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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Birthday Dinner Menu - Help a sister out
I'm drawing a blank on what to make for my stepdad's birthday dinner on Saturday. The best I've come up with is chicken and corn casserole with another side of some sort. A salad maybe. A good cheese and meat plate for apps.
I would let DH cook it, but he ends up making something delish but it will also be super fancy and my parents don't really do super fancy.
I like cooking and what I make comes out really well, but I cannot come up with a complete menu. I'm having a very "duh" moment. It's been a rough week.
It'll probably wind up me wandering around the farmer's market Saturday morning just picking things out.
What is a nice but non-complicated dinner you've done for a special occasion?
Re: Birthday Dinner Menu - Help a sister out
I like to do bacon-wrapped stuffed chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and a green veggie (broccoli, asparagus, green beans, whatever) for a super easy, quick, and delicious meal when I have people over.
I don't know if that's too fancy? If they don't like spinach you could do it with just the cheese....
Or grilled steaks, salads, and grilled packet potatoes....if you have a grill.Could you grill? At this time of year, the easiest thing that I always go to with simple ingredients would be grilled chicken (or whatever kind of meat - pork, steak, etc.), baked potatoes, and veggies - we did that twice last week at the beach and it was yummy both times. We marinated the chicken (I have a yummy marinade recipe), then threw that on the grill with the potatoes and the veggies - I chopped zucchini and squash into strips, threw them into a bag with some Gazebo Room dressing for a few hours, then tossed them on the grill, too. Beyond delicious, and makes use of the nice weather by grilling out!
I'll keep brainstorming, because DH/FIL/BIL are kings of "simple" meals (they're total meat-and-potatoes men, so I've adapted my cooking...) and I've got a lot of the simple meals, but there's one suggestion, at least.
... every single day of forever.
I loved grilled food too. Steaks or chicken marinated in Gazebo Room or Italian dressing is easy and so yummy. We usually grill with peppers and onions cut up and marinated, or with corn on the cob.
If they like seafood, you could do a simple shrimp scampi over pasta with a side salad and garlic bread.
For my birthday, I always have my mom make me lasagna or PA dutch chicken pot pie, just tradition and it's easy to feed several people.
Awww. That's very nice of you to make dinner!
Because it's summer, I would definitely suggest grilling some steaks or chicken. Everything tastes so delicious when it's done on the grill. You could even keep it simple with baked potatoes and asparagus. Gazibo Room works really well with grilled asparagus and portabello mushrooms (This might be the too fancy you were talking about though...is there a such thing as fancy vegetables?) I would definitely do something light because it's hot and sticky outside right now. However, if they love your casserole, then you could definitely stick with that!!
Something I always make for my silly "dinner parties" is simple spaghetti with home-made sauce. It's super easy and can feed a lot of people. The sauce is just olive oil with garlic in a pan, then add cans of crushed tomatoes and fresh basil and other spices that you could get from your marketplace. Make sure you cook it on low, low heat for 2-3 hours. You can also add meat if you like? This might be too heavy for a summer dinner, but always one of my more simple favorites!
Don't forget the birthday cake!