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You are here: Home / Appetizers / Foodbuzz 24×24: The Best Things We Ever Ate

Foodbuzz 24×24: The Best Things We Ever Ate

June 27, 2010 by Amy 15 Comments

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Summer officially started last Monday. However, being in Louisiana, we’ve been feeling summer-like weather since May. With the heat index hitting 110 degrees sometimes, we wanted to throw a summer party that was most definitely indoors!

I watch entirely too much Food Network. If it wasn’t for Food Network and reading food blogs, I’m fairly certain my husband and I would be living off of Hamburger Helper and take-out. One of my favorite shows lately has been The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Every show has a theme, and it features the cooks/hosts on Food Network and their favorite eats in that theme. So, when Foodbuzz emailed about this month’s 24×24 proposals, I figured it would be a fun party to feature the best things our families have eaten! Thanks so much to Foodbuzz for sponsoring this party! πŸ™‚

To come up with the menu, I sent out an email to our families asking for their favorites in each category.

  • On the Grill (recipes that are done on the BBQ)
  • Dangerously Cheesy (major cheese in a dish)
  • No Utensils (finger foods/apps)
  • Keep it Comfy (comfort food)
  • Frozen Treats (any dessert from the freezer)
  • Mix it Up (a food that requires using a mixer—doesn’t have to be a sweet)
  • Louisiana’s Best (Louisiana food)
  • Cold and Colorful (like a salad or cold app with lots of veggies or fruit)
  • Under the Sea (favorite seafood dish)
  • Classic American (with 4th of July approaching, tell me a dish that screams American)

After getting many responses, here is the menu we came up with:

Drinks:
Strawberry Lemonade
Strawberry Daiquiris

Appetizers:
Cheese Fondue with Vegetables/Bread*
Bruschetta*
Boudin Balls

Entrees:
Steak Skewers with Chimichurri, Onion Cheese Sauce and Compound Butter*
Spicy BBQ Shrimp Skewers*

Sides:
Crawfish Fettuccine
Macaroni and Cheese
Vegetable Skewers*
Grilled Corn
Lettuce Greens with Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Desserts:
Strawberry Cake*
Assorted Cupcakes
Cinnamon Crumb Apple Pie
Fresh Berries with Ice Cream

* recipes will be featured in the blog in future posts

I will admit, I’m still getting the hang of entertaining for a large number of people. Despite doing a lot of prep, I felt fairly stressed in the last hour. Since the party was for family, though, I had loads of help at the last minute. πŸ™‚ Whew!

The fondue was an absolute hit. I was nervous to make this myself, but this recipe came together beautifully! I served the fondue with day old po’boy bread, carrots and broccoli.

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We purchased the boudin balls at a local joint, since they are pretty much my husband’s favorite. The bruschetta was a lighter alternative to the other appetizers. I was super excited to use basil from our garden for this dish!

Appetizers

I need to thank the hubs for braving the sweltering disgusting heat to cook up this magic on the grill. The steak, especially was a real winner to family!

kabobs

We made 3 sauces available for people to dip/cover their skewers in: a chimichurri, onion blue cheese (not pictured) and a worchestershire chive butter. The chimichurri ended up being a huge hit (and I used parsley from the garden for it)!

Steak Butter/Chimichurri

Here is some lovely grilled corn that survived a few flare-ups on the grill. πŸ™‚

Grilled Corn

Here is a semi-decent picture of the crawfish fettuccine before everyone digged in. The hubs’ parents made this dish and it was delicious. Perfect flavor with a little Louisiana kick!

Crawfish Fettucine

This is some macaroni and cheese that is my mother-in-law’s favorite. It was definitely pretty tasty (not to mention, cheesy). πŸ™‚

Mac and Cheese

After enjoying some serious eats, we waited a good while before putting out desserts and just chatted, watched TV and played some games.

I will say the desserts were absolutely amazing.

Fresh berries (and ice cream, not pictured)

berries

Strawberry Cake (inspired by a local bakery). I would have just purchased one, but I had no idea an 8″ cake was over $30. What the heck?! I guess I’m just used to baking my own cakes to realize how expensive cakes have gotten!

Strawberry Cake

This was a welcomed surprise. A local cupcake bakery occasionally has giveaways on Twitter, and I won some cupcakes! They were seriously delish! Thank you Sweet Wishes Cafe!

Cupcakes

Here is the cinnamon crumb apple pie. This is one of those frozen pies you can find in the grocery store, but has quickly become a favorite with my hubs’ family.

apple pie

Of course, our puppy was very excited to get all of the attention she got at the party, and thanks to my mom, she tried a piece of steak for the first time. I think she enjoyed it. πŸ™‚

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And of course, it wouldn’t be a party without family! Here are some pictures of our family.

Mom and Sis

family

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It was a great time to be had by everyone, especially in the milder indoors. Thank you so much to Foodbuzz again for the party! Everyone had a blast! πŸ™‚

Filed Under: Appetizers, Beef, Cakes/Cupcakes, Entertaining/Parties, Frozen Desserts, Fruit, Louisiana Cuisine, Pasta/Rice, Pies, Sauces/Dips, Seafood, Side Dishes

Previous Post: « Burgers and Fries
Next Post: A bright weekend.. »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ashley says

    June 27, 2010 at 4:53 pm

    Looks like a blast. I NEED that strawberry cake recipe.

    Reply
  2. The Nifty Foodie says

    June 27, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    No worries! I will be posting it soon! Super easy πŸ™‚

    Reply
  3. bmk112302 says

    June 28, 2010 at 8:05 am

    Looks like a fabulous menu and party!

    Reply
  4. ashley says

    June 28, 2010 at 10:46 am

    looks like fun!

    Reply
  5. Chef Dennis says

    June 29, 2010 at 7:10 am

    Congrats on making the 24 x 24!!!!!
    I want that strawberry cake recipe too!!! Everything looked so very very good!

    Reply
  6. Amy (Sing For Your Supper) says

    June 29, 2010 at 10:57 am

    It all looks wonderful, Amy!! Congrats on a very successful 24×24!!

    Reply
    • The Nifty Foodie says

      June 29, 2010 at 1:07 pm

      Thanks!! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Heather says

    June 29, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Mmmm, that Mac & Cheese looks superb! Give me that and those berries, and I would be a happy girl. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  8. Daci says

    June 30, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    Wow, everything looks awesome! Was the cake inspired by Ambrosia? If so – funny because my birthday was a few weeks ago and I thought about asking you if you knew of a copycat recipe for that cake b/c I wanted to make it for my b-day! Now I’m eagerly awaiting the recipe… I have no problems with making myself a late b-day cake πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • The Nifty Foodie says

      June 30, 2010 at 12:20 pm

      Yes, very much so. I wanted to buy the cake to save me the trouble of having another thing to make, but not for $30. Lordie lord! It came out pretty darn similar and is surprisingly easy peasy!

      Reply
  9. Jess says

    July 17, 2010 at 10:51 am

    Where did you get your salsa bowls (the green and yellow ones with dip in them)? I received those exact bowls as a wedding gift and love them but one broke the other day and I can’t find them anywhere! Thanks!

    Reply
    • The Nifty Foodie says

      July 23, 2010 at 9:20 am

      Sorry about this. I thought I replied. We got them at Target in the dollar section a couple of summers ago. : I don’t know if they carry them anymore.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Nifty Foodie's Life » Blog Archive » A bright weekend.. says:
    June 28, 2010 at 8:46 am

    […] I was so glad that everyone loved the food! If you want to see food-wise how it went down, check out this post on the ol’ food […]

    Reply
  2. The Nifty Foodie » Blog Archive » Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Bruschetta says:
    July 7, 2010 at 7:55 am

    […] appetizer that we offeredΒ at the party was a lighter alternative to the fried boudin balls and ultra gooey cheese fondue. I originally […]

    Reply
  3. The Nifty Foodie » Blog Archive » Spicy BBQ Shrimp Skewers says:
    July 9, 2010 at 11:49 am

    […] our party, we knew we wanted to do something summery and fun. Skewers/kabobs were our main meats and ended up […]

    Reply

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Thanks so much for reading! I’m Amy, and I live in south Louisiana with my husband and our rescue dog. I enjoy sharing my love for cooking, baking, crafts & more! Follow my daily adventures on social media!

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