New Friends + Great Food = LOVE

Good morning everyone!  How are y’all doing?  I am not feeling so hot this morning (apparently neither was Jaspy), but last night was so much fun!

First the before & afters of our guest bathroom (try not to be too impressed)

There’s obviously more to it than a toilet, but I didn’t feel like switching lenses on my camera.  But you get the general idea!

Lunch was a Lean Cuisine pizza…honestly I have no idea what kind it is, I was just hungry and at the store so I grabbed one.  It was OK, but just not a ton of flavor:

On to the prep for the evening!  Friday night I was planning on making fully homemade peanut butter or almond butter and jelly sandwiches (as in homemade bread & jam, not peanut butter), but I couldn’t find a bread machine anywhere!  So I improvised:  I made strawberry jam for all the lovely blog ladies and decided on bruschetta for the “course” I said I would bring!  The jam was really easy:  strawberries + lemon juice + sugar.  Dissolve the sugar (around 4 cups) in 1 cup of lemon juice, then add the strawberries (I had literally 9 or 10 pints of strawberries – hulled and halved).  Simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring frequently.  Viola!  Strawberry jam 🙂  I didn’t get a picture, but I think Ashley got a few…

The bruschetta was an easy one as well:

• 3 bunches of tomatoes on the vine, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup basil in a chiffonade
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan

This is one of the easiest and easiest dishes ever.  Mix the tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, peppers, and olive oil together.  When you’re about to serve it stir in the vinegar and parmesan.  I find this keeps the tomatoes from being dissolved by the vinegar.  I bought 2 whole wheat baguettes and sliced & toasted them.  So good, and so easy!

Group of lovely ladies (minus Kathleen)!

From left to right:  Laura, Ashley, Lauren, Katie, Emily, and Beth!  Such great ladies…I had so much fun hanging out with you guys and talking food, blogging, and life. 🙂

First up some of Ashley’s curry honey hummus.  OH.MY.GOSH.  This stuff was so good!  I love hummus and I love curry, but I’ve never had them together!  The honey was a perfect compliment to the dish too:

She also made a quinoa salad with apples, pears, cranberries, and feta, topped with a lemon vinaigrette.  Yet another great quinoa dish…I’ll be making this soon, and you can bet I brought some home with me too 🙂

Katie brought another form of bruschetta with goat cheese and figs on whole wheat baguette.  SO good!  I’ve been weirdly obsessed with goat cheese lately, so this was perfect for me!

She also brought this great twist on bruschetta with pesto spread, fresh sliced tomatoes, and shaved parmesan.  My mouth is watering just talking about it!

Laura brought cheese fondue (which I didn’t get a picture of…what’s wrong with me?!?!)  and a plate full of apples, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and sourdough and seedy bread.  This stuff was incredible!  I really had to exhibit some self-control because of my cheese addiction.

Here’s a shot of my bruschetta…that’s right, I brought out the crystal bowl for the occasion!  That sucker’s heavy, but so pretty 🙂

And the toasted bread to go with it.  One of the things I love about bruschetta is the amazing contrast in textures from the toasted bread and the soft tomatoes.  The juices just seep into the bread and oh.my.gosh.  Heaven!

Quick little detour to the drinks!  Ashley had non-alcoholic stuff available with fizzy water, juices, ice, and limes…

But I am pretty sure we all had alcohol 🙂  Love the colors from the juices and beer glasses!

A cool shot of my wine 🙂  I have no idea what this stuff was, but it was really good.  Ashley, what was the wine in a box that you had?  It was really delicious!  Not what I expected from a box at all!

And back to the food…Emily brought this really yummy bulgar apricot salad.  It was great with the subtle flavors of the apricots and the nuttiness of the bulgar!

And Beth brought deviled eggs.  Can I just say that I’ve been craving deviled eggs for at least a month now?  I’m so glad she brought them, the did NOT disappoint!

And, because I’m lame, I don’t know who brought this, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it was Lauren!  Cool fact about her:  she works in the building right across from me!  I have a sneaking suspicion that once it gets warm there’ll be some walks in the future 🙂  Anyway, this was a really delicious eggplant chickpea dish with naan on the side.  So good and flavorful!

My first plate:

And another shot of my first plate since I didn’t take a picture of my second one.  That one had some veggies and bread with cheese fondue and another deviled egg.  HOLY YUM!

What do you think dessert was?  Here’s hint #1:

And hint #2:

It was hot chocolate!  And not just any hot chocolate, but Angela’s HAWT Chocolate!

This was so rich and creamy and perfect.  I couldn’t finish mine, but I will definitely be making this in the future!  I’m so glad Ashley decided to make it for us 🙂

I had such a great time with you girls last night!  I’m hoping to do it again sometime soon 🙂

When I got home the pups were SO excited to see me!  They played while I cleaned up the kitchen a bit, and then out of nowhere Jaspy pooped on the floor!  I think his stomach might be upset from being in a new place (this is his first time to spend the night without Ken & Leeann).  I know Bunker had the same issue the first time we left him anywhere without us.  He was up every hour needing to go to the bathroom, so I got about zero sleep, hence one of the reasons I’m not feeling great today.  I just hope he’s feeling OK now…

Breakfast was the same chia oats as yesterday:

Also, it snowed 4 inches last night!  Totally random…at about 12:30 it started snowing and every time I got up after that there was just more and more and more!  I’m so excited to have Nate come back home this evening and celebrate Valentine’s Day!  I’m not sure what we’re going to do since I have no sleep under my belt, but I don’t really care as long as I get to spend time with him.  Isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is all about anyway?

What are your favorite dishes or drinks to take to a party? For me, it depends on the “audience”, but I am always looking for something that can be done ahead of time, is easy to transport, and can be served at really any temperature!