Spur of the Moment Entertaining and a Recipe

 (Spending time with friends should be a wonderful thing and not to be shared only when everything is perfect....but when we get a fancy to do so!)

Yesterday I finally went grocery shopping, much to my family's delight. When I say we were almost down to nothing, I'm not joking. So off I went. I was almost done when hubby sent me a text saying two of our friends who are getting married this summer wanted to know if they could come over and hang out for a bit last night.


Hubby asked if we could do dinner. I immediately said yes, because I love an opportunity to have people over and I love sharing our food. I had just bought some salmon at Costco, and had gotten some asparagus for .98 a pound at a friends produce stand, as well as some baby red potatoes and broccoli. So I told him to shoot for 6:30, after Kat got back and showered from golf, and planned what I would make. 

The menu: Salmon, roasted baby red potatoes, asparagus and broccoli, loaf of amazing Safeway Artisan bread (brought by our guests), and I made homemade berry sorbet for dessert in our Vitamix. It really is a quick meal, though it needs to be timed just right so it stays hot and doesn't get overdone.

After we enjoyed some amazing food and conversation we settled on the couches for more conversation (all the food was gone so there wasn't anything to put away, and dishes could wait till later). After our food settled I headed into the kitchen to make a yummy sorbet. In less then 5 minutes we were eating a perfect mixed berry sorbet. I just love our Vitamix.

After they left I headed off to the kitchen to do dishes (I love going to sleep with a clean kitchen).

Over the weekend we also had some of the girls friends over (very spur of the moment). Friday night one friend came to spend the night with Kat because they were going to ride quads the next day. Saturday evening another friend came and spent the night with Kat because they went swimming that night and she lives a little ways away, oh, and a friend stayed with Nan. Sunday and Monday night, another of Nan's friend spent the night (it was her spring break and they wanted to hang out and go shopping).

These could've been potentially stressful because I love when my girls have friends over and I love feeding them, but because I just went grocery shopping yesterday, I had no food in the house over the weekend, so it called for much creativity. We snacked on popcorn and I had a few potatoes left so I made french fries. I did have some waffle mix so Sunday and Monday we had waffles. I had ingredients to make a simple Chicken soup for dinner Monday night. Tuesday morning we did hash browns and scrambled eggs since I did have some of that

I never want to let something like a "lack" of food in the house keep me from having people over. It takes a bit more thinking and creativity, but it's entirely possible. We had a wonderful weekend and everyone loved it.


Okay, on to the recipes. I'm going to share what I did for the salmon and potatoes because they are amazing. 

Salmon Marinade: 
3 Tbs. EVOO
3 Tbs. chicken broth
3 Tbs. soy sauce
3 Tbs. brown sugar
chopped green onion
lemon pepper seasoning 
dill weed
garlic powder

Take your salmon fillets and sprinkle them with the lemon pepper, dill and garlic powder (I like to sprinkle on both sides and press in to the fillets a bit). Combine marinade ingredients and place salmon either in a plastic bag or container and pour marinade on top. Marinade for as long as you'd like. Then broil or bake or oven or on top of grill. 

Potatoes:
Baby red Potatoes quartered
EVOO
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Minced Garlic


Toss all ingredients together and roast on 400 till done. I love mine topped with a bit of Plain Greek Yogurt.

Mixed Berry Sorbet

Printable Recipe

4 c. frozen mixed fruit (I used mixed berries..strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry), the recipe called for 2 c. banana and 2 c. berries. Use whatever you want just make sure it's 4 cups.
1/2 c. fresh squeezed orange juice
2 Tbs. fresh lemon or lime juice (I used bottled)
6 Tbs. honey or agave nectar (I used agave)


In a small saucepan over low heat, warm orange juice and honey/agave till dissolved. Allow to cool. Place all ingredients in the blender and process until smooth and creamy. Taste for sweetness and add more if needed. Serve or freeze for later. If you freeze it, remember to remove it and allow to sit at room temperature for a few minutes. It was so fresh tasting! We loved it!

Sorry, no pictures, but I had no time.


With Joy UNquenchable,