My First Dinner Party

For a wedding gift Brian's grandpa, better known as "Red Levy", gave us a grill for our tiny patio/laundry area. This was in June, it is now late November and my husband, the BIGGEST procrastinator, finally hooked it up. In honor of this momentous occasion we decided to have a dinner party with my family to celebrate the unveiling of the WeberQ120.

I have been wanting to try this recipe from Giada for months now for Couscous-Stuffed Peppers with Basil Sauce. I saw it on her show a while ago when I was home sick with Strep Throat and I just have never had the right menu to compliment them. They just looked so delicious and beautiful...they did not disappoint. I love mixing all sorts of random things I have in my refrigerator and pantry in rice and couscous, so I knew I would just love the mix of dried fruit, spinach, feta cheese and garbanzo beans. The recipe calls for dried currants, but they are so hard to find (sometimes I get lucky), so I chopped up some dried cherries instead. I also substituted the regular feta for fat free because that is all I had on hand, tasted just as good with a fraction of the fat and calories! Same with the Creme Fraiche, I used reduced fat Sour Cream. This was a huge hit and I will be making this again soon!

I also made Bloody Mary Flank Steak for a little break from the normal flank steak marinades you see all the time. Classic recipes are wonderful, but sometimes I am in the mood for something a little more interesting. Nothing says interesting like Vodka and Hot Sauce!

Slicing my Flank Steak with my fabulous Shun Knives

The new master griller!

My sister's unbelievable Carrot Cake that is Cooking Light (tasted like the real thing)!

Our Meal (Still looking for a better way of taking pictures of food, my current strategy does not do it justice!)

Our Appetizer Dips with my cute new Anthropology Bowls (I am sure you will be seeing a lot of them. I am obsessed with tiny bowls)

Brian and his guacamole! He insisted on making it and it actually turned out great, very different from his "famous salmon". I will save that story for another post...

Whats your favorite flank steak recipe?