Baby Shower Perfection

[geg5150]

I hosted a baby shower on Saturday for 22 ladies in Phoenix. It was hot and we needed fresh, tasty and cool treats.

It was a great success and I wanted to share it with you. Here's the basic menu:

Watermelon & Feta Salad with mint, black olives and lime and olive oil (Nigella Lawson)
Farfalle Pasta Salad with yellow tomatoes, red peppers, basil and red onions
Chinese Chix Salad with asparagus, red peppers, mandarin oranges over Napa cabbage (I used an Ina Garten recipe for the dressing and made a few changes)
Romaine with strawberries, candied walnuts and raisins with rice wine vinagrette

Hummus with olive, pickles and pita
Cheese & fruit platter with chevre, brie, jack and a good cheddar with grapes, radishes and a red wine aged salami
Loads of fresh veggies -- sugar snaps peas, carrots, crimini mushrooms, cukes, etc.

Assorted rolls from the bakery and I made my own compound butter with mint, rosemary, cilantro, basil & parsley.

The best part, the menu cost about $125 for 22 people and we had left overs. I was shocked, but happy about the cost and I'll tell you, I didn't skimp on anything and everyone was super happy with everything.

[valerie]

It sounds great. I've been wanting to try out the Watermelon, Feta & olive salad for a while, but just haven't done it yet.

[geg5150]

I will say, it was the salad with the most left overs. I forced all of the gals that I'm good friends with to try it. They all said the same thing, "I thought it would be gross/yucky/bad, but it's really good."

[nemo]

Was going to try this salad as well, but if you say you had to force it upon your friends and it resulted in the most leftovers, that's not a very good recomendation.

[valerie]

Actually if you search around Chowhound, people rave over this dish.

[geg5150]

I wasn't a very risque crowd, the people who I would consider "CHers" loved it, loved it! I also used 12 lbs of melon, that contributed to the leftovers.

[valerie]

Yeah, a lot of people I know wouldn't dare to try that combination! In fact, although I want to try it due to the rave reviews here, I still can't imagine what it tastes like.