Bridesmaid Luncheon

Hi. Let me re-introduce myself. I'm the other sister. :) I've been absent from the blogger world for a little while and there are a few things I want to post. So I'll start with posting about the Bridesmaid Luncheon that my mother and I hosted for one of my long-time and dear friends Janet Phan Rehberg. The wedding was in Fort Smith, so my mom was kind enough to open up her house to us. When I was planning the menu for the shower I really wanted to have a meal that was fresh, girly and fresh.

Here are all the girls and the table--

Menu:

• Quiche - From Creative Kitchen (this qualifies as girly...it's hard to serve a quiche when males are invited)
• Nana Rolls (these don't qualify as fresh, maybe a little girly, but mostly just delicious!) I will have to post this recipe at another time.
• Fresh Fruit Salad (this is fresh and girly)- nothing fancy here. Just lots of different fresh fruits chopped up and mixed together...great for summer. It included peaches, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, and grapes.
• Fresh Green Salad (fresh and girly) - I used a recipe from Tyler Florence that is below:

This recipe says it serves 6. When I made it I put it on salad plates and for 10 ladies I used 2 bags of fresh mixed greens...it was just enough.

Ingredients

• 8 to 10 cups (about 1 pound) mixed greens (mesclun, mache, watercress, baby arugula, dandelion; include hydroponic lettuces, sprouts and shoots - pea shoots)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions

Wash and dry greens, place in a large bowl. Add chives and season with salt and pepper; drizzle over about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss well to coat. Squeeze lemon juice over the greens and toss again. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.

I also served a "Signature Drink" as some of the shows call it. I modified a recipe that I found on the Martha Stewart Website. It was really really good...If I had these ingredients at my house right now I would probably make one. Oh..I also topped the drink with fresh mint from Mom's garden. It was a good "fresh" touch.

I could not find Pear Nectar, but I did find ApricotNectar and it was great!

Drink Up: Pear and Cranberry Bellini

Serves: 8

1 cup pear nectar

1 cup cranberry juice

1 bottle Prosecco

In a small pitcher or large measuring cup, combine juices. Pour 1/4 cup of juice mixture into eight champagne glasses.

Top with Prosecco or other dry sparkling white wine.

And here's another picture of the wonderful ladies! Janet is in the blue top in the middle. I'm so proud of her for all her accomplishments...she is a super smart electrical engineer with an MBA...but most of all she's a great friend!!! I'm so happy that she found such a great guy to enhance her already great life!