Memorial Day Weekend Eats

It's Friii-daay! It's Friii-daay!

Excuse me while I get my happy dance on. Not only is it Friday, but it's a holiday weekend Friday which pretty much rocks my world. What do you have planned? Shaun and I are getting our home DIY on, having dinner and drinks with friends and just relaxing a bit. What do you have planned?

One of my favorite things about summer holidays is, you guessed it, the picnic and barbecue food. I can't wait to eat some of these this weekend! I thought I'd share a round up of some of my favorite picnic food ideas. I hope you've already eaten breakfast, because these will most certainly get your tummy rumbling.

Grilled Zucchini Coins

I love these. So simple, so delicious and so healthy. Make them today. And tomorrow.

Carmelized Potato & Parsnip Tart

Another great way to get some veggies. I served this on Christmas Eve, but it would be perfect cut up into bite size squares and served outdoors on a big platter for guests to pick at. Oh and it doesn't hurt that it's gorgeous to boot.

Grilled Caprese Salad

Melted mozzarella, fresh basil, tomatoes...it doesn't get better.

Creamy Fruit Salsa

It really couldn't be easier. Find some delicious fruit salsa (I like Target's peach salsa) and mix with a dollop of sour cream. Serve with chips. Yum.

Pizza Dip

It's an oldie but always a goodie and always a crowd pleaser. I always, always serve this at parties and gatherings. Although it's one of the easiest dips ever, it's always the first plate to be cleaned.

Asiago-Fig Macaroni & Cheese

This can easily be prepped in advance and baked off once guests arrive or at your final destination. Guests and hosts alike will love you for it. I promise.

Burgers & Corn on the Cob

I can't imagine Memorial Day weekend wthout either of these items. I can't wait to finally eat some Jersey corn this weekend...it's the best!

And for dessert? Something about summer gatherings always makes me want bars. So I'm sharing my 2 favorite bar recipes thus far.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

Find me someone who won't like these. It won't happen. They are delicious and extremely rich so one tray goes a looong way.

Pineapple Carrot Bars

These are not only delicious, but look how cute they are! Not to mention, cream cheese frosting makes everything better.

So there you have it. Lots of delicious recipes for your holiday weekend! I hope you enjoy some of these! What are your plans for the weekend? What's your favorite picnic/barbecue foods? I'm always on the hunt for new ones, so dish in the comments!

Scenes from the Birthday

Good morning! This weekend was this guy's birthday...

For his actualy birthday on Sunday, Shaun chose an ice cream cake! It was so long since I've had ice cream cake, and it was fantastic. I love those little crunchies!

We had so much fun celebrating with friends on Saturday and Shaun's family on Sunday. On Saturday, we had an apartment full of friends, fun and laughter! Oh and of course lots of food!

My friend Laura and me...Laura is getting married next Saturday! Congrats Laura! Can't wait to celebrate with you and John next weekend

I love when our home is filled with friends!

In addition to lots of delicious dips, we dined on pulled barbecued chicken sandwiches, chicken salad veronique and orzo salad.

For dessert? Boston cream cupcakes and potato chip shortbread cookies with salted chocolate glaze.

And our favorite drink of the night? Bethenny's SkinnyGirl Margarita! Kimberly brought this over and I was so excited to give it a try. I'll have a write up this week for ya!

I can't wait to share some of the great recipes from the party with you guys this week! For now I'll leave you with that photo montage. How did you spend your weekend? What's your go-to party drink?

DIY Weekend + Birthday Brunch

Sometimes you just need to get things done.

This weekend, Shaun and I spent most of Friday night and Saturday spackling, painting and installing a new closet system in our den closet. It's a fantastic storage space, but it needed a whole lotta TLC. So I'm a little tired today. And a lot sore. Admittedly we did take a small break on Saturday night and headed to Michael Anthony's in Newport for some drinks, appetizers and basketball/giant moon watching over the Hudson.

Sunday marked my mom's birthday. It's a big birthday month for the Cannon-Humistons. If you recall, last week I whipped up this little beauty when we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday with dinner and dessert at our place. Last year, my sister Kimberly and I threw our mom a dinner party at the old Humiston residence (more on that here, here and here). This year, my mom obliged to do something similar...but this time, Mom wanted brunch. At the new Humiston residence. So from DIY closets to DIY brunch, it was a busy one.

Mom, Dad and me

I absolutely love brunch. There is simply nothing better than breakfast food and prosecco-laced cocktails in the late morning/early afternoon. It's casual, fun and pretty darn delicious. I also love hosting. I bet you didnt know that. :)

For this little soiree, I set up our little bar with wine glasses and drinking glasses. I also used one end to house the desserts until singing time and to display some beautiful roses that my parents picked up for the occasion.

To start, we dined on smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers, blue cheese + honey on crackers and a giant bowl of fruit.

Mom, Dad and Kimberly

Oh and Shaun was on drink patrol. He mixed up some rum & diet for Dad, white wine for Mom and mimosas for Kimberly and me. Gotta love him.

Kicking off the main attraction, Kimberly made a fantastic salad with goat cheese, dried cranberries, sliced almonds and a honey mustard vinaigrette. It was just about the best salad ever.

We also got to work on a strawberry baked oatmeal (a healthy one that you need to make immediately so I'll be sharing later this week!)

and a goat cheese, roasted pepper and basil frittata. Oh and we also whipped up a little mushroom frittata while we were at it.

 

And in case that wasn't enough food for ya, you know we had to get down with dessert. In addition to a glazed blood orange loaf cake that I had frozen from last week...

...I was on a mission to make a dessert that Mom would love. For as long as I can remember, Mom has proclaimed her love for malt. Specifically Whoppers, the quintessential chocolate malt candy. So I researched (and researched) until I found the perfect recipe for some stretchy-pants-inducing chocolate malt cupcakes. Oh yeah. I went there.

Stay tuned for the yum-inducing recipe later this week because no doubt you will want to subsequently get your malt on immediately. We lit some candles and sang Happy Birthday!

The only thing missing from this fun, food-filled day was my sister Christine who is off at school. Miss you Stine Bean!

So that was how we spent the weekend. DIY'ing, spending time with family, cooking and eating ourselves into a coma. How did you spend your weekend? What was the last thing you DIY'd? What's the last thing you needed to break out your stretchy pants for?