I would classify today's girlfriends lunch gathering a success. As I predicted 6 lovely ladies showed up-so with me we were 7. God bless friends like Sam who was the first person to come at 2:15. I was disheveled because the kitchen looked like a food fight had just taken place and half the dishes weren't even ready. She looked perfect as always with her impeccable makeup and accessories but without even asking she rolled up her sleeves and got busy making one of the dishes while instructing her sister to wash the dirty pots.
The shrimp paella salad was a HUGE hit! Although it required a lot of ingredients it actually was pretty simple and definitely worth it. My brother who doesn't like to eat things that aren't either fried or soaked in butter and cream had a bowl and then took another bowl to go on his way out. Everyone loved it including the greatest critic: Randy! When this chick invites people over she actually bakes her own bread and makes things like spring rolls from scratch and salads with 20 ingredients.
The main entree was lemon feta chicken breast. It turned out pretty good.
This is my signature salad that I always make. It's always delicious, salads are kinda my thing.
Thanks to Mab3oos for this appetizer! It must have been good since it was the only thing with nothing left over. All 9 pieces of bread were devoured by 7 girls; and you know girls are kinda afraid of bread. However, if I do this again I'll use a regular white baguette as opposed to a whole wheat one which made it harder and drier.
Thanks to 7aki Fadi for inspiring this baked brie recipe that I surrounded with berries. I went by her recipe but added toasted almonds. Fresh out of the oven it was actually really really really good, but after it sat out for a couple hours it wasn't as appetizing. I guess it's one of those things that need to be eaten right away.
Thanks to Mab3oos for this appetizer! It must have been good since it was the only thing with nothing left over. All 9 pieces of bread were devoured by 7 girls; and you know girls are kinda afraid of bread. However, if I do this again I'll use a regular white baguette as opposed to a whole wheat one which made it harder and drier.
Thanks to 7aki Fadi for inspiring this baked brie recipe that I surrounded with berries. I went by her recipe but added toasted almonds. Fresh out of the oven it was actually really really really good, but after it sat out for a couple hours it wasn't as appetizing. I guess it's one of those things that need to be eaten right away.
All in all it was really fun. These are dynamic times in our group; everyone has a lot of things going on in their personal lives. For some people they have exciting new developments such as Sam who after going through a bad marriage, divorce, getting remarried and years of fertility treatments she's finally pregnant. Another friend of mine who I once referred to as my "everything-is-haraam" friend is finally engaged to the guy that she's been talking to on and off for years. For some of the other girls life has taken a rather heartbreaking turn; one of my close friends who I mention frequenly on this blog and on my old blog is in the initial stages of seeking a divorce. And for some people, life is still full of so much frustrating uncertainty (moi).
It was nice to have this free time with each other like the good old days.....to have a group of girlfriends to vent to or share your good news with that understand where you're coming from. Therefore we just couldn't stop talking and most of the girls didn't leave until my dad came home from work 6 hours later. We decided we'll continue tomorrow with lunch over at Sam's place.
10 comments:
wow, I am impressed.
They really looked delicious and I will probably bookmark this post. the bloggers, 7aki fadi, noura and mab3oos really helped..
of course, we are still waiting for the post of the recipe for your shrimp paella.
the food looks great. I am glad they liked my suggestion. let me know if you need food ideas next time. I have plenty.
That looks sooooooo delicious, I'm hungry now just looking at it!
this is really inspiring!! I have invited 10 ladies to come over for the 1st time to my house, next sat.! and they are all coming :s They acually asked if I need help and suggested they bring sth with them but i said no :s Stupid I know...but I just want to do it my way!!
whenever there's a gathering here there should be yalanji, kibbeh, tabbouleh, mo3ajjanat...and actually i dont feel like making any of these, I want my menu to be different! Hope they'll like it :)
I'm kinda scared, but excited at the same time... and these couple of posts here were really great:) thanks for sharing...hope mine will be as successful as yours :$
one more thing :p i am impressed by garfan's recipe...so I might use it, instead of this one
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/olive_cheese_br/
cuz his is much easier!! but the thing is that i can prepare the one I linked ahead of time and actually freeze it till sat. :s this is so confusing :p
Bravo 3leiki Um Walker w ya3teeki el 3afieh, you have done a wonderful job, everything looks wonderful !!
when I made brie, I remember I put in the oven way after we started eating and had no leftover at all..what will you do with yours ?
care to share the recipe for the second picture pls ??
:)
Hamza, yea they sure did. I definitely got a good bit of inspiration from the ideas of the bloggers
Mab3oos, I think you created a little fanbase for yourself here. I probably won't be the only one to let you know when I need food ideas in the future
Jaz, it really was delicious! next time tfadali!
Nido, awesome I'm excited for you! I'm the type that likes to have girlfriends over from time to time...I get the type you might be that way as well. If you're new to your town or don't know that many people inviting people over and feedint them is a great way to break the ice. Well if it's your first time inviting I think it's a good thing you told them not to bring anything....gives you a greater opportunity to impress. They'll probably bring desert anyway.
Me personally I like to have things that are light, convenient, and good. I'm not big on big entrees or things that's going to be messy. You have limited time so I woudl say it's better to make a bigger variety of simpler things. If I were you I'd probably stay away from the m3ajanat....anything with dough I stay away from. Tabbouleh would be perfect! Also if you want to be creative and impress people I recommmend making a fun drink to have ready for people to drink as they walk in the door. I usually do this but this time i did everything so last minute that I couldn't fit this in.
Also I recommend doing things that maybe you can prepare before hand like the day before (like my paella since it's a cold dish I could make it before). I do recommend garfan's recipe over the pioner woman's one because it is simpler and you're going to bebusy that day. It was pretty good, my suggestion though is use white bread and not wheat. The more olive oil you soak the bread pieces in the better tasting it's going to come out. Make sure you post up pics of what you did!
Noura, shukran kteer babe! With regards to the leftover brie, it's actually still sitting in the fridge and it'll probably end up getting thrown away :( I made way too much of it and it no loner looks appetizing to me. My dad and my brother didn't like it, they're not into "interesting" foods. Inshallah I'll post the recipe for the paella soon.
omg it looks so fun! not to mention all the tasty looking food!!!
Food looks amazing - you were a super hostess!! I hope you had a great time :D
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