So I know I focused much of my last post on the cherry choconut ice cream we made, but I also wanted to tell you about the food we had before the sweet finale. I probably shouldn’t consider it “pre-dessert” food, but dessert really is my favorite part of any meal. These dishes were really fantastic though, and, just like the ice cream, I had the chance to try them out thanks to others! The Huz and I received the Williams-Sonoma cookbook from our good friend, Allison, several years ago at the engagement party two of our other dear friends threw. So, many thanks to Allison, as well as Kristen and Marianne!
The almonds were ridiculously easy to make. I can’t give out the exact measurements, but basically just toss raw almonds with a bit of water and salt and bake 8 minutes. Then drizzle with olive oil and spices and bake 5-6 minutes more. Ta da! We sprinkled ground red pepper flakes and garlic powder over our almonds and let them cool in the pan for a while. I’m amazed I had any left to store away!
The salad was also amazingly easy. We used two tomatoes (one yellow, one red), fresh basil, and fresh salted mozzarella. I started by slicing the tomatoes and mozzarella and alternating them on a plate.
The Huz chopped the fresh basil and we sprinkled it over the tomatoes and cheese, along with sea salt, black pepper and olive oil.
We also had some fresh rosemary bread with olive oil on the side.
We enjoyed our appetizer courtesy of a book given to us by one of The Huz’s aunts. I’ve made several other dishes from Rachel Ray’s book and they’ve all been really great. Not quite as refined as some cookbooks, but very accessible.
I took the shrimp cocktail recipe out of a combo recipe for shrimp cocktail and manhattan steak. If we weren’t in the midst of sweltering heat wave, I might have been up for the steak, but my desire for heavier foods vanishes completely when the temperature starts to soar.
I got cooked, shelled shrimp from the local market and mixed up the sauce in no time. It was so simple and might sound like a familiar combination of ingredients to the over-21 crowd:
cocktail sauce
lemon zest
salt and pepper
chopped celery
vodka
All I had to do was mix and chill, and then enjoy!
Do you like bloody marys? What’s your favorite drink?
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YES! I love bloody mary’s! I don’t like sweet alcoholic drinks so bloody mary’s are perfect for me!!
how is it the simplest things with the fewest ingreds are the best. oh yum.
We’ll call it even since that party finally proved to me that Harlan was a real person. I rather like that guy.
He’s pretty decent. Almost as good as the thai chicken deliciousness you whipped up that night!
oh those almonds look wonderful! I recently found a recipe for sweet macadamias which I am keen to give a try!
Mmmm I bet those would be delicious!
That caprese = SWOON x infinity. Want.
Those all look delicious. Gorgeous photography. What camera do you use? Also happy belated birthday, I am sorry I was out of town for the party!
I use a Fuji S5 with a Nikon lens and LOVE it. Thanks for the compliment!