Going All Girly -- Pretty Foods for Parties and More Salad Sundaes

 Life is full of so many events that are even more special with beautiful, tasty food. So many of our special occasions have food in the center. It seems like spring is an especially important time for events that are decidedly feminine. Mother's Day, showers, ladies' luncheons, holiday brunches, graduation receptions, bridal parties, etc. This April issue of the Diner News is devoted to pretty foods that delight the ladies. Not to be sexist, I have already done an issue dedicated to manly favorites--love that one too. That one featured lots of bacon and beer. This one is definitely more salads and scrumptious desserts.

I have brought back an old favorite--the Salad Sundae. The idea is to make a variety of scoopable salads, and allow guest to build their own salad, choosing three different favorites. My original featured a Blueberry Chicken Salad, a Minted Cottage Cheese and a pretty Egg Salad. Those are still great choices. If you plan on serving guests, offering 5 or 6 different salads enables you to please every palate. In this month's Diner News, I have recipes for four new scoopables. Enticingly different, the Sundae above features Spring Radish Salad, Tarragon Chicken Salad and Thai Tuna Salad. I also have a Guacamole Chicken Salad that is delicious. What a salad buffet all of these would make! Just be sure to get the really fun banana split dishes. I see them at the thrift store quite often.

Luncheons are perfect for interesting salads. I also have a couple of gorgeous salads that feature berries. Men may like them, but the girls will love the asparagus, spinach, fennel, cucumber and avocado. At my house, this is definite girl food.

We all know that we girls love our desserts. Earlier in the month, I introduced the Lemony Lime Cheesecake on the blog. Add to that another showstopper dessert--a chocolate and peanut butter pie. So decadent and rich! Drops and swirls of chocolate sauce make it special.  I replicated a popular French pastry called "Financiers" which are sheer perfection with toasted almond and browned butter.  I blogged about them yesterday. And don't forget the cute factor with Tiny Tea Cakes. Pretty happens with a blackberry coconut cupcake.

Showers are perfect for finger foods. I have ideas for canapes, tea sandwiches and more. Check out all the reasons you want to order this month's Diner News. Remember an entire year of newsletters is just $6.

Cucumber Frills

Fennel and Avocado Salad with Strawberries

Thai Tuna Salad

Finger Sandwiches

Financiers

Tulip Salad

Asparagus Salad with Feta and Berries

Peanut Butter Pie

Guacamole Chicken Salad

Spring Radish Salad

Tarragon Chicken Salad

Tiny Tea Cakes

Salad Sundae

Blackerry Coconut Cupcakes

Tiny Tea Cakes

Lemony Lime Cheesecake

Cucumber Flowers Canapes

Lemon Blueberry Cake

See how much good stiff is in there? I love being creative in the kitchen, and these dishes are pretty and tasty too.

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Raclette Party!

Just before Christmas, we found out about this fun party grill at Aldi. Because my mom is terribly difficult to buy gifts for, we though this might be a great way to get all the family gathered around her table. It worked! My oldest son was in town today, so we had a raclette party.

A raclette is a table top grill made popular in Switzerland. The idea is to offer a selection of uncooked foods, then to grill while you visit with each other. Raclette grills have a non-stick and or stone grill top and individual pans for broiling underneath. Every person gets to make the things that appeal most to him, and the hostess gets to be in with the fun. We had a blast. This seems to have been a seasonal item at Aldi, but you can buy one of your own at my Amazon store. Check out this Hamilton Beach Raclette. This model does not have the stone surface. If that is important, try this Swissmar model.

To prepare, we simply cut several types of meat into thin strips. Some, I marinated, some dry rubbed and some we left plain. We also diced veggies. For the carbivores, we added the traditional boiled potatoes and some crusty rolls. The highlight is the cheese! Those little grill pans that go underneath hold a slice of cheese to get all bubbly and melted under the broiler element. Pour the melted cheese over your grilled meats and veggies. Wonderful! We also really enjoyed the broiled garlic cloves smashed into the meat.

I really wish I had more photos, but my camera shots all came out blurry today. My son Pearson took this one with his phone. It was a great way to feed my hungry boys! I will give you a run down of the low carb goodies that we served:

• thinly sliced steak
• sliced chicken marinated in light beer
• sliced chicken marinated in soy sauce
• sliced pork seasoned with Penzey's Bavarian spice blend (it tasted like sausage)
• sliced pork seasoned with Penzey's Northwoods blend (smokey)
• Gruyere cheese
• Havarti cheese
• Swiss cheese
• Pepper Jack cheese
• garlic cloves
• red and white onion slices
• red and yellow bell pepper strips
• grape tomatoes
• pineapple slices

I think next time, I will add sliced sausages, mushrooms, shrimp (but my boy is allergic, so never when he is near) zucchini or yellow squash, and maybe some pre-cooked diced rutabaga. There is a special cheese actually named raclette, but we couldn't find it in these parts. Our favorites were the Harvarti and Gruyere. If you have one, let me know what you use. If not, what would you love to grill with family and friends?

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Jalapeno Popper Quiche Cups

These are a lunchbox favorite that I featured in the September issue of the Diner News. These would also be awesome for your New Year's Eve party, so I thought I should share the recipe now. Lots of folks love the popular jalapeno popper dip, but making or finding low carb crackers can be problematic. You could stuff a full jalapeno, but that is too hot for some. I love these little quiche cups. Not too hot like the full stuffed pepper would be, but delicious!

You can make them in regular muffin cups, or go mini. Even better for nibblers. Are you planning any special food for New Year's Eve? We are having friends over, so I am looking for some favorites for our table. Here's to the new year!

Jalapeno Popper Quiche Cups

6 strips bacon

4 oz Neufchatel cheese

8 eggs

1/4 cup cashew milk

4 fresh jalapeno peppers

1/4 cup shredded cheddar

1/2 tsp salt

Bake or fry bacon. Let cool. Break into pieces and line the base of 12 muffin cups. Warm cream cheese and spoon over the bacon in each cup.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Stir in cashew milk. Seed and dice 3 peppers and cut one into rings. Add the diced peppers to the egg mixture. Stir in shredded cheese and salt. Pour this mixture into 12 muffin cups. Top each with jalapeno slices. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serves 12. each cup  102 calories    1 g carb

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Crisp Salami Cup Appetizers

These are so fun and really delicious. Perfect for parties and showers, picnics or movie night munching. They have a lot of eye appeal with the color and flowery shape, yet they are so easy to make. Ready to try?

Start with a package of super thinly sliced salami. That is important. I used Hormel slices. Choose your veggies, herbs and cheese. I saw lots of recipes for these online, including Rachel Ray's Antipasti Bites. Most used marinated artichoke hearts and jarred red peppers. I have a few who are not big fans of artichokes, so I went fresh with my recipe.  Zucchini is great, very neutral and let the other flavors shine. I also used fresh herbs from the beginnings of this year's herb garden. I don't have basil yet, but lemon balm was excellent. Either would be wonderful. You can't really go wrong with the filling, so feel free to play around. Don't like olives? Leave them out.

When it comes to baking the salami cups, you have a choice. You may choose to place a ball of foil inside each slice in the muffin tin to ensure the salami does not move, making it hard to fill. This makes for a more open cup. I like the wavy shapes, so I chose not to add the foil. Some cups are more of a challenge to fill, but it still works. I think they are prettier with more waves in the salami.


Crispy Salami Cup Appetizers

16 slices very thin salami
1/4 zucchini, unpeeled
6 grape tomatoes
6 Kalamata olives (or any type)
3 tbsp fresh diced chives
3 tbsp fresh chopped basil, lemon balm or any fresh herb
3 tbsp feta cheese
1 tbsp Italian dressing

Using a standard muffin tin, press the salami slices into the muffin cups, using a spoon to help press the meat to the sides.  Add foil balls if using. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.* Let the salami cool 5 minutes before removing from the pan, but don't wait too long, or they can stick to the cooled fat in the base of the cup. Drain on a paper towel.

Finely dice the zucchini, tomatoes and olives. Mince the fresh herbs. In a medium bowl, combine the vegetables and herbs with the cheese and Italian dressing. Spoon this mixture into the salami cups and serve.

* I heard from one Diner that her salami burned in that amount of time in the oven. Since slice thickness and brand may vary, be sure to check yours about 8 minutes in.

Makes 16       each cup has approximately 45 calories and  just under 1 carb.  

If your package of salami has more slices, just add  a bit more of the filling ingredients. Precise measurements are really unnecessary. Put what you like in there! If I wasn't feeding my hubby, I would shake some crushed red pepper in as well. Take these to a party and everyone will be so impressed with your mad cooking skills.

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Smoked Cheese Burger

Burger night equals happy men at my house. With a little ingenuity, you can put together a Burger Buffet meal making the most of leftovers. Tonight, we had the choice of chili burgers or Reuben burgers with my home made sauerkraut. I also had leftover sauteed mushrooms. Mmmm. Most of us chose something a little more traditional though. I happened to pick up a package of smoked cheddar slices at Aldi. We hadn't tried those before, so that is what we gravitated to.

Very good. I added my favorite, Wright's liquid smoke to the meat patties along with some smoked paprika. Wow were these good! Now, I am glad I didn't cover that smokey goodness with kraut or chili! I just added a touch of barbecue sauce and a mushroom or two. My youngest chose most of those for his burgers. Just look around the fridge. There is no reason to bore your tastebuds. With enough condiments, we don't miss the grilled outside taste at all. I may have to change the menu to have burgers again tomorrow so I can have a chili burger. That sounds so good too!!!

Sorry about my rather fuzzy photo. I have been teaching a photography class to elementary kids. I let them use my camera. Some setting must have been bumped, because I just now noticed that all the photos we have taken this weekend are blurry. So much for my cute pumpkin carving pics. Even though this is a bit blurry, you still get the idea right? I figure this pic is better than no pic at all. Now don't you wish you had a burger too?

Italian Hobos

So far so good--we still have electricity here. The ice wasn't so bad afterall, but the snow just keeps coming down. The lights have flickered three times as I have been loading my photos for tonight's blog. I don't mind being snowbound a few days as long as we have electricity.

I wanted an excuse to heat up the oven tonight, so we had a hobo meal buffet. We all ended up with Italian themed foil packets. That's fine. The ingredients all went together really well. The basis of tonight's packets were chicken breast tenders, but these would be excellent with Italian sausage. The veggies we had to choose from: bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, onion, cauliflower and broccoli. We all went with garlic, onion powder and Italian seasonings, but you could add anything in the spice rack to suit individual tastes.



I reheated some leftover rice for the carby boy. That took almost no time. He also chose to pour jarred Alfredo sauce over the top of his chicken and veggies. Both guys also got a sprinkle of cheese, but I refrained, as I am cutting calories.




Now the kitchen is warm, stomachs are full and everyone got just what he wanted. We are all safe inside watching the snow and a Netflix movie. Two more reasons I really don't mind winter. Snow has a way of slowing our schedules down. At least here in Oklahoma where we don't live with lots of the white stuff for several months!

Stuffed Burger Fusion

Stuffed Burger Fusion...just what is the "fusion" part? That is my choice of stuffing and topping ingredients, but you are free to be true to common burger fixings if you choose. Stuffed burgers are really pretty simple. Just choose some flavorful ingredients to layer in between a couple of ground beef patties. Tonight, I offered up these choices for our Burger Buffet Meal.

Grilled mushrooms
Grilled onions
Cheddar Cheese
American Cheese
Feta Cheese
Crumbled Bacon
Olives
Jalapeno slices

To make the fusion burger, I added the sauteed mushrooms and onions to my burger halves. Then I added a spoonful of feta cheese, a sprinkle of bacon crumbles and some jalapeno. I sealed the meat well to keep all those goodies inside, then cooked them up on the Foreman Grill. To top it off in true fusion fashion, I added both barbecue sauce and blue cheese dressing. Mmmm...Tex-Mex fuses with old south barbecue. If you don't want to cook it up yourself, you can always try one of my favorite restaurants--Tin Star. This is a copy cat of one of their burgers you can get in lettuce wraps. Just as good made at home, and I don't have to have the will power to avoid the tortilla chips. These would be especially good if you happen to have a batch of Chipotle Madness Barbecue Sauce.

For the less adventurous among us, the burgers are great stuffed with onions, bacon and cheese too. That is why I love buffet meals, everyone gets to customize his burger, and I still get to have a little fun.

The Polish Hobo

Tonight's family buffet was Hobo Dinners. This is one of those family buffet meals that is fun and accommodates different tastes. Remember this post about them? This afternoon, I found a reasonably priced pecan smoked country sausage at Walmart. They were pretty low carb, one carb per 2 ounces, so I picked up the package. Three of us chose these for our Hobo dinners. One boy was away from home and one chose chicken tenders. I also picked up a package of frozen stew veggies so I would have less chopping when I got home. Sure, this package has potatoes and carrots, but they are already peeled and diced. My carby boys like them, and I don't have to do all that work!

I like using smoked Polish sausage in these because the smokey flavor permeates the veggies. You can of course, place these foil pouches on the outdoor grill too, but tonight, I just used the oven. Set the temperature, then got out of the hot kitchen! John and I used a rutabaga to replace the taters; I like those even better. We chose green bell peppers and onions to fill our packets. Yum. The rutabagas do mean that I had to cook them a bit longer than usual. 45 minutes to an hour will do, depending on how small your veggies are diced. I use a sharpie on the foil to make sure I don't mix up orders. We all get to choose our seasonings, so they are each unique. Later tonight, I plan to mix up some homemade low carb ice cream. I'll post that later.

My boys just told me I'd make a great hobo. True. My tastes are pretty simple. I think the finer things in life aren't found in fancy houses or expensive jewels. I'd take a life on the road with my family over a mansion alone any day!

Kabob Buffet

Tomorrow is a busy day, and we'll be gone for both lunch and dinner, so I thought I'd go ahead and post our dinner tonight. Usually, Friday nights are buffet night around here. Tonight, I tried something a little different. This idea isn't in the e-book, but it should be. "Build your own" kabobs are too much fun! Marinate the meat ahead of time, then chop an assortment of veggies to go on the skewer. Try some of these with your beef, shrimp or chicken:

Zucchini
Yellow squash
Onion
Bell Pepper
Mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes
Rutubaga

Rutuabaga? Yes, that is the golden yellow veggie you see in the picture. I peeled and cut it into chunks, then softened it a bit in the microwave. That way, it is done when the other foods are ready.

By setting out a buffet, everyone gets to choose the veggies they really will eat, and avoid wasting those others. At my house it tends to be mushrooms that get disapproval. It was never the same after they dissected them in our biology studies. Funny how they still eat pigs... I made some brown rice for my carby boys, but we liked it just fine without.

Once assembled, slap these babies on the grill--outdoors, or a "George" like I did tonight. I brushed my Italian dressing marinade over the kabobs a few times during cooking. Delish!

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Subway Buffet

It is Friday night buffet again. Tonight I knew I would have a bunch of teenagers over for a movie night, so I wanted something that everyone could customize to their own taste. Sub sandwiches and salads were perfect. I set out an assortment of hoagie rolls, four kinds of cold cuts, three sliced cheeses,a huge salad, fresh veggie toppings, and all the condiments we own.

We low carbers had our choice of salad or low carb wraps. I made one with ham, Swiss cheese, spicy mustard,lettuce and onion. Another held smoked turkey, pepperjack, ranch dressing, lettuce and bell pepper. The kids enjoyed making their own creations with pepperoni,pickles, Italian dressing--just about everything you can get at the real Subway.

The house is quiet again. 13 young people and three dogs can be a little hectic. I love it though. They are great kids, and it goes to show that low carb foods can go mainstream with just a bit of planning.

Mocko Taco Buffet Night

Who doesn't love tacos? I know we love them, and they are a quick Friday night meal. That is a good thing because time is something I just don't have much of today. Everything around my house is breaking. This week, the hot water tank went out. The plumber came and fixed that. What he couldn't fix was the leak coming from my fridge. I was so hoping it was just a connection. But no. The fridge is terminal. Great news since we were also thinking the wet spot in the carpet was coming from that leaky roof that needs repair. $$$$$ are adding up. So today, I have been trying to locate a new fridge or used fridge that we can afford. With two kids in college, there is not much money to go around. Refrigerators are expensive. Don't be surprised if you see even more budget friendly meals around the Diner for awhile.

Mocko Tacos are a good cheap meal. We buy our ground chuck for $1.50 a pound at a local meat plant dock sale. We get cheese at Sam's. Tonight's meal featured Joseph's Pita bread as our taco shells, but it is simple to make a few versions of low carb crunchies to substitute. Or even easier, just make a taco salad for the low carbers and regular tacos for the rest. It all goes together in one simple meal.

Here are some ideas to put together a Mocko Taco Buffet for your bunch:

Mocko Taco Buffet
Base:
Low carb tortillas
Baked Joseph’s Lavash Bread as tostadas
Salad greens
Cheddar Cheese crisps (shredded cheese melted in a non stick skillet until crisp)
American cheese crisps (sliced cheese microwaved on parchment for 1 minute 30 seconds)

Meat:
Seasoned ground beef
Seasoned ground turkey
Shredded chicken
Pork Carnitas


Extras:
Shredded cheese
Shredded lettuce
Sour cream
Salsa– red or green
Guacamole
Jalapenos
Diced tomatoes
Onions
Olives