Luncheon Recipes

Well, everything is ready and my friends don't arrive for another hour, so I thought I'd share today's menu and one very special recipe, as promised. I didn't prepare any appetizers, so I put out some corn chips and tortilla chips and bean dips and salsa to nibble on while we chat.  Here's the menu:

Luncheon
Chicken cashew salad sandwiches
Broccoli cranberry salad
Pomegranate Lemonade
Ice cream with raspberries and
butter cookies

The only thing I prepared from scratch was the broccoli salad.  It's a make-ahead dish, so I had it done and in the refrigerator last night.  Here's the recipe:

Broccoli Cranberry Salad

Toss together:
5 cups broccoli florets cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup red onions, chopped
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1 cup bacon cooked crisp and crumbled (optional)
1 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries (Craisins)

Separately, mix together dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Salt only if needed.

Mix dressing with salad ingredients and refrigerate.

For the sandwiches today, I just bought the chicken salad already made from the deli and added cashews.  I ran to my favorite bakery this morning to pick up the best, flakiest croissants.

The pomegranate lemonade was just something I ran across in the grocery store and decided to try out.  The friends I'm having over today are teetotalers, so no alcohol will be served.

I couldn't find a prepared raspberry sauce for my dessert.  I would normally make it from fresh raspberries, but since they are out of season and quite expensive right now, I decided on just putting the fresh raspberries alone over vanilla ice cream and skipping the extra raspberries for making a sauce.  But then I had a little brainstorm and tried cooking some raspberry jam thinned with a little water and heated until bubbly.  I'll admit I had a scoop of vanilla ice cream last night just to try it out and it was wonderful.

I did mess up my kitchen a bit last night what with bacon spatters on the stove and all sorts of chopping implements.  But, of course, it spiffed up quite nicely.

Bye for now, the guests will be here soon.