you may have detected from my party post that i really don’t get out much these days. i am totally fine with that.. but i still like to see my friends regularly. my solution? make them come to me!
last night we had some friends over for a BBQ and ice cream party. the ice cream was my friend jessica’s idea and the rest just came together because our mothers taught us we should eat dinner before dessert.
a few items for snacking before dinner..
veggies~
homemade sun dried tomato hummus~
to make this, i combined 2 cans of garbanzo beans along with some of the liquid from the beans, a big spoonful of tahini, 6-7 sun dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, mrs. dash tomato basil seasoning, trader joe’s 21 seasoning salute and 2 cloves of garlic.
falafel chips~
i picked these up at sunflower market and LOVE them. such a tasty change from regular tortilla chips. fair warning: my friend amber thought they tasted like healthy cardboard. can’t please them all 
mango salsa~
when everyone arrived i got to work on the fish. it was bring-your-own-meat and i picked up some mahi from the local fish market. i get my fish from aquarius fish which is downtown salt lake city. my friend CJ’s parents own it and so i always have the inside scoop on the freshest fish that day. CJ knows way more than any human should know about fish. i definitely use that to my advantage.
i seasoned the mahi with a roasted garlic peppercorn rub and then basted it in olive oil before throwing it on the grill.
grillin’.
chillin’.
simon couldn’t decide what kind of meat to grill, so he got every kind there was.
i threw together a salad with romaine, spinach, craisins, slivered almonds and feta.
i also baked some alexia sweet potato fries and garlic parmesan wedges.
what i love about fish is that it cooks so quickly! in a matter of minutes the mahi was ready to eat! i served mine over the salad with a side of trader joe’s raspberry vinaigrette.
the mahi was so good. remember my seafood-hating husband who agreed to start eating fish?? well he loved it so much that he had to text my fish market friend CJ to tell him how amazing it tasted!
after eating, it was time to get to work on the ice cream. i mixed up a double batch of ben & jerry’s vanilla bean ice cream—the best recipe EVER. thank goodness teri sent me the B&J recipe book.
teamwork!
waaaaiting for the ice cream to freeze…
40 minutes later, the ice cream was ready to eat!
what is ice cream without a couple toppers? earlier in the day, i had mashed up a carton of strawberries with a bit of xagave and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours. i also baked a batch of baker’s one bowl brownies.
my bowl.. a big huge scoop of ice cream topped with strawberries.
we managed to polish off all two quarts. i think it’s safe to say everyone had a belly ache from ice cream overload. it was so good that you just couldn’t stop eating it.
after dessert there were a few serious rounds of jenga.
jenga gives me anxiety! but at least i never lost.
after everyone left, the dogs were spent and so were we.
last night was a whole lot of fun! thanks for coming to me, friends, since i am too lazy to go out anywhere these days…
want proof? i just woke up from a 2 1/2 hour nap and don’t plan on leaving the couch for the rest of the night. well, unless it’s for food, of course.
i have my priorities.
see ya later!
xo. janetha g.
p.s. the renew life probiotic winner is #11, kerri lagendyk! congrats, please email me your mailing address.
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What a fun evening! :) I’m going to have to try and find falafel chips. They sound interesting!
Could you share the ice cream recepie? I know it sounds unbelievable but I don’t know how to make ice cream, I bought the same ice cream maker you have a year ago and I’ve used it once!! In Mexico is not as common as it is in the States to make your own ice cream, so we suck at it :/
What a fun party! The BYOmeat idea is a good one.
I just discovered that 21-salute seasoning from Trader Joe’s this week. It rocks, and I’ve already kinda started using it in everything.
I love those kind of parties and get togethers! Especially with the Ben & Jerry’s. I want some so bad. My dumb ice cream maker died last week!!!! :(
That looks like an insanely fun night!
love the bing your own protein idea! very cost-efficient. and if you’ve got homemade ice cream, I’m sure your friends are more than happy to come to you :) I’ve seriously gotta try out my yard sale thrifted ic e cream maker and throw a party like this!
i forgot all about those falafel chips! they are delicious.
What a FUN night! I love the bring your own meat idea. And that ice cream- totally drool worthy. I don’t make my own hummus enough these days- I alway suse the juice from the cans too- great way to make a tasty, lighter hummus! Glad you guys had fun <3
The evening looks both fun and delicious. I NEED that ice cream maker in my life. :)
Your get-togethers always look like tons of fun! It really makes me want to throw an impromptu party.
Did you leave the skins on your chickpeas for that batch of hummus? It looks so yummy!
a batch of baker’s one bowl brownies = that sounds right up my alley! if you have a recipe/link, and have time to share, would love to see it
the ice cream party looks wonderful!
i linked your party girl no more post in a post of mine AND in that same post, i linked my friend marla’s sundried tomato hummus. love your methodology, i.e. not uber precise. That’s the only way TO make hummus :)
This whole post is just wonderful!
I want to eat grilled fish after reading this post!
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/bakers-one-bowl-brownies-54515.aspx best brownies i’ve ever eaten.
i love game nights with my friends! last time we played cranium. it was so so much fun! :)
Of all the things in this post, I noticed your bangs while you were grillin’! I’m so jealous… I tried to rock ’em once but my hair’s too thin :( yours look so perfect! Random? Maybe. Haha
Looks like you had fun! :)
I love veggies and hummus! :)
Looks like a fun night!! And that freshly made ice cream looks AMAZZZZZZING! Yum!
Ahhh looks like you had a great night last night!! I am currently reading blogs while the man-friend is passed out on the couch :) I can’t wait until I can eat ice cream again! only one more week!!
yum! looks like so much fun, the ice cream looked to die for. i meant to post on your entry about your party days…great post!
Totally unrelatedly – I was perusing ModCloth.com and found some awesome owl necklaces and thought of you – here is one, but they have a bunch!
http://www.modcloth.com/Womens/-Great-Horned-Necklace
that ice cream looks heavenly. definitely made me want to make… er wait, scratch that – buy some asap. i need to get an ice cream maker pronto.
ps. marshall looks like he gained a smidge of weight. yay!
I suck at jenga and I too get nervous when I see people play it. I feel the same way about “Operation” and even worse because its got that annoying buzzer.
Can’t wait till out own little “ice cream social” in the dessert next month!
Janetha, I love your personalized bowl!! Where did you find it? I think I eat enough ice cream to justify purchasing my own bowl too. :-p
I grew up on my mom’s homemade ice cream, which was a mixed blessing, because nothing will ever be *quite* as good. Maybe she can do a “throwdown” with the Ben and Jerry’s version sometime.
I also really love the blown up wedding picture on your wall…What a neat touch for the kitchen!
Ahhh Jenga always terrifies me- I get so nervous! Haha and I love that you have a personalized ice cream bowl. Also I really want to try falafel chips aka healthy cardboard now!
what a wonderful evening!! you can tell there was tons of laughter – that’s the best!
never played jenga…i’d definitely topple that tower!
love the COFFEE poster in the background of that one pic…your kitchen is so warm welcoming, perfect for entertaining.
have a great sunday!
I so wish we had people over more — but we never could really do that with Jason’s old job since he’d usually have to work late and then we’d be too tired to ever have anyone over in the evening. Sounds lame when I write it out like that but it was true at the time!
The ice cream looks so creamy and delicious!
You throw the best parties. I haven’t had homemade ice cream in ages but I imagine it’s so much better. So glad it was a successful night. :)
I love playing Jenga. Can I come to a bbq at your house?
I need to come to one of your parties, and thats all I have to say.
I feel I am missing out on something amazing, because all of that food, fun, and ICE CREAM looks amazing!!!
Love u!!
Ooh! I am so excited that it’s ice cream season again! Thanks for the reminder to bust out my own ice cream maker:)
PS LOVE your personalized ice cream bowl!
dairy doesn’t agree with me that well but sometimes you just gotta commit. pms and last night did that for me plus red wine. (i was crazy lol…not really). nate picked up ben and jerry’s ‘late night snack–the jimmy fallon flavor and zomg so good! sweet and salty at the same time, you must try it!
Sounds like a great night! You sure know how to throw a party – the food looks delicious and c’mon you can’t beat Jenga! I love that game! :]
That sounds like an AWESOME night!
This is so much fun! My bf has an ice cream machine and we love using it to make new recipes all the time. We need to start entertaining with it, I don’t think any guest would mind :D
best. idea. ever.
also bring your own meat? haha love it. when i own a hosue or something i’m definitely calling on your face for some party help!
looks like such a great night! i like nights like that instead of partying. the food looked amazing, and the ice cream even more! gawd i’m jealous. Don’t live so far away!
Mahi, Jenga and Ice Cream….you are making me extremely jealous, those are my favorite things in the world. I need to learn how to grill from you….you look so beautiful doing it too:) I think I am going to follow your footsteps and have a LONG nap right about now!!
Ummm, I would like to be your friend in real live so I could eat BBQ and vanilla ice cream! :)
I don’t know why I never commented on this until now, but I absolutely LOVE your kitchen. It’s SO open and I love that picture of you and the hubs on the wall. Amazing. That is all. :-)
Looks like a great night! I am loving fresh strawberries right now.
I don’t get out much either any more – I blame school and work, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t really just like cooking at home and relaxing after long gym/work/school days!
I haven’t played jenga in such a long time! And I know I’ve said this before, but I love those bowls!
Looks like you had a great night! I think chilled nights at home with friends and good food are the best.
And I love your personalised bowl ;-)
How fun! I need you to be my friend and invite me over next time, mmk? ;)
Love the ice cream topping selection!!
I love those Falafel chips! I tried them for the first time last month and loved them!
That’s the kind of part I’d love to go to! Such a cheerful gathering. And holy Gods I need to get a hold of an ice cream maker and a B&J’s cookbook. I’m pretty good at making protein ice cream…but with B&J power…holy shizzmonkeys!
I love homemade ice cream–great social idea :) P.s. your fish looks amazing!!!
That sounds like such a great afternoon! Hope you all enjoyed yourself!
Wow! Looks like you had a fantastic night! Great food, great company, games…sounds like my kind of night! (I don’t get out much, btw) ;)
ooh! That first puppy picture. I looooooove that dog! Look at all that extra squishy skin on her face. Just like Huli. That is why she drools when she sleeps and can’t keep food in her mouth–her cheeks are too big. Maybe that’s my problem, too then?? ;) xoxo
You always have the best parties :) They look so fun with all of the pups & fun games…and of course don’t let me forget to mention the HOMEMADE ice cream!!! YUM yum yum!!
Oh my goodness!!! This looks like such a great get-together :D I really want an ice-cream machine and I love how you are sharing the goodness with your friends. And that your friend obviously know how to get you to share good stuff by giving you that recipe book hehehe ;)
Hope all is well and sending you and your family lots of love. XO!
“jenga gives me anxiety” Seriously!! I’d love to do a pre- and post-Jenga blood pressure reading!!! :)
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