lainey cooks!

not often but i can and i do. we had some friends over on sunday and i cooked up a storm. :D it was meant to be a poolside party but the weather's been so hot recently (100F+) that we decided to hang out indoors instead. we did make it to the pool finally at about 7.30 - the water which had been soaking up the sun was so warm, it felt like soup. :D

since we were supposed to eat by the poolside, the menu was planned around portable picnic type food which could be eaten cold. the menu was:

1. aged cheddar & sesame crackers - i cubed the cheese and this was a huge hit w/ the 18 month old

2. carrot & rosemary scones - from chocolate and zucchini blog - looks impressive but is really super easy to make.

3. cucumber & crab salad - another recipe from c&z. refreshing w/ a kick. i used chives sparingly since i'm not a big fan and i substituted wasabi for chilli powder.

4. oven roasted chicken drummettes - okm's specialty. marinated overnight and roasted in the oven with foil cover which was removed the last 10 minutes

5. bottom-less pie w/ puff pastry tops - recipe from fatboybakes - this was a last minute addition. we had rotisserie chicken for lunch the day before so i shredded the meat and added frozen mixed vegetables and loads of fresh corn kernels. i also made a vegetarian version with sweet potato, fresh corn and parmesan.

6. dessert was supplied by friends. freshly picked strawberries and muffins. yum. 7-apple cake. double yum. and chocolate icecream. how can you NOT have ice cream on a hot day?

7. watermelon. we also had sliced watermelons. watermelons are the perfect summer food.