Last week I got a text message from a friend asking me if I’d like some zucchini. How could I turn that down? He brought me a grocery sack full of his fresh, home-grown zucchini. The only problem is, I am married to a man who thinks he doesn’t like zucchini. So, I searched for ways to use the zucchini that were not obviously zucchini.
Category: Food/Entertaining
Lemon-Themed Dinner Party
By doing all the prep work in the morning, and getting back to everything else about an hour before your guests arrive, you should have time for a nice rest or other projects.
St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Party Menu
The day of the party, make the Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Icing. Start with the cake. You do not want to serve it hot as it will melt the icing. This makes it a good choice for baking earlier in the day. One note on the recipe. It says to butter and line the springform pan (also known as a cheesecake pan), but the recipe doesn’t say what to line it with. I checked other similar recipes and they did not suggest lining the pan. I buttered it, but didn’t line it. It worked fine. I suggest making the cake in the morning and the frosting later, early afternoon. Once frosted, I put the cake in the refrigerator so the frosting sets up. As the recipe indicates, the frosting should look like the froth on a glass of Guinness. So, just spread it over the top. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.
Casita Marita Dinner Party Lottery
When I first moved to Lubbock, I literally cried to Chuck that I didn’t know enough people to have a dinner party. Now, 8+ years later, I have so many friends, I cannot fit them all around my limited dining space. I realized that I wasn’t hosting the parties, that are a big part of who I am, because I didn’t want to leave anyone out—but I couldn’t fit everyone in.
Team Faith
Our paster did an interesting take on the typical Hebrews 11 “hall of faith.” He addressed an oft overlooked participant in the hall of faith: The People. I’m not going to give you the whole sermon here, though you could go and watch it. But he left us with this challenge: “How will your faith…
Recipes Help Re-live Moments
Some of the recipes I make come from events I took part in over the year—and I re-live those moments every time I make them.
Putting out the Open Sign
It is not about having a perfect party—worthy of the society section of the paper (do they even do that anymore). It is about having a good time with your friends. If your friends expect you to have a white-glove house with gourmet food that you’ve slaved over (or hired caterers), do you really want them for friends? I know I don’t.
Keep Your Health on Track during Super Bowl Festivities
Let’s score a TOUCHDOWN in our health while having a great time this weekend at the Big Game!
Cooking for Two
I found my interest in cooking was gone. I only knew how to cook large meals to meet the demands of three growing sons. All of a sudden, there were only two of us. I didn’t want to mess up my clean kitchen and I’d much rather go out to eat.








