Neil's Garden Party 2014

 (First off, after last nights late night post, I am perfectly fine, just a little scratch above my eye, no big deal )

IRISPALOOZA!

This is always a bit of an odd party, seeing as how the range of age of the guests is like 75 years, and really its all kinds of folks. Garden people, church people, school/union folks, and just plain old friends - combine the mix with the fact that I never know who or how many is coming - but I do the best I can.

The weather could not have been more lovely, not too hot or humid, and there were LOTS of flowers in full bloom. Really, the garden looked just great . It's a pretty low key drop in sort of deal - some folks stayed 10 min, some 8 hours....

Not know how many to cook for can be a bit of a chore, so I just kept it easy with hot dogs and different cold salads. The two broccoli salads are just the ones I have been making over and over for the last few weeks, officially over it after this weekend. The noodle dish, COLD SESAME NOODLES, was a big hit. One of my favorites, this is a really good recipe.

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or white-wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar or granulated sugar, or to taste
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon Oriental sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 pound linguine or lo mein noodles
• chopped scallion and cucumber strips for garnish

preparation

In a saucepan combine the soy sauce, the vinegar, the red pepper flakes, the brown sugar, the peanut butter, the oil, the ginger, and the broth, simmer the mixture, stirring, until it is thickened and smooth, and let it cool slightly. In a kettle of boiling salted water cook the noodles until they are al dente, drain them in a colander, and rinse them under cold water. Drain the noodles well, transfer them to a bowl, and toss them with the sauce. Serve the noodles at room temperature and garnish them with the scallion and the cucumber.

I added more sesame oil that it called for, really to taste, a little garlic in with the ginger, which I did flower before adding and some lime juice/zest. Used some tri colored bell peppers - I made a TON thinking Neil would take some to St Johns this morning, but he didn't go, so we have LOTS left over....I highly recommend this recipe. FULL RECIPE LINK 

One heart healthy broccoli salad, one with bacon, mayo and cheese...

carrot with out much mayo and all...

Baked Beans

I had a nice time, it did seem better than years in the past.

People I did not know , or meet....

Dahn and Koda

Some of our wacky Mendon neighbors somehow got Neil to say he would do fireworks, I talked him into just letting go some sky lanterns, the few folks here that late enjoyed it .