May 19, 2024

 Mary hosted and we were joined by neighbors Carol and Dena.  The more the merrier!

The theme was church picnic.  Or, Mississippi church picnic if we want to get specific.

No church picnic is complete without a cocktail.  Mary mixed up these bourbon and fig jam cocktails.  YOWZA.  These are strong.  We topped with some sparking soda. 

I brought two appetizers:  stuffed peppers and DEVILED EGGS.  Again, a church classic.   

The deviled eggs were mostly pickle juice and less vinegar.  

I sprinkled the top of the peppers with some Tony's which adds both salt and heat. 

Carol prepared a very delicious and unique pasta salad.  I will definitely make this again! I love the shape of pasta used and there is a sweet though not overly mayo heavy dressing.

This layered salad recipe was modified by Tonya to have spring mix for the greens, chickpeas instead of green peas, gorgonzola as the cheese and no sugar in the dressing.  We also think half of the dressing could have been put on the top and the remainder served on the side. 

Mary picked chicken cakes as our main dish.  These are much like crab cakes with canned chicken. The panko on the outside makes such a crispy cake and very little oil was used to pan fry. The cakes were finished with a remoulade sauce.

The most beautiful cupcakes were served by Angelia for dessert.  These hummingbird cakes are banana bread meets carrot cake. Very moist and with a sweet cream cheese frosting.

April 28, 2024

 Angelica hosted and started us off with a delicious peach cocktail. This bourbon peach smash was perfect for a summer night. A "smash" is "a cocktail that typically contains a seasonal fruit and/or herb, muddled with sugar or simple syrup, shaken with a spirit like bourbon or whiskey (often, but not necessarily one of those two), strained, and served over plenty of ice. Oftentimes, the smash is mixed or finished with water or a splash of something fizzy, like seltzer or ginger beer."

Our appetizer was prepared by Tonya and featured goat cheese and fresh herbs. This best ever party appetizer had roasted garlic, basil and balsamic vinegar on top. Tonya left out the rosemary and I do think the rosemary would have been too strong of a flavor. We enjoyed as a spread with homemade crostini. 

Angelica picked a main dish out of her favorite Chrissy Teigen cookbook. This chicken starts with a herb heavy marinade and is coated in seasoned bread crumbs and flour and baked in the oven.  Having spices in both the marinade and breading made for a very flavorful chicken!  It was also super juicy and little mess since "fried" in the oven.

Mary also baked her dish, a squash casserole with ritz crackers.  It was delicious and I would not have guessed had crackers.  It was like squash dressing and the perfect compliment to the chicken.

Squash Dressing II

2 cups cooked yellow squash, soft, not mushy

3/4 stick butter

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1 cup shredded cheese

1 cup evaporated milk

2 cups cracker crumbs

parsley flakes

Drain squash well and mash. Add all ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased casserole dish and bake at 375 degrees about 40 minutes.

We ended our meal with banana pudding lasagna. This dessert that I made is a rich banana pudding with a vanilla wafer "crust" and layered with bananas and more, whole vanilla wafers.  The pudding can be made the day before and it stands up very good for days in the refrigerator.