Wedding Luncheon

When Charles became engaged, I knew that we would have to provide a luncheon for the family and guests who could come, so I asked him to let me know what he wanted.  He thought about it for the next few days, and he wanted chicken salad sandwiches and salad.  Anything else, he said would be up to me. (He is really big on salads). I wanted to make it nice and have a variety of food, so I came up with this menu:

                Chicken salad sandwiches (Have to get a recipe)
                 Green salad (just as the freeze hit and lettuce became like gold)
                  w/ croutons, sunflower seeds, and choice of 3 dressings
                 Potato salad (Charles and Chris loved this idea)
                 Seafood pasta salad ( My favorite for a special event)
                 Spinach Strawberry salad ( just to round things out)
                 Carrot sticks, celery sticks, olives, pickles
                 cantaloupe, and pineapple
                 Sparkling white grape juice to drink
And dessert - what for dessert?  I came across this dessert recipe  while I was going through some recipe books one day.  I chose it because I could make it a week before and it had chocolate and ice cream.  You can never go wrong with chocolate and ice cream. So, dessert was Frozen Ice Cream Delight  ( thanks TOH magazine). It was the hit of the day and I had requests for the recipe. So here are the recipes for some of the items at the wedding luncheon.  I will give you dessert first, since life is short.

FROZEN ICE CREAM DESSERT
2-1/2 cups cream filled chocolate cookie crumbs, divided
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened (use any flavor you like)
1/2 to 1 cup salted peanuts
1 carton (8 ozs.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
2 cups confectioners sugar
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (12 ozs.)evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla extract
     Combine 2 cups cookie crumbs with butter and sugar.  Press into the bottom of a 9X13 pan.  Freeze for 15 minutes.  Spread ice cream over crumbs; freeze until firm, about 3 hours.  Meanwhile, combine first four sauce ingredients in a sauce pan; bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla; allow to cool to room temperature ( I stirred it while it was cooling.  Try not stirring it while cooling and see if it freezes harder).  Spoon sauce over ice cream; sprinkle with nuts.  Freeze until firm.  Spread whipped topping over nuts and sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs. Freeze at least 3 hours before serving. Can be stored in the freezer for a up to a week.  Yield 12-16 servings.

There were a couple of requests for the seafood salad. So here it is:

SEAFOOD PASTA SALAD
1 lb. imitation crab ( if you like real crab, use it. We like the imitation because it has a milder flavor.)
1 (24 0z.) package of large shell macaroni
1 package of celery roughly chopped, leaves and all
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup lemon juice ( Fresh is best, but the concentrate is just fine.)
1 Tbsp. onion powder ( you can adjust to taste)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cook, drain and cool pasta according to the directions on the package. Chop celery roughly. Chop crab roughly. In a smaller bowl, combine sour cream, mayo, lemon juice and onion powder.  Pour over pasta, crab and celery. Add salt and pepper. Combine thoroughly and chill.

Now for the chicken salad.  This recipe is for 50 small croissants.  Good for a crowd.  I doubled it for the luncheon and there was plenty.
15 cooked and cut up chicken breasts
1 cup chopped celery
2 Tbsp grated or minced onion ( I grated it and added 1 Tbsp onion powder.  If you don't like onion, don't add the onion powder)
2 cup mayonnaise
4 cup whipping cream
1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese
sliced almonds ( I didn't add these, but it would be very good)
2 Tbsp chicken broth paste
1 tsp. salt ( or to taste)
1/8 tsp. pepper ( or to taste)
Mix together whipping cream and softened cream cheese until cream peaks.  Add onions, mayonnaise, broth, salt and pepper.  Mix well. Add remaining ingredients.  Will make salad filling for 50 small croissants.

SPARKLING WHITE GRAPE JUICE
2 cans frozen concentrate White Grape Cocktail Juice, slightly thawed
1 1/2 liters club soda
ice
Combine slightly thawed juice with club soda.  Pour over ice.

Something from Mom

So it has taken me a while to figure this blogging business but I think I have it now.  So far the posts and comments have been very interesting to me.  I thought I would add to the recipes too with the Fresh Garden Salsa that I made.  I experimented with it so that I could get some accurate measurements.  So.. Here goes.

Fresh Garden Salsa  ( Salsa Fresca)
1 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup finely seeded and diced hot peppers ( I used serrano and jalapeno because it was in the garden.  You can add more if you want it hotter.)
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped flat leaf parsley or cilantro.  (Fresh is best when it comes to parsley)
2 1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Mix all the ingredients together in bowl. Yes, a bowl.  Stir until mixed well and serve with you favorite chips or mexican food.  I am not sure how long it will keep in the fridge.  I would say 5-7 days.  It is YUMMY!  Dad doesn't like it because it gets watery, but that has alot of flavor in it.

I have to agree that parsley is really the greatest.  It is one of those flavors that you think,"Hmmm what is this?"  I always try to have at least some dried on hand.

Sour cream is also good in pretty much any thing.  In fact, I think I have a recipe for a sour cream chocolate cake and sour cream chocolate frosting.  I have made fruit salads for special events with sour cream in it.  One time we had a primary event of some kind, and we made a frozen sour cream and fruit salad.  YEA for sour cream.  There are also other things that I like to keep on hand.  Cream cheese, plain yogurt, dried buttermilk (found in the baking section) and dry whipped topping.   They are great to have in your pantry or fridge.

By the way, I was at the elementary today, and took class to the library.  Apparently, September is Roald Dahl month.  We could read a Roald Dahl book for this month.  They would be a really read and fun too.  I have a few of them here and we could pass them around when we are finished.  There was another book that I heard about today too, but I can't remember the name now.  I will find it out.  I remember the author, Suzanne Collins.  My memory...Honestly.   Let me know what you want to do!