Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts

Thursday, January 8, 2015

winter formal happened

Hosting ten teens for their Winter Formal dinner was the best. A little stressful, but mostly just enjoyable to listen to their laughter and conversations. I loved it. This was a girl's choice dance so they planned the whole thing and did all the driving/picking-up of the dates. I didn't get to see firsthand the always-awkward pinning of boutonnieres and corsages at the boy's house, or group photos at the nearby wash. But I did get to welcome them into our home for games and food. It was awesome.  
One of the boys was not present for the photo shoot. He was off winning a tennis tournament, and so his date, far left, was trying to look pouty and mad for this shot. Maybe she really was upset, but she handled it gracefully. The photographer was a friend from the neighborhood who has her own little photography business. She did a great job! And eventually, the tennis champion arrived late for dinner. Bummer for the photo shoot tho.
Also, everyone is so color coordinated. None of that was planned, except for between couples. Kind of fun when it's accidental.
The dinner menu:
Make Your Own Italian Cream Soda
Penne Alfredo with Chicken or Angel Hair Pomodoro 
(both from Rosati's) Took a friend's advice to not stress about the main dishes. So glad I did that!
Green Salad with Homemade Creamy Italian Vinaigrette
Homemade Garlic Rolls
Roasted Carrots
Oh, and Jonah and Owen were my waiters - they dressed up in white shirts and bow ties, but I didn't get a good photo of them. Darn. They did a great job and got to make Italian Sodas to their hearts' content as payment.
After dinner and lots of laughter playing Apples to Apples, the group headed out to another house to decorate sugar cookies and watch Elf. Eventually they made it to the dance too.
And now I must thank you for making it all the way through this photo marathon.

Monday, March 28, 2011

what shall i do with my shallots?

I first heard about the Backyard Farmer from my sister-in-law, Alice. Then, I Heart Mesa bragged about it too. I decided to try it for myself.
The backyard farmer sells and delivers locally grown produce. Officially it is not organic, because of the red-tape requirements. But UNofficially, it is.
Last week, for $40, I got tons of yellow, purple and orange carrots, multi-color baby carrots, golden potatoes, red cherry tomatoes, purple cherry tomatoes, cilantro, big bag of mixed baby greens, romaine lettuce, snow peas, sugar snap peas, tangelos, garlic, one huge red onion and shallots. AND, there was no delivery fee.
I made stir-fry for dinner that night and the veggies were delicious! We're still eating from the backyard farmer's bounty {salsa, breakfast potatoes, salad, smoothies...}.  And I got to choose everything I bought - no surprise turnip greens that we will never eat. I love this new-found service. It's like a farmer's market at my front door.
I really should plant a garden. That's next on the "soon" list, but for now, I love this alternative.