Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I love you all! What great idears! I worked today so didn't see sdnyc & CatBoy's suggestions 'til after the grocery run, but those menus sound uber good so they'll be tried out for the next events.

Here's what we ended up with:

Risotto with asparagus, mushrooms & pancetta

Salad w/baby greens & fresh herbs topped w/avocado halves, shrimpers & homemade green goddessy type dressing

Baby shortcakes, with strawberries marinated in Grand Marnier & served with creme fraiche.

Merci et bisous a tous!

Thanks again to all for sharing their advice and experience. It sounds as if it is a normal happening - it was just new to me.

Here's the follow up: made it, we ate it and all is well. Everyone enjoyed it and no one had any residual problems.

As a side note, tried something different with this one: added some canned green chiles during the puree process - the flavors complemented nicely.

Bon appetit!

Well, hummus (as long as your beans aren't in funny jelly - see comment above) is easy, no-bake, it's from another culture, and you can employ several of the Girl Guides as helpers: someone to squeeze the lemon, someone to chop the garlic, someone to run the blender, etc. You can serve it with fresh pita bread (or pita chips) and olives.

There are lots of recipes for hummus - you can choose one that's more bland or more exotic depending on who you'll be serving.

Wow! That was "solid"! (Hadn't seen it before.)

"And they lived long and happy lives, and their children and grandchildren would eat much potato salad and be stars of Cirque du Soleil."

I can haz dat?