lots of planning

With the housewarming party fast approaching, there is lots of planning to do.  As you know I’m a huge list writer and I really like the program called OneNote.  I also use it for all my classes.  I swear I’d be lost if I didn’t have my plan of action!  Most of the time this way of thinking is beneficial for me and helps me really get things done, but a lot of the time it is most certainly my downfall.  If something doesn’t quite go as planned, I get cranky and all discombobulated.  Well, let the planning begin . . . Let me know what you think or if you have any tried and true crowd pleasers.  If everyone attends there should be around 30 people . . . eek!  But, it should probably be more around 20-25.  More pictures to come as the food is prepped!

Menu Ideas so far . . . I may have to narrow some down

~Starters~

• Spinach artichoke dip with Hawaiian sweet bread
• Various cheese, Nut and fruit platters with honey
• Fig compote, goat cheese and caramelized onion bruschetta
• Caprese bruschetta with balsamic reduction

~Main~

• Artichoke heart, sun-dried tomato and olive pasta salad with lemon vinaigrette
• Panzanella salad
• Mini Veggie Calzones with marinara dipping sauce
• Asian BBQ chicken thighs

~Dessert~

• Chocolate fountain with strawberries, pretzels, marshmallows and brownie bites for dipping

~Grown-up Drinks~

• Citrus Champagne Punch(tried this at a friend’s, so good!)
• Starborough sauvignon blanc (very fruity and fresh)
• Ravenswood chardonnay (like butta’)
• Willow Springs Cabernet (nice fruit)
• Cakebread Merlot (haven’t tried yet, but got as a gift)
• Seghesio Zinfandel (jammy and full)

Wow, I have lots of things to do before all this is golden.  We even have more house stuff to do too . . . eek!  Here’s my plan of attack so far . . .

This weekend:

• Clean up yard somewhat, Extra outside chairs,Touch-up paint, Baseboards, Thresholds? and Hang pictures

Mon-Wednesday

• Buy Wine/Alcohol at Lee's
• Buy Platters/serving stuff at HomeGoods (so cheap!)
• Make brownie bites/freeze

Thursday

• Grocery Shopping
• Prep Salad/bruschetta ingredients

Friday

• Assemble Pasta salad/Panzanella salad
• Marinate chicken
• Roast Veggies for calzones
• Make calzone dough
• Clean upstairs

Saturday

• Buster Walk/Bath
• Clean downstairs
• Assemble Platters
• Make citrus punch
• Make calzones
• Grill Chicken

PARTY! – 6pm

For lunch the other day I had something that I haven’t had in a long time . . . tempeh!  I marinated a few strips of it in Hoisin, lime juice, and sesame oil for about 5 minutes.  Then I grilled it on the grill pan, and placed in on some sandwich bread with mozzarella, spinach and avocado and pressed it into a panini.  I also had greek yogurt on the side for dipping.  It was delish and very filling!

   

Buster has this weird thing and likes to smell shoes when you take them off!  We took Buster to the dog park for the first time and he had a blast!  He loves being around all the other dogs and people.  All the dogs were barking at him and smelling his butt, but he didn’t mind at all!  Isn’t that amazing that dogs smell each other’s butts to meet and find out about each other?  He was romping through the grass like a gazelle and loved all the new smells.  We are definitely going to make this a continued occurrence in the future.  He was so tuckered from all the excitement, but he still had us up at 4:15 am wanting to get up.  He is such a new dog once he got his poor ears and teeth fixed up.  He had a really bad ear infection the week after we got him, one of the worst the vet has seen.  Now, he’s been on antibiotics and two kinds of ear rinses and he’s feeling much more chipper and is quite the character.

Here’s Buster’s new friend Louie.  He’s my friend’s dog and is quite the ham!

Here’s the happy papa and Buster . . .

    

Hope you all have a wonderful, productive weekend!  Let me know on any of your recipe ideas :)