November 9, 2025

Mary hosted and served several bottles of wine for our sipping pleasure.

Angelica brought a dip thickened with walnuts for our appetizer and served with sourdough dippers. 

I made roasted butternut squash. With the fresh cranberries it would be excellent for Thanksgiving. I also mixed in some dried cranberries.

Couscous is one of my favorite sides and Tonya made one filled with vegetables. With chickpeas for protein, it is very filling.

We prepared lentils and meatballs and this is a two time favorite. Mary had the meatballs already mixed and they were baked before going into the broth along with the lentils. If you use more broth, it's like a soup and reminds me of Italian Wedding soup except with Moroccan flavors.

Dessert did not disappoint and Carol served an apple dump cake alamode with caramel sauce. Yum!

August 17, 2025

 Angelica hosted a fiesta! She served Skinny Girl cocktails served in pouches. How fun!  I once saw pouches on a vampire tour and they were filled with red punch to look like blood.  VAMPIRE TOUR. Ours had tequila.

Carol started us off with an assortment of fresh fruits, nuts, cheese and three dips. These were Marzetti Classic Caramel Dip with sea salt on top, marshmallow dip and cream cheese dip. These all added some naughty to the healthy fruit. 

All were delicious and my favorite was the marshmallow.  Marshmallow fluff is a wonderful invention and makes using marshmallows convenient.  I have seen a new way to make smores where you dip a Reese's peanut butter cup into marshmallow fluff and then place between graham crackers after warmed.

Mary made a salad much like this one and it was delicious.  Mary added some cheese to her version.  I love corn in a salad and it's such a great ingredient for summertime.

Rice pilaf was our side and Tonya used Fideo as the short pasta. I had never heard of this type before and wouldn't you know it, the first time I go into Walmart it was on an end cap. I think rice is a perfect side to kabobs and how I always was served it as a kid.  We made vegetable, beef and shrimp skewers.

 

For dessert we finished with blueberry lemon ice box cake. The one pan makes a ton and this is a light and refreshing treat to end a meal. It also used pre-made items so not difficult to prepare.

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.