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Dinner Party – Deliciousness!

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A favorite hobby of mine is curating recipes. I’m a self-taught cook (more Rachel Ray, than Wolfgang Puck). I find solace in ingredients, and joy in family gatherings around the table. When designing a menu for a recent dinner party, I headed directly to my Pinterest recipe boards and started perusing the deliciousness I have parked for such an occasion.

For dinner with friends, I was looking for a chicken recipe that would be unexpected, along with a creative pasta that would accompany the happy bird.

Get ready to lose your face, because this menu was beyond expectation…

Chicken with Tomato and Basil Cream Sauce
Pasta with Brown Butter and Pine Nuts
Sauteed Broccoli with Olive Oil FinishMixed Greens with Blue Cheese, Pear Shavings and Candied Walnuts
Crusty Bread with Garlic Butter

web-Spaghetti-Brown-Butter-023
Photo from Savory Simple
Basil Chicken
Photo from Little Spice Jar

This menu was off the charts delicious when it was served, but the leftovers were even better because the flavors of the chicken really molded together overnight.

If you are looking for an easy dinner party menu for your next extravaganza, I hope these recipes will help you to be the hostess with the mostess!

Drop a comment below to tell me what you think of today’s recipes.

Be the Super Bowl Appetizer Queen!

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Are you headed to a Super Bowl party this weekend? Why not be the Queen of the appetizers? I could easily make a meal out of dips and spreads; in fact, I think there should just be a restaurant that serves only appetizers.

Over the holidays, I made this Hot Caramelized Onion, Bacon & Gruyere cheese dip, and it was smack your face delicious!

This recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen will be a total touchdown at your Super Bowl party:

Hot Caramelized Onion Dip with Bacon and Gruyere

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Recipe type: Appetizer
Ingredients
  • 4 bacon strips
  • 2 sweet onions, halved and thinly sliced
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry
  • ¼ teaspoon tabasco
  • ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 cup shredded Gruyere Cheese
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ cup mayo
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly, ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to cool. Crumble.
  3. Add onions, sugar, and salt to bacon fat in the skillet and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until onions turn a deep golden brown color. This can take as long as 20 minutes. If onions start to burn, turn heat down to medium-low.
  4. Add sherry and cook 1 minute. Stir in thyme and tabasco. Remove from heat.
  5. Mix together sour cream and mayo in a medium bowl. Add crumbled bacon, cheese, onion mixture, and black pepper. Mix together well and transfer to a 2-cup baking dish.
  6. Bake 20 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown on top.
Notes
Yield: 2 cups

Do You Think Organization Is A Gift??

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I’m all about shortcuts to make life easier. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been caught short by not having a greeting card on hand as I head out to a birthday party or need to send a congratulations or sympathy card.

Every year I make sure to pick up a greeting card box, so I always have plenty of cards on hand. With the shortage of card shops these days, it’s great to have my own private stash. I’ve found these card boxes at Costco and Target. For those feeling a bit more creative, why not make your own card box? We love this super cute idea by Honeysuckle Life.

 

Greeting-Card-BoxPhoto by Honeysuckle Life.

Taking this organizational thing one step further, why not create a gift drawer? I think this works especially great when you have kids and they are invited to a birthday party about every 3 days! That elementary school birthday party circuit can fray even the most organized parent! Be on the lookout for items on sale throughout the year that you can put into your gift drawer. Or even gather items in the Dollar Section; by putting together a few “dollar” gems, you can create an adorable gift basket! There is no need to spend hundreds of dollars on kids gifts, regardless of how many Jones’ you want to keep up with! They are kids after all.

What other organizational ideas do you have? Leave a comment below!