Dinner Party Wars

Hiya!!

So it’s been FOREVER since we did “dinner party wars” with our friends, but I figured it was fun and I should post about it!!

The deal was 3 couples, each hosting a dinner party.  Points were set for theme, atmosphere (music, decorations) the food, and the hosting abilities!!  It was SO fun!

The other 2 parties were a Mediterranean Crawl and Mardi Gras!   I will blog about the Med Crawl, but the night of Mardi Gras, I wasn’t feeling well and forgot my camera (but it was AMAZING)

We were up first and we had a Mexican Fiesta!!

We set the menu…

Mexican Fiesta

Drinks Selection

Jamaica Juice ~ hibiscus flowers steeped with a twist of lime

Juicy Blended Strawberry Margaritas (tequila and triple sec per request)

Paloma ~ Sparkling Grapefruit juice with lime, salt and tequila OLE!

Mexian Beer ~ Sol or Pacifico with a twist of lime

Appetizers

Cooked Shrimp Ceviche with Mango served with Fiesta Corn Chips

Molletts ~ toasts adorned with re-fried beans, cheese and topped off with crispy bacon

Dinner

Fresh Homemade Corn Tortillas

Chicken with a Warm Tomato Sauce

Risotto Style Mexican Rice

Slowly Simmered Refried Beans

Coriander Spiced Cabbage, Pico de Gallo, Red Salsa, Green Salsa and Guacamole

Dessert

Cinnamon and Sugar Banana’s Flambéed with Rum served over coconut ice cream

Spiced Mexican Coffee

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We set the scene…

We bought the "table cloths” and turtles in Mexico when we were there for our wedding!

And I made the centre pieces!  I wish I could find the link to the “how to” on these, it was SO easy and they are so pretty!

I didn’t get to snap too many photos of the food as we were SO busy getting it all together.

But these are what I got!

Coriander Spiced Cabbage – which was basically sliced green cabbage, grapeseed oil, ground coriander, lime juice and salt and pepper.  Massage it all together and let it sit.

 

Fresh tomato salsa.  It tasted much better than it looked!

Two more salsas!!  We got the recipes from our Salsa and Salsa tour we did in Mexico (which I still need to do a post about!!)   You can go here for the recipes!

Ok… you try to make refried beans look good!!  

Guacamole – simple – avocados, lime, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Palomas!!!  If you have never tried these, you must.  2.5 cups sparkling grapefruit juice, 1 shot lime juice, 1 shot tequila and a pinch of salt!  SO good!

Strawberry Margaritas!

Hot husband…  oops not on the menu!  

You can see the plates ready for the ceviche and then the mollets.

Of course there was more food, but I was too busy cooking and socializing to snap photos!

 

But then there was dessert,  I almost set our house on fire, but it was SO worth it!

 

Cinnamon and Sugar Banana’s Flambéed with Rum served over coconut ice cream

1/2 banana per person sliced length wise.

1 tbsp butter (I used earth balance)

1 tbsp brown sugar

sprinkle of cinnamon

1 shot glass rum and a match.

Melt butter in a heat proof pan (only melt butter in a space the size of your bananas – does that make sense?!) ha

Add in brown sugar and cinnamon – cook until it begins to bubble.

Add bananas into the sauce and let cook for about 50 seconds per side.

Once bananas are flipped – get the rum and match ready.

(I take NO responsibility for burned anything)

Pour the rum in the pan, light the match and toss her in (and duck)

Let the alcohol burn off

Transfer 1/2 banana onto each plate with some coconut ice cream and drizzle with the rum/butter sauce!

AMAZING!

Just for the record, I used Purely Decedent Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Ice Cream

(wow that’s a mouthful, but a tasty mouthful!!)

The good people at Turtle Mountain sent me coupons for their tasty treats and this has been one of my favorite things I’ve tried!

I highly recommend it for all your Dairy Free Folks out there!!

Hope you enjoyed!!