Dinner Done Right

Last week I mentioned a dinner party that I helped host with some good friends of mine, and I'm finally going to share it with you all. That morning Margaret, Josh, Ryan and I headed to the farmer's market to get groceries for the evening.

We got a whole chicken for our entrée. Ryan roasted it, and it was DELICIOUS! I couldn't believe how tender and juicy it was, and it fed the 8 of us easily. We had some random vegetables from Green Frog Village that we used in various dishes as well. We also got some squash and zucchini, which I sautéed up for us. Margaret used tomato, mozzarella and fresh basil (all from the market) for some little appetizer bites. Our rolls were from the market and we whipped up some honey butter using honey that Margaret's dad made and butter from the Rock Creek farm. That was probably my favorite part. I could have just eaten that honey butter by itself!

We wanted everything to be really cute and on the verge of fancy. Of course fancy for us isn't really fancy at all, but we'll pretend it is. Since I've been collecting plates for the wedding, we had that part covered. We used Josh and Ryan's bowls and some adorable napkins we found at Goodwill. Josh made the place cards out of some pears and twine. It was the perfect little detail! He also provided the beautiful candle holders, and we used one of my table cloths.

Rob happened to be visiting from Orlando, and we were so excited he was able to come! 

I did the menu, which I was pretty proud of. I think I might even do one for the wedding if I have time. 

Ok, now for the food. You've already heard about it, not you get to see it :) If you're not hungry now, you're about to be!

Yes, that's a lemon in the chicken's butt.  

A few months ago, Ryan was a vegetarian. Now he's cuttin' chickens! 

One of our lovely guests, Melanie (above), was a lot of fun to have around, and we have Amanda (in the glasses) and Kelsey below, also quite fun. Amanda actually got engaged the very next day! Oh, I would also like to point out that we pulled this off for under $60. That was for 8 people to eat and some leftovers. Pretty decent for such a hearty meal!

After our bellies were almost full to the very top, Margaret sauntered out with a delicious blueberry tart for us to top it off. The blueberries came from Green Frog, and they were probably some of the best I've ever had. It was the perfect way to end the meal! We all talked and laughed on into the evening, just enjoying the mild night and each other's company. This is what it's all about, you guys. Friends, food and fond memories.

Josh's post about the day

Ryan's post about the day
Margaret's video post about the day

Macaron Fail

A few weeks back, Margaret and I attempted to make French macarons. She has successfully made them at least once before, and I had never had one! (Technically still have never had one...but we'll get to that).

First step was to find a recipe. We found one via the ever helpful Google search and set to work! We decided to make the cookies with green coloring, and make a white chocolate raspberry filling. It called for "high quality raspberry jam," but all we had was Smuckers...that's high quality, right?

 

Making the meringue was actually pretty fun. Once it was made, I did all the folding and whatnot :) I'm sure you've picked up from the title that the cookies didn't turn out. I don't know what we did wrong. Apparently macarons are super finicky, and hey this was my first time!
  

There they sit...while we still had hope that they would turn out. The filling was DELICIOUS! I basically just peeled the weird remnants of cookies off the paper and dipped them into the filling. It was pretty tasty. I'd love to try making them again sometime, but it was a pretty time consuming venture. I just hope Margaret will try again with me! I need the moral support with these things...

I Made Scones!

First of all happy birthday to my friend and coworker Sarah! I don't actually have a picture of her to put on here, but here is the screen saver and desk full of balloons that she came in to this morning.

She came in earlier than Scott and I, but she said it made her smile when she saw it :) I also made her some scones because she LOVES scones. I have never made scones (or biscuits, because Rhett refuses to acknowledge that there is a difference), but I was excited to try. I just used the basic recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and it was SUPER easy! I was one egg short, but I added some extra cream so I wouldn't lose the moisture. I feel like that threw off the dough because it was crazy sticky, but the end product still tasted good. They weren't as good as the scones we get at the campus coffee house, but they were pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I think I'll be making scones again now that I know it's so simple!

Say it with me now... "mmmmmmmmmm!" I wish I could bluetooth you all your own scone, but technology hasn't advanced that far yet. Those are chocolate chips, by the way. The recipe calls for currants but I was like forget that, it's her 30th birthday! Who wants currants when you can have chocolate chips?! If anyone wants the recipe and doesn't have the BH&G cookbook, let me know and I'll scan a copy for you! No charge :)

Squash Pizza

Last night Kelsey and I made some squash pizza. She had some pita, I had some squash...it just made sense! Kelsey put some olive oil and lots of herbs on the pita, then we added the squash and some mushrooms. I had a little bit of mozzarella and Kelsey had some cheddar, so we put some cheese on two of them. I didn't try the cheddar, but the mozzarella was AMAZING. I also added some fresh basil, oregano and rosemary on top of the cheese.

We cooked it on 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Try it! Kelsey thinks we should have cooked the squash on the stove a little first, but I like it firm, so it was good with me. It all depends on your preference.