Dinner Club Italian Night and The Meal Plan 6/28- 7/4

I've been away for a bit. Actually, I'm still away...we're visiting family in Indiana. Since we are "back home" visiting, we were able to join a group of our friends on Friday night for dinner. They've recently formed a gourmet club. Each couple in the group takes turns hosting and when it's your turn to host, you get to pick the theme. Everyone attending is assigned a part of the meal to bring along; bread, appetizer, side dish, etc. Our friends Nick and Chanda were hosting this month and their pick was Italian. I have to say that they did a phenomenal job hosting this event and everyone brought delicious food to the table. It was definitely a fun time and my husband and I hope that our future visits home will coincide with the meetings of "The 20 Year Club".

I thought that I'd share some pictures of the food. Here's the appetizer/drink table.



Let's take a closer look... This is my contribution, the focaccia bread. I may be shopping for another focaccia recipe. This was a little too chewy. The flavor was good, though.

Some baguette slices with olive oil for dipping.

Oh how I love Caprese Salad!

Pretty pink roses.

I can't believe that I forgot to take pictures of my favorite snack on the table, the Risotto Balls! Boy, were those good!

Before dinner, we toasted.

For the main course, Fettuccine with Roasted Chicken and Lemon Cream Sauce. This recipe was posted on this blog courtesy of our host way back in December of 2008. It's good stuff!

And let's not forget the side dishes, Bruschetta Casserole and ....

a Tuscan Squash Bake.

Here's my plate. Of course, I tried everything (some of it twice!) Here you can actually see one of those risotto balls that I forgot to photograph...it's that thing that looks like a hush puppy on the left side of my plate.

And finally, dessert! My sister-in-law made these cream puffs from scratch! Half were filled with custard and half were filled with a Nutella cream. Mmmmm.

Definitely some good eats! Here's what we'll be eating the rest of this week:

Tuesday June 29th

Drive thru dinner...we'll be on the road.

Wednesday June 30th

Oven-fried Rock Bass
Black-eyed Pea Salad
Jalapeno Corn Bread

Thursday July 1st

Savory Focaccia Pie

Friday July 2nd

Kentucky Grilled Chicken

Saturday July 3rd

Cooking out

Sunday July 4th

The cook out is at our house! Everyone will bring something, and here is what I will provide:
Hot Wings-appetizer
Bruschetta-appetizer
Burgers and Hot Dogs-Main Course
Avacado and Basil Pasta Salad
Raspberry Cream Freeze Pie-dessert
Mini Root Beer Floats-dessert

So...what are you all making for the 4th?

Sorry, no grocery list this week. I accidentally left my recipes in Ohio. : )