Tuesday, January 11, 2011

My Big Fat Mah Jong Party Flop

It was my turn to host Mah Jong.  A snow storm hit.  Nobody came to my party.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  Two people out of ten came from the group.  We didn’t play.  We tried to make a dent in all the food and drinks I prepared.  I have lots of leftovers.  Lots.

On the bright side, I have some new and wonderful recipes to show for it.  Here they are.     

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Limes.  I just really liked my photo and wanted to post it.  :) 

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The limes made a great garnish for the Cherry Cosmopolitans.

Here is the recipe:  Cherry Cosmopolitans

2 parts Cherry Vodka

1 part Triple Sec

3 parts Cranberry Juice

Limes.

I made these up in advance in a pitcher.  For the pitcher, my “parts” were “cups”.  For an individual drink, my “parts” would have been “shots”.    Mix these up and keep in the refrigerator.  When the party starts, pour into a shaker filled with ice.  Shake, pour into Martini Glasses,  add a splash of sparkling water like Pellegrino or some lemon lime soda and garnish with a slice of lime.  Cheers!

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My new Mah Jong set was set up and ready to play but alas, it saw no action on this night.  :(

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Mmm, these were very good.  Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. You can never go wrong with a Barefoot Contessa recipe.  These were very easy.  Click on the link for the recipe. 

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Feta Dip.  OMG this is good.  I am so grateful to Sarah over at Clover Lane for sharing this recipe.

Here is how I made mine. 

Fabulous Feta Dip with French Bread

8 oz. container of Feta Cheese

Olive Oil

1 bunch of green onions, diced

1 glove garlic, pressed

Dried Oregano and Basil

Salt and Pepper

3 large Roma Tomatoes, diced

Pour approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil on a platter.   Stir in the pressed garlic, Oregano and Basil, salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes and onions.  Add the Feta cheese and mix well.  Serve with sliced French Bread.  I added a couple of spoons to the platter to help make serving it easier.  I LOVE THIS!

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And of course you always want to have a little something on the sweet side.   : )   Were three choices too many?

I served Orange Creamsicle Cookies (I made these in advance and they keep really well in the freezer). 

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And Salted Carmel Brownie Bites!  These are unbelievably good too!  Big Thanks go to Inside Brucrew Life for this fantastic recipe. 

You only need 4 ingredients:

Your favorite Brownie mix

A bag of Rolo chocolate covered caramel candies

Chocolate coating

Sea Salt

Bake your favorite Brownie Mix.    Let cool.  Smush a small scoop of the Brownie around a Rolo candy and roll into a ball.  Dip the balls in melted chocolate.  Set on a cookie tray line with Parchment Paper and sprinkle with Sea Salt.  Let cool.  I store mine in refrigerator.  Soooo delicious!

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And finally, I made another batch of  Chocolate Clementines with Sea Salt and Red Pepper Flakes.   I’ll be making these for as long a Clementine season lasts.    So there you have it.  My Big Fat Maj Jong Flop Party.    At least I am off the hook until July. :)

And one nice thing did happen to me today.   TRIAD MOMS ON MAIN is featuring a blog post that I wrote on their site today!!!  It’s called The 8 Things That I Am Glad I Did And The 8 Things I Wish I Had Done Differently.    Click on the link and browse around their site.  It’s chock full of great ideas and geared to family life.  And Rachel Hoeing, one of the editors there is one of the nicest people you will ever meet!  Thanks Rachel and Triad Moms on Main!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would have schlepped on my ugly snowboots and trekked through mile high snow to make it to your party. I had a party once and only one person showed up. She was very happy that she won the door prize. HA HA

Di

gina said...

WOW you really go all out for your Mah Jongg group! We get together weekly on Wednesdays and play MJ but it's more nibbles. We put out this kind of spread for Bunco though. I host it next Tuesday and may use some of these recipes....thanks for sharing them!

I had a Cabi show last year and it snowed/iced in Gboro so it was like your party with only a few brave souls showing up. Lots of leftovers for me then.

Flavia Galasso said...

I can't believe so many did't come!!!! Didn't they call you to tell you that they couldn't come???? Ok next time call me...I'll be there in a hurry...hope to find a flight ticket.... :D ....but you must know: I never played Mah Jong!!!!

Hugs, Flavia

www.thewhitefarmhouse2.blogspot.com said...

Yummy food, Cosmos, Mah Jonng and not a kid in site and only 2 showed up?! I would of ridden my lawnmower through the snow to come!

Shaheen said...

Oh what a shame.

My husband would have been over in a tick. He offten moans that i don't play board games with him enough :) And all those good looking treats. How could one refuse.

Happy new Year to you.

Gina said...

I have no clue what Mah Jong is but the chocolate mandarin oranges were delish! I made them from your recipe in preparation for my ladies group Monday night and they were so well received by my family and the Monday night gals that I made another batch to take to work today. Bummer that the weather put a damper on the party--hope your guests that made it had a good time anyway.

Triad said...

Awww, thanks for the compliment! And we loved running your blog today!

~ Rachel

Ti said...

They totally missed out.

Denise said...

Looks delish, shame they all couldn't make it. Usually if we have bad weather (for book club) we'd cancel before hand so you didn't have to go to all that work.

Melanie said...

I am so sorry that no one showed up. I wondered when the party was and if people would come.

I am so glad that you shared your recipes. I really want to try the Feta dip. I don't think anyone in my house would eat it but me. Wish you lived closer and we could get together.

I am headed over to read your post.

fscher said...

I am going to share some of those yummy mah jongg treats with my mah jongg buddies. I will be sending out a newsletter soon!
Faye
WHERE THE WINDS BLOW

René said...

I'm so sorry that few showed up for your party Lisa. Apparently they didn't realize what they were missing. Yum! Congrats on your feature. I'm off to check it out.

-Rene

CosmoGirl Carla said...

Awww, Lisa, I feel bad for ya. That's happened to a few in our Bunco group on more than one occasion ~ the weather keeping everyone away. If I lived down there, I would've come! What's a half a foot of snow when you know there's good food and drink waiting for ya?!

Everything looked so yummy! I can't wait to try a few of those recipes you shared. Gotta love Ina ;o)

chow and chatter said...

oh wow your an amazing host what a great love the feta salad look forward to seeing your curry

Martha said...

I can't imagine for those treats the rest of the group not making it! They look wonderful and after a cosmo or two, who would mind the snow!

Unknown said...

I had no idea what Mah Jongg was so I had to google it. Looks like fun and there's no way that I would have missed all that yummy food!

Debbiedoos said...

Just signed on to be a new friend. I am loving your blog and all the gorgoeus photos and recipes. I look forward to more.