Blogger...Down

I am so upset! Blogger has been down since Sunday, but things are finally straightened out...let's hope.

So, here are the recipes from the Bridal Shower, like I promised. The Bridal Shower was a success and so much fun!

Floating Island Punch (Adapted from All Recipes)
Ingredients:
2 cups water
2 cups white sugar
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 pint orange sherbet
1 liter ginger ale
1 liter carbonated water
1 (4 ounce) jar maraschino cherries
1 orange, sliced in rounds
4 cups ice
Directions:
Bring water to a boil. Add the sugar and boil until it becomes a syrup. Let cool.
In a punch bowl combine lemonade, orange juice, ginger ale, and carbonated water. Mix in the sugar syrup. Add ice and sherbet. Just before serving add cherries and cherry juice and float orange slices on top.

This punch was so amazing. People at the bridal shower LOVED this punch. We had to keep making more because the bowl kept turning up empty. I am usually not a "punch person" but I really liked this. It was almost like a smoothie.

And then we had...
Easy Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1 or stalks celery, chopped- about 3/4 cup
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved
3/4 cup salad dressing, such as Miracle Whip brand
2 Tablespoons coleslaw dressing (Marzetti's is good)
Salt, to taste
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
Fresh tarragon
Directions:
Simply mix everything together well. Chill for at least one hour before serving. It tastes much better if chilled overnight.
Serve on fresh croissants.
Divine! Everyone raved about these chicken salad sandwiches at the bridal shower too. I swear, it was the little bit of coleslaw dressing that really made the flavors pop.
Here is the table filled with food!

And then we also had...
Tomato Pasta Salad (Adapted from Food Network, with a few changes)
Ingredients:
1/2 pound fusilli (spirals) pasta
Kosher salt
Good olive oil
1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced
3/4 cup good kalamata olives, pitted and diced
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

For the dressing:
5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1 garlic clove, diced
1 teaspoon capers, drained
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup packed flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions:
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.
Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and parsley, and toss well.

This pasta salad also was a hit! The fresh tomatoes and the sundried tomatoes made an excellent combination. The parmesan cheese added on top just made it perfect.

So the Bridal Shower was a great time accompanied with some incredible food.

Today is also my birthday!! What is so fun about my birthday is that I get to share it with my twin brother! You know how people say that twins have a connection? I totally know what my brother is thinking all the time! (not really) But, I will leave you with a picture of him and I when we were little. I love this picture because my mom loved to dress us in matching clothes, even though we are a boy and a girl :)