The Aftermath

I was a very poor hostess last night. I was so tired that I contributed little to the discussion of the book or other conversation. And I hadn't done as much housecleaning as I needed to. My guests, however, were quite gracious and never pointed out my failings. Good friends make great guests!

To begin my day, I hit the farmer's market for tomatoes and peaches for my dinner. I also picked up a watermelon Then it was off to the supermarket for the rest of my groceries. And then I hit the liquor store.

At home I cleaned and then began the dinner prep around noon. I made the Pesto Palmiers which were TDF!!!! I mixed up the crust for Peach Delight while the palmiers were in the oven. While the crust baked, I made the peach glaze. Then I toasted the bread for the panzanella.

I mopped, vacuum, dusted and set my table just before I began plating the appetizers. I put the chicken on to cook when the first guest arrived. Somewhere in between, I chopped the veggies for the panzanella, finished the dessert, prepped the chicken, ran an errand and took a shower.

Technically, everything went smoothly. Oh! I forgot to give a shout out about the wine. I picked up Yellow Tail Sparkling White and it was absolutely lovely.

I just had panzanella for lunch...even with soggy bread, it's great.

Here is the final menu:

Appetizers:
marinated mushrooms
olives
pickle spears
pesto palmiers
Yellow Tail Sparkling White wine

Dinner:
Honey Curried Chicken
Ina Garten's Panzanella
sparkling water

Dessert:
Peach Delight
Prosecco
coffee



Peach Delight

For the crust:
1-1/2 sticks butter melted.
1-1/2 cups self-rising flour
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
Mix ingredients & press into a 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

2nd layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. container Cool Whip
Beat together, cream cheese & sugar
Stir in Cool whip & mix well. Spread over cooled crust.

3rd layer:
4 cups peeled & sliced fresh peaches
Overlap peach slices in a decorative design over cream cheese layer. (I just overlap in rows until it is completely covered.)

Glaze:
1 cup sugar
4 tbs. flour
3 tbs. peach jello powder
1 cup water.
Mix sugar, flour & jello powder. Place in a small saucepan. Pour in water.
Cook & stir over medium heat until clear & thickened. (This only takes a couple of minutes) Set aside & cool. (I cool this in a bowl in the refrigerator)
Spread evenly over the sliced peaches.

* Make the crust & glaze first to allow them to cool.

This recipe came from Robin (cookfun) on the Contessa's Kitchen board. I made two simple changes to her recipe. I used 1/4 cup peach brandy and 3/4 cup water for the glaze and I used black walnuts in the crust which gave tremendous flavor.