New Pasta Dinner

My brother and some of his friends from CCU used to get together for "Friday Dinners". I don't know how I got invited, or if I just showed up, but somehow I got in on the loop. I remember one time we had one planned at Mondo's apartment and his back went out. Everyone still came over and Mondo was laid out on his futon mattress in the middle of the floor while we all ate around him. We watched a few episodes of Flight of the Concords that night too. It was fun. That was a year ago.
I finally made some plans with Debbie and asked Mondo to extend the invitation to the rest of the group. Everyone was able to make it. I was pretty psyched to try a new dish. A pasta with white cheese cream sauce.

I came home early to get a good start and make sure everything was ready on time. But - the stove didn't cooperate! It kept blowing the circuit when I had more than one burner on! grrr! Fortunately, I was able to have dinner on the table at the right time... I just ended up having to make dessert.

It's been a while, but here are some "not really a recipe" notes...
For the pasta sauce:
I sautéd shallots for a minute and then added chicken broth. Simmered for a bit before adding grated gouda cheese and heavy whipping cream. Once that got to a consistency I liked, I added wilted spinach, cooked chicken and sautéd mushrooms. I poured the sauce over fusili pasta cooked al dente, mixed and topped with toasted pine nuts.

The next time I will probably use white onions and garlic instead of shallots. I might add some bacon or procuitto and I might try a different white cheese too - although, wouldn't be sad to use gouda again. The fusili pasta was hard to find, but I would definitely take the time to look for it again.

For desert we had Bananas Foster:
I melted butter and added brown sugar. Once that melded together, I added sliced bananas and stirred the mixture for a bit before adding some spiced rum. It didn't flambé for me, so we just ate it like that (yumm). I rolled the ice cream in the crepe, with sliced bananas and then covered with the sauce.

Good Company!

We (my brother Mario & his wife and me) really like hosting fondue parties in the winter. And I have to say, we've got the plan down pretty good. Tonight it was us, a couple of couples who work with us at Sun, my brother Mondo and a friend from out of town, Eden - who came in last minute.

Karen made some homemade crusts for the kids to make their own individual pizzas to enjoy while the adults fondued. Eden asked what she could do to help out, so I gave her a recipe for a mixed drink and she kept the glasses full all night long.

After dinner and dessert, me, Mondo and Eden headed out to meet some friends for a movie. I only went to spend time with Eden cause I really had no interest in seeing "My Bloody Valentine". Thank goodness it was sold out. We made a stop at Bar Louie and Rock Bottom while we were there though. Neither impressed me much. Actually, I am lying. After the gigantic dinner we had, we ordered a pretzel and it was good. Two gigantic pretzels with and artichoke cheese dip was pretty yummy.

So, anyway - thought I would let ya know how we do the fondue parties :

• We extend the invitation to 8 adults. This works for several reasons. 1 - We have 8 fondue plates. 2 - Eight adults fit around the table nicely, and can share 4 pots easily. 3 - We have enough plugs for 4 pots. 4 - We can actually enjoy conversation with 8 people pretty easily. 5 - It's a good number to break up the food list with.
• We make a sign-up sheet for the following;
• Meats: Chicken Breasts, Beef, Large Raw Shrimp (cut into 2x2" pieces / peeled & deveined) - I only say "raw" because once, someone brought cooked shrimp.
• Veggies: Broccoli, Zucchini and Mushrooms.
  
• Dessert: Chocolate Chips, Heavy Whipping Cream, Strawberries, Rice Crispy Treats, Bananas.
• Sauces: Hoisan, Hot Mustard, Tempura, Kung Pao, Sirachi, Plum, Peanut Sauce.
  
• Peanut Oil & Tempura Batter
• Fondue Pots, Extension Cords, Sauce Cups, Tempura Batter Cups, Fondue Plates, Raw Food Plates, Straining Spoons.
• Wine! (I love Hogue Late Harvest Riesling)
• We don't do cheese usually because there's enough food without it and when we first started doing these dinners, they took a looooong time.
• If you want to do broth, cooking takes extra time. Look for a recipe that uses fresh herbs and spices instead of just using bouillon cubes.
• Other Veggies - asparagus, pearl onions, bell peppers, cauliflower.
• Other Dessert Items - caramel, pretzels, pineapple, pound cake (which I do not like and I do not put on the list, but everyone always asks for it - so maybe I will budge next time. We have never used a whole pound cake before and don't dip it right into the chocolate - it breaks off - ick!)
• Peanut Oil is more expensive, but is said to have a higher smoking point.

Well, if you've never had one and you decide to have a party - let me know how it goes!