Happy New Year to everyone! Hope it is a good one.

I have been meaning to post for weeks now, but, what can I say but that I have been busy. Busy doing lots of cooking, it seems like.

It started the 2nd week of December when the Wamsley’s and I catered a dinner for a motor freight company owned by a friend. We did it last year too, so this was a bit easier and we knew quantities to cook.

The menu was:
Prime Rib (Garry’s specialty)
Epic Mashed Potatoes (garlic, shallots, cream cheese, sour cream, butter, bacon – all the things that make potatoes great!)
Not Your Mama’s Green Bean Casserole (green beans with mushrooms, shallots, a cream cheese/sherry sauce, and Crispy French Fried Onions on top!)
Penne Pasta Alfredo – creamy, cheesey goodness.
Caesar Salad – yes, boring but need salad, right?
S’mores and Pumpkin Cake for desserts.

It was a busy few days, but the dinner turned out better than last year and we made a couple of bucks.

As I had said in my last post, I had mixed things up for the holidays this year. One of those was going to the Wamsley’s for Christmas Eve. Guess what we had for dinner? See above, a few variations but basically the same.

Then, what did I make for Christmas dinner with my folks and Vanessa and Gary? Prime rib, green bean casserole, and to mix it up Hasselback Potato Casserole!

The Saturday after Christmas, I had most of my family over for game night. Vanessa handled the game part and I fixed lasagne. The rest of them provided bread, salads, and desserts. We had a great time playing Pictionary and another game (can’t remember the name of it) which made us all feel like we didn’t know one another very well.

Next up on the cooking scene – New Year’s Eve. Mar and Gar Wamsley were having a party at their place with, you guessed it, prime rib and the rest of the menu we cooked for the catered dinner. Yes, I did help with the cooking and set up.

It was a fun time, dinner turned out very well, and they let me spend the night so I wouldn’t have to drive the 2 miles home, thankfully, since there was a little alcohol involved. We (at least, most of us!) got up the next morning and cleaned up and put away everything. Then Mar, Gar, and I had a French Dip sandwich and leftover pasta for lunch!

The Des Moines Yacht Club, that I belong to, has a scholarship fund that is part of Dollars for Scholars. We had a silent auction at our December meeting. I put in to do a Northwest Seafood Dinner.

It was purchased by friends, Diane and Steve Sewell, for a good sum from what I heard! So, last Sunday I went over to their house to cook dinner for 6. We had a shrimp and crab appetizer. Then poached salmon with lemon and dill aioli on a bed of spinach dressed with lemon and olive oil. Roasted baby potatoes and asparagus rounded out the main course.

Dessert was meringue with home grown kiwi and blueberries with strawberry sauce (I had bought nice raspberries to go with it but forgot them at home!)

Diane has a severe dairy allergy so I made everything from scratch, keeping that in mind. I think they all enjoyed it. I know I did!

Lastly, I cooked dinner for the general meeting dinner last night at the club. Beef stroganoff, peas, and a mixed green salad for 60 people. The stroganoff turned out every well, there was plenty, and I think everyone enjoyed it!

No more big cooking events coming up for a while. Thankfully!

What else have I been doing? I have been preparing for my Europe trip. I am getting excited! I had lunch with Don and Frankie today, who own the apartment in Nice and will be there to greet me when I arrive.

We had a nice lunch at a French Restaurant (of course), talked about the trip, then Don and I went to a travel store in Wallingford and I bought a few things for the trip.

I plan on blogging about the trip, food, and other adventures, so stay tuned!

Here is Don & Frankie’s apartment in Nice.

After Nice, on to Florence, Italy. Then I will probably go to Venice.
Here is my Florence apartment:

The owner has been very accommodating and friendly, so I am excited to stay there for a couple of weeks.

After that, who knows! No timeline. No plans. Just going to decide as I go and see what happens!

But I will be blogging my travels and food adventures all along, so stay tuned!