Bridal Shower Prep

Today I spent most of the day in the kitchen testing out recipes for Tiffany's bridal shower. She had a shower yesterday thrown by her future mother-in-law's friends. It was really nice, however a little bit more than what we are going to do. They did it country club style with waitresses, printed out menus and such. We are going to do a more laid back shower where you have to serve yourself. However I still want the food to taste good and for it to be classy, so Andy was my gastronomical guinea pig.

On the menu today were all recipe's I found on the food network website. I reworked a Lemon Tarragon recipe to make a Lemon Thyme Chicken Salad. I am stealing a phyllo cup recipe from a shrimp salad by Paula Deen to be the vehicle for our chicken salad. I tested the salad half with rosemary and half with thyme and the winner was obviously the thyme.

To go with it I made a green bean, pasta, grape salad. It is a different version of the broccoli salad but a little less picnic. To wash everything down I tried out a champagne sangria by Giada. It was good but super sweet from the mint simple syrup I made. This recipe is actually more like a mojito meets a mimosa. I am definitely going to make a big punch bowl of it but I am going to McGuyver it by doctoring it up with more orange juice (mimosa style), strawberry juice, and more champagne to cut down on the sweetness and make it serve more people.

Lastly I made 2 desserts: A lemon thyme bar and key lime tarts. Originally we were going to have both but afterwards we are definitely going with the key lime tarts only. Liz, Tiffany's friend who I am throwing the shower with, is going to make a chocolaty dessert. The lemon thyme was good but just not cutting it for me. I also didn't want two lemon thyme dishes.

While I spent all day in the kitchen it was really helpful to do a test run of everything. The changes I made to the chicken should be great. I however am going to have to practice the phyllo cups and use less butter the next time around. The green bean salad could use a little less dressing and a bit more bacon. The next go round though I will be doing it in stages and a little bit more experienced so it should not take nearly the same amount of time.

Next up to try is roasted or marinated veggies for a side dish and to find a Southern Living recipe for some quiches that I've had at another shower that are to die for.