I was proud of myself- for most of the day I only took small tastes of my dishes, just to make sure they were just right.
After my "official" snack I did snack on a small handful of mixed nuts and a broccolli floret while my sister was spearing her satays, but I guess it could have been worse.
Guests started coming a few minutes early, as expected- just as I was putting the finishing touches on my cute new polka dot button down (you'll see it in the pictures!) and just before my mushrooms were ready to come out.
I got the mushrooms ready, and had two small ones myself
I filled myself a plate of appetizers to eat while cooking- I tried one of my sister's broccolli/cauliflower satay spears (peanut ginger sauce... yum!) as well as 5 kashi crackers and 5 big baby carrots with about 2 tbsp hummus (i tried garlic and roasted red pepper!), and one of Meg's delicious spanokopita cups. It was a good amount of appetizers, but I'm glad I tried everything and it filled me during cooking!
Appetizer Plate:
I chatted for a bit, then got right to work- my dad made me a perfect pomegranate cosmo to sip on while I was slaving away, he's a very good bartender it was AMAZING! (Gotta love the power of POM!)
I prepped my rice, cooked my beans, and they were both ready just in time; we brought out the fish and put them on platters while we were serving the salad...I was so busy in the kitchen I only got a few bites of my mixed green salad with tomatoes, cucumber and homemade red wine viniagrette!
Me and my cosmo:
For dinner I tried everything though; a scrumptious piece of baked dijon salmon (with panko breadcrumbs and a drizzle of butter), lemon garlic cod (lots of butter and lemon here!), green and yellow beans almondine, and my wild rice blend which had my own mix of scallions, shallots, red onion, and spices. Everyone seemed to enjoy the menu- my cousins went back for seconds, and there weren't too many leftovers; just enough for dinner at work tomorrow night =)
Finished Baked dijon Salmon:
My lemon garlic cod:
Green beans amandine (my cod's in the background)
Wild rice blend:
I popped dessert in on time as well; we had a bit of a frenzied time getting out the pre-dessert fondue because my mom hadn't cut the fruit yet, but my dad helped out a lot and we got ON IT... slicing bananas, strawberries, apples, pineapple and making a deliciously naughty (chocolate, chocolate chips and fluff...nothing healthy about it!) fondue... we also had out some marshmallows and lorna doone shortbreads.
Fondue Spread:
The fam LOVED the fondue... I myself went a bit overboard... I dipped two strawberries, one piece of banana, one of pineapple, an apple and one cookie. Sooo basically 6 dips of chocolate and a half serving of fruit. It was worth it though!
The ACTUAL dessert was just as yummy; and much healthier. I used whole wheat flour, oats and lots of brown sugar to make a pear crisp topped with my favorite slow churned vanilla frozen yogurt. This was a hit as well!
I finished my bowl, and cleaned up for a bit before settling down to talk to my best friend Danielle for a while. I was so glad she came, she really is part of the fam!
Oh- For drinks after my POM Cosmo I had lime tonic and water; stayed away from the soda and coffee.
I did have one bite of a piece of my fave chocolate my mom saved for me while cleaning up.
I was full and probably shouldn't have; which was why I threw it away after one bite... but that one bite was good!
I did eat a lot; but it was a great night and I am very proud of my culinary skills. I hope my family enjoyed themselves and I'm glad it came together so well!
Now I'm SO tired, I had to have my usual tea and before bed snack, so I had a small celementine and am sipping a cup of honey vanilla camomile tea. I'm off to bed, I'll post party pictures and a grocery list tomorrow! =)
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