Well, we've been busy all week preparing for our Valentine's Luncheon, which was held yesterday--a week after Valentine's Day. But that's okay; our home has been festively decked out in PINK! and RED! in anticipation of a fun time of fellowship with friends!
Hannah prepared and mailed the hand-made invitations and also worked on the creative name tags for the table. Here she sits at our trusty ping-pong table (which normally gets used for everything except ping-pong) with all her artistic paraphenalia, making sure all the tags are just perfect.
I made sure all the teacups were available for our tea and hot chocolate and was responsible for putting together all the take-home gift bags of goodies and arranging them at each place at the table.
Here's a picture of the table I set earlier this week. I enjoy doing things well in advance to avoid last-minute stress, which is inevitable the day of the event.
Before the guests were due to arrive, all the morning's food preparations went smoothly--well, almost everything. Sarah, of course, made the desserts--heart-shaped mini cheesecakes and heart-shaped M & M cookies.
She decided to place chocolate hearts on top of each cheesecake--what a fancy decoration it turned out to be! To make them, she piped chocolate squigglys on waxpaper to chill and harden. Then she carefully scraped them up, turning two to face each other, making a heart shape. She used a toothpick to first make a hole on top of the cheesecake before she tried inserting the chocolate pick. Break. Try another. Break. Another. Break. Oops, whose idea was this? Finally, she got the hang of it, and all the cheesecakes looked gorgeous.
Our Valentine's Luncheon Menu:
- Broccoli Ham Ring*
- Chicken Club Ring*
- Flaxseed Corn Chips
- Fruit Kabobs (strawberries, grapes, pineapple)
- Cheesecake* and M&M heart cookies
Here's a picture showing the buffet counter as Hannah slices each of the rings and arranges the lettuce before placing the red pepper filled with honey mustard dressing in the center of the ring.
And here are our guests! We had a wonderful Valentine's Luncheon! Thank you friends for sharing the day with us!
~Deb
*recipes follow
Broccoli Ham Ring (Pampered Chef recipe)
- 1/4 lb. ham (1 cup chopped)
- 1/4 lb. fresh broccoli (1 cup chopped)
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 cup parsley
- 1 1/2 cups (6 oz) Swiss cheese, shredded
- 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 2 cans/8 ounces each crescent rolls
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all chopped ingredients and set aside (ham, broccoli, onion, parsley) with grated cheese. Arrange crescent triangles into a circle on 13-inch cookie sheet (we use a pizza stone) with bases overlapping and points to outside, 3-inch diameter circle in center.
Evenly spoon filling over base. Fold points of triangle over filling and tuck under base at center. Bake 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown. Serves 8 slices. (We've made this recipe many times and have found that the flavors meld together better if the filling is made the day before.)
This was the very first time I had ever made the Chicken Club Brunch Ring, and I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much as the ham and broccoli. I did forget to add the extra cheese to melt on top when it came out of the oven--maybe that would have given it a little extra flavor.
Chicken Club Brunch Ring (Pampered Chef recipe)
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, snipped
- 1 Tbsp onion, finely chopped
- 1+ cup cooked, shredded chicken
- 4 slices crisp bacon, chopped
- 1 cup (4 oz) shredded Swiss cheese
- 2 cans (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls
- 2 plum tomatoes, thinly slices
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (Since I was baking both rings at the same time, I opted for the lower 350 degrees that the Broccoli Ham Ring called for.)
Combine mayo and mustard, add onion and parsley, mix well. To chicken add bacon, 3/4 cup cheese, mayo mixture and mix well.
Unroll crescent roll dough. Separate into 16 triangles. Arrange triangles in a circle on a pizza stone, with wide ends of triangles overlapping in the center and points toward the outside.
Scoop chicken mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle. Bring outside points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at center of ring. Place one tomato half over filling between openings of ring. Bake until golden brown, 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from oven; immediately sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
Cut pepper in half - clean out and fill with either more mayo mixture or ranch dressing. Place in center of ring. Arrange lettuce around pepper. Serves 8 slices.
Individual Cheesecakes
- 3 - 8 oz packages cream cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Beat all together and put in foil cupcake liners to bake. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Take out of oven and cool for 5 minutes.
Cream together and put on top of each cupcake:
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup sugar
Bake for 5 more minutes. Add cherry pie filling on top if desired. Makes 2 dozen. Keep refrigerated.
It looks like so much fun! The menu sounds delicious - thanks for the recipes!
Posted by: Susan | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 02:10 AM
Looks like a very fun party! :-)
Posted by: Tammy | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 08:26 AM
My favorite color-PINK!
Looks like it was a fun and enjoyable time.
By the way please keep me in prayer as I go to take the North Carolina written drivers test.I hate taking these tests and I really need a NC license.
Posted by: Tammy | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 08:44 AM
Looks terrific!
Posted by: Connie W | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 09:33 AM
Everything looks beautiful! What a blessing y'all are!
Posted by: Jodi | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 07:17 PM
What a lovely afternoon! All the decorations are so pretty! The food looks so delicious! (I'm so hungry right now!) What a special way to treat your friends. :-)
Posted by: Dorothy | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 07:43 PM
Your menu sounds delicious! Your decorations look lovely! Glad you had such a good time.
Posted by: Islandsparrow | Friday, February 22, 2008 at 09:31 PM
What a beautiful presentation. That Sarah is one talented girl. What a blessing that was for each guest to see the care put into all involved. That is true hospitality. ps-I want to be invited to the next..:)
Posted by: Julie | Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 09:09 AM
Oh, that looks so lovely and delicious! Your guests were blessed to be able to partake of your hospitality! Thank you for sharing!
Blessings,
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon L | Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Wow, that looks very festive. I would beg for an invitation to your next get-together, but you live way too far away! :-)
I guess I'll just have to make my own party and use your ideas for some inspiration.
Thanks for sharing your party-
Michelle in sunny FL
Posted by: Michelle | Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 02:43 PM
This just looks so lovely...I love doing luncheon/tea parties...guess it's time to start doing them again ;)
Posted by: Debi | Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 09:26 AM
What a sweet table. Everything looked lovely ;o)
Posted by: Ram in the Thicket | Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 02:09 PM
this looks amazing! how special everyone must have felt! i know i would have.
Posted by: michelle | Monday, February 25, 2008 at 06:50 PM
Wow, it looks like you all put on a lovely party! Everything looks so pretty! I'm sure your guests appreciated all the time and effort you put into this special event.
I like to make desserts too, Sarah, and cheesecake is a favorite of mine.... :-)
Posted by: Abigail | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 08:39 PM
Everything looks sooooooooo cute and pretty!! Ya'll always do a great job with things like that!!
Posted by: Courtney, Jer.33:3 | Tuesday, March 04, 2008 at 02:22 PM