Spiced Indian Rice with Peas

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This past weekend we celebrated Tom’s birthday.

Well sort of. 

Since we will be leaving for our Mexico vacation in FOUR DAYS… last week was really tough to fit a birthday party.  We started with all the intention in the world, but by Thursday I was having a little bit of nervous breakdown.  I was putting 12-hour workday, and coming home with no brainpower to even think about a menu for 25 guests – let alone shop for ingredients, prepping and cooking the food.

And if you need to know something about me, I love to entertain, and I put like a huge amount of effort in it, and when I cannot do that, I simply panic and get all crappy and moody.

Tom was in no disposition to put up with that attitude put his foot down and told me to just cancel the thing and that once we got back from sunny Mexico we could just re-hatch the party plans.

I have never loved that man more.

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Kiwi Boat topped with Lobster and Scallion Mayonnaise Amuse Bouche

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When I received the invitation to participate in the Progressive Party that Kitchen Play is hosting I jumped at the change.  Who would not?  It’s pretty simple; six bloggers take to the stage with a challenge of incorporating a sponsor product into a blog post.  Each of us is assigned a course, and we are all given the green light to experiment and create a recipe that will showcase the host product and/or kitchen tool.

Our progressive party is being sponsored by ZESPRI® Kiwifruit.  ZESPRI international is the world largest marketer of Kiwifruit, selling this fruit into more than 60 countries. When I read about what this company stands for, I was excited to work along side them to showcase their product.  Who would not want to align themselves to a corporation that strives to use the best practices in all of their processes in order to become a sustainable business and a market leader in the industry? You can read more about their vision and history here.

My assigned course was to incorporate this superfruit into an Amuse Bouche. 

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GCC: Menu 29 - Coronation Chicken Rolls

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I have three words for all you guys: MAKE THIS RECIPE!

This was one of our two options for the Gutsy Cook club this week. Since I knew that we had a beach day planned this past Sunday, I figure this would be the perfect dish to take and eat while sitting in the hot Florida sun, enjoying the crash of the waves, working on our tans and catching up on some reading.

It was sunny.

And the waves were crashing all around us.

But, it was cold!

After unpacking half of our house onto the beach, Tom and the little man did not waste time in strip to their bathing suits and jumping in the water.

Boys are CRAZY!

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