We're already one week past our family's 3rd Annual Appetizer Weekend. What fun we had! That week I'd spent a lot of time in the kitchen making brownies ( here's the recipe from the Hershey's website), blondies and breads. Several friends earned their black belts in karate so I made them goodies to celebrate.
One of the moms gave me a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Even after a week these were still so pretty and cheerful in the dining room. I wish I'd gotten a picture with all the roses in it when they first arrived.
On to appetizer weekend!It was our annual family party and I had such a good time planning for it. Here's what I made: Friday night we had Spicy Asian Lettuce Wraps, Rotel cheese dip and chips, mini crab cakes and broccoli and cauliflower in dip.
Saturday breakfast was French toast dipping sticks and syrup and strawberries.
At lunch I made Asiago cheese dip and glazed chicken wings, and Fidget's friend Sky came to sample the goodies.
Sunday at lunch we had a few spring rolls and steamed dumplings. Sunday night we had potato skins, more spring rolls and everything else that was left over. Somewhere in there I also made bacon crescents for the first time, which were a bit hit. They were tiny fiddly things made out of refrigerated crescent rolls smeared with a creamy spread made with fresh-cooked bacon. Somehow I never found time for the avacado-stuffed cherry tomatoes, spinach-parmesan dip, or the sweet fruity dip I was going to make. But the list gets more ambitious every year.
It is such a joy to plan this special weekend celebrating my family every year. God is good to us to give us loving family relationships. No matter what our struggles or differences we can celebrate the family God gave us.
I recently realized it had been over a year since our family's first annual Appetizer Weekend. It was a smash with our family and helped me focus on celebrating our family. Lately I've been busy making lots of baby booties for friends' babies, and this causes me to think about our family as well. God made our family, each of us, to be here together, and these people are such a blessing to me. I want them to know I am pleased to be the wife and mom that God made me to be. So, naturally, that means it's party time!
Here are the mini crab cakes before frying. The recipe said it made 32 but it made more like 40.
Rotel cheese dip (Fidget's request) simmering in back and in front pan, ground pork for steamed dumplings and spring rolls.
Hot stuffies (stuffed quahogs or clams- see this month's Martha Stewart Magazine, p. 140, for the recipe I'm going to try next time) from Anthony's of Aquidneck seafood market. Delicious!
Mini crab cakes frying in a few tablespoons of butter. The recipe I have looks like it came from Bon Appetit, but it isn't listed in their online recipe index.
Steaming the dumplings. A recipe I picked up on one of those twirly racks in the produce section at Walmart probably 10 or more years ago.
The first of the golden shrimp and pork spring rolls.
Here is one of the Spicy Asian Lettuce Wraps. I couldn't find chile paste anywhere in town, so I used hoisin sauce and these were so good I am going to make them again soon.
Here's the menu from this weekend's Harbor View 2nd Annual Appetizer Weekend:
Fresh Cut Veg with ranch dip
Hot Stuffies (stuffed clams with chorizo sausage)
Mini Crab Cakes
Steamed Dumplings
Spring Rolls
Artichoke-Stuffed Mushrooms
Spicy Asian Lettuce Wraps
Spinach-Parmesan Dip with Bagel Bites
Rotel and Cheese Dip with Nacho Chips
I love to practice hospitality. And I love giving. In all that I don't want my family to get lost in the busyness of serving others and showing them the love of Christ. So though I make dinner every day, sometimes I like to practice hospitality on my family and show them how special they are to me.
Seize the day, I say. After all, This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24
It was high time we celebrated life as usual here at River's Edge. Time for Appetizer Night. I had such fun consulting the Pres for his favorites and choosing recipes. As usual I chose too many items, decided too late to find all the ingredients, and generally went about it haphazardly. But it turned out beautifully.
It was such fun making a wreck of the kitchen and then playing with the panoramic setting on my camera. It made the kitchen look warped but at least you can see how much of a mess I made.
I had picked out so many things I ran out of time after karate class to make them all. The good news about that is it was such fun that Appetizer Night has been stretched into Appetizer Weekend. What I still have ingredients for and need to make tonight are: bacon quesadillas, spinach stuffed mushrooms, salsa roll-ups, and a bloomin' onion. Some of these things are partially prepped so it should make tonight go smoothly. Last night we had:
steamed dumplings (this is all that's left),
Spring rolls (recipe from allrecipes.com here)
Asiago cheese dip from Cooking Light, recipe here,
with bagel chips,
potato skins with sour cream,
and bourbon sausage links.
I love making any day special and showing my family that I love and appreciate them. It's fun to have people over, but you don't always need other people for a party. My family is worth the extra effort. I would enjoy hearing how you celebrate your family too. Maybe it's with appetizer night, or maybe it's something else. If you're planning appetizer night though be warned, you could be headed for appetizer weekend!
