Have A Do With The Glamorous Housewife: A Summer Soiree For Six

On Friday Night I had a small party for my sister who is visiting from out of town. I have been craving light and refreshing food, and I didn't want to cook all day Friday, so this was the perfect meal because most of it could be cooked the day before, or thrown together at the last minute. Here is the menu followed by the place setting (found at Target) and flowers (found at Trader Joes)








This was the first time I had made the quinoa salad and I am adding this to my salad repertoire. I am not a huge quinoa fan, but this salad has turned me into a believer! I liked the texture of the grain with the crunch of the cucumber, and the vinaigrette caused all the flavors to almost hum with vibrancy. I substituted the parsley with basil, but I think any fresh herb would work. I am going to try it next time with mint and chives. You can see the results below.



I had made the layered tuna salad last summer and I thought it was delicious, and then never made it again! It was just as good as I remembered. Though it seems like the craziest salad ever, the flavors just seem to work together. I would recommend only using fresh lime juice because that is the key flavor that ties everything together.



The spinach salad was based on my sister's favorite salad from Whole Foods. I just purchased a bag o'spinach, some dried cherries, crumbled goat cheese, and candied pecans. Then I threw them all into a salad bowl, added some fresh strawberries, balsamic vinegar, oil, and sea salt. It was really amazing and pretty much all store bought. So this took about 3-5 minutes to toss together.



Finally we have the dessert. I was unable to take pictures because once Shabbat starts (our sabbath) we cant use anything electrical, which includes the camera. But it looked and tasted sweet and light. I have found that by the time dessert comes around everyone is so full from the dinner they often pass, so instead of taking the time to make angel food cake, I just store bought it along with the lemon curd. I whipped the cream myself, and of course the strawberries were fresh. However, if you have the time or inclination to make a fresh angel food cake and lemon curd, this dessert will be like heaven on your plate.