Tapas for March

Can I just say this has been a crazy week? 

This was one of those weeks I'd like to take a week to recover from.

Not that it was bad, in fact parts of it were good.  

This month Tapas was hosted by friends, Caroline and Peter.  They opened up their gorgeous home and hosted Tapas.

As I said this past week was nuts.  
In fact Saturday was crazy busy. 
Let me tell you about my day.  I'd promised weeks ago to make bread for our local library's Bread, Books and Soup Sale.  They do this once a year to raise money.
No problem, I thought.  I'll just throw a couple of baguettes together.
Then I realized I'd also promised to make a Dumbo cake for a baby shower, the same day.  OK, no problem. 
And then there was Tapas that night. 
I changed up my plans a little, instead of making baguettes, I made two loaves of my No-Knead bread.   They always sell well.  And they did.
I'd also started the shower cake earlier in the week, so it was just a case of putting it together and bringing it to the shower.  (I'll detail how and what I did in a later post).
I also had a bit of a quandry, I wanted to make something for Tapas but didn't have time to make anything elaborate, so I made some Kringle. 

Now that you've waded through the verbosity, I have to say I also forgot to bring my camera to the party, and ended up taking pictures with my phone. 
Please pardon the poor quality. 
We had wings and there were dipping sauces as well.

 A lovely quiche, some goat cheese and crackers

 Clockwise.  Stuffed Shells, Grape Salad, Carrot Salad and Quiche.

 A sausage and bean soup

 served over basmati rice

and the desserts - fair warning I didn't get a picture of all of them. 
A pecan cake

 I believe this was a German Chocolate cake

another loaf cake

 A sheet pan cake- I believe it was a lemon cake

 I made some Kringles.

We also had Santa and his pineapple but my phone battery was low and I didn't get any more pictures.

Tapas for January 2019

It's hard to believe that January is almost done, but we had a bright spot last week.  It was Tapas Time!

I didn't host it, but a good friend did, and we enjoyed lots of great food, good company and as usual, ate way too much.

I cannot believe the incredible cooks we have in this area, they are fantastic.  

There is always great food food brought and shared. 
And as usual I didn't get a picture of a couple of the dishes, and one of them was mine.
Oh well...
This baked savory cheesecake with the crust made out of crushed wheat thins.  And to the left on the green plate, my baked brie, which is one of the dishes I missed.

I've been playing with bread lately, I'm determined to make a good baguette, but decided to make some french style bread for Tapas instead.  I do love making and eating fresh home made bread. 

A shot of some of the dishes with the covers still on.

 A southern staple, Shrimp and Grits

A Chicken and Bean Mexican style casserole

Some lovely veggies

We also had some meatballs

As well as a Chicken Pot Pie

A selection of poppers and cheeese sticks.

Some lovely spicy wings

Mini quiches

Marinated vegetables in a great dressing

A pretty and tasty fruit plate

Baked shells. (and you know me and pasta, I was in heaven)

Doubly in heaven, cause there was Garfield's favorite, Lasagna

An overview of the table with all the food.

We also had dessert, this was a cherry dish

There was even a King Cake, cause Mardi Gras is around the corner after all.

There was also another dessert but I didn't get a shot of it, sigh.

And there it is, the reason I'm hiding from my scale this week. 

Just kidding, but honestly, if you come to one of our gatherings and go home hungry, you've got a problem and I can't help you with it.  

Again, thanks to my friends Kathy and Skip for hosting this month.  

Tapas for December 2018

I'm late, so very late, but here is the roundup of the dishes that were brought and enjoyed last month at our mostly monthly Tapas Time Night.

I wasn't the hostess, but my friend Jill graciously stepped up to the plate and hosted the gathering.  There was a Grinch Christmas gift exchange which is always fun, and hilarity ensued with gifts being stolen and exchanged later on.

I wish I could have sampled, just a bite of everything but if I had, well, let me just say it was not possible.   The food that was brought and shared was incredible as always.  
There were lots of appetizers. 
This antipasto plate

 Shrimp and sauce

Santa and his pineapple

 Baked Brie

 This lovely spicy spread

Mozzarella and tomatoes

I made some Gravlax and brought it, and the picture is way too blurry for me to really show it, but the basket behind was full of some baguette's I'd baked from scratch. 

This isn't the pretty presentation I had for Tapas, but rather so you can see how good the Gravlax looked.

I also made some Scottish Sausage Rolls and discovered that Trader Joe's Puff pastry is really made with butter.  It was good.

There was some mulled wine to go along with it all.

These lovely roasted potatoes

 Roasted Parsnips and Carrots

 Shrimp Gumbo

 Rolls to get with the sliced turkey and rare roast beef

 close up of the sliced turkey

close up of the sliced beef

Some lovely scallops

 Sausage Balls

 Pea Salad

 Bacon Wrapped Crackers

 Rolls and sauce

 for the pulled pork

 We had biscuits

 and Potato Salad

 Mac and Cheese with sausage

 A lovely Corn Casserole

Chicken Wings

And then there were the desserts...

I swear if you go home from one of our gatherings, hungry, that's your problem.  There's always a bunch of great foods brought and enjoyed. 
And the company isn't bad either.


Happy New Year and I'm hoping that 2019 is a bright and wonder filled year for all.