I will get to the actual recipes soon but for now here was the menu:

Steak Bites with Chili Sauce

Little Breads with Bean Purée

Deep-Fried Green Chilies

Roasted Potatoes with Garlic Dip

Deep-Fried Mussels with a Chili Dressing

Tuna with Pimento Stuffed Olives

Spinach and Chickpeas

Sizzling Garlic Shrimp

Cracked Olives in Garlic

There were quite a few other items I had planned on that I never got around to making. One of our guests brought asparagus wrapped in phylo pastry; very tasty. I had also planned on making a Spanish tortilla but Belle’s mom’s Spanish friend and his wife brought one and it was delicious, so that was one less dish to prepare.

We also had the opportunity to sample Spanish beer, wines and sherry. All in all, it was a great evening.

The next night we had more tapas since I had bought all the ingredients for the recipes I didn’t get a chance to make. The roasted potatoes with garlic dip and the steak bites were such heavy favorites the night before, I made them again the following night, too.

Belle’s note: We had a fabulous time, and have decided to style all our future open houses this way: small bites, and drop-in throughout the evening. It’s far easier preparing a few dishes at a time, and with people dropping in throughout the night, the conversation really flowed well. And our dinner the next evening was really nice, too, with some repeats from the night before, and some new dishes that Ward hadn’t had a chance to prepare.

We had a great turnout for our November open house dinner last Saturday: 28 people! What a wonderful evening it was.

The food went over well and, of course, the conversation was the highlight. We are both really looking forward to next month’s open house dinner, and on the menu?Tapas!

I was far too busy finishing cooking everything that could not be done ahead of time on Friday so there are not too many pictures, although Belle did snap a few of me – I think she should have stuck to the food.

And on the menu:

Appetizers

* Smoked Salmon Mousse with Baguette Slices
* Mini Tortilla Quiches
* Spinach and Yogurt Dip with Caramelized Onion & Pita bread

Dinner

* Fava bean stew with crusty bread

* North African Shrimp (I just love this recipe – I’ll post it in the next few days)

* Crazy Rice (while not exactly Mediterranean – okay, so it’s from Brazil, so it’s not even close – we had to think of the children too!)

* Eggplant Salad, Country Style

* Chicken Salad with Tarragon, Pine Nuts & Raisins

* Beef and Rice Meatballs in a Yogurt-Tomato Sauce (unfortunately, we didn’t snap a picture of the sauce)

* Crisp Bitter Greens with Vinaigrette

Dessert

* Jamaican Rum Spiced Pumpkin Pie

The pie looks a lot better then the last time I made it, and the taste was still incredible. I still need to develop the touch or finesse for baking, though.

People also brought some entrées for the table. Joe brought a baked salmon and Chris brought lamb chops, both very delicious. And there were also a ton of really lovely desserts, including a wonderfully moist pear cake that Julie, Steve’s wife, made.

I really think I need to either take a food photography class or invite a top photographer to dinner every night. Yes, as it turns out, I just discovered that I know a very good photographer! Corby Chapin, one of my Aikido students. He is also a great cook himeslf, especially on the BBQ – a real barbecue master.

Or maybe the quality of the pictures might just be due to the fact that I dropped my camera a while back – it now no longer takes videos, only pictures. So I might need a new camera!

I’m looking forward to our next dinner. I’ve also been thinking that maybe once a month is not enough – we need to have more wonderful nights like our last Open House Dinner.

Thank you to everyone who came, put up with my cooking and made the night such a wonderful evening!

Belle’s note: We had a fabulous time, and the food was excellent. I was so busy enjoying myself, I forgot to take pictures of the appetizers – luckily Ward was thinking on his feet (while managing all the cooking, too!) and took a picture of the salmon mousse. The mini tortilla quiches were adorable looking and incredibly fun to eat – I think I’ll have to persuade Ward to make it again just so I can remember to take pictures of it!

Last month was our first open house dinner, and we did an Asian theme. It was such fun, and we’re really looking forward to this month’s dinner.  This month we’ve decided to do a Mediterranean theme.

So far we have a full house coming for next Saturday and we’re hoping we still may get more people RSVP-ing.

Here is our planned menu, (although things can always change!) I will eventually post about each of these dishes, so we’ll keep updating this post with links to any new posts with the recipes (I’ve already posted about the pumpkin pie. It was such a hit the last time I served it, we thought it would be a good way to round out the meal, although it’s not Mediterranean.)

Appetizers:

• Smoked Salmon Mousse with Baguette Slices
• Mini Tortilla Quiches
• Spinach and Yogurt Dip with Caramelized Onion & Pita bread

Dinner:

• Fava bean stew with crusty bread
• North African Shrimp (I just love this recipe)
• Crazy Rice (while not exactly Mediterranean – okay, so it’s Caribbean, so it’s not even close – we had to think of the children too!)
• Eggplant Salad, Country Style
• Chicken Salad with Tarragon, Pine Nuts & Raisins
• Beef and Rice Meatballs in a Yogurt-Tomato Sauce
• Crisp Bitter Greens with Vinaigrette

Dessert:

• Jamaican Rum Spiced Pumpkin Pie

For those less daring (and for the kids):

• Homemade Tagliatelle with either Alfredo sauce or butter & Parmesan cheese. If things get really hectic on Saturday we may just use store bought spaghetti.

Next month (December 12) we plan on doing a Tapas party (Spanish) with a variety of small bites and a sampling of different beers – we thought it’d be something a little different for the holiday season. We’re both already looking forward to that one – mark your calendars, everyone!

Belle wanted a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, turkey, stuffing, gravy and veggies. I would rather have tried something a little more avant garde so I decided to do something different with the turkey.

Our daughter is vegetarian so along with the usual sausage stuffing and turkey gravy I also made a vegetarian stuffing and gravy.

The vegetarian gravy turned out to be the hit as somehow I messed up on the turkey gravy; I think I didn’t cook the roux long enough. Truth be told, I think I mixed up the two in my mind as I was cooking and thought the lighter colour looked right for the vegetarian gravy when in fact it was the turkey gravy!

Our Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Appetizer– Crab Stuffed mushrooms

Amuse Bouche — Asparagus Mousse on a Chinese Spoon  ( I knew we did not have enough Chinese spoons for everyone so I put the mousse in sake cups)

Starter:  The Ultimate Onion Soup

Main Course:

• High-Roasted Butterflied Turkey
• Turkey Gravy & Sausage Stuffing
• Vegetarian Stuffing
• Vegan Gravy

Sides:

• Saute of Winter Greens and Shiitake Mushrooms
• Multi-grain dinner rolls
• Garlic Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Jamaican-Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Whipped Cream
• Scotch Pumpkin Pie and Whipped cream

I’ll be writing posts with recipes and pictures for most of these dishes, so if you’re interested in seeing what I did with these specific dishes, please check back throughout this week. I’ll also be updating this post with additional links as I blog further about the actual dishes.