Sunday, April 12, 2009

Play Date

Easter has come and gone. I didn’t do much on Easter Day since I was recovering from the night before. I spent an evening with Guy, which turned into an evening with Guy, Shawn, Mary and Geordie. It was a blast. Shawn, a chef by trade, did the barbequing, Guy made the cocktails and poured wine, Geordie shared tales of his upbringing as a gay Southern man and Mary told us about being a model in Milan and who is now a chef as well.

I brought the broccoli salad (that people didn’t appreciate since it was healthy salad and not laden with bacon and mayo – both of which I have nothing against.) I also brought stuffed mushrooms which went over well.

We ate cheese from all over the world, drank Rioja and of course laughed until we cried. Then came the Ouzo (which I did not drink) and the clean up. Puppies played and we all have a great time, but with morning (and after a night sleeping on a poorly cushioned futon) I felt not as thrilled. We went to breakfast and then I went home to sleep in my own bed and let the puppies run free in the back yard.

Ronn watched the Masters, I watched LOST and we decided to postpone the rising of the dead for Monday with lamb and spring veggies.

Broccoli Salad – well at least I like it.
One bunch of broccoli cut into florets with the stems cut in small bites
Red onion, diced – ¼ cup or so
Red pepper, roasted and diced – ¼ cup or so
Walnuts – ¼ cup - chopped
Raisins – ¼ cup - chopped
Vidalia onion dressing – ¼ cup
1 lemon

I nuked the broccoli so as not to lose any of its nutritional value (about 5 minutes so it is still crisp and green)
While it’s cooking put the raisins in a coffee cup and soak in hot water for about 5 minutes so they get soft
While still warm add the onion, pepper, walnuts, raisins and dressing. I thinned out the dressing with lemon juice.
Salt and pepper.
Toss and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes so the hear breaks down all the flavors. Then refrigerate.

The Vidalia Onion dressing is from Kraft and even though I don’t usually use bottled dressing, it is becoming a bit more common since they are good for more things than drenching lettuce.

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