HELP! Dinner party advice

mamie329

I'm throwing my first semi-adult dinner party Thursday with my H, my BFF, and her H. 

Any ideas on something easy I could make??  

Leigha12

Do you want easy as in easy execution or quick? I have a fantabulous stuffed pasta shells recipe that is always a hit at my dinner parties. It's easy to make but has a few steps so it can take a little while to put it together. But it bakes for 45 minutes, and I always love having that time free to wash the dishes and make the salad.

mamie329

Hmmm, both easy execution and quick.... unless I duck out of work early. 

Leigha12

Everything I cook aside from spaghetti takes forever. So I'm not much help. Maybe Hawki's stuffed peppers or lime shrimp recipes? Both were yummy and I don't think they took too long.

LarkNow

I would think a pasta dish.  I made shrimp scampi over pasta to impress my MIL.  You could google recipes, but I seem to remember just oil, garlic, shrimp, some herbs, maybe pepper flakes, too.  Boil the pasta then toss together.  She liked it.

mamie329

I make a half decent baked ziti, but I use canned sauce (which IMO makes it a fail). I'm hesitant to try something new just in case I eff it up. I'm still getting used to my oven and stove. 

 

hopscotch.

I have a killer baked ziti recipe.  Put that together with Ceasar Lite bagged salad and some garlic toast and dessert.  What the recipe?

mamie329

hopscotch.:

I have a killer baked ziti recipe.  Put that together with Ceasar Lite bagged salad and some garlic toast and dessert.  What the recipe?

Yes, please! I think pasta will work since pregnant BFF has been telling me she's had a big Italian craving the past few weeks.  

hopscotch.

mamie329:

hopscotch.:

I have a killer baked ziti recipe.  Put that together with Ceasar Lite bagged salad and some garlic toast and dessert.  What the recipe?

Yes, please! I think pasta will work since pregnant BFF has been telling me she's had a big Italian craving the past few weeks.  

I'll email it to you!  I also have a good oreo brownie recipe I just found that I'll send you too. 

stephriz

mamie329:

I make a half decent baked ziti, but I use canned sauce (which IMO makes it a fail). I'm hesitant to try something new just in case I eff it up. I'm still getting used to my oven and stove. 

 

Make your ziti the night before and keep it in the fridge.  All you'll have to do is bake it before the party and put together your sides.

mamie329

Thanks M! And you know I love my oreos. *That was breakfast today*

steph, ooh great idea! I can totally do that.  

mamie329

BFF thinks baked ziti idea sounds delish! I just hope it tastes half decent! And since she's KU, should I buy some sparking juice or something? 

hopscotch.

mamie329:

BFF thinks baked ziti idea sounds delish! I just hope it tastes half decent! And since she's KU, should I buy some sparking juice or something? 

It is delish and cheesy!  Just sent you an email with the recipes.  Let me know if you have any questions on them. 

Is she a big sparkling juice kind of person?  For me, personally, I think it's a cute idea...but I can't see myself drinking it.  What about making some iced tea?  Is she a tea drinker?  (this could totally be the it's 90 degrees and our AC is out talking in me, though)

hawkilady

Sorry I'm late but ziti is a perfect dinner party meal... like Steph said, you can even make it Wednesday night and refrigerate so all you have to do is bake it. 

If you want to be fancy, make some homemade bread - this dutch oven herb bread is easy and awesome and you can make it Wednesday night too.

Be careful if you are going to have Caesar salad - a lot of Caesar dressing has raw eggs in it.  Maybe do an Italian salad, like Olive Garden instead. 

I would skip the sparkling juice, but that's just because I think its awful.  Its a cute gesture though if she's the type that would drink it. 

Do you need a dessert?  This cookies and cream cake is extremely easy and fast to put together, bake the cake the night before and then just fill and frost it on Thursday.  Or these dulce de leche cheesecake bars could be made a couple days in advance and refrigerated.

mbd62709

You are all making me hungry!!!! As a former pregnant lady, I think the sparkling juice is a good idea if she'd like it. I drank it at Thanksgiving & Christmas. Also I avoided caffiene while pregnant so if you make iced tea, maybe make it decaffinated or ask her about caffiene? Ditto Hawki about the caesar salad, another thing to avoid while KU.

Hopscotch would you mind sharing your baked ziti & dessert recipes? I can give you my email if you want. TIA!

hopscotch.

mb&d6.27.09:

You are all making me hungry!!!! As a former pregnant lady, I think the sparkling juice is a good idea if she'd like it. I drank it at Thanksgiving & Christmas. Also I avoided caffiene while pregnant so if you make iced tea, maybe make it decaffinated or ask her about caffiene? Ditto Hawki about the caesar salad, another thing to avoid while KU.

Hopscotch would you mind sharing your baked ziti & dessert recipes? I can give you my email if you want. TIA!

Sure - shoot me your email address (you can PM me if you want) and I'll email it to you.  The formatting is wonky, so it isn't really web postable.

 

mbd62709

hopscotch.:

mb&d6.27.09:

You are all making me hungry!!!! As a former pregnant lady, I think the sparkling juice is a good idea if she'd like it. I drank it at Thanksgiving & Christmas. Also I avoided caffiene while pregnant so if you make iced tea, maybe make it decaffinated or ask her about caffiene? Ditto Hawki about the caesar salad, another thing to avoid while KU.

Hopscotch would you mind sharing your baked ziti & dessert recipes? I can give you my email if you want. TIA!

Sure - shoot me your email address (you can PM me if you want) and I'll email it to you.  The formatting is wonky, so it isn't really web postable.

 

just sent you a PM

 

hopscotch.

mb&d6.27.09:

hopscotch.:

mb&d6.27.09:

You are all making me hungry!!!! As a former pregnant lady, I think the sparkling juice is a good idea if she'd like it. I drank it at Thanksgiving & Christmas. Also I avoided caffiene while pregnant so if you make iced tea, maybe make it decaffinated or ask her about caffiene? Ditto Hawki about the caesar salad, another thing to avoid while KU.

Hopscotch would you mind sharing your baked ziti & dessert recipes? I can give you my email if you want. TIA!

Sure - shoot me your email address (you can PM me if you want) and I'll email it to you.  The formatting is wonky, so it isn't really web postable.

just sent you a PM

Just sent them to you!

mamie329

Thanks, guys! 

hawki, those recipes look ah-mazing. I'm so lazy - I'm not making H his birthday cake today - I'm making it tomorrow to serve double duty for the dinner party. Two birds, one stone.

She does love iced tea, but I'm not sure about the caffeine thing.  

megs1383

Hopscotch, those sound awesome! would you mind sending the recipes to me too? I'll shoot you a PM.