Gender Reveal Party - The Dahlicious Breakdown

Gender Reveal Party - The Dahlicious Breakdown... For any of you that follow me on other forms of social media, or know me at all, you understand that my first and so far only nephew, is the love of my life (sorry significant other!). That could all change pretty soon however, when we get ANOTHER BOY in November to add to the brood. This past weekend I traveled back to the Best Coast to celebrate the little guy's gender reveal. My family has become quite festive in putting these types of parties together, and since we just love food so much, it of course becomes a big part of the whole shebang.

The idea of the gender reveal party is that everyone gets to come wearing their prediction on their sleeve, literally wearing blue or pink. They get to cast votes for a small fee in order to potentially win the grand prize (180 bucks this time!) and bragging rights of course. Friends and family were welcome for the afternoon/early evening backyard event full of food, fun, and of course finding out Peanut's gender.

Before the big reveal took place my mom (and the secret food caterer inside her) came up with a cute menu of 3 boys apps and 3 girls apps. They were Dahlicious and adorable and perfect for the event:

Girls Food:

• Sweet Baby Bell Peppers: Stuffed with avocado, cucumber, tomato, and feta - topped with a kalamata olive

• Peaches n' Cream Bruschetta: DIY with toasted baguette, chopped grilled peaches, burratta, basil, and pink sea salt

                                         

• Grilled Pink Prawns: Marinated in lime, grilled and served with pomegranate seeds and a sweet guava dipping sauce

                                                        


Boys Food:

• Pulled Pork Manwhiches: BBQ Pulled pork on sweet Hawaiian buns

                                             

                                                          

• Weenies in a blanket: Cocktail weenies in a puff pastry with spicy honey mustard dipping sauce

                                                        

                                                         

• Blue Cheese Wings: Chicken wings and BLUE cheese

                

Here was the finished product!

                             

                                 

                                     

                                     

                                      

                                       

Everyone pitched in to make it perfect - we each had our dish to put together and to replenish. Seriously I think my mom needs to start a catering business! Also my dad get's credit with the BBQing - from the grilled peaches to the prawns to the wings - I think he spent several hours manning the grill on Saturday morning!

All Things Roasted: Chicken, Brussels, Purple Potatoes

All Things Roasted: Chicken, Brussels, Purple Potatoes...This week I decided that one night was going to be dedicated to an entire plate of roasting. No pots or pans necessary - just a baking sheet and 2 pyrex dishes. It was easy too because I was able to cook everything at 425 degrees for varying amounts of time.

The Chicken:
Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with lemon pepper. Two bone in, skin on breasts and two drumsticks. Perfect for 2 people. 45 minutes at 425 degrees - perfectly crispy skin and incredibly moist inside.

The Brussels:
Drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees.

The Potatoes:
Drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. 40 minutes at 425 degrees.

Of course I would suggest checking each of these things as they cook to see if the are more or less done, depending on how crispy of a skin you like on your little potatoes and how well done you like your brussels.

This meal took minimal chopping - about 12 little potatoes cut into quarters and about 15 brussels also cut into quarters.

Then in the oven they went and I took them out at their respective times, if anything finishes before another dish just take it out, and cover with foil. You can always pop it back in for a minute or two at the very end.

Enjoy! Sadly I only took before pics - oops I was too hungry!