Summer Lunch with Friends

It’s summertime … so it was time once again to arrange a Summer Lunch with Friends before some of us headed back to school.

And this year I will be heading back to school with them!  Yes, I’m going back to teach a couple of hours a day and I’m so excited.  It’s been a really long time since I’ve been this excited about teaching.  No paperwork, duties, meetings, etc. …. just the joys of teaching a couple of hours a day!

Ok, anyway, back to lunch with my friends ….  just wanted to share that news with y’all! 🙂

Yellow, Pink and Green

The decorating all began with the flowers.  I had an idea in mind for what I wanted, but I was at the mercy of the local Walmart (but I did have a backup plan).  But fortunately, I was able to start out with these beautiful flowers.

They had two of these bouquets, so I was able to use a yellow, pink and green color scheme.

At one time, my dad owned a gun shop and I picked up this ammo box from his shed.  I was going to use this distressing technique I found on Pinterest, but all it actually took to get an awesome looking box was some white paint.  Oh, and some stealth sanding.  I actually sneaked and used Chris’ electric sander which he would never let me use.  Ha!  Piece of cake.  Sanded the text right off the box.  It did make me a little uneasy that maybe I was also going to sand my toes since I didn’t have a table to work on and yeah, flip flops may not be suitable sanding wear.  Chris still says I can’t have my own sander.  We’ll see. 😉

At some point I may go back and stencil on the side of the box.  I’ll have to wait until I get my nerve up, because I don’t want to mess up a good thing.

The Food

MENU

Croissants with shaved ham, bacon, fresh pineapple  and swiss or cream cheese

Chopped Fruit with Vanilla Yogurt

Parmesan Pasta Salad

Chicken Caesar Salad

Fruit and Cheese Tray

Oreo Cake

Tea, Raspberry Lemonade, Wine

The food was yummy and I got to try out some new recipes from Pinterest.  The Chicken Caesar Salad was a big hit and I was really surprised at how much I liked the Parmesan Pasta Salad.  It was really good!  And then of course I pulled out some of my favorites: Chopped Fruit with those delicious carmelized nuts and that seriously good Oreo Cake.  That cake never fails to deliver!  Even my husband has now become a fan!!

CHOPPED FRUIT RECIPE

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD RECIPE

I’m not usually a fan of raw vegetables, but in this Parmesan Pasta Salad the raw corn was delicious.  The raw asparagus  …. ehhh, I could take it or leave it.  And I’d never eaten sun dried tomatoes to this degree before.  They were delicious and the dish wouldn’t be right without them.

The recipe called for fresh, shocked vegetables.  Instead, I used frozen vegetables that I heated in the microwave just enough to knock the ice off of them.  Here’s the recipe:

PARMESAN PASTA SALAD RECIPE

Here’s another photo of that Oreo Cake!  I added some extra whipped topping to the bottom of this one because that stuff is sooooo good I couldn’t bare to throw it away.  Here’s the recipe again:

OREO CAKE RECIPE

I’ll end the post with a story about all those lemons. 🙂

Even though Chris reminded me to get lemons while we were at Walmart, I still forgot them.  So, the night before, he offered to go back and get them for me.  I gently told him before he left … I don’t need 4 or 5 lemons, I need a lot and I showed him the space that I needed to fill.  So he assured me that he’d come back with a boatload of lemons.  Outside I was shaking my head yes, but inside I was not so sure he was up to to the task.

Eventually, he came home from Walmart and he did indeed have a boatload of lemons and a story to match.  He said not one, not two, but four different people asked him what he was going to do with all those lemons.  And he assured them that his wife had told him not to return home unless he had a boatload of lemons!

Then when he got to the register, he put his four, filled to the brim, bags of lemons on the conveyor belt and the cashier informed him that she’d have to count every lemon.  Apparently, you purchase lemons not by the pound, but by the item.  So Chris came home with 62 lemons … which was more than enough!  Friends were sent home with bags of lemons and a funny story!

Now I’m going to use my mother’s old hand juicer and teach Dakota how to make lemonade.  The 10 year old version is you squirt lemon juice out of the bottle into a glass of water and add sugar.

Hope your summer ends with some lemons and fun!  Don’t forget to have your own Summer Lunch with Friends.  You can replace a lot of things, but time spent with your friends isn’t one of them.