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ELEVEN Recipes—One Day! And That’s Why They Call Me Crazy Carla… By hurricane04 in Crazy Carla Cooks September 3, 2010

Once upon a time, in a far away land, very distant in time, possibly lost in history, there was a type of humankind, a species called woman who actually enjoyed slaving over the stove all morning, day and night to shower her husbands and loved ones with delightful food and beverages. With her cherry lips, powdered face, perfectly fitted apron and high heels, she would smile and hum as slaving away in the kitchen, stress-free, worry-free and right on time.

Well, welcome to 2010 and the Nolen Household; where it’s not uncommon to find unknown substances on the walls, toilets clogged up with Hot Wheels cars, unknown kids running through the house, women in football jerseys & flip-flops and a calendar front and center on the fridge with not a day empty. Now, don’t get me wrong, I obviously enjoy great food and great beverages and preparing the same for loved ones. And maybe I should not judge the emotions and feelings of those lovely ladies in the 1950’s or elsewhere in time who appeared to be calm, collective, perfectly made-up and chipper as a bird to make several recipes in a day, by a specific time; maybe they were freaking out just as much as I do come hosting time but weren’t as “expressive” as myself. But whether they were freaking out internally or were actually as calm and predictable as they appeared, these “fairytale” ladies made getting ready for a party, making several recipes at once, look good and even better if you were to see frantic me making these eleven recipes in one day. Sheesh, you would think since a handful of the recipes were merely buying items at the store and making a pretty display of them that the whole ordeal would be a cinch but I quickly found out, eleven recipes are just that, ELEVEN recipes!

My little brother was in town from college and my husband and I invited over friends for food, drinks and poker. Some of the recipes were a bit different, some were mediocre, and some were great but everyone enjoyed trying things out of their norm. The great recipes included the Warm Chili & Cheese Dip and the Classic Basil Pesto. One of the food highlights of the evening were when one of Kyle’s besties pulled their other bestie in the house from the poker table and told him, “Dude, you HAVE to try that green stuff!!!” (aka: the Classic Basil Pesto poured over cream cheese & served with wheat crackers). The second bestie was a bit hesitant towards the “green stuff” so I quickly made him a basil-pesto-ridden cracker, handed it to him and exclaimed “Eat this and CRY! Cry because it’s that good!” He did not cry, but he did smile. And what else can a cook ask for?! Here are all the recipes I made and some opinions/comments (let me know if you would like more detailed recipes of any of these):

1. Pear, Grape, Smoked Cheese & Meat Board (I used seedless black grapes, a smoky cheddar & smoked turkey)

2. Dried Sausages, Olives & Cheese Board (I used Sobrassada, Summer Sausage, Kalamata & Spanish olives tossed in herbs & olive oil, Gruyere cheese)

3. Exotic Fruit & Cheese Board (I did kiwi, pineapple, oranges & white cheddar cheese)

4. Assorted Olives

5. Warm Chili & Cheese Dip w/ Tricolor Peppers & Chips (I am NOT a fan of canned chili but I have to admit this was really tasty & a huge hit with this group-combines 1 can no-bean-chili, grated cheddar cheese, block of cream cheese & jalapenos)

6. Tomato & Garlic Bread Rounds (really novel, cool recipe—toast slices of French baguette, brush on garlic-infused EVOO then rub the meat of tomato on the toasts)

7. White Bean Dip & Garlic Toasts (not my fave, not real fond of the idea of bean dip with toast)

8. Chinese Checkers: Spicy Chicken Balls (these were a hit- I made meatballs out of ground chicken breast, soy sauce, hoison, spices and cooked them in EVOO, then added chunks of pineapple for a minute or so, then I made kabobs with the meatballs and pineapple)

9. Classic Basil Pesto (aka: GREEN STUFF! I had lots of fresh basil, so blending that with toasted pine nuts, parmigiano-reggiano cheese, garlic, EVOO & salt & pepper was a fresh & tasty recipe)

10. Fortune Cookies, Candied Nuts & Ginger (the candied ginger was kinda crazy-my palette is definitely not ready for candied ginger, eeek!)

11. Sangria Slushes (this called for lemon ice and Spanish red wine, which the wine was easy to find but the lemon ice was not available at HEB or Wal-Mart so I had to resort to frozen lemonade- the frozen lemonade obviously and expectedly did not give the beverage the justice it deserved-I can just imagine the perfectly rounded scoop of light, frozen Italian lemon ice resting at the bottom of the wine glass giving the wine a perky friend to mingle with).

And there it is—ELEVEN recipes—one day, kinda crazy, kinda awesome, soooo me! Enjoy!

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