Monday, November 8, 2010

The dinner I couldn't taste

Happy Monday all!

              Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I know a few lucky people ate their way through Foodbuzz weekend!! Looked like a lot of fun:) I, on the other hand, was trying to remedy a cold I caught. Boo!! It started on Thursday as I was totally lethargic and could barely function. Then on Friday I felt a lot better and even made it to the gym for a great upper body workout sesh from Jessica's site.

I had my sis-in-law over that night and we had a glass of wine together which I think is what kicked my cold into high gear as the next morning I was down for the count. I had made plans already to cook our good friends some dinner on Saturday night and I kept my word, even though it took a lot of rest stops and a nap to get me through! The worst of it was I couldn't taste a darn thing. Cooking without my taste buds? Yes, sadly I was cooking blind!!

Anywho, here was the menu!


 Soba noodle salad with ginger peanut dressing from Vegetarian Times. For some reason I didn't take a picture of this beautiful salad but it looked something like I've made before...

Yum!!!

I had this big ambition to make three salads and a soup plus dessert but due to me feeling like my head was going to explode, I toned it down to one salad, a soup, and cupcakes:)


As for the soup, I made a roasted butternut squash soup by Michael Chiarello on the Food Network. It was a lot of effort but the soup turned out pretty amazing. I added in too much squash so my soup turned out a bit thick but the taste was all there...apparently!

Now for dessert!! I saw Angela post an amazing recipe for.....
Mini Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiced Buttercream and Candied Maple Walnuts and I knew they were going to be my little treat for the dinner guests!!

 I started by shelling some walnuts! Mmmm local walnuts that I picked myself:)

Then I candied them up!

Then I frosted them up!!! I went with the full size cupcakes:)
Yum!! These turned out perfect!! Just moist enough! And with that icing...divine!

What's your favorite cupcake recipe?

I made it through the dinner with the help of some herbal tea. Then I gave our friends a scoby to make their own kombucha!! Wahoo!! So excited to share my knowledge and help someone make this amazing drink!

Sunday came along and I was feeling a bit better so I helped the hubby who had this sudden urge to have an organization bonanza of the house! I didn't fuss one bit:) I'm happy to say my kitchen is spotless and with some better organization, I have more counter space..wahoo! The rest of the house is looking awesome too.

Oh how I love progress!!!

All while we the hubby worked around the house the kittens had a grand ole time playing!

 I see you Oddie!!

I got you, big bro!!

 Time for a nap!

:)

Night Night!!

4 comments:

bitt said...

I hope you feel better soon. Sorry you could not appreciate the food that much but I am sure everyone else did. I have been eyeing Ange's cupcakes too. Nice job. Tell her you posted them, she might link back.

Anonymous said...

you are a star! I defo would have cancelled, but I'm such a baby like that.

cupcakes are my all time favorite dessert! (to eat, not to make! haha)

Torri

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness, your kitties are too cute cuddling like that!! They even match, good thinking :)
I'm going to try out that butternut squash soup sometime soon - I'd never tried butternut squash until this fall and now I absolutely LOVE it. Definitely encourages me to try new things :)

Melissa said...

Hey Aimee - Ya, it was too bad the first time I actually had the chance to make the butternut soup..oh well I'll just have to use up another one in my stash:)
You need to try those cupcakes..they are really yummy!!

Hey Torri - Oh I totally thought about canceling but for some reason I had the strength to keep working so I just went with it!!
Those cupcakes were so yummy!!

Hey Paula - Aren't the kittens too cute..te he!! Love them! Butternut squash is so amazing. I love thick soups!! Mmmm!!