Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Menu for a Halloween Party/Menu for Denial

First, thanks to all for your kind words. They sustained me.

Now, I want to think about the Halloween party. Not just because it's a week and a half away, but also because my brain and heart are hurting. Give with one hand, take away with another ... while we were celebrating the good news about LW, one of my close friends was asking her alcoholic husband to leave their house. It's sad and it's frustrating, because he's a lovely person. But he has the disease. She has to take care of herself and her children. I am feeling helpless because that's exactly what all of us are in this situation. All we can give is love. Sometimes, it's not enough.

So ... turning my thoughts to good times. Here is the preliminary menu, which will change a half a dozen times over the next week, as I try new recipes, find what works and doesn't, and run out of time.

Cold:
Curry Chicken Salad in wonton cups
Salami/pesto cream cheese triangles
Marinated Tortellini-tomato-cheese skewers
New Mexico Roasted green chile tortilla rollups

Oven:
Heart Attack Bites
Goat cheese Jalapenos/Vegetarian Goat Cheese Jalapenos
Garlic cheesy bread
Jezebel’s purses
Caramelized onion nachos
Jambalaya pockets

Microwave:
Queso Pigaterian Dip

Heart Attack Bites are the family-friendly euphemism for the real name of the dish, as popularized in the fourth Sweet Potato Queens book. They are awful! Disgusting! But delicious. And they will be the first thing gone at the party. I'm making three pans-full. You take some of those itty bitty cocktail sausages, and wrap each one in half a piece of bacon. You pack 'em in real tight, single layer, in a baking dish. Then you sprinkle brown sugar over the whole thing and broil til the bacon is crispy. I begin all this by microwaving the bacon in the microwave for about 5 minutes to render out some of the fat. Oh, and the original name of the dish -- Bacon and Beagle Dicks.

Hmm. Just realized there's nothing vegan. In a gathering with a significant amount of Unitarians present, there will surely be at least one vegan. My friends are also contributing to the groaning table, so I'll check and see how much vegan stuff is coming. And I think I have a recipe for something using Kalamata olives and eggplant. Some kind of puff.

Puff the magic appetizer. Okay, now I'm just getting silly.

2 comments:

  1. I remember wondering how people could go on with their lives after our diagnosis like nothing was wrong. How rude! However, now that I am adjusted to life after D day, I see the others in pain I was not able to see before. I have a new appreciation for the good times as well as the bad times and what they mean in terms of the big picture. That has been such a gift to me. Prayers for your friend and for her husband's healing. There is nothing like celebrating the good times with cured meats and foods skewered by cute cocktail toothpicks. Have fun!

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  2. All I can say is yuuuummm.

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