Lake Powell Eating Like Kings

               

             We eat like kings at Lake Powell, with

              everyone couple making a lunch and dinner

            and everyone trying out fun new recipes.

             As we gather at night around the table on the upper

             deck, we have a gorgeous outdoor dining room.

            Definitely a room with a view.

The cooks for the evening can choose how to

set the table, as we have a few options - even

paper if they want - in many styles.

My meal featured an Italian theme with a creamy

Artichoke Dip starter, followed by a stacked Caprese

Tomato salad, with a Mushroom and Arugula Gnocchi.

The bottom right picture was a Pina Colada salad

made by my friend for lunch.  It featured coconut

crusted chicken.

These fabulous lunch pizzas were made on Naan bread

and topped with the most fabulous fresh ingredients.

The one on the top left was the one I created with all

three flavors in one.  They featured clockwise goat cheese

topped with arugula micro greens, strawberries, pecans and balsamic

glaze, then mascarpone cheese, smoked mozzarella, arugula, bacon, 

and drizzled with honey.  The bottom left one is avocados, Orange

infused olive oil, arugula, pistachios and feta cheese.

I think this was the best lunch I have had at

Lake Powell.  It was so fresh and delicious.

Another Italian night featured a copycat version

of Carrabba's Chicken Bryan with a fabulous

sauce of sundried tomatoes over goat cheese.

I just melted over these fun mozzarella stuffed

pesto rolls.  She put a cube of mozzarella inside

half of a Pillsbury biscuit, and then smothered

it in pesto sauce.  Ooey, gooey, cheesy heaven!

(Simply Recipes)

Another night was a pulled pork taco bar.

Our final night featured an Asian twist on

grilled Tri Tip with Asian appetizers,

followed by a rich chocolate cake

from Sweden.  This trip was to honor

our good friends, twins, who just returned

from their LDS missions - one from Taiwan

and one from Sweden, so they both let us

have a taste of their mission foods.

Of course, you know we had lots of treats and desserts featuring Chocolate Chip S'mores Pizookies, Virgin Mango Lava Flows, a Very Berry Gallette, and a Pan full of Sugar Cookies.

Everyone is hungry after a fun

day of play, watersports, 

hiking through narrows,

swimming, etc.

Our special cave where we cliff jump 

            and have a picnic

            on the speed boat with music echoing off the cave.

           We always finish our days on top of the third

            deck under the stars, listening to playlists hubby

            has created - "Star Gazing Music".  Our favorite

            album is Ray Lynch's Deep Breakfast, Celestial Soda Pop!

            Check that one out on You Tube.

            There are no city lights so the Milky Way looks

            like a cloud stretched across the sky, and I never

              want to go to bed until I have seen 

a shooting star!!

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Dishing It and Digging It

Virgin Mango Strawberry Lava Flows

This kid friendly drink is one of favorites modeled

after a lava flow.  Lava flows are always what the

kids want when we are vacation at a nice resort,

so we are making this at home, with the added touch

of a scoop of ice cream.  Boy does that scoop of ice

cream take the drink up into the stratosphere.

Mango Strawberry Lava Flow Recipe

Fill the blender two thirds full with ice, then

cover it with pina colada mix.  Blend until the 

ice is finely ground.  Pour an ounce of

Mango or Strawberry Colada mix in the bottom of

a glass.  This is actually Strawberry Watermelon

colada mix and it was fantastic.  Pour in the frozen

pina colada from the blender.  Top with a scoop 

of good vanilla ice cream.  We LOVE Costco's

Kirkland brand - so creamy and delicious.  Drizzle

a little of the other mix on, so this one had a little

mango mix drizzled on, while the ones in back

had mango in the bottom and strawberry watermelon

drizzled on.  Put in a straw and enjoy!

Fill the bottom with the mango or the watermelon strawberry.

I have to say the mango was my favorite.  I found these

at my local grocery store with the drink mixes.

These were perfect at Lake Powell.  I will have to

post our menu from this last week!!  We had a lot

of delicious new recipes.

Thanks for stopping by 

Purple Chocolat Home.

Garden Wedding and Party

My garden has been a busy place this summer

with a wedding reception and a few days later,

a Mother Daughter Garden party.

Since the Mother Daughter party was just four days

after the wedding reception, I used a lot of the

same decor and ideas.

It all started with this ugly green hutch that was a leftover

from one of our condo project models.  I didn't pick it -

our partner's wife did, and it had been relegated to the basement

to hold plates and things.  

The wedding reception was for my oldest daughter's niece,

and my daughter said we should paint it for the wedding 

reception, and use it for our sign in station.

I decided to paint the interior of the two glass

cabinets a pale aqua.  I used Rustoleum's

chalk paint.

It was our first foray into chalk paint, and I decided to

add a little bling with the crystal knobs that I

ordered online.

Once we finished that, I asked her what she planned

on using for the candy station, so we had to paint

another piece.

 This piece was in my dining room, also holding

plates and things.  It was a brown on brown.

I was looking for something with a lot of

detail and this one was perfect.  It went from

being the ugly duckling to the beautiful swan.

It got a little lavender bling in the crystal knobs!

After the transformations, I said these pieces

were going to take center place in my dining room.

No more basement for the ugly green hutch.

The hutch was placed on the side yard entrance

for guests to sign in. 

 Lavender was one of the bride's colors, and I

had driven into my daughter's driveway and saw

this great lavender bicycle.  I said I had to borrow

it for the wedding and they said the friend was

selling it.  I bought it that day and brought it

home.  

 The wedding was gorgeous and a much bigger

turn out than the bride's mom had guessed, but

the yard handled it well.

I had hung netting panels from IKEA in the gazebo

for the backdrop for the bride and groom.  She

had rose gold runners on the tables, so I purchased

a rose gold tablecloth and took a small seam

on one end so I could hang it too.

The wedding reception was a big success!

The bride has lots of big strapping cousins, so right

after the reception ended, I had them move the

hutch down to the gazebo.  The bride and groom had

stood here for the wedding.  Now I wanted the hutch

to be used for the Mother Daughter party as our buffet.

I was able to reuse lots of my flowers

from the wedding for the Mother Daughter

party, filling the drawers with plants and

little vases of flowers.

The cupboards were opened up to accomodate

all of the food.

We had heart shaped peanut butter and jelly

sandwiches for the little ones and chicken

croissant sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches

with a salad for the moms.

The girls had fun decorating cupcakes as flowers

using marshmallows and sugar sprinkles.

Of course I knew they would love the candy

station as much as the wedding guests, so

I repeated that where the wedding cake

had been stationed.

Both parties were made magical by my painted

garden furniture, but they are too nice to leave

outside.  Watch for my dining room remodel.  

These two pieces will be featured!

I will be sharing these parties with

Share Your Cup Thursday

Tablescapes Thursday

Dishing It and Digging It

Lemon Raspberry Wow Cake

Birthday time for one of the Crafty Girls -

Jann, from Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson,

that I featured on my last post,

and I volunteered to make the cake.

I decided to make my 

Lemon Raspberry Cream Cake,

but I wanted to jazz it up a bit.

I played around with some white chocolate

coating, cutting it into triangles, and

making swoops with the back of a spoon,

and then dusting it with pink praline powder

that I got in Paris.

I dolled up some lemon and raspberry macarons

that I found at Costco ($15 for 36) with a little

glitter.

Some pearls and fresh raspberries finished off

the top of the cake.

I love the look of these wing-like swoops.

Just dip your spoon in the white chocolate

and smear it onto parchment paper.  Make

extras in case the thin chocolate at the edge

breaks when you remove it.

The frosting is a lemon whip cream, so we took

a quick picture and then put it back in the

fridge until we served it after dinner.  

Jann's birthday cake was lit off with these amazing

Sparkler Candles.  

I had seen them years ago in a fancy restaurant in

town, and tried to contact the company to purchase them,

but no luck!  Now you can buy them online!  

They are the perfect topping for this showstopper cake.

Posting this with

Share Your Cup Thursday

Dishing it and Digging it