Well, I have my grandson here tonight. My daughter and SIL are at the state swim meet with the youngest ( who qualified for 11 events....'scuse me if I brag!), Meg just got home from Cheer Camp and has to work, Steve's working Laser Rock Fest ( don't ask!) so it's just Pat ( he's the autistic one) and me and we will be having a slightly different menu.
We'll begin with Mountain Dew ( and a bit of Scotch for me) and some Maytag Blue and crackers, and continue with BBQ chicken wings ( his choice) Fresh Iowa Corn!, Fresh green beans quickly steamed and dressed with crisp bacon and fried onions, a side of pasta with pesto and "forgotten rolls" which I will try very hard to remember.
I suspect dessert will be soft serve chocolate at Cone Corner!
But I am glad to be invited.
Linda C

Debbie, your menu sounds great!

Our plans changed a bit, my friends couldn't make it, their daughter wasn't feeling well, hers and mine just got home late last night from a camp Dude Ranch trip. So my parents are having dinner with us and even my kids are staying put on a Saturday night!

We're starting with some marinated mushrooms from BBpick, I'm making Woodie's Tomato Salad for my dad, Ann's Vittorio Salad for the rest of us, Maggie's Ginger-Soy London Broil, Tequila-Glazed Chicken, Zucchini Trifolati with Tomatoes, Steamed Fingerling Potatoes, and Debbie and Lee's Chocolate Sorbet with Toasted Pound Cake. Wanted to make David's Elvis Poundcake but I didn't have any heavy cream so I went with an old tried and true from a neighbor! My feet kind of hurt :) I forgot to make the Sangria, but I will having a vodka and lemonade in a little bit while Larry grills.

Dinner will be at 7pm.

Linda, your menu sounds great and what could be better than spending time with your grandson! LOL, at the rolls! Enjoy!

Hey! How's everyone doing with their prep and cooking? I'm guessing some might be serving munchies about now or maybe even dinner depending.
I got side tracked today....stop at a classic and custom car show and ran into a couple from my marina/dock days with my houseboat. I ended up hanging out with them going to lunch and running around the lake all afternoon.
I'm raising a Long Island Tea to y'all...clink. I'm munching on BBQ Pecans and Hummus getting ready to make the Coral Soup. I'll make my dinner tomorrow night and take leftovers and samples to the office. I was going to drop out and not do it as I'm home alone this weekend. I really wanted to try these new to me recipes so I'm back on track....just a day late with the official dinner. I'll be trying the soup once it's chilled.
Do you think the margarita shrimp will be okay the next day(Monday)? It's served cold, but I've never had leftover shrimp...ever! LOL
Just wanted to say hi and see how everyone is doing.
Hope everyone has a great evening!!

Deb, everything sounds great. I'm playing with my new ice cream maker too. I'm doing vanilla for my first go around...I'm thinking this thing will be working overtime for the next several weeks.

Linda, sounds good to me. I love wings and I'm doing corn too...the asparagus looked terrible and was $5.99 a pound....I passed.

Carol, kids home on a Saturday night....take a picture! LOL You need some Crocs for those hurting feet my friend. Sounds like a great menu to me! Clink!!

David

DH is out grilling our chicken and potatoes. The basil dressing for the chicken is outstanding and I keep stealing little tastes now and again. The Fregola salad was not very good so I trashed it and whipped up some cole slaw instead. And I made 2 desserts so did not have time to make the corn bread but I will make it tomorrow so it is nice and hot with my morning coffee!

Pictures later....

Michelle

Hi all.....

Wow all new recipes and all were a big hit...

We just acutually came in the house cause it was too cold outside!

The Garlic Spinach Puree was "addictive" according to one guest, The Coral Soup was like eating a salad!mmmmmmmm

Lots of wine and beer too!

Thanks for the invite, but we already have one-- babysitting the grandboys and going next door to an 8 year old's wild b-day party and dinner LOL!

David, don't worry about day old shrimp. Have you cooked it yet? I'm not familiar with the recipe, but often eat left over shrimp up to 3 days later. Yum!
Linda- enjoy your meal with the grandson, I'm sure it will be fun. A friend just wrote a beautiful book that will be out in Oct about autism. I saw the galleys last night, there's some wonderful photography in it too.

I am stuffed, lots of keeper recipes tonight!

Too cold? We stayed indoors, it was soooooo hot and humid!

LOL, David, I'm such a dope! I have crocs and I never even bothered with shoes today, I was too busy prepping and playing on the computer! I'm loving that Cuisinart, too!

Looking forward to pictures, Michelle! I'm going now to check out mine!

That chicken with tequila glaze was sooooo good, and Michelle, do make the cornbread, it was very tasty and will make a good breakfast.

Dave says we will post pix tomorrow!

Guests left fairly early so here are some pix.....(Pam check out the placemats!)

Nibblies on the table, waiting for guests!

and here is the soup.....not a bad colour and quite tasty!

Tequila Glazed chicken in bottom, Carribean Corn bread and some bbq veggies were the main course. Delicious cucumber salad brought by our guests in orange bowl.

The dessert was very refreshing and summery.....a real make again!

Thanks to all who shared their recipes, some new faves were made tonight!

We loved the menu, and all recipes are keepers. Looking forward to everyone's pictures. Michelle, I agree that the basil dressing for the chicken is outstanding. I'll use that dressing again and again, especially to drizzle over fresh tomatoes.

We had homegrown heirloom tomatoes, Jack Magri style posted by Woodie. Delicious.

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Appetizer was Grilled pita bread using Chancesmom's fennel quesadilla recipe as a guide. Chance, these are addictive!

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We loved the main course, grilled chicken with basil dressing. Also a keeper.
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For dessert, we had a duo of chocolate sorbet and vanilla ice cream. I served the sorbet in a daylily just for fun.

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I was so busy today and baked 2 desserts, David's Elvis' Favorite Pound Cake and the Plum Raspberry Buckle. And I had 3 of my 4 ovens all going at once and 2 burners on my stove, thank goodness for AC!

The salad I had planned was not very good at all, I just knew I should have subbed rice for the orzo! So I whipped up some cole slaw with the last of my cabbage. The Chicken with Basil Dressing was very good and I will make this again. The grilled potatoes were delicious but I've made these before and they are always good, no matter what seasonings I add. The plate did not turn out as pretty as I had planned but it all tasted very good.

The Pound Cake was a different texture then other Pound Cakes I've made. It is lighter and sweeter and very good. I do not have a tube pan and the recipe is rather large, so made 1 loaf cake and 12...count 'em 12 Cakelettes! For some reason the Cakelette photo keeps turning out blurry.

The Buckle turned out beautifully and anything looking with good going in and coming out has got to be wonderful and it sure did not disappoint me!

All in all it was so fun!! I love our virtual dinners and thank you Sharon for taking the time to organize them.

Michelle

PS: I finally found a use for that silly curved grapefruit knife! It is perfect to slide down the curves in the cakelette pans and then the little cakelette just pops right out with very little damage at all.

My family loved all the new recipes! it was a great dinner tonight. Ann's vittorio salad was so good. I loved it! The zucchini was a hit! The potatoes were ok, we liked them roasted much better! The London Broil was excellent and this is the third time since the August Bon Appetit issue came out that I've made the Tequila-Glazed chicken. I love it! The chocolate sorbet with the toasted pound cake was delicious! The sorbet is very sweet and we went with Debbie's suggestion to serve it with vanilla ice cream. Perfect!

Thanks for a great dinner! Looking forward to hearing about all the dinners! Everyone's so far looks so good!

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Thank you, Sharon, for organizing another fantastic Virtual Dinner Party! and thanks to Jayne for posting that thread at the top, it made it a lot easier to go back and look for recipes!

I am sooo hungry! All the pictures are just amazing! That chicken looks incredible (and I am so chicken'd out . .so that is saying ALOT!!)

I knew I should have had more than a bowl of cereal for dinner!

I'm so sorry I don't have a camera, because I just love the photo sharing part of the virtual dinners! Everything looks so good I just want to reach through the monitor and taste it! It's quite virtual, as I can ALMOST taste how good it is by seeing how good it looks.

I'm like David and am not doing my dinner until Sunday evening. I haven't done too well today with prep., because I got a migrane at about noon and didn't re-imerge until 5 PM. I went to the farm market, everything I wanted to buy in the fruit department was too expensive except I got one canteloupe which is just for me, not the virtual dinner. Then I went to the grocery and found some strawberries on sale which will go into the Sangria.

Then, tonight when I was making the first salad, my drain came unhooked unbeknownst to me until I noticed that I was standing in a puddle of water by the sink. I opened the door to the cupboard under the sink and there was a lake under there!

So my first virtual dinner dish was a complete poof, something I didn't even plan on making but I realized I had to get rid of some of these ingredients in the fridge to make room for other stuff. It is very yummy, a red potato, green bean, scallion and beet salad, with a lemon juice, garlic, dill and olive oil dressing. Plus some leftover feta thrown in. I really like potato salad with a vinegar and oil or lemon juice dressing.

I'm so glad to hear everyone is having a good day. I can't wait to hear the rest of the reports. Those pictures are so wonderful. I'm definately going to have to make that plum buckle. The plums at the market were the best thing going today, but I had to resist.

This summer food is so fantastic, I wish this time of year would never end. But unlike you Californians, we northeasterners have to live it up while we can, lol!

WOW!!!!!! So many wonderful pictures.

Janet , thanks for sharing your table as well as the food. Everything looks wonderful.

Debbie, What a nice "invite". And your dinner!!! I just love how you plated. So pretty. I can almost taste those tomatoes.

Carol, I'm glad you liked Vittorio's salad. It is one of the very few salads that I actual like.

Your dinner looks wonderful and your dessert looks delicious. That chocolate sorbet looks decadent.

Michele, your cakelette is soooo cute.

I ended up changing my menu. I had planned on doing more courses, but since I didn't get home until almost 6:30 I adjusted. Combined two courses into one. I grilled prawns that I had marinated in garlic, hot red pepper flakes, tequila and lime and served them with a spicy Gazpacho soup. Moe gave it 5 Stars.

Bravo..to each and everyone of you~:)

oh man

It is breakfast time here and everything looks great! I oculd start the day with shrimp and quesadillas - they ay not go with coffee too well, but I could sacrifice and make a Mimosa LOLOLOL!

I'm so glad you all had a good time.

I am LOLing at chances mom that it was too cold - whew! It is hot and humid here too - just suffocating outside.

Thanks for sharing all the photos - they are excellent!

Alexa

Good Morning everyone! All the food sounds and looks amazing!

We really enjoyed ourselves last night too!.

Dinner started on the boat with David's Walnut, Spinach Garlic puree and marinated mushrooms. Both were a big hit and as Debbie said the puree is addictive!

Back at the cottage we had Alexa's Margarita Shrimp , yummy sopping up all that wonderful sauce with chunks of French bread. I think another time I will serve then as a nibblie with drinks instead of a first course same as I do Shrimp Tapas.

The main course was grilled veal loin served with Black olive salsa, thanks Ann this was delicious!

Also served the Panzanella but was very disappointed in the tomatoes, they were billed as "field tomatoes " but the fields must have been in Peru!!!

Dessert was lime sherbert, simple but great after everything else.

I did take lots of pics and will post them when I get home and can upload them.

Thanks to everyone for joing us for dinner.

Dishes, you have more pictures then descriptions! LOL! What is the second picture, the one with tomatoes and red onions? And what is the second from the last picture the one with tomatoes and zucchini?

The London Broil looks amazingly good! I wanted to do London Broil or BBQ Ribs but the prices were so high. And the dessert with toasted pound cake is such a great idea!

Debbie the quesadillas look so good and so easy too. I am keeping these in mind for next week! And your sorbet in the day lilly is such a cute idea and the yellow bloom is the perfect color for your table. Is the zucchini grilled with butter and parmesan?

And chance your Coral Soup looks so luscious! I am not a fan of cold soups but I think I might give this one a try. And your table is so colorful and festive...love the placemats! Is that sorbet and what flavor? Your dessert presentation is so pretty and a perfect ending to your wonderful dinner.

Sharon, where's the pictures?

Michelle

Michelle, I stole the toasted poundcake idea from a diner I from when I was a kid. Always went to the diner after hanging out with friends on Friday nights. Toasted poundcake and chocolate ice cream. Perfect late night snack! The Zucchini is called Zucchini Trifolati with Tomatoes. The Tomato Salad are Woodie's Jack Magri Tomatoes.

Here's Jaynes link to all the dinner threads, the Zucchini Trifolati is on the Virtual Dinner -- Sides link.

Here's the Pound Cake, if you like! It's really good!

LISAÂS POUND CAKE

1 cup butter or margarine (softened)
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon Amaretto (or vanilla or almond extract)

Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. It's very important to beat until the sugar is no longer grainy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in the flour and the amaretto. Spoon into the two prepared loaf pans. Set in a COLD oven and then turn oven on to temperature of 350 degrees F. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or more until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

We had marinated mushrooms to start but I forgot to take a picture. Here's a picture from the Winter Virtual dinner if you want to see what they look like! They are delicious!
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Here is a link that might be useful: Virtual Summer Dinner -- Links to threads

Boy I wish I had a camera. This is turning out to be one of our best virtual dinners yet!

I'm all prepped for my dinner tonight. The homeade boursin with fresh lemon thyme is going to be fantastic! Thanks Chase for the recipe. I've never made it before but this is absolutely the best way to show off fresh herbs from the garden! My coral soup is coral, and the blackberry shortbread, while definately a pain to make, looks very sexy so worth making for a dinner party. I blanched almonds for the first (and last) time today. Looks great but life is too short to stand around peeling almonds when the skin is edible.

All I have to do tonight when my guests arrive is make the blt salad and fry the zuchinni corn fritters. I'm a little nervous about them since I have never made zuchinni fritters before. Oh well, I have a lot of other goodies if they don't work out.

Now it's off to straighten the parts of the house that I didn't do yesterday. I'll report back how it went tonight.

Michelle, that is the Orange Basil Sorbet posted by Jain on the dessert thread......it was definitely my favourite recipe of the night (chicken was a close second). I only "steeped" the basil in the sorbet mixture for an hour, but do it longer if you have time. It was wonderful!!

Three cheers to you all! What wonderful meals and thanks for sharing all the gorgeous pictures, menus, recipes, table settings and creative ideas for presentation. Very inspiring.

Everything looks so good-- and sounds like it was all enjoyed by everyone-- even those of us who are just peeking in today .

Diane

After way too many months away, I was lucky enough to stop in a few minutes on Thursday and make note of 2 veal chop recipes (with balsamic vinegar - and Ann's with tomato salsa). Then Friday I was picking up glasses at Costco and saw the veal chops. I figured the balsamic sounded so easy, I could manage that for Saturday. I invited a friend over - who doesn't like vinegar - so I made 2 veal chops dishes - with the balsamic marinade and with Ann's tomato salsa. Both came out perfectly on the grill - so moist. (I am so glad we got a better grill this year.)

Sides were corn on the cob, fresh bread with garlic olive oil and pasta (butter and salt - or tomato salsa).

It was a very nice meal - which I didn't know I'd be able to participate in. I wish I could have participated in the planning.

Thanks to everyone for wonderful recipes and pictures.

I'll have to try the tequila chicken and basil chicken.

I hope to be around more often.

Lynn.

Hi Lynn, great to hear from you and glad you could participate!

My dinner is finally over. Very fun time overall. Started with sangria and bruschetta with Chase's boursin on the porch. Sangria is such a fun summer drink, so refreshing. I made mine with Spanish white wine, peach schapps, a little brandy, and some champagne I had in little bottles plus 7-up. Garnished with strawberries and kiwis, very good!

I set up my backyard for guests on the patio, and we had dinner under the umbrella. It rained a bit but the umbrella kept us dry. All the dishes were great, but the best loved things were the coral soup and the blackberry shortbread bars. My friend was a vegan, unbeknownst to me, (she's gotten into it for health reasons), so I really could have left out the cheese in some of my dishes like the pesto and fritters. The fritters were the least good dish. I have never been a fritter fan, I just think they are too greasy and hard to get done in the middle withouth burning on the outside. Adding cheese did not help, that was a big mistake but I was trying to use some cheese up that I had in the fridge. My freind brought a potato-beet salad so I didn't get to use mine. I know what I'll be having for lunch this week, lol!

Good friends, good food, good vibes. A great opportunity to cook up a storm!

I've really enjoyed reading through this thread! What wonderful descriptions and pictures - now I have to go back and check out the recipes :) Great job organizing, Sharon!

Michelle, I brush the zucchini slices with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. When I took them off the grill, I sprinkled them with parmesan. Nothing better in the summer.

I also did an abbreviated version of the dinner and had a guest, Larry Engelhardt!

Since I had volunteered a couple of hours at the Travelling Vietnam Memorial Wall that was in town this weekend, and I didn't want to miss the dancing at PowWow, dinner was fast. I made Sue's Roadhouse Ribs on Friday night and just warmed them on Saturday with the sauce, along with some fresh beets and fresh Royal Burgundy beans from the garden. I made Alexa's Caribbean Corn Bread and there was a Chocolate/Zucchini cake for dessert but Larry and I both ate too many ribs and too much cornbread to have room for dessert.

We both went to PowWow then to the Wall, and Larry went home, leaving me to wash the dishes. LOL

Annie

All the pics and descriptions are beautiful, great job!

Debbie, I took your suggestion of the Basil Dressing over fresh sliced tomatoes and it was excellent! I don't even like fresh tomatoes and I ate every bite!

Everyone did such a great job! Thank you all for sharing and answering all my questions.

How about a Harvest Moon Dinner this Fall before we all start planning for the Holidays?

Michelle

Michelle, glad you loved the basil dressing! It's something I will make again and again.

Harvest Moon Dinner...sounds good to me. Sharon, if we haven't already worn out our welcome, perhaps you would be interested in organizing it.

Lovely dinners everyone! Thank you for the invitation.

I enjoyed the romantic virtual dinner that Sharon organized last winter, and wished I could've joined this one, but knew I'd be on vacation, otherwise I'd have participated.

I'm off to look for some of the recipes now.

Sol