Well, MIL has been in the hospital for 9 days now. She went from telling me that she wanted to invite more people to her 90th b-day party on July 2, to telling me to cancel it, back to being excited to have it in the future... She has gone through a battery of tests and all looks well (as well as can be expected from a 90yo, that is!) so we may get her out of there in the next day or two. Then to skilled nursing for a bit. Then back to her apartment (which she misses so much, it's amazing!). So, for now, the party is "on".
I changed the menu around a bit. The baked lemon chicken has been dropped in favor of a wonderful baked chicken with roasted red pepper sauce that I developed over the past weeks (it actually tastes better after being made ahead a few days, and is fork-tender to boot!). No matter what I did to the lemon chicken, I just didn't like the taste after it had been refrigerated for a day. And who am I kidding? On the day of the party I'll be decorating, arranging flowers, etc so having the ability to make everything two days (or more) earlier would be perfect.
The two cheese braciole is still on the menu. Slow-cooker and easily done ahead.
I was going to make pasta as a side but I'm not sure about making it in advance and reheating, so I have decided that an appropriate potato dish may be a better choice.
So what I'm looking for is a for a creamy potato casserole, aka scalloped potatoes, but with a Parm-type cheese in the sauce and lots of garlic (roasted?) and maybe some fresh rosemary as well. Does anyone know of something like this that is t&t? I could play around and figure out a recipe, but it's a little too hot to keep heating the oven and I don't know how much time I'll have to do it, anyway.
Here's the menu. As it is now. Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions. We'll just have some very basic cheese & crackers, veggies & dip, or whatever in her apartment before going to the dining room for dinner.
Baked Chicken Breasts with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Two Cheese Braciole
Pasta Aglio e Olio or Potato Casserole
Tossed Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
Tomato & Mozzarella Salad
Ciabatta
Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling
Chocolate Almond Torte (yes, that one!)
Thanks (in advance)!!!
I changed the menu around a bit. The baked lemon chicken has been dropped in favor of a wonderful baked chicken with roasted red pepper sauce that I developed over the past weeks (it actually tastes better after being made ahead a few days, and is fork-tender to boot!). No matter what I did to the lemon chicken, I just didn't like the taste after it had been refrigerated for a day. And who am I kidding? On the day of the party I'll be decorating, arranging flowers, etc so having the ability to make everything two days (or more) earlier would be perfect.
The two cheese braciole is still on the menu. Slow-cooker and easily done ahead.
I was going to make pasta as a side but I'm not sure about making it in advance and reheating, so I have decided that an appropriate potato dish may be a better choice.
So what I'm looking for is a for a creamy potato casserole, aka scalloped potatoes, but with a Parm-type cheese in the sauce and lots of garlic (roasted?) and maybe some fresh rosemary as well. Does anyone know of something like this that is t&t? I could play around and figure out a recipe, but it's a little too hot to keep heating the oven and I don't know how much time I'll have to do it, anyway.
Here's the menu. As it is now. Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions. We'll just have some very basic cheese & crackers, veggies & dip, or whatever in her apartment before going to the dining room for dinner.
Baked Chicken Breasts with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Two Cheese Braciole
Pasta Aglio e Olio or Potato Casserole
Tossed Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
Tomato & Mozzarella Salad
Ciabatta
Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling
Chocolate Almond Torte (yes, that one!)
Thanks (in advance)!!!