This past weekend we had a fun BBQ at a pool. Amy is housesitting, and had a few people over to take advantage of the sweet pool area at the house. It has a cool bar and refrigerator and an outside bathroom so you don’t mess up the house! Unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of pictures of the prep that went on at the house. We were having too much fun, I forgot to take them! But there are links/explanations of all the recipes we used.

As many of my loyal readers know, it was Mandi’s birthday yesterday. Since she has made me some crazy cakes in the past, I decided to try my hand at making one for her. Luckily, I had the design team there to help me decorate it. The cake recipe is from Ina Garten, and can be seen here. The idea for the teddy grams came from a pool cake I had seen online.

Going away parties are always bittersweet events. You go and have a great time, but in the morning you have fewer friends. Todd and Joy are heading home to Canada tomorrow and had a beach party last night to say goodbye. I decided to take some pics to post here for 4 reasons. First, nothing I have on the site is simple, so sometimes people think I can’t eat normal food. Like I have to spend 2 hours cooking dinner or I won’t enjoy it. I think no matter how immersed you are in the food world, if you cant eat a hot dog, you’ve crossed the line into snob territory. Second reason, Mandi loves s’mores. So do I, but not as much as her. Last summer every time we lit the grill she would have a s’more appetizer. In my opinion, it is the best desert flavor combo. Whenever I ever see a s’more dessert at a restaurant I have to try it (and I usually don’t get dessert). We even tried to make a s’more ice-cream cake once and bought a mini blowtorch for it but it didn’t turn out that good. The third reason for me posting these pics is to say goodbye to Todd and Joy. I have worked with Todd, and Mandi has worked with Joy, for over a year and they will be missed in the office, at the work events, and of course, at the parties and bars. The final reason for this post is I’m wicked behind on cooking since our return and I had nothing else to put up! Click below to see the rest of the pics.

One of the many highlights of my trip home was the last day. Steph hosted a BBQ so I could see a bunch of people from the area that afternoon. Fun times were had by all. We ate cous cous salad, corn on the cob, jalepeno poppers, pancetta wrapped peaches, scallops, and of course, ribs! Recipes / links are at the bottom of the post.

Last weekend was the 7^th annual Mexican party hosted by Amy and Cheryl.  Mandi and I were lucky enough to go last year, and this year TFIMB was the corporate sponsor (without actually giving any money).  A great time was had by all and I took some pictures of the festivities.  There will be no recipes today except for one vague one for the pork that everyone requested.

Dan:  hey you think i could get the pork recipe for the post today?   im not going to put up any recipes except that one cause it was such a big hit.

Amy: There wasn't a recipe actually.  I put a Mexican dry rub on it that I bought at Target (Archer Farms).  In the bottom of the pots, I put a mixture of orange juice, lime juice, garlic and oregano.  Roasted at 425 for about a half hour to brown a bit, then took it down to 300 for about 5 hours.  Each Boston Butt was about 5-6 lbs.  Oh my god, I'm hungry!

We went to Amy’s for a Cuban dinner party this past weekend and it was a great time.  I have never had some of the ingredients and flavors she worked with and I was excited to try them all week.  Mandi went over and helped her take pictures and cook in the afternoon, then we all showed up around 7.  Amy will be writing the rest of the post, but I may leave a few comments in red.  Also the Recipes (as usual) are at the bottom of the post.

Today I have a guest post from the design team.  Rich and Kim had a few friends over Rich and Mike’s apartment and served them a delicious looking duck dinner.  When a bunch of friends get together like this, it makes me wish I could be back in Boston hanging out with them.  But in a few weeks, I will be making them jealous with weekly beach trips so it isn’t so bad.  Rich’s comments will be in green, and I might make a few in black.

"Cookin' Up Some Quack"

Kim, Mike, Steph, Alex, Amy, and I were the 6 party people on Friday...  good thing there weren't any more people than that, even though I invited 5 other people who couldn't come.  The amount of food ended up literally being just enough and there was only 1 piece of Duck left over.

I have decided that yesterday and today’s posts may be a bit confusing to people who might want to make some of these dishes for themselves.  Because of that, over the weekend I will be writing the individual recipes down for each dish and posting them on 5 separate pages in the recipe section.  So you should just look at these posts as a view of a fun night and come back next week for the recipes if you so desire.

We continue where we left off, just as the guests were arriving...

Since we decided to house sit for our friends, we knew we needed to have a dinner party.  We have people over for food all of the time, but it is very casual.  It is also hard because we don’t have a table to eat on.  We usually end up having pizza or cheesesteaks.  We knew we would have a really nice kitchen and dining table for a week and we knew we would need to use them.  We decided to go OTT with this party because who knows when we would next have such an opportunity.  The more over the top we started thinking, the crazier it became.

Today is the coldest, windiest, dreariest day we have had here in Bermuda this winter.  Just when I was thinking the weather would turn and we would be at the beach in a few weeks, we get this crazy storm.  I had coffee today for the first time in months when I got in to work because the ride was so crazy.  Gigantic waves were crashing into the sea wall and splashing upon the road.  Gale force winds threatening to toss my bike like a child’s toy off of the asphalt and on to the rocks below. 

To further warm my body and mind, and remind me that spring IS coming here in Bermuda, I have decided to post some beach BBQ pictures from last year. Click below for the rest of the pics

Last Friday, we had a few people over for a pizza party. We made 9 different pizza varieties and fun was had by all. In a month or so, I will be doing a real pizza post, detailing the cooking process, dough, and toppings. For now, I leave you with a few pictures of what the kids call “food porn” complete with the pizza upskirt.

This past New Years, about 30 of my friends got together and rented a ski house in Maine. A great time was had by all and there was only one trip to the emergency room! We were there for almost a week but the real party was on New Years Eve. That morning, Mandi, Kim, Amy, and me got up early (11) and took the half hour trek to the nearest grocery store. We began planning the hors d’oeuvres for the party that night. We collectively made over 9 different things throughout the night including teriyaki chicken pineapple skewers and jalapeno cheese bacon awesomeness but only 4 are shown here. Click below to see the food.