D.C. Area Nesties
tracy042206
member
Dear Community,
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.
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.
QOTD: Tuesday
What is your go to meal for impressing guests? And impressive does't have to mean hard to make!
Re: QOTD: Tuesday
a fresh veggie pasta recipe I found in family circle
Mmm mozzarella balls!
Ina Garten's weeknight bolognese, caesar salad and garlic bread
I usually make my own fettuccine though.
We just had 10 people over on New Years for my birthday. I made prime rib, twice baked potatoes and roasted green beans. Super easy and everyone raved about everything.
We make the rockin' world go 'round.
We are having friends over in a few weeks and we are doing fondue - cheese, broth, and then, of course, chocolate!
i have a few, depending on the guests but i think my go to and personal favorite is pasta amatriciana
http://cheekydid.blogspot.com/2011/04/recipe-pasta-allamatriciana.html
it is pretty easy and i generally make a double or triple batch so i can have two containers in the freezer. it is great on pizza too.
tracy, your crock pot pulled pork recipe is another crowd pleaser. i've made it for family and friends who have raved about it and then made it themselves (more raves, of course).
I found a receipe from Alton Brown a while back and have modified it quite a bit:
Round Steak pounded thin, ghouda cheese and spices and prochuto all wrapped into a roll and then baked for 1 hr. Salad, bread and a veggie of some sort. It's been my go to meal for ages and always turns out good.
My other go to meal depending on what type of menu is being planned is lasagna. I make my own spaghetti sauce.
For casual get togethers, we've been grilling ribeyes a lot. Served with a blue cheese butter, mashed potatoes (or potato salad) and a green vegetable.
For nicer meals, a roast beef tenderloin or roast chicken. I can roast a mean chicken.
I am making this recipe this week for my nephew who is home from the military on leave - Ina Garten's Baked Shrimp Scampi. I serve it over linguine with some Trader Joe's gralic bread on the side (I can never get garlic bread right for the life of me - either it is bland or the garlic is too raw/strong and we love garlic)
Everyone raves about this Penne alla Vodka recipe. I like it but sometimes when I am the cook things are just OK for me, but so much better when someone else makes it. However this is often requested by friends and family when visiting. If I have leftover homemade marinara I will use that but jar sauce is what I used when I first started making it and it really is just as tasty.
For my more adventurous guests (unlike most of our family) who like Indian, I love this recipe and the leftovers for lunches are great - Indian Butter Chicken. Served over the coconut rice with a side of naan.
Angel hair pasta with chicken from Taste of Home- so easy, but so good, especially paired with salad and a nice white wine.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Angel-Hair-Pasta-with-Chicken
Planning Bio
Depends on the occasion as to which makes sense but my go-to star performers are:
We mostly have guests over in the summer time. So we usually do homemade burgers with some yummy sides or anything else on the grill.
Off to the beach
DS 7/18/2010
Handy 2.0 Due Early August
2011/2012 Races
12/17/2011 Christmas Caper 10K
2/11/2012 Have a Heart 5K
3/17/2012 DC RNR Half Marathon
4/22/2012 10M Parkway Classic
10/28/2012 Marine Corps Marathon
our dinner guests are usually DH's friends who come over to watch football. so I usually make chili and cheddar biscuits and they eat it all up.
recently I made pizza muffins and they were a big hit as well.
Other than last Christmas, when I made a great beef tenderloin, we haven't had any non-football related food. I don't know what that says about our social life ;-)
lol! most of our hosting is also football-related too! in addition to the pulled pork, PW's italian drip beef has been a huge hit with our friends.
it depends on the nature of the dinner and the season.
in the summer months, we like to use fresh herbs and lighter meals. our go-to is often grilled shrimp with fresh pesto and angel hair pasta, a spinach salad with homemade vinaigrette, and sometimes heirloom tomatoes w/mozz balls and basil tossed in red wine vinegar and OO. or a warmed pasta salad with whatever veggies we have on hand (usually zucchini, tomatoes, olives, artichokes, feta and bow tie or penne) for a less casual meal, we'd probably do homemade burgers and offer turkey stuffed with bleu cheese or grilled portobello.
for fall/winter guests, i'm likely to prepare a heartier pasta dish, like eggplant parmesan. DH loves to fry turkeys, so we often serve that. that can be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion.
I make a butternut squash soup that everyone loves that is Giada's recipe I think. Super easy and creamy, without adding cream!
Another favorite is Emeril's Pumpkin Cheesecake with burbon spiked whipped cream. Hmm so far I'm all fall dishes!
Oh I make stuffed mushrooms that are very popular as well!
I would like to invite myself over to everyone's home. Thanks! I'll see you for dinner soon :-)
My go-to winter/fall dish is a black bean and sirloin chili. We serve it up with every possible fixin and it's awesome.
In the summer, I'll make crab cakes with corn on the cob.
For something pretty showy, this baked angel hair pasta: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/baked-angel-hair-with-eggplant-recipe2/index.html
Other than that, we tend to be pretty casual with our entertaining (other than something like Thanksgiving). Where I really love to go all out is on desserts - I'm always trying new things.