Back-2-School (WHAT!?) Potluck

Last night Molly and I hosted a potluck for several of our friends to celebrate the summer and hang out one more time before its back to school. Molly (my little sister) leaves for school this week, but I still have a few more weeks (this is totally fine with me, I could use another a month).

We had a great evening! It is nice that as we have gotten older, we share friends - much more fun and efficient. :)

I am the fairest of them all, yikes. 

My contribution to dinner were the kabobs. Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs from All Recipes, to be exact. I always find the comments on All Recipes to be helpful. With a commenter's advice I added pineapple to the skewers and remembered to soak the skewers in water for a few hours prior to grill time. However in true Madeline-cooking-fashion, improvisation was necessary and "grilling time" turned into broiler time. No.Propane. Next time your grill runs out of propane, charcoal, etc., broil your skewers for five minutes on each side. 

The other great items on the plate were: caesar salad, balsamic quinoa salad with cranberries, feta, and cucumbers and taco dip. Not pictured: goat cheese and whole wheat Carr's crackers. 

And for dessert, an always popular crowd pleaser: brownies (made with applesauce instead of oil). Yum!

More end of summer celebrations to come!

P.S. The coriander seed has been dried and plucked from it's stems. It didn't quite fall off like it was supposed to but came off quite easily. Now, what to make with it?

A Weekend in the D of C

What a great weekend in DC. Good food, even better friends & family. 

Thursday we spent most of the day in the car, after a stop to Trader Joe's for car snacks. Friday morning brought a quick trip to the mall for wedding attire, and then lunch at 2Amy's. I had the Margherita, Dad had the Norcia, and Molly had the Etna pizza (she picked off all of the olives -  I ate them for her). 

Friday evening was wedding time. My oldest sister (I am one of five girls), Lindsay, was married. After a small but lovely fireside wedding the two fam's headed to dinner. We went to Mixtec where my sister and the world's most adorable chef, Pepe, planned a delicious family style meal. I'm not going to try and act like I know the proper names of what we ate, so here is how I saw it: guacamole, nachos (I was full after that), chicken, red snapper, beef, rice and beans. For dessert a pound cake-ish cake with a strawberry-tequila syrup poured over the top. 

Saturday morning my newly married sister, little sister and Mom went to Teaism for breakfast. I arrived just in time to eat from everyone else's breakfasts - I was being a little indecisive when they left, so many options of fun things to do. This trip was perfect because a fellow blogger/former teacher recommended Teaism's Salty Oat cookies. What a great dessert breakfast, I shared a regular and chocolate cookie with my sisters and mom. 

Saturday night was the real wedding party (as if Friday nights celebration dinner wasn't enough). The party was held at The Saloon on U Street. It's a really unique place. The owner closes up for a month every year to build schools in countries that really need them. The dinner was great especially mac n' cheese. More importantly, it was a great celebration and I am so glad I could be a part of it!