Last week was busy and it ended on a high note of throwing a party yesterday. Parties big or small take a lot of work and in true party form I made too much food except for the kabobs. Either people really like them or I miscounted the amount people would eat. And excepted for the my dill rice that turned out like glue (note to self: short grain rice does not cook the same as long grain or Basmati or brown rice in the BIG Kettle, it seems it must be done in small batches) everything turned out really tasty. Anyone want some glue like dill rice? I’ve got enough to feed a village.
I made a simple menu:
Appetizers
Hummus and pita
Cheese and crackers
Olives
Peanuts
Roasted edamame (my mom gave them to me and after eating a few I did not like them, so yes, I pushed them off on guests)
Dinner
Chicken kebabs with peppers, onions and mushrooms served with yogurt sauce and warm pitas
Shrimp kebab..with just marinated shrimp
Grilled zucchini and squash
Dill Rice
Salad (romaine lettuce, cherry tomato, onion, feta with balsamic vinaigrette)
Salad (chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, parsley, white vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper)
Dessert
Store bought mini cupcakes and mini lemon tarts …..what you thought I was going to make dessert? Yeah, um, Hell NO.
Cookies brought by a friend.
Beverages
Sangria (home made)
Beer
Soda
Some observations….
1. Prep work was minimal other than chopping. 99% of the prep work was cutting up stuff.
2. Cooking was easy, everything but the rice was cooked on the grill. Oven was used to heat the pitas and re-heat the grilled vegetables.
3. Grilled Vegetables are really easy and re-heat well.
4. People are always impressed with shrimp. I bought them at Aldi for $5 a bag..they were small in my world, needed to be peeled before cooking but were a big hit.
5. Greek yogurt sauce was a big hit, sometimes its the little touches that make a difference and the brown cow fat free Greek yogurt is really good. Second to Fage in my book.
6. If anyone went hungry it was their own dang fault.
7. Mediterranean food is really healthy party food. Unless you stuffed yourself with cheese, the highest calorie food was a pita or a cup of rice at 200 calories per serving. (exuding my store bought dessert plate).
8. I did almost all the shopping at Aldi and Jewel for the party, excluding beer the party cost around $6.50 per person. Meat and Peppers were the main cost for food. Boxed wine for Sangria is still the way to go.
9. I have leftovers and several unused ingredients that I can cook with for the rest of the week. I also have left over sangria and chicken to make for book club this week on Thursday. I’m basically throwing two parties for the price of one.
10. People really like healthy food at a party, I’m not saying abandon the hot dogs and burgers on the 4th of July, but people really like vegetables. I think they feel it counter balances the massive quantities of beer they might drink.
Somehow I managed to not take pictures of the food. Inasmuch as I didn’t have much work to do at the party, it seems like I was constantly running around. By 9 pm I realized I had been standing for 12 hours. When everyone left ……I was in bed at 10pm and I slept till 9am! Even the dog is tried today.
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