Going for the Gold - Olympic Extravaganza

The Olympics are almost here, and I LOVE watching them! The summer Olympics of 2008 took place in Beijing, and this was the theme for my August monthly dinner that year.  There are so many more ideas I would incorporate now, but this is my simplified version in 2008.  Warning: This is way before my blogging days, so my photos are not very good and I didn't take photos of most of the decor.  Also...this year's Olympics are in London.  Check out my London Monthly Dinner post for menu/decor ideas.

Invitation:  I created this Olympic ticket to send to the girls for my monthly dinner.  I designed it in Microsoft Word.  If you are throwing an Olympic party and would like the file, just comment below with your email and I will send it.  It would be easy to swap out the Beijing and all the text. It is nothing fancy.  Another invite idea would be to create a torch using card stock with all party details on the back and the title on the front.

Attire:  I asked the girls to dress up as an Olympic/athlete just for fun. We had everything including a USA fan, tennis players, and even a fencer complete with tin foil sword and metal strainer for a face mask!!

Decor:  On my walkway, I set out various mini flags from around the world leading up to the door.  A sign on the door read "Olympic Village."  I set my table with a red tablecloth and yellow napkins to relate to the flag colors of China. Black chopsticks adorned the plates.  As a centerpiece, I crafted a giant martini glass into a torch using colored tissue paper. I also set out Chinese fans, fortune cookies, and I found the Kimono wine bottle cover at the Dollar Store!

As a place card for each guest, I had gold medal necklaces spread out on each plate.  I bought the medals at Party City.  They were the super cheap ones that come in a pack of 6. I covered the sticker in the middle with gold card stock and hand wrote the guest's name.

Menu:  Since the Olympics were taking place in Beijing, I served Chinese food.  I recommend all these recipes...

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

¾ lb. ground chicken

(I just cut 2 breasts into strips)

1 tablespoon minced gingerroot

1 tablespoon oil

1 medium carrot, finely diced

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce

½ teaspoon sesame oil

1 head iceburg lettuce

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

2½ cups bean sprouts

In a skillet, stir-fry chicken, garlic and ginger in oil, breaking up with back of spoon until no longer pink.  Add carrot, celery, green onions, soy sauce, and sesame oil; cook for about 1 minute or until vegetables are tender.  Separate lettuce into 8 cup-shaped leaves.  For serving:  Spread about 2 teaspoons hoisin sauce on bottom of each lettuce leaf.  Spoon small amount of chicken filling.  Top with a few bean sprouts. Fold lightly and eat with hands.

Stir Fried Beef and Broccoli in Oyster Sauce

¾ lb. flank steak

1 tablespoon rice wine

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3 each cloves of garlic, minced

6 each green onions, chopped

1 lb.  broccoli cut into florets

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons water

1/8 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon chopped ginger root

1/3 cup water

Sauce:

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon corn starch

Cut meat across the grain into very thin slices.  Place in a bowl and combine with soy sauce, rice wine, water and cornstarch.  Allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes.  Meanwhile prepare remaining ingredients and stir together sauce mixture.  Heat oil in large wok or large skillet.  Add meat and cook, stirring constantly, until meat is about 75% cooked.  Remove and reserve.  Scrape out pan if necessary and return to heat.  Add garlic, ginger and green onions and cook 30-60 seconds until fragrant.  Stir in cut up broccoli and add water.  Cover and cook 3 minutes.  Re-add beef to pan and combine well.  Add sauce to mixture and bring to boil.  Cook until thickened and beef and broccoli are cooked through.  Serve with steamed rice.

Egg Fried Rice

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

2 scallions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 lb. cooked rice

4 ounces green peas

(I added: 2 carrots, finely chopped)

In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a pinch of the salt and a few pieces of scallion.  Heat oil in a preheated wok, and lightly scramble the eggs.  Add the rice and stir to make sure that each grain of rice is separated.  Add the remaining salt, scallions, and the peas (and carrots).  Blend well and serve.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Packets

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

½ cup sweet and sour sauce

1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks, drained

1 medium bell pepper, cut into strips

¼ small onion, cut into small wedges

½ cup chow mein noodles, if desired

Heat grill.  Cut four 18x12-inch pieces of heavy duty foil; spray with cooking spray.  On one side of each foil piece, place 1 chicken breast.  Top each with 1 tablespoon sweet and sour sauce and one fourth of the pineapple, bell pepper, and onion.  Top with remaining sauce.  Fold foil over chicken and vegetables so edges meet.  Seal edges, making tight ½-inch fold; fold again.  Allow space on sides for heat expansion.  When grill is heated, place packets on gas grill over medium heat. Cover grill and cook 15-20 minutes, rotating packets ½ turn every 10 minutes, until juice in chicken is clear.  Serve chicken topped with chow mein noodles.

Deep Fried Ice Cream

 Tortillas

Cinnamon & Sugar

Deep Fried Ice Cream

(Although I found the recipe and was going to make the ice cream myself, I saw “deep fried ice cream” in the store already made, so …)

Heat oil to 365 degrees.  Cut tortillas to look like an hourglass and place one at a time in oil to cook.  Then remove and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Shape the ice cream into balls and refreeze.  When ready to serve, place ball of ice cream on top of cup-shaped tortilla with the fan part of the tortilla parallel to the ice cream.

Favor:  As a favor, I made sugar cookie gold medals that I attached to ribbon necklaces.  I piped on the Olympic rings and the year. I packaged these in zip-lock sandwich bags so guests could easily transport them.  If you are making these for your party, just make sure you make the holes large enough.  When the cookies bake the holes get smaller, so they have to start fairly large.

This dinner was a lot of fun.  We were suppose to play Wii Olympics as well, but we had technical difficulties.  Maybe next time!!  Hope you enjoy the Olympics this year...GO USA!!

A Craft Party

With the new obsession with Pinterest and other craft sites, I decided to theme our July monthly dinner around crafts.  At our June dinner, we all drew a name, and everyone's "assignment" was to make a craft for that person and bring it to our July dinner.  I wasn't sure how it would really turn out, but it was AMAZING!!  We had a great time unwrapping our gifts and I am definitely going to recreate some of the great crafts the girls made!

Decor:  At the front door, I set out my sewing machine with a random scrap of fabric and a quick "Sew Glad You're Here" sign.  I used sewing pins to attach the sign.  My original plan was to sew letters onto the green fabric to say "Welcome", but I ran out of time.

I set my table with a white tablecloth and a large brown paper runner made with craft paper.  I bought the paper at Joanns for $2.99.  I put various craft supplies I already owned along the runner to add to the theme - yarn, crochet needles, stamps, punches, markers, etc.  At a kids party, the guests could decorate the table with stamps or write messages with the markers if they wanted. In the very center of the table, I used a wooden cross stitch frame with cross stitch fabric. I printed out the Craft Party title on my computer and attached it to the frame with a sewing needle. To add a craft to the plates (and to save me time on doing dishes after the party!), I used paper plates and punched 13 holes around the edges.  I just wove ribbon through and tied a bow at the bottom.  Easy and super cute.  This is a great idea if you are bringing a dish to a party and don't want to worry about bringing the plate home, but want it to be festive.

As a name card, I cross stitched each guest's initial and backed it in scrapbook paper.  I cut a skewer to use in between the two pieces of card stock and dropped it into a spool of thread.

As a second name card (since I had a few guests with the same initial), I also added a photo of each guest on the place mat.  I took a piece of construction paper and used a craft punch to make the edges look cute.  Then just printed a photo of the guest and attached it using photo corners.  I used this same craft punch with scrapbook paper to create the napkin rings.

Menu:  Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of the food, but the menu was simple and tasty.

Oh "Sew" Good Chicken

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese

"Collage" of Vegetables

and

for dessert

"Tarts" and Crafts

(individual pie shells filled with pudding and topped with whipped cream and strawberries)

The chicken was a recipe found on The Enchanted Cook for Parmesan Crusted Chicken. It is super easy with only 4 ingredients!!

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup Hellmann's or Best Food's Real Mayonnaise

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/4 lbs. total weight or about 5 ounces per breast

4 teaspoons Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

Directions:

Place mayo and cheese in a small bowl and mix. Then lay chicken breasts on baking sheet and spread mayo mixture evenly atop each. Sprinkle bread crumbs atop each.  Place in a 425 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly and juices run clear.  Season with a dash of pepper and sea salt, if desired.

Favor:  My orginal plan for a favor was to give a friendship bracelet or a DYI friendship bracelet kit with a tag that read "Thanks for crafting such great friendships over the years!" or something like that. Unfortunately, I ran out of time for this.  Plus, I decided we were all getting a handmade craft anyway, so we didn't need it.

I did want to share with you the great items that the girls made as their crafts.  I tried to include links or craft information when I could.  If you have specific questions, comment below and I will ask the maker and get back to you with the answer.

For my craft, I made a cute purse.  I do not sew, so this was an adventure for me, but it only took me one day and was not too hard.  The entire purse cost me $12 to make.  I found the instructions and pattern (free) on Made by RAE.  The only change I made to the directions were that I lined the entire purse with interfacing to give it more stability/stiffness.  My mom is amazing at sewing, and this was her suggestion. I am planning to make one of these for myself, and will definitely do this again.  I didn't buy fusible interfacing for this bag, and I will for future bags (saves a bunch of time).

The gift I received was an herb garden.  The jars are filled with soil as well as small rocks.  The rocks are suppose to help if you accidentally over water (which I tend to do often).  The chalkboard paint will be great if I change herbs at a later date! The directions for this craft was found on Camille Styles.  I can't wait to hang this!

Another friend is a wine-lover, so the craft she received was these super cute wine charms!  The blog with directions, My Chic Life,  makes them with letters, but since you never know who is going to come over, my friend decided to use jewels instead.  I love them!  I also love how she styled them around the wine bottle instead of just tossing them in a box.  Adding this to my "to make" list.

A collection of scrapbooked cards was another great gift.  There were 12 handmade cards with everything from birthday to just generic. It is always nice to have cards on hand to avoid last minute trips to the store, so this was a great gift.

Another friend made this wall art with canvas, wooden letters/words, and spray paint.  I think this would make a great wedding gift or you could spell out a baby's first, middle, and last name for a cute baby shower gift.  My friend found the directions for this project on Inspiration for Moms.  She made three of them with the words: Live, Dream, and Believe, and added ribbon to the top for hanging.

Check out these fun tile coasters made for our friend who is an English teacher and avid reader.  Some of the titles were books she teaches as well as books she's talked about at our dinners in the past.  These are easy to make.  My friend's YouTube video will show you exactly how to make them with photos, but book covers (or music album covers if you have a friend really into music) are made the same way.  

This silly photo was the gift for our friend who loves the Los Angeles King's hockey team. The maker used Photoshop to put the recipient's favorite hockey player, Mike, into the photo!  We got quite a laugh out of this craft!

This quote is perfect for our friend and her household.  The maker designed the layout/font that she wanted and printed it on photo paper.  She then used Mod Podge to adhere it to a piece of 8 1/2" by 11" piece of wood.  She added another layer of Mod Podge as a gloss on the front. I am going to try something like this for my house.

These fun canvas prints were made by our photographer friend.  She took recent photos she had taken of the gift recipient's daughters and crafted them onto canvas with a little Mod Podge.  The tutorial for this project was from My Sassy Pepper.  The photos are darling (her kiddos are super cute and photogenic), but the edge effect on the canvas makes it even better.  I think these would be great gifts for grandparents.  Adding this craft to my "to make" list too!

And lastly, this awesome wine cork board (with two scrapbooked tags).  Just make sure you have enough corks.  This one used 50!!  The metal scrapbook letters on the side are the initials of the recipient and her family.  I found the directions for a similar board on Simply Emily if you are interested in making one.

 This was another great party and theme with the girls. Hope you were inspired to make some of these crafts or throw a craft party yourself!!

Amazing Rainbow Cake

I promised you the "skinny" on how to make the amazing looking (and tasting) cake from my daughter's Art inspired 3rd birthday party.  I say skinny because I tried a new cake recipe which substitutes a can of Sprite for the eggs, oil, etc.  It cuts down on the fat/calories, but doesn't take away the flavor = HOORAY!!

There are only a few ingredients for the actual cake:

• 2 boxes of white cake mix (any brand)
• 24 oz. of clear diet soda (2 cans, I used Sprite, but you can use ginger ale as well)
• Gel Food Coloring (Betty Crocker Classic - gel food colors)

Step 1:  Mix the cake mix and the soda according to the regular instructions on the box.  Don't worry if it is lumpy. That's fine.

Step 2:  Divide the cake mix into 6 separate bowls as evenly as possible. By estimate, approximately 1 cup and 2 tablespoons per bowl.

Step 3:  Stir color into each bowl with its own spoon.

Step 4: Measure out 2/3 to 3/4 of your first mix (about 1 cup) and pour it into the middle of the cake pan. Start with red, then orange, then yellow.  In your second pan, work backwards...start with purple, then blue, then green.  This is so the layers are even.  After you've done the first three colors in each pan, continue with the rest of the rainbow. Pan #1 - rainbow order, Pan #2 - reverse rainbow order.

Step 5:  Bake the cake according to the instructions on the box.  Note: you probably need extra time (5 or 10 minutes) because of the density of the soda.  The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean!

Step 6:  After the cakes have cooled, place one upside down on top of the other and frost!  Then enjoy!

This is an easy cake for a rainbow themed birthday party of any fun affair. You could even make it with only red, white and blue for a 4th of July or Memorial Day party!  Or various shades of green for St. Patrick's Day! So fun!

Red Wagon First Birthday!

One of my favorite photos of our son is the one we took of him at 4 weeks old asleep in a mini Radio Flyer wagon.  We used it on his birth announcement, so I decided to take his one year photos with this same wagon and use this as the theme for his first birthday party.  He sure has grown!!

And now on to the party details...

Invite:  My sister-in-law helped my ideas come to life with her PhotoShop skills.  I wanted the red wagon to say my son's name, so she helped with that.  I also wanted the event title to match the Radio Flyer logo, so we worked on that.  I had the invite printed at FedEx/Kinkos on card stock, backed them in light blue card stock, and they were done.

I asked my talented friend Jill, of Little Boy Blue, if she could make John a wagon shirt, and she designed this amazing onesie!  She does such an awesome job (she even made him a matching super hero cape just for fun!).

Decor:  At our entry door, I borrowed a Radio Flyer wagon from friends and attached balloons to the handle.  I added a simple sign I quickly made on the computer to welcome guests. Inside, I borrowed another wagon to collect gifts.

I made a pendant Happy 1st Birthday banner out of card stock to place above the food table, and used a mini wagon to hold the plates and napkins. I borrowed yet another friend's plastic Radio Flyer wagon to hold the drinks.

As a centerpiece at each table, I bought wagon wheels from Harbor Freight.  I then bought red and white flowers and arranged them in one of those green foam pieces to place on top of each tire.  I bought $10 worth of flowers at a local florist and arranged them myself to save money.  Next to each tire flower, I made a frame to showcase photos for each month of John's first year. I didn't want to spend money on 13 frames, so I made them myself.  I cut one piece of foam board into 5x7" pieces, covered the front in black card stock, hot glued black ribbon on the edges, glued the photo in the center, and cut out a wagon with the number of the month on the front using my Cricut machine. I actually loved the way they came out, and this was a super cheap way to do it.  I stood two frames back to back so they could prop each other up and hide the back of the foam a bit.

I used a blue plastic tablecloth for my dessert table so my red items would pop a bit more. On the table, I had a couple 1 year photos of John with the wagon as well as a mini Radio Flyer banner I made out of card stock.  I made simple cupcakes for the kids with red/white polka dot wrappers. I topped them with white icing and scrapbooked toppers. I used my Cricut machine and Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge since it had a wagon.  I love how they came out.  The smash cake was simple with a blue J on it.  I am glad I used white icing for the smash cake because John got icing everywhere!

For the cake, I wanted to make a Radio Flyer wagon.  I started with a simple vanilla cake in the largest rectangle pan I owned.  I placed it on a cardboard cake plate cut to fit exactly, so no edges would show.  Then I frosted the entire thing red. I free-handed the logo on the front (I am not the greatest artist), but you get the idea.  The wheels are frosted Rice Krispie Treats covered in frosting.  For the handle, I cut a dowel rod and covered it in black electrical tape.  The "handle" at the top is also electrical tape.  I cut a pizza box (since this is all I had handy) to run the length of the cake plus a little extra in the front.  I covered this in electrical tape as well and attached the dowel.  The cake is propped on a Toms shoebox covered in construction paper, and I died coconut green to give the look of grass.

For the favor, I made sugar cookies. I originally planned to do them in a wagon shape, but had a hard time finding a cookie cutter that wasn't a million dollars.  Instead, I did a simple circle and then just piped the wagon and number 1 on with frosting.  I put these in a clear bag, folded the top and used the extra cupcake wrappers to add a little color. My brother helped me design a wagon wheel tag that read "Thanks for rolling in to celebrate with us!" I placed the favors on the dessert table in another mini Radio Flyer wagon.

Menu:  I stuck with a simple menu of sandwiches, chips, and watermelon.  The only menu items that went with the theme were Gerber Wagon Wheels I set out for the little kids, and the Jello Wagons I made out of baby food containers I saved.  I found black spoons at a local fast food restaurant (they gave them to me for free!) to use as the wagon "handle".  I attached the card stock wheels with glue.  Some fell off, but most stayed.

Activities: I stayed simple with the activities.  We had a jumper we borrowed from a friend, and I had out a wagon, Radio Flyer scooter, and a Radio Flyer tricycle that we already owned.  Kids enjoyed taking turns with these.  I made an official Radio Flyer license for each kid.  These are free to download. I bought the Scotch brand photo-laminating sheets from Target to cover them and make them look more official.  These sheets are about $2 for 5 of them.  I also had crayons and wagon-themed coloring sheets set out for kids to do.

All in all, the party was fun and not too expensive (my kind of party!). It was great to celebrate our little man's first birthday with so many family and friends. I would definitely recommend a Radio Flyer themed party for a first birthday party. I felt there was even more I could have done if I had more time as well.

Side note: If you are interested in purchasing the banner, cupcake toppers, month frames, and favor tags, I saved them and I am planning to list them on Craigslist. I'd be happy to have someone time making them as they are super cute!!

Fun Wall Decor

Like everyone else, I am addicted to Pinterest.  There are so many cute ideas and projects I hope to do in the future.  This past week, I finally did two of them! Thought I would share in case you want to dress up your house with these ideas...

I have been wanting to put up a collage of photos behind my dining table, but I wanted something else with it.  After breezing through websites to find ideas, I stumbled upon a Pinterest photo of a collage with this quote above it.  I was sold!  I bought my frames at Aaron Brothers during one of their buy one, get the second for 1 cent sales.  I tried a million different layouts, but decided on this one eventually.  I ordered the wall decal from LaNae from It's Written on the Wall.  She custom-made the decal to match the length of my collage and in the font I wanted.  I love it!! One of my close friends took all the family photos on a trip to the park, and she did an amazing job capturing our family.  I printed them all at Costco. I love the way this adds to my dining room, and the quote reminds me of how special my family is to me.

The second project I completed this week....a fun height chart!  This project was SO easy and very inexpensive. I followed the directions on 517 Creations blog only changing a few things.  The only supplies you need are a piece of plywood, stain in the color you desire, paint pen, clear coat enamel spray, and a ruler.

Step One:  Apply the wood stain to the wood using a brush and wiping off excess with a rag. I did 3 coats on each side waiting about half an hour in between coats.  Remember to do both sides of the wood just in case you goof on one side, you still have the other!

Step Two:  Using a ruler and pencil, draw the ruler marks on the left side of the wood an inch apart for each mark.  I made my "eighth" inch marks 1" long and my "quarter" marks 2" long.  I started my marks at 6" because I was planning to hang the finished ruler 6" off the floor.  This makes the entire "ruler" go up to 6 1/2 feet.  After you've measured all the lines in pencil, go over it with your paint pen. (Hint: Don't just use a regular Sharpie...it will smear! Buy a paint pen.)

Step Three: I wanted my ruler to look authentic, so I found a font on Microsoft Word that was similar to a real ruler. I chose Century Schoolbook bold.  I printed out the numbers (1-6) in 200 font and then cut them out.  I placed them on the ruler in the correct spots, and traced them in pencil.  Then I used my paint pen to cover the pencil and fill each number in.  Easy!

Step Four:  Spray the entire board (front and back) with Clear Enamel to protect your work. I did 2 coats. I would definitely use a spray because I read several tips on making this board that say their work was ruined because they painted the enamel on and it smeared the marks.

Step Five:  Hang your "ruler" and enjoy!  You can hang it with a sawtooth picture hanger.  We hung ours with the extra large velcro picture tabs because my husband didn't want to nail into the wall.  It seems to work well so far.  Use an artist's pen to mark your child's heights each year.  The pen I used is Faber-Castell PITT artist pen.

I had a blast trying these ideas out and LOVE how they turned out.  Let me know if you try them!!

Fourth of July Snack

My daughter had an International-themed recital today at daycare.  They did 5 dances, and they were super cute!  We were asked to bring a dish from our culture to share.  Our family is such a mix of European cultures, I decided to bring a USA-themed treat instead.  It was a big hit and super easy...

Just strawberries (I cut mine in half), marshmallows, and blueberries. Yummy.  If you are looking to take something simple to a 4th of July party, this might be it.  The whole thing cost me under $15 and I had plenty of fruit left over. I bought the fruits at Costco and one bag of marshmallows at Ralphs.

Lemon and Lime...It's Summertime!

June is an extremely busy month for me.  Not only is my teaching year ending, but I have both of my kiddos birthdays and of course the monthly dinner!  We celebrated Ella's birthday on Saturday (see Art Party post), so I only had a two days to prepare for this month's dinner.  I decided to go with an easy theme of Lemon and Lime...It's Summertime.  This is a simple theme and would be perfect for a baby shower, wedding shower, or a spring/summer get together.

Decorations:  Go overboard on green and yellow to really make your table bright and happy.  I set my table with a bright yellow tablecloth and made a small runner with lemon fabric I found at Joanns.  The plastic placemat I found at Target.  They currently have lemons featured for the summer in plates, cups, etc.  I just bought the placemat for $2.99. (Reminder if you are new to my blog: my party's are inexpensive with mostly homemade items to save money.)  As a centerpiece, I used a large glass hurricane I already owned (you could use a bowl as well) and filled it with lemons and limes.

For added decor, I placed two small vases with yellow and green flowers.  These were flowers I had left over from the colorful bouquets at my daughter's party.  They weren't the prettiest yellow flowers, but the green ones were cool.  Inside the clear vases, I cut slices of lemon to add color and blend with the theme. Martini glasses were also on the table in preparation of lemon drop martinis!!

As a napkin holder, I sliced a lime into thick circles and cut out all the juice.  The inside didn't go to waste though. I used it to decorate the top of the Key Lime Pie.

As a place card, I made lemon bath salts for each guest.  I found these small jars at the 99 Cent Only store two for a dollar.  I found the tag online and inserted my guest's name in the center.  I also made a tag for the top to identify the contents.  I used Mod Podge to adhere these to the metal top and glass front. Finished them off with a green ribbon.  I made the bath salts with the following easy recipe:

1 cup Epsom Salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon oil (I bought mine at Sprouts Grocery Store)

2 or 3 drops of yellow food coloring

 Mix all ingredients, stir, and set out overnight.  Then fill the jars! Of course, double, triple, etc. the recipe if you are making several jars.

Menu: Instead of making individual menu cards for each guest, I decided to post my menu on the wall using my frame collage. I found all images on Google.

We started with lemon drop martinis which definitely got the evening off to a festive start!

Next we had a salad with a lemon citrus dressing.  The salad was simple -- just Romaine lettuce, mandarin orange slices, and chopped walnuts.  The recipe for the dressing is:

 Julia Child's Oil and Lemon Dressing.

 2 strips of fresh lemon peel, 1 by 2 ½ inches each

1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more, if needed

1/2 tablespoon Dijon-type prepared mustard

1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup fine fresh oil

Freshly ground pepper

Mince the lemon peel very finely with the salt, scrape it into the mortar or bowl, and mash into a fine paste with the pestle or spoon.  Beat in the mustard and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice; when thoroughly blended start beating in the oil by droplets to make a homogeneous sauce—easier when done with a small electric mixer.  Beat in droplets of more lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

For our main plate, I served Grilled Lemon Chicken, Lime Rice, and Asparagus with Lime. (Sorry, no photo)

Grilled Lemon Chicken

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 pounds total)

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon peel (zest)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon finely snipped fresh lemon thyme or thyme

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 lemons, halved

Fresh lemon thyme or thyme sprigs, optional

1. Place the chicken in a resealable plastic back in a shallow bowl. For marinade, in a small bowl stir together chicken broth, lemon peel, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon thyme, and pepper.  Pour over chicken.  Seal bag.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.  Drain chicken, reserving marinade.

2.  Grill chicken on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 12 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink, turning and brushing with marinade halfway through grilling.  Discard any remaining marinade.  Add lemon halves to grill for the last 3 minutes of grilling.

3.  Serve chicken with grilled lemons and, if desired, top with additional fresh thyme.  Makes 4 servings.

Garlic Asparagus with Lime

1 teaspoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

1 bunch fresh asparagus spears, trimmed

1/4 lime, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter with olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Stir in garlic and shallots, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Stir in asparagus spears; cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Squeeze lime over hot asparagus, and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to serving plate, and garnish with lime wedges.

For dessert, I made both Key Lime Pie and Lemon Cream pie, so guests got a little of both.  Due to time constraints, I bought the pie crusts, so the recipes do not include those.

Key Lime Pie

4 egg yolks

1 can (14 ounces) condensed milk

2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice

1 lime, grated zest

1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In an electric mixer with the wire whisk attachment, whip the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until fluffy, or 5 to 6 minutes.  Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to whip until thick, 3 to 4 minutes longer.  Lower the mixer speed and slowly add lime juice until incorporated.  Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling has just set.  Cool on wire rack, and then refrigerate for 20 minutes.  For topping: whip the cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until nearly stiff.  Evenly spread the whipped cream on top of the piece, and place in the freezer for 20 minutes prior to serving.

Lemon Pie

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 (14ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

Mix together the cream cheese, milk, and lemon juice.  Mix well and spread in graham cracker crust.  Chill and top as desired ( I used lemon slices and blueberries).

Favor:  I used the same inexpensive jars from the 99Cent Store for my favors.  I filled them with Lemon-heads and Green Spree candies.  I created a lime tag at the top to identify the occasion.  The "Life would be sour without you" tag I found online at Darling Doodles.  She has several other super cute candy tags (free) which would be great for teacher gifts, etc.

This was another nice dinner party with great food and vibrant colors. I highly recommend this welcome to summer! As usual, comment below or email me with comments, questions, or if you would like me to email you any items used.  Thanks for visiting!