eat and be merry

last friday, i co-hosted a summer soiree/belated birthday party. somehow i got talked into making all the food for the occasion [okay, i volunteered. i enjoy the control, planning and preparation]. my sister [thank you!] and i spent three days preparing for this small get together. we had a fairly large menu [considering the guest list was twenty-two] and a little time to get it all done. oh how i wish i was a stay-at-home-blogger. here's how it all went down.

chocolate covered strawberries. i wanted something delicate and [sort of] healthy to balance out the heavy portion of the menu. when i saw this recipe, i knew i had found the perfect, portion controlled dessert. the preparation didn't go exactly as planned [no styrofoam to stick them in to dry. enter frozen bread and blocks of cheese], but they ended up doing their job. no guilt goodness. 

tortilla roll-ups. pinwheels are a holiday must with my family. i had to email the go-to-cook before attempting, aunt cindy [she is amazing. seriously.]. the procedure was pretty easy. the hardest part being not picking at them eating them all before they were served.

veggie pizza. another aunt cindy creation. these are to-die-for. it’s like a veggie tray on bread. um, yes please. it was about as easy as the tortilla roll-ups, but required a lot more chopping. at one point, i actually thought i was channeling rachel ray. garbage bowl and EVOO may or may not have escaped my mouth.

caramel apple bars. my sister gets credit for this one. she found this recipe while in south africa and it stuck in her thoughts this whole time. and for good reason too. it was a nice sweet-salty balance, but a little too crumbly [messy] for my liking. 

hamburgers and hotdogs. you can't have a summer soiree without the grill going. the other co-host's husband manned the grill and produced some darn good grub. so very summer.

hummus and pita chips. another attempt to be somewhat healthy. this was a cinch. plop a variety of hummus in a cute serving platter and enjoy. simple as that.

chocolate cake. i went back to old trusty and brought this recipe out of the archives. it is a crowd pleaser and a true favorite. i left before i could witness, but apparently it was good after-hours food. go figure.

laughter, drinks and fun. mix sister time, out-of-control coworkers, some hilarious significant others, and a whole lot of inappropriate innuendos. enjoy thoroughly.