On Thursday we went to the supermarket and filled up my rickety old grandma shopping cart until the wheels were about to fall off. On Saturday, we woke up early and went over to McCarren's farmers market for some fresh produce, but had to make a few stops along the way for items not yet in season.
In the end, my kitchen was filled with vegetables, fruit and a ton of groceries - enough for an army!!
Mama Maria arrived at 2pm with the rest of the ingredients to host a wonderful party. We started cooking right away and made a fabulous team.
The work was split up, I took over entrees while Mel and Mom worked on desserts.
I started by preparing the pulled chicken, which was easy by watching the gorgeous Murray's Chicken I bought, putting it in my crock pot with chopped onion and half of a bottle of Jim Beam BBQ sauce, which was the only one I could find at Key Food w/out corn syrup.I let it cook on low for 4 - 5 hours, until the meat was super tender and pulled away easily with a fork. I had to remove the chicken from the pot and drain some of the liquid. Then added more BBQ sauce. It came out great!
Next, I worked on the Sweet and Sour Meatballs, which had far more ingredients but was just as easy.
I threw everything into the oldest crock pot in the world (seriously, its older than me I think) and prepared the meatballs.
My mom helped me roll some of the meatballs while we were browning them up to lock-in their juiciness.
Here's Mama Maria getting her hands dirty, yet she managed to look so cute while doing it! I love my mom!
The meatballs had diced onions and garlic as well as salt and pepper. We also rolled them small to ensure everyone at the party had a taste. Once they were browned, we popped them into the crock pot to slow cook for a few hours.
Note: don't stir the meatballs once they start cooking. You want to let the fat rise to the top, which you then skim off before serving.
Next I worked on the white bean puree with sun-dried tomatoes. This was a really easy dish to prepare, and the only adjustment I made was using sun-dried tomatoes that weren't out of a jar. I could only fine dry ones, but they worked just fine for me!
I soaked my dried beans overnight to ensure they would be ready to cook on Saturday morning. Make sure you add A LOT of water when you're soaking means over night. I definitely didn't add enough, so I had to cook my beans a little extra than what was indicated in the recipe, but I had plenty of time to spare before the party started.I didn't follow the exact recipe in terms of measuring out the ingredients, but I did taste along the way to make sure it was coming out delicious.
I was a bit reserved with the rosemary since I didn't want it to overpower the dish. It added a lovely flavor that only refined palates at the party picked up on. Everyone LOVED this dish.
I totally forgot to take photos of the final product, so all I really have to show what it looks like is to the right, which is a pretty crappy photo.
I used a hand blender to puree the mixture, which worked like a charm. I did not add any salt since the sun-dried tomatoes were already so salty.
It came out SO GOOD! Everyone raved about this at the party.
I wanted to ensure vegetarians had plenty to eat at the party, so I also made a roasted vegetable orzo, which I've made before.
It's a pretty easy pasta salad dish in which I roast a plethora of veggies and add it to orzo with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, chopped fresh parsley and salt/pepper to taste.
I used yellow squash, zucchini, red pepper, eggplant, green peppers and cherry tomatoes which were roasted in the oven with just a splash of olive oil and salt/pepper.
This took about 40 minutes, but I was careful to check on them every 10 minutes (after the first 25) to ensure they didn't dry out.
Then I added the veggies to the cooked, drained orzo and added the oil and vinegar little by little to ensure it coated everything well and was tasty. I made too much and have been eating this for days now, but its a healthy lunch!
Here's what the main meal looked like, which I enjoyed thoroughly! Everyone ate up the pulled-chicken sliders and most of the meatballs. Hope everyone enjoyed my food as much as I did making it :)
Besides the dishes noted above, we also served some other appetizers...
Mel bought a ton of cheese from the Bedford Cheese Shop and my dad got some more from Fairway. I don't eat cheese, but apparently it was very good.We had tons of fresh veggies from the farmers market and local produce markets in our area. We also bought a ton of melon, honeydew and cantaloupe, which was on sale (woohoo!).
The bread, which we used for the cheese and the bean dip, was from the farmers market. It was fantastic bread and I'll be sure to get some more the next time I'm there.
I even got flowers at the farmers market to make the table pretty... which is was thanks to all the lovely guests who also brought flowers to the party.
It wasn't difficult to make, although avocados cost a fortune these days. The cheapest I could find in my area was $1.99 per avocado, thank goodness they were perfectly ripe.
It wasn't the best salsa I've had, but I love all the fresh ingredients. I would have been better off making guacamole, which I rock at.
Meanwhile, Mel and my mom were working really hard on getting the desserts prepared for the party. Although there were definitely some breaks taken in between cookies baking in the oven... as you can see here when Mel was "testing" the cheese.
The first thing she got to was preparing her famous vegan peanut butter pie. Since its a no-bake pie, its important to get it in the freezer as soon as possible so that its not a mushy mess by the time everyone is ready to eat it.
I do believe the pie contains toffutti cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter and cool whip, although I think she used "real whip" which has real dairy or some sort.
You blend and place in two pie crusts and freeze until its pretty solid. It's AMAZING and people who try it swear its the greatest vegan treat they've ever had. Even I was shocked at how good it was.
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Mel also made a cake just for fun. She got a box of vanilla cake with the sprinkles, I think its called "funfetti" but I could be wrong. She could have easily made one from scratch, but apparently this was easier and funny.
She did, however, make her own frosting, which was to die for. It took a lot of effort whipping the frosting to make it fluffy, but it did come out fantastic.
I don't know what goes into the frosting since I was busy making the other food. I heard a lot of blending going on behind me and noticed plenty of "tasty" to make sure its perfect.
I have to say, I've never seen frosting so fluffy in all my life. It was incredible and not too sweet either.
Mel was very careful when placing the frosting in between the two cakes. She wanted it just right.
I thought the cakes looked like a giant cookie. Don't you just want to take a big bite out of it? It would have been the greatest cookie of them all...
They were so pleased with the way it came out. I'm fortunate to have one little slice left i my fridge right now, waiting to be eaten. Is there anything better than left over cake?
Mel also made lemon cookies, which were out of this world good. I had a few before the party to hold me over. We ate the ends, to ensure that only the most perfect cookies made it out to the guests. (or at least that was the thinking behind eating so many cookies)
Also, I'm totally rocking a fun tank top from Dalaga, one of the greatest clothing stores ever. In case you were wondering...
Here's my neighbor and fabulous blogger *Bitchcakes* enjoying some of the food. She's a vegan, so I had her in mind when I made a few of the items.
I'm always very careful when cooking for others, since I know what its like going to a party not being able to eat ANYTHING. It totally sucks.
So when I cook for a large group, I ask what everyone's dietary preferences are, if anyone has an allergy and ask for recommendations.
There was plenty for everyone, regardless of their diet. The only thing I made sure to ask was if anyone had a peanut allergy - and yes, I do have friends with this terrible allergy and have to be careful about what I prepare. No one at this party had this allergy, which is why we served the peanut butter pie.
The dessert table looking gorgeous. Those are the lemon cookies on the left. The pie on the top left side is an apple pie and the crumbly one is a mixed berry pie, both bought at fairway. We didn't have the time or resources to make our own fruit pies, but Fairway has awesome and cheap pies that you can pretend are your own.
Cutting the peanut butter pie for everyone. The mixed berry pie was also a HUGE hit.
My mom also made her famous chocolate mousse for dessert. She makes it from scratch with dark chocolate. Everyone was so cute at the party and kept calling this pudding, except its WAY better than pudding and there isn't any milk in it.
Overall the party was a great success! Everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the food. I know that's not what makes a party, but that really all I had control over.
Special thanks to *Bitchcakes* for being a great neighbor, fabulous friend and fantastic photographer.
Also, Adam thinks dessert is metal... I guess because it is metal! Woohoo!
Mel looked like she was having a grand ol' time, which is really all that matters to me.
Love you Mel! I had a great time hosting your party. Your friends are lovely and I'd totally throw you another party, just not so soon. I'm tired from cooking! :)
Thank you everyone for making it out. I hope you had a lovely time. Thank you again for making Mel's day so special. Its so reassuring to know Mel has such supportive, amazing friends!
Extra special thank you to Mama Maria for her hard work in making this party a huge success. She worked throughout the entire party while I was taking breaks and enjoying everything. I don't know where she found the energy to clean up everything afterwards.
Now this is a REAL Wonder Woman!
