Blue Cheese and BBQ Sauce

Tonight was a trip to Sam's to get the ingredients for George's cat food.  I knew we'd get home too late to do too much, so bought a rotisserie chicken while we were there.  Gave Connie three choices - with the 2nd merely being a riff on the first.  One was sliced chicken, roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus with parmesan, pimento and bread crumbs.  Two was the first with a bbq sauce on the chicken.  Three was a warm roasted potato, chicken, asparagus and blue cheese salad.  He went for option two.  I roasted the fingerling potatoes with a good handful of garlic cloves (thank you Sam's for selling them pre-peeled!)  Did our normal with the asparagus.  But, I must mention - we are SO spoiled with the wonderful veggies we get from our yard and the CSA that asparagus shipped in from halfway around the world just doesn't have the same flavor!  Then, the five.  I took about 1/2 cup of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and crumbled in about 1/4 cup of blue cheese.  Put it in a small saucepan and heated it over medium heat until the blue cheese had melted into it.  Now, I am the sauce person.  Is there extra gravy?  I'm there!  Extra sauce?  I'm there!  Extra dressing?  I'm there.  They're my downfall.  A vast majority of the extra calories I consume are in sauces, dressings and gravy.  Connie on the other hand could care less about the same.  Tonight was different.  I ladled a bit of the blue cheese bbq sauce over his chicken.  He took a bite and got a funny look on his face.  Pretty soon he was dipping his finger in and licking  the sauce off.  He couldnt' figure out what in the world it was but he liked it.  I finally broke down and told him.  YUM was his response.  Then, he did the unheard of - got up and got the saucepan and put MORE on his chicken.  First time in 5 1/2 years I've seen him get more sauce.  So, we have a new five here :-)

Holiday Party

Every January we have a holiday party.  Started out using a caterer for part of the fare but he failed miserably a couple of times.  Delivered a practically raw turkey breast, late, etc.  Now, I do all the cooking.  The recipes will follow over time.  For now, though, here's the bill of fare.

Bill of Fare




Meats, Fish and Seafood


Turkey breast with Grand Marnier Cranberry Compote


Pork Tenderloins with Scallion Mustard Mayonnaise


Beef Tenderloins with Horseradish Sauce


Honey Glazed Ham with Apricot Mustard Sauce


Gingery Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce


Teriyaki Flank Steak Skewers


Sassy Shrimp


Smoked Salmon with Whipped Cream Cheese, Red Onions and Capers






Crudite


Fresh Herb and Caper Tapenade


Blue Cheese Dip


Roasted Pistachio Dip






Crackers


Brie with Cranberry Chutney


Buffalo Chicken Dip


Caramelized Onion Dip


Clam Dip


Crab Rangoon Dip


Ham and Cheese Ball


Dilled Brie and Smoked Salmon


Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Spread


Peppadew Spread


Rustic Chicken Liver Mousse


Shrimp Butter










Hot Bites


Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts in Chili Sauce


BBQ Potstickers


Corn Wontons


Harry Carey’s Crab Cakes


Curried Cheese and Ripe Olives on English Muffins


Meatballs in Barbecue Sauce


Mushroom and Goat Cheese Puffs


Rumaki






Chips


Rum Soaked Black Bean Salsa


Mexicali Salsa


Smoked Salmon Tartare






Antipasto and Cold Bites


Antipasto Platter


Caesar Deviled Eggs


Chorizo and Fontina Stuffed Dates


Citrus Marinated Olives


Cream cheese and Amaretto Apricots


Crispy Salami Rolls


Cream Cheese Olive Pecan Bites


Eggs with Crispy Anchovy Crumbs


Italian Marinated Vegetables


Meatballs in Barbecue Sauce


Mushroom and Goat Cheese Puffs


Rumaki


Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Deviled Eggs


Smoked Trout and Alouette on Crackers


Desserts


Apricot Pate du Fruit


Brownies


Butterscotch Brownies


Eggnog Cake


Pirouettes with Cheesecake Sauce


S’mores on a stick