Sunday Cafe, with photos and links

We are having a bit of a special gathering today. Our guests today include a young man and his son, who recently reconnected with our family. A former classmate of my son from junior high school, I have not seen Andrew in over 20 years.

Main dishes:

Oops! I did not get a photo of the ham, but I think it is safe to say, they all look the same!

Spiral Honey Baked Ham
I received this delicious ham as part of my holiday bonus from my employer. I knew it would make a lovely meal in January for my gathering. Ham is always a hit.

Chicken Cobbler Pot Pie

 

http://sunnysimplelife.blogspot.com/2011/01/dinners-at-five.html

Honey loves pot pies. It is his easy "go to meal" when we are working different shifts. I had found this wonderful sounding crust and knew I wanted to make a pot pie.

Meatballs with sour cream Paprika sauce.

This one is by the seat of my pants. Meatballs and onion chunks simmered in beef stock, then thickened with sour cream and paprika.

Sides:

Green beans

Cooked with bacon, dried tomato and onion, oh and a bit of wine. I am very fond of this combination of flavors together. The only thing better is to make this dish with the addition of a ham hock and cook slowly for a couple of hours, so tender and delicious.


Oven roasted butternut squash

Seasoned simply with a sea salt, rosemary and pink pepper corn blend.

White lima beans, braised with roasted pork bones

http://momssundaycafe.blogspot.com/2010/09/cook-pot-of-beans-weekly.html

Brown food is sad looking in a photo, this was good, however the last time I made these I used a ham hocks and that flavor was missed.

Macaroni and cheese with bacon (by request!)

Vegetable platter with olives and pickles

This looks awkward, but the marinated mushrooms and olives in separate little serves keeps the vegetables crisp. I purposely did not have a dip or dunk for the vegetables.
 
Tossed greens with vinaigrette

Swedish Saffron Bread with dried fruit
Butter and Jams

http://momssundaycafe.blogspot.com/2011/01/swedish-saffron-bread.html

I missed getting a photo of this out of the oven, but it was so pretty! I love the dried fruit in the bread, a very nice bread to enjoy with dinner. The simple addition of 1/3 c each dates, currents and dried cranberries made a completely new flavor.


Desserts:

Apricot bread pudding, with
apricot lemon sauce and raspberry port sauce

 The bread pudding used up the leftover sweet rolls from my vanilla project.

Chocolate soup cake with cream cheese frosting.

http://beverlysbackporch.blogspot.com/2011/01/tomato-soup-chocolate-cake-with-cream.html

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!