Cookbook Challenge: Ogres Are Like Onions

I would say that a good amount of my conversations with my husband involve us quoting our favorite TV shows. The bulk of the quoting is from Friends or How I Met Your Mother, but I am also decent at quoting The Office and various movies that I've seen several times.

I am much better at remembering obscure quotes from things than Matt is. I wonder, if my brain wasn't so full of quotes, what kind of knowledge I could have. I ask Matt this all the time, most recently when I knew every word to an NSYNC song we heard at a baseball game, despite having not listened to the song in years. You can't really help what sticks and what doesn't, I suppose.

That said, my spectacular ability to quote things has nothing to do with the fact that I've finished some more recipes from the Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook. Other than that I've thrown in a Shrek reference or two for good measure.

Warm Artichoke and Green Onion Dip

I love artichokes. I love green onions. But I did not love this dip. It had WAYYYY too much Parmesan cheese in it. The Parmesan cheese overpowered both the artichoke and the green onion. They should have just called this one "Put Some Parmesan On Your Triscuits And Have A Nice Day." But I made it on a dreary, cold and rainy day, and my book club loved that it was a warm dip?

Tuna With White Beans, Artichokes and Black Olive Tapenade
It rained all week, so instead of (asking Matt to help with) grilling my tuna steaks, I seared them on the stove. Based on all the stuff that was topping the tuna, I was expecting that Matt was not going to like this one at all, but he surprised me and thought it was really good! It had a dark, earthy flavor. I don't think Elliott realized that it was tuna, since it didn't come out of a can, so she did not harrass us for any.

Confetti Coleslaw
I've never been a huge coleslaw fan. Whenever we've eaten at barbecue restaurants (this was in my pre-vegetarian days) I've stayed away from coleslaw because it kind of has this reputation for being mayonnaise slop with a little bit of cabbage thrown in. So I was thrilled when this recipe used minimal mayo, and left all the flavor to a sugar-vinegar mixture. The coleslaw was delightful — crunchy, tangy and light. Next time you throw a barbecue, invite me and I'll bring some.

Classic Lasagna
No photo for this one. I should have taken one when I prepped it the night before, but I wanted to take one of the finished product in all its cheesy, melty glory. But then we had company and I wasn't going to be weird and make them wait while I photographed their food. I made this meat-sauce lasagna (ground beef and Italian sausage) when Matt's parents were in town a few weeks ago, and the three of them all said it was very good, and then polished off all the leftovers over the course of the weekend. (I made plain ricotta lasagna rolls for myself.)

Yogurt Granola Parfaits
"What about parfaits? Parfaits have layers, everyone loves parfaits!" These were a good and quick option when I needed a treat to take to a friend's house because we were having a Queen Elizabeth movie marathon (the Cate Blanchett versions). We wanted to be fancy. Also, why does this cookbook have so many recipes that are literally just "throw X, Y and Z in a glass/bowl/plate and call it good"? It's kind of weird. I'm not complaining though. It's making my life really easy.

Grilled London Broil Fajitas / Guacamole
Knocked out two recipes with one meal! I made homemade guacamole (I should have added more salt, but otherwise it was delicious), and I prepped and cut the fajita meat and Matt grilled it. The meat smelled amazing, the pepper/onion mix was delicious, and the salsa recipe that was included with the fajita recipe was good (though not as good as my college salsa). We had a friend over on May 4 and had a pre-Cinco de Mayo fiesta with ¡fajitas y bebidas!

Completed: 82 of 147 recipes.

What is your favorite summer barbecue food?