Life of the Party Always!

Creating food and special occasions for friends and family. Because life is supposed to be fun!

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Spicy Ahi Tuna-tini

One of the many joys of living in a RV community are the constant opportunities to hang out with friends! Yes, you heard me right! Living in an RV community! As we cruised across country we made a planned 5 day stop in the Star Valley. What wasn’t planed was how much we would love it here, the people we would meet and our desire to stay longer….much, much longer! (more…)

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Dilled Ranch Red Skin Potato Salad

Dilled Ranch Red Skin Potato Salad

Summertime means grilling and potato salad! My Mom made a great potato salad and her’s is my measuring stick, to this day, for all potato salads. I am such a fan of potato salad that I am always on the lookout for inspiration that will give a twist to the traditional mustard and ketchup style salads. You’ll never guess where I found my inspiration! (more…)

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Coffee Spice Rubbed Tri-tip

Coffee Spice Rubbed Tri-tip

As soon as the warm weather hits, I think of grilling! Anything on the grill, from meat to vegetables, tastes so much better. And eating outside just adds to the fun! It feels like a party! Tri-tip is the perfect cut of meat for a crowd too. It is one of the more under utilized cuts and yet it is one of the most affordable. Give it a rub of spicy love and watch the faces of your friends as the…

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Grilled Chili Orange Drumsticks

Grilled Chili Orange Drumsticks

Some like it HOT! Spicy that is, and my family sure does! If there’s a way to put hot sauce in, on or around food, we will do it! But here’s the rub, we don’t all like it to the same heat level. Most of us like a zippy zing but some would prefer to nearly blow the hair off your head. Compromises are necessary, which is easy to do with the spicy glaze basted on at the end. Everyone is happy and…

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Roasted Cauliflower with Pancetta

Roasted Cauliflower with Pancetta

Cauliflower ~ the little bundle of crunchy, white florets is becoming quite the super star especially in the gluten free world. But you don’t have to be avoiding the gluten family to appreciate how great this vegetable is. Dress her up with crispy pancetta and a balsamic reduction and she is a show stopper at any meal! (more…)

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Full Irish Scramble

Leftovers! An American Irish girl’s take on the traditional “Full Irish Breakfast”. In Ireland, this is breakfast on a grand scale, thus the “full” part of the name. Traditionally served with Irish sausage, Irish bacon or rasher, blood sausage, fried egg, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, baked beans (oh yes, it’s true) potatoes or boxy (griddle bread) and a cup of freshly brewed tea to wash it all…

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Green Goddess Dip or Dressing

Green Goddess Dip or Dressing

Green Goddess Dressing was created in 1923 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco for an event honoring actor George Arliss, who starred in the hit play of the time, The Green Goddess. A twist on the traditional, this version has been lightened by using Greek yogurt and olive oil instead of mayonnaise and sour cream. And the herb combo has dill in lieu of tarragon (done with a special friend in…

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Chicken Shepherd's Pie

Chicken Shepherd’s Pie

I’m pretty sure there are some shepherds that don’t eat beef or lamb. And there’s probably a whole herd of them who don’t tolerate gluten well either. This pie is made with chicken simmered in a broth flavored with lemon zest and thyme, thickened with corn starch not flour. So if you’re one of those shepherds, wandering around, looking for that kind of pie, look no further! This pie’s for you! (m…

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Turkey Albondigas Vegetable Soup

Turkey Albondigas Vegetable Soup

Albondigas! I even love the sound of the word. Meatballs! Sounds good too but it just doesn’t have the same excitement to it. They mean the same thing but the translation is in the ingredients. This is not your traditional albondigas soup. No rice in the meatballs (faster) with hominy and blacks beans in the broth. Albondigas! (more…)

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California Chopped Salad

I have cravings……the kind of cravings that run around in your head until you just have to have it! Lots of people crave sweets but not me. For me it’s salty and savory that gets me going. And it’s usually Mexican food! How’s the saying go? “Life without Mexican food is like no life at all!” Here’s how I satisfy those cravings the healthy way! (more…)

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Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Need to feel the sunshine of the Mediterranean to cheer you up during the long days of winter? The flavors of the Mediterranean are so fresh and so very good for you! Eating this salad takes you to the warm shores of Greece and the laid back feeling of summer. (more…)

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Grilled Chicken Veggie Lasagna Suizas

Grilled Chicken Veggie Lasagna Suizas

Yes, I know, it does sound rather cross cultural but it’s truly more Tex-Mex than Italian. The lasagna reference is just my way of saying don’t roll it, layer it! Man, oh man is that a time saver! Faster to the table, means faster to my lips! (more…)

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Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce

Life’s simple pleasures can be the best! Sometimes it takes a friend to remind you. Over the holidays, Lani did just that by whipping out her homemade applesauce from her freezer. Winner, winner! Served with our chicken dinner! (more…)

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Spicy Pecan Marmalade over Cream Cheese

Spicy Pecan Marmalade over Cream Cheese

Invite me to your house! I love it! Foodie friends make fantastic dishes of their own and it gives me inspiration and pleasure to share them. Every since I was a kid I loved to eat at other people’s houses. Sometime I got to eat things my Mom didn’t allow us to have! (she was very health conscious) What is it about the not so healthy stuff that is so alluring? (more…)

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Mango Shrimp Salsa

We love having friends, old and new, come by our RV for cocktails and appetizers! It’s an easy way to hang out, discover new things about each other and nibble on tasty treats. There is a rule among the RVing crowd, besides the #1 rule, make new friends wherever you go. It’s the Rule of  6-4-2! Basically it says – 6 for cocktails, 4 for dinner and 2 to sleep. We always feel the more the merrier…

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Wagner Winter Salad

Inspiration comes from all around us at any given moment. You just have to watch for it.  I happen to love to talk about food and in the course of a recent conversation, an idea for a new recipe popped into my head. That’s how it rolled when I was talking with my friend Donna about the vinaigrette I was going to make with her blood oranges and Meyer lemons. (more…)

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Blood Orange Vinaigrette

It’s who you know that makes all the difference! We just happen to be staying with the Wagner’s on their ranch and there is an abundance of winter fruit just ripe for the picking. When Donna asked if we’d like some blood oranges, I just couldn’t resist! And true to their giving nature, I soon had a bag of blood oranges and Meyer lemons. In this bag was a lovely vinaigrette just waiting to be made!

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