Monday, May 16, 2016

Weekend Dinner Party and a Yummy Salad Recipe

Our daughter is going to be wed to her Kiwi fiancee this summer in an intimate ceremony on one of the beautiful Gulf Islands just off our coast.
We were introduced to our future SIL's father and step mom on the weekend and we celebrated by hosting a casual dinner here in The Humble Bungalow.
The Marlborough area in New Zealand is where they reside and they own and run an award winning olive grove and make olive oil...they gave us a bottle and I cannot wait to try it!
Marlborough is well known and famous for their vineyards and top notch wines so we wanted to introduce them to some of our BC wine and local seafood.

We served a very simple dinner and we sipped a Sandhill Pinot Gris from a BC Winery in Oliver.


We were celebrating our future SIL's birthday and getting acquainted with his father and step mom. The conversations were animated and we really got on well.
Such lovely people, warm and friendly, it feels as though we have been friends for a long time.



Dinner menu:

Cheese and olive platter with candied smoked wild salmon for the appetizers
Salad
Baby new potatoes with butter and chopped fresh mint
Salmon glazed with soy sauce and drizzled with maple syrup
Chocolate mousse with raspberries

I tried a new salad which was colourful and full of flavour.
Here is the recipe...
I have not indicated quantities because it is so easy to adapt the amounts to make more or less depending on how many you are serving.

Yummy Salad

A variety of salad greens and I added radicchio for colour
cooked beets (I used baby beets and quartered them after cooking)
radishes sliced
roasted pumpkin seeds
sliced green onions
goat or feta cheese crumbled

Put all these gorgeous ingredients in a large salad bowl.
(I used a shallow white bowl to show the rich colours of this salad)

Dressing

1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of fresh dill or 2 tsp. dried dill weed
salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Put all the ingredients in a large jar and shake until emulsified and dress salad just before serving.


I ate the leftovers today (a wee bit soggy but yummy!)


I am half way through this book and am having difficulty putting it down.
It is well written and very interesting...and yes it is on my Paris themed reading list!
(I have it on good authority that Tilar Mazzeo is residing in Victoria for several months of each year)


Well I must get a move on and tackle some of the domestics around here...
no more excuses!
 After I have finished them I am going to pop the kettle on and sit for a bit and read my book!

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

30 comments:

Susan said...

What wonderful news about an upcoming wedding. And your menu sounds so delicious.

Anonymous said...

Your photos of flowers take my breath away. Such perfection.
And I always enjoy reading about your menus and recipes. Your blog brings me joy.

My thanks and every good wish for the coming wedding,
Honey Bee

Bonnie said...

Best wishes to your daughter. Weddings are so exciting. Enjoy the the preparations. Hugs!

Stephen Andrew said...

How nice you all got on so well! No doubt your lovely dinner helped get things off on the right foot. So much nicer to get to know people in a dining room instead of a restaurant.

Pondside said...

Your family circle is growing - what a lovely thing that is!

LPC said...

Sounds like a perfect evening.

Lorrie said...

Exciting news about a wedding. The salad sounds delicious. Getting to know people over food at home lets you all relax a bit more.

Patricia said...

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding. Another mother with a daughter marrying someone from across the world :) How lovely the gathering went so well, and your menu sounds delicious. I have never tried candied smoked wild salmon but as a great salmon fancier, I certainly would like to. Your purple flower is beyond gorgeous.
PS I bought the silk for my wedding outfit today - goody!

thepoutingpensioner said...

Oh my. congratulations to you all! The wedding plans sound just perfect. I'm crossing my fingers you post some photos!
BTW, the salad sounds delish, such a nice combo of flavours - are your green onions our spring onions?

Karen said...

A wedding in the family is always exciting congratulations. Have you started shopping for an outfit. I'm glad you enjoyed each others company. The menu sounds lovely.
Great when there's leftovers for lunch I never mind a bit of soggy salad.
I love the gleaming silver and beautiful flowers.
I seem to be busy all the time but I like it that way.

Mimi said...

Long time reader, first time commenter. I love your blog and although I'm closer to your daughter in age, I relish the wisdom and love of life that you share here everyday. Yours is one of the first blogs I check daily - thank you for the time, thoughts and inspiration. I have a question also - the blogroll, featuring a lot of other faboulous bloggers that I have discovered through your blog, has disappeared - a technical glitch or something else? Thank you, Milena

Marilyn said...

Your life seems perfect just now. Enjoy it. I have just downloaded the book and am looking forward to reading it. A new author for me. Like you I enjoy France based books.

About Last Weekend said...

How fabulous that she is marrying a Kiwi bloke! Yay! And i have never heard of candied salmon?

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

They are eloping and saving all the money that we would have spent on a splashy wedding for an extended honeymoon in New Zealand and Australia!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Honey Bee thank you...darling daughter and her fiancee decided to divert the funds from a wedding to a honeymoon so it will be an elopement service with a professional photographer to capture all the images so hopefully she will permit me to share some of these. I am doing the flowers so I am very excited!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Honey Bee thank you...darling daughter and her fiancee decided to divert the funds from a wedding to a honeymoon so it will be an elopement service with a professional photographer to capture all the images so hopefully she will permit me to share some of these. I am doing the flowers so I am very excited!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Thank you we have been having fun...I should have mentioned that they are eloping! I will be doing the flowers and have already been away helping my daughter shop for the special day...it is exciting to see a young couple so committed to each other.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Oh I so agree a restaurant would not have the same ambiance...not unless one had a separate room where people could mingle and chat in privacy.
I quite like entertaining though...I should do it more often but our bungalow is teeny tiny!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

It is wonderful and we are very fond of her fiancee!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

One for the memory books!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Putting everyone at ease is really a good idea...casual meal and not too fussy an atmosphere.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Candied salmon is delicious! It is smoked first and they add some maple syrup and it is so tasty...
Silk is a lovely choice for a wedding...you must be getting excited!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Green onions are indeed spring onions...thin and not too strong a flavour.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I needn't buy an outfit as they are eloping and using the funds that would have been spent on a big wedding for an extended honeymoon in New Zealand and Australia!
I am very fond of silver...it adds a wee bit of sparkle which I quite like.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Hi Mimi,
I hopped over to read your blog...you read a lot of the same blogs tat I do and we have a lot in common. I am having a terrible time with my computer and am in the process of buying a new one. There are so many glitches with posting and I keep getting messages that my search engine needs to be upgraded but my computer is so old it will not allow me to upload any new software which reminds me that I should do a quick post so people do not think I have dropped off blogger all together! It takes 5 hours for any of my posts to show up in the Blogger Feed!!!! Thank you!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

The idea of perfection scares me!
I am grateful for what we have and feel very fortunate that things are the way they are...life is always a learning curve even at my age!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Candied salmon is smoked then maple syrup is added...the results are a sweet smokey tasty nibble of salmon!

La Contessa said...

I was going to send this to JODY at ABOUT LAST WEEKEND BUT I SEE SHE IS IN THE KNOW!She lives close to ME!!!
LOOKS DELICIOUS.......I MAY TRY THIS WEEK TOO!!!!!!
LUCKY YOU WEDDING BELLS in your future............at least I have BANKSY the PIGGY!!!
XX

Mimi said...

Frustrating, time-consuming, and especially when you put so much time and effort into writing and posting... Yes, you've introduced me to the wonderfully written Privilege and materfamililas writes and I'm grateful for that. I hope the new computer helps. The blogroll is back, thank you.

Jen Lawrence said...

My children's father is a kiwi. You can look forward to minties, pineapple lumps, chocolate fish and miles of pavlova. Such fun! And how exciting to have a wedding to help plan!