Monday, October 20, 2008

Gourmet Group

Taisey & I

I along with 11 other women, form our gourmet group. Basically we all take turns (once a month) hosting a fabulous dinner party...and really, they are all fabulous! Everyone goes all out. We send out invitations & then at the party we serve appetizers, special drinks & a several course meal! October was my turn to host, with my partner Taisey...who is the real chef amongst us all! We paired up last year too & we always have fun.

This year was extra easy since we hosted at my mom house & we got the month of October! She has the perfect backyard for entertaining. Not to mention she decks everything out for Halloween. We ate outside & the weather cooperated perfectly! I had Scot light the fire, to provide some ambiance & we had the waterfalls going in the pool, which I have to say, could lull me right to sleep!

For the meal here is what we served:

Appetizers: strawberries & dips & mini carmel apples (yes, kind of desserty, but heck, it's halloween)
Salad: Pommegranate Salad -- this was so simple & yummy
Main Dish: Asparagus Pasta, Parmesan Herb Chicken & Parmesan Toast
Dessert: Strawberry Cheesecake Puffs
Favors: Carmel Corn (made by Taisey) in cute halloween chinese takeout boxes
Taisey also made a fabulous drink, which she concocted from several different recipes. I'm not certain how exactly it all came to together, but it was seriously, really good!

Here are the pictures of the rest...
Table 1...mind you I pulled all of this out of my mom's cupboards. How am I ever going to survive on my own???
Table 2...again pulled from my mother's cabinets...although in this picture it is missing cups & name cards. Rest assured they did make it to the table!
The Group! We made this one a "masquerade" which is code for easy costume.
All the women are from my old neighborhood in Phoenix, so it was a bit of a drive for them & hopefully worth the effort! Thanks for coming. I always love to catch up & visit with you all!

10 comments:

The Malone's said...

I'm totally bummed that I couldn't go, everything looks great and the food sounded wonderful.

Shelley said...

Looks like fun Amy girl.. Are you fat yet? I guess you will have a tummy by Nov. when we come. Maybe Jason will think your due, cause your so big. I will have to inform him not to say anything. Just "You look great" It will be fun to see all.

Kendra said...

I really wanted to be there, too! I'd still like to post about it on my blog. Some of my readers are wanting as much information as I can give about gourmet group. If I do post, would you prefer that I link to your page or not? Thanks!

Amberly said...

it was truely fab, every bit worth the drive. you may cook for me anytime.

Caralee said...

What a fun idea. That is really cool.

Chante said...

That is such a great idea! I need to figure more fun things to do so us couple can all get out and play! It is always fun to get together!

Julie said...

I want the salad recipe. It sounds yummy. Way to go. . . looks great!

Natalie said...

So cute! Can I live vicariously thru you?? Those are fun times I don't feel like I have time for anymore....so enjoy for the two of us!! Darling!

Our happy zoo! said...

My parents always did a gourmet group when I was growing up. They would have a different country's food for each month. I remember some of those dishes were INTERESTING :) Looks like fun, GREAT job on the table settings! Your mom should rent out her cabinet contents, woa! Cya soon-!

Cari Jane said...

What a fun tradition to do w/ your friends! Tables look great and yummy menu