August 23rd, 2011

A dear friend, Mike Steimel, was getting married this weekend.  He was in town before his fiancé, Amy, and I invited him over for dinner to catch up.  He lives in California and doesn’t come home too often, so I was excited to hear all about what he’s been up to. 

I set out a plate of Chip Goo for people to munch on.  It’s a crowd friendly old school favorite with our group of friends.  It’s also incredibly easy.  Spread Cream Cheese, your favorite canned chili (I use Hormel’s turkey with beans), and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.  Melt in the microwave for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.  The girls love this dip.  Love it so much I kinda need to make one just for themselves because they tend to lick the spoon, drool over the dip….let’s just say double dip…a lot.

For a side I did “The Works” potato salad.  Pampered Chef has a good version here.  Only I diced unpeeled potatoes and boil, then combine with sauce while the potatoes are still hot to absorb the yummy stuff.

Corn and avocado salad with my absolute favorite napkins my Grandma Coco made for me in the background.

For the main, I grilled petite filets on our grill and also (over)grilled some corn on the cob. 

Dessert was strawberry shortcakes.  One time I was at a local farmer’s market and behind me was a woman who looked familiar with a shopping cart FULL of containers of strawberries.  She had a Lubeley's Bakery Shirt on, which is our local bakery and I made the connection that’s why she looked so familiar.  It was the Thursday before Father’s Day weekend and I asked her what she was going to do with all those strawberries.  She said every year for Father’s Day they make a ton of strawberry shortcakes because she has never met a man who didn’t like strawberry shortcake, so they sell like shortcakes hotcakes.  I thought about it and did a quick mental scan of men I know and their opinion on strawberry shortcakes and her theory proved right in my neck of the woods.

And there you have it.