Baby Shower Food Details

It's been a long while since I've posted any recipes! During my first trimester I wasn't too adventurous with new foods and since my second trimester began, I've had Andrea's baby shower on my mind! Her shower was last weekend, hosted at my mom's house. For a few more non-food pictures, check out Andrea's blog.

My primary 'obsession' with the food and this shower was the dessert table. My friend Kristen has gotten me hooked on Amy Atlas' blog. Check out her site and click on 'eye candy' to see spread after spread of beautiful tables! She's a gal who specializes in gorgeous dessert tables (most likely for the rich and famous...I really wonder how much she charges...). So Ms. Atlas' dessert tables were my inspiration behind the photo above!

But first I'll mention lunch. Because that's what we ate first...and it's the order of my photos. We used my mom's chicken salad sandwich recipe on croissants and Jenny's strawberry-walnut salad. I had a few requests for the salad recipe...so here it is (Jenny, I hope you don't mind!):

Strawberry Walnut Salad

Dressing (blended in blender):

1 c. vegetable oil

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. paprika

1/4 t. gr. white pepper

Salad:

1 head romaine

1 head boston (we used a pre-mixed spring mix)

1 pt. strawberries, sliced

1/2 c. walnuts (used sugared walnuts)

1 c. shredded monteray jack cheese

Along with the salad and sandwiches, we served my most recent shower standard: Bacon Leek Quiches! I love them almost more than dessert. I actually ate more of these rather than a cupcake. But it may just be what I'm craving....I love making them for showers/events because you prep and freeze them days or weeks ahead of time and then pop them straight from the freezer to the oven when it's hosting time! I'd be glad to share the recipe, but this blog post will be getting so long! Let me know in a comment below and I can email it your way!

And now for dessert. Sugar cookies...another one of Jenny's recipes. I enjoy her icing recipe because it's thin enough that you dip them (brilliant!) and thus end up with a really smooth cookie surface! I thought the tiny monogrammed ones were adorable! (Andrea's soon to be born daughter will be names Lauren).

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries. Need I say more? These were possibly the biggest hit--such a favorite--and took the least amount of time to prepare. AND strawberries were on sale. Win-win-win! Ladies just ooh and ahh over chocolate covered strawberries!

Another one of my new favorite pretty treats. Brownie pops. These are little balls of brownie on a stick, dipped in and drizzled with different colored melting chips (purchased at craft store). Cute and yummy!

Continuing with the pink and green theme (because Andrea's baby room/bedding is pink and green), we made Jenny's Spritz cookies. Well, Jenny made Jenny's Spritz cookies. I watched.

And the cupcakes. I did a lot of research on strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting prior to the shower. This is what I decided upon and had pretty good feedback! I used Paula Deen's cupcake recipe found here (but didn't use her cream cheese frosting). I wanted a cream cheese frosting that would pipe well and hold it's shape. I ended up using:
2 sticks butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
3 heaping teaspoons of strawberry puree concentrate (cooked down)
It made a really delicious frosting!

That's all for now! If there are any recipes you're interested in that I didn't include here, let me know. Most of them are already typed up, I just didn't want this to be so lengthy!