that steaming them was awesome however made them a little more difficult to peel. I look forward to trying this recipe with more of a boil soon before the season ends. We also boiled 10lbs of shrimp and 5lbs of sausage.

The sides for the party consisted of the usual corn, mushrooms, potatoes, potato salad, pasta salad and lemon bars provided by Breann and brownies provided by Christine. Not to many leftovers as the crowd size was about 50.

This brings me up to Miriam and Tom's - This event was held this past Saturday. The crowd size was about 20. We had tons of food with Dave grilling the fajita beef and chicken. I made a 7 layer dip and Trey's Mom's green sauce. Miriam made a fresh pico, quacamole, veggie skewers and a wonderful tres leches cake. We of course over did the food but it was great.

Dave marinated the beef on Friday. The marinade was garlic, lime juice, liquid smoke, olive oil and seasoning. This really makes the flank steak succulent. He also used a tenderizer to make the meat absorb the flavors and really adds a great texture to it. The chicken was also marinated in lime juice, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Needless to say after a month of non-stop parties and one more to go with Elizabeth's Bridal Shower on the 18th I am going to need a vacation. So after the 18th I will be taking a month off from hosting parties. Dave and I will be in Cabo for a week starting Memorial weekend. Dave has told me that if I can go all of June without hosting a party I get dinner at Mark's http://www.marks1658.com/ which is definitely a treat for me.

So my next post will be on Elizabeth's shower and maybe if I can get off my lazy bottom I will post pictures from the last three events.

Cheers!

Beginning the Crawfish Countdown

Perhaps in a different life, many moons ago I wronged a weather man. It never fails that when I attempt to do something outside it seems that the weather turns against me. We have had countless beautiful weekends the past 2 months so it never seems to amaze me that on the Crawfish Boil weekend we are getting a "cool" front. We started the week at a 20% chance of rain on Saturday but now depending on what source you look at, the chances are between the range of 30-50% now.

News flash you crazy weather man, our crawfish boil will go on. Dave located a source for the mudbugs. He contacted a guy named Homer who is going to meet us at the Hideaway on Dunvale Saturday 10am with 3 30lb sacks. That's 90lbs of mudbugs, unpurged. I have been reading on the internet how to purge them and all sources indicate to just run them through water until the water is clean.

Several great friends have stepped up to the plate being that this is my first boil. Miriam loaned me a second crock pot and Bonnie was kind enough to loan me a massive 90 quart cooler to store some of the critters in and Adrianne and Jennie are stepping up to help me cook the critters. Dave is off to Academy tonight to buy a 80quart pot and burner so that we can cook a sack at a time.

Currently we have a total of 40 RSVP's but I know of 8 that have not RSVP'd that are coming. ...By the way people how hard is it to respond to an evite? You are either a yes or a no. Just click the button..... Oops I digress.

Deidra has located several card tables and I have been stock piling newspapers. So I think we are all ready to go. Here is the breakdown and lists for the next several days as we countdown to the hoedown.

Thursday Night:

Costco:

Box of Fresh Garlic

2 Containers Lime Juice

Box of cubed butter

2 packages of italian seasoning

paper towels

Kroger trip 1: (this is a trip so that Dave can have his ingredients to make red beans Friday night)

Roses Red Beans - 2 packages

garlic

green bell pepper - 2

celery

onion - 2

Friday Night:

Kroger:

rice

onion - crawfish boil
tricolor pasta - 4 bags
cherry tomatoes
red onion
mushrooms
sausage
corn - frozen ears
red potatoes
stuff for potato salad
plastic bowls
silverware
plates
Chips and Dip

Crab Boil Liquid - 2

Party Central

Wow this month and May is jam packed with party's. I feel like I need a hotline, "Hello this is Party Central, how may I help you?" So here is the latest lowdown on all the upcoming events:

Saturday, April 19 - Donald and Jimmy's Housewarming
This event is a bit easier for me since I am only responsible for a cheese dip and cookies. I am going to make my layered goat cheese spread. Recipe is below for those interested.

Goat Cheese Spread - Southern Living, 2002
Ingredients
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
8 ounces goat cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup basil pesto
1/2 cup dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
Garnishes: dried tomato slivers, fresh oregano sprigs
French bread slices or crackers

Preparation
Process first 5 ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spread one-third of cheese mixture in bottom of a plastic wrap-lined 8- x 4-inch loafpan. Top with pesto; spread one-third cheese mixture over pesto. Sprinkle with dried tomatoes; top with remaining cheese mixture. Cover and chill 8 hours.
Invert spread onto a serving plate, discarding plastic wrap. Garnish, if desired. Serve with French bread slices or crackers.

Saturday, April 26 - Crawfish Boil
We have located two pots to boil the mudbugs in and we are on the hunt for tables right now. I need to send a notice out that people need to bring lawn chairs. Deidra and I will probably do the grocery shopping on Friday. As far as the bugs I am still researching if we should get them on Saturday morning or Friday.

Menu:
Pasta Salad
Potato Salad
Chips and Dip
Vegetarian Friendly - Red Beans and Rice
Sausage, Corn, Potato, Crawfish Boil
Shrimp??
Breann's Sheet Cake
Christine is also bringing a dessert

Saturday, May 3 - Tom & Miriam Housewarming, Tom Birthday, Cinco de Mayo
Miriam and I met last night to discuss menu and decorations. Here is what we came up with for this tri-celebration:

Menu:
Veggie Skewers
Beef & Chicken Fajitas - Dave and I will handle purchasing the meat and grilling
Grilled Portabella Mushrooms
Roasted Corn
Spanish Rice - I am going to see if I can purchase from El Tiempo
Quacamole
Queso
7 Layer Dip - I will make this
Homemade Green and Red Salsa - I will make this
Birthday Cake

Decorations:
Chilli Pepper Lights - I have these
Mini Sombrero Hats - I need to look for these
Paper Flowers
Pinata

Sunday, May 18 - Elizabeth's Disco Brunch Bridal Shower
Menu:
Bacon Quiche
Quiche Lorraine
BBQ'd Shrimp
Beef, Chicken, Cheese, Spinach Quesadillas
Artichoke Spinach Dip
Fruit Tray
Chips and Salsa
Cake - Kim has ordered

After all of these events I will be flying out for a much needed Mexican Vacation in Cabo. Till then Cheers!

Crawfish Boil Menu

Menu for Crawfish Boil: 

Chips and Dip 

Potato Salad

Pasta Salad

Red Beans and Rice

Crawfish, Sausage, Potato, Corn Boil

Brownies

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Updates

Okay so here is a quick update of things:

Deidra's Birthday Party:

The most successful food item by far was the sauteed zucchini wrapped in proscuitto and served with a ranch/sour cream mix. It was gone within the first hour. The bacon quiche were gone but I had a few leftover of the green onion quiche. Total crowd size was approx. 20 and I had way to much food. Sent the sandwich tray and antipasto try home with Deidra. Although I doubt she remembered.

Overall I think I could have toned the food size down and maybe had a bit more enterainment persay.

Next up:

Donald and Jimmy's Housewarming: Saturday, April 19, 2008

Menu:

Spin Dip, Chips-N-Dip, Garden Ranch Macaroni Salad, Blue Cheese & Chix Croissants, Hunnus & Pitas, Cucumber Sandwiches, Tomato Sandwiches, Spicy Pecan Nibblers, & Massey's Goat Cheese Dip.

I am in charge of homemade cookies and the goat cheese spread.

Miriam and Tom's Housewarming: Saturday, May 3, 2008

Currently working on invite list, need to work on menu. It will need to be veggie friendly and lean towards the Cinco de Mayo theme.

Elizabeth's Wedding Disco Brunch: May 18, 2008

Kim took care of the formal invitations. I am still working on planning a menu.