Weekend Recap: CHOPPED!

Hi friends! This weekend was a total blur. I had so much fun with old friends AND new friends. It was one of those weekends where Sunday night rolls around and you think to yourself, “what the heck just happened?!” Fortunately I remembered to take pictures so I could do a quick recap myself. Apparently I ate out a lot. Heh. Nothing screams a good time like one too many restaurant receipts, right?! Ugh. I need to get that under control. Actually, I just need a big ol’ glass of water and a bag of veggies.

I shouldn’t make it sound horrible though. Because things like this happened…

Yup. I got the chance to meet up with Lauren from OatmealAfterSpinning and her wonderful husband. She was just as cool as she appears on her blog. We chatted it up and did a little blog gossiping (of course we didn’t talk about you!). It is always entertaining to hang out with another blogger because we refer to people by their blog name. “Oh, did you hear that BloggyWithASillyName is going on vacay next week?!”. It just seems normal. Nope. It isn’t. It sure is fun though!

We met up at Stephanie’s On Newbury, along with every other person in Boston. I went for the Ahi Tuna Salad that had some great marinated green beans, olives, an egg and sunroasted tomatoes. It was the perfect lunch salad. Filling and chock full of goodies. On the plus side, I only spilled twice on myself. Awesome.

I also had a glass full of veggies.

What? Does this not count as a serving of vegetables? Next time I go I’m going to ask for every vegetable possible to be put in my glass. It was fun to see what I was going to dig up next.

Our meeting was brief, but fun. It makes me want to meet more non-weirdos from the internet!

My fun didn’t stop after lunch though. I spent a little too much $$$ at the MAC store and then headed home to get ready for a Chopped themed party. Confused? I’ll explain.

Similar to the tv show, Chopped, each person brings 3 ingredients for each course. When you arrive you put your ingredient in a basket for the corresponding course. Right before it is time to cook, the baskets are revealed! The best part about this party….I don’t do the cooking! My friend, Theresa, is the hostess with the mostess and really goes all out. Any gathering at her house is going to be top notch with excellent food!

A few glimpses of the baskets before they were revealed.

My contributions included Pistachios for the appetizer, Jack’s Abby Hoponius Union IPA for the entrée, and vanilla wafers for dessert.

First course…Shrimp pizza with the secret ingredients of tomatoes, popcorn, pistachios, goat cheese, blue cheese and a Slim Jim! This pizza was bangin’. Seriously as good as any pizza at a specialty pizza shop.

Second Course…Roasted chicken and pork, secret ingredients of sauteed brussel sprouts in beer with thick cut bacon, and these amazing sweet potatoes with rosemary, cumin and red pepper flakes. However, I apparently lost my photo mojo and this is what I came home with. This one photo. Seriously pathetic blogger.

Dessert!…All secret ingredients combined to make an apple crisp with a topping of vanilla wafers and baking chocolate. Also some grilled pineapple with more chocolate topping. Grilled pineapple is where it is at!

Theresa did an amazing job and I was so impressed! If I was given those baskets we would have spent the evening sipping beer from the bottle, nibbling on a Slim Jim and enjoying a nice hearty square of chocolate for dessert. Not all of us are gifted with the creative gene so it pays to be friends with someone who is.

Despite being filled to the brim with wine and random food mixed together I managed to get up bright and early Sunday to workout and then meet the Boston Brunchers for a brunch at Catalyst in Kendall Sq. Well, it wasn’t exactly bright and it wasn’t exactly early. But I made it and that is what counts.

I’d fill you in on all the nitty gritty details, but I will save them for their own post later this week. Needless to say, I required a nap and a few more crunches when I got home that afternoon.

Whirlwind weekend followed by what I am sure is going to be a whirlwind week. Lets get this show on the road!

What 3 secret ingredients would you take to a Chopped party?!