I love gathering with family and friends at the dinner table. Eating and laughing are two of the world’s most precious blessings and to be able to do that with people you love is honestly the best of all.

I planned and cooked dinner this past Easter weekend as someone near and dear is going away on vacation. Why can’t we have a farewell party? It was a party of 6 and it was my first ever dinner party with so many guests Gotta start somewhere, right?

As usual, my idea was not a fancy one, just a focus on being comfortable and happy. This is what I served on my dinner table:

Appetizers

Deviled eggs
Roasted cauliflower and avocado dip
Vegetable soup

Main

Pulled pork and steamed green beans

Dessert

Homemade strawberry ice cream with chocolate covered almonds

Let’s get this party started…

Deviled eggs

6 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp light cream cheese
Paprika

Makes 12 deviled eggs

Boil the eggs over medium heat until the water comes to a boil. Turn it down to low-medium heat and boil for 5 minutes. Quickly drain the eggs and place in a bowl of ice cold water. Change the cold water every minute for a few times to help ease the peeling of the shell.

Peel the shells off and slice each egg in half lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to lightly scoop out the egg yolks into a bowl.

Add in all the ingredients to the eggs except for the paprika and mix well. If serving this later, cover tightly with cling wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Do the same with the egg whites.

To assemble, scoop or pipe the filling into the egg whites. Sprinkle with a little bit of paprika.

Roasted cauliflower avocado dip

1 cauliflower, cut in florets
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1 avocado, mashed
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
Handful cilantro, coarsely chopped

Makes 3 cups

Toss the cauliflower florets in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on a baking sheet in a 350F degree oven for 40 minutes, turning the sheet 180 degrees at the 20 minute mark. Don’t crowd them, try to space them out a bit so they don’t steam.

Let them cool for a bit before blending together with the yogurt. It will be easier to blend this in batches. Mash the avocado with the lemon juice, then add this into the cauliflower mixture and thoroughly combine. Stir in the red onion and cilantro. Cover tightly with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour to let the flavours mingle.

Serve with chips or crackers of your choice! I used unsalted Premium Plus crackers

Vegetable soup

3 carrots, diced
2 onions, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 zucchini, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
3 small red peppers, diced
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pasta

Serves 12

Oil a large pot over medium heat and cook the carrots, onions, and celery in a bit of water until softened and aromatic, about 10 minutes. Remember to season with salt and pepper. Add a bit of water every few minutes. Remove from the pot and do the same with the zucchini, tomatoes, and red peppers.

When this second batch of vegetables are cooked through, add back in the first batch of vegetables. Pour in the chicken broth and 2 1/2 cups of water. With the remaining 1/2 cup of water, stir it with the tomato paste until dissolved. Pour this into the pot as well and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for one and a half hours.

As the soup is almost done simmering, boil pasta in a salted pot of water. Drain and add pasta to the soup when it is ready to serve. I used spaghetti that I snapped in half to make shorter strands.

Pulled pork marinade:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 garlic cloves, sliced

Mix all ingredients together and thoroughly rub onto the pork shoulder. Wrap tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours. I marinated mine for 18 hours!

Pulled pork:

2 lb pork shoulder
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, finely minced

Serves 8

Mix the barbecue sauce, mustard, and ketchup together.

Place the onions on the bottom of a slow cooker and pour some of the sauce on top. Toss to combine and ensure the onions are well sauced so they don’t dry cook. Add in the minced garlic. Place the pork shoulder on the bed of onions in the center of the slow cooker. Mix the remaining sauce with the water and pour into the cooker. Make sure there is some sauce on top of the pork but not too much as you don’t want it to dry out. Don’t be afraid of having too much liquid in the slow cooker! However, the pork should not be fully immersed in it (about halfway up is good).

Cook on low heat for 8-9 hours. Remove it from the cooker and shred the meat with two forks. Add the shredded meat back into the cooker and thoroughly mix with the onions and sauce. Let it cook for another 20 minutes.

Serve on a bun, pita, or with your favourite sides!

Strawberry ice cream

1/3 cup whole almonds, each chopped in half
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 lb fresh strawberries, cut in small chunks
3/4 lb fresh strawberries, cut in chunks
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 1/2 cup whipping/heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Splash of vanilla

Makes 1 1/4 quarts

Melt the chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave or over the stove. If using a microwave, do 20 second increments to avoid burning. Stir after each round to help melt surrounding chips.

If using the stove, heat a small pot of water on low heat to create steam while having the chocolate chips in a bowl sitting over the pot. Stir every so often until all the chips have melted. Turn off the heat and pour in some almonds. Thoroughly coat in the chocolate and remove onto a wax paper lined tray that will fit into the freezer. When all almonds have been coated, place the tray in the freezer for at least an hour or until ready to make ice cream.

Combine the milk, cream, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and 3/4 lb strawberry chunks in a blender. Blend to a smooth consistency. Refrigerate for at least an hour to keep it chilled.

Using an ice cream maker, follow the manufacturer instructions on how to churn the ice cream. As it has churned half way through and becomes thick, add the chocolate covered almonds and 1/4 lb strawberry chunks. Freeze according to instructions.

Using the Cuisinart model that I have, I churned it for 25 minutes. Freezing for up to 4 hours will keep a soft frozen yogurt-like consistency, anything more will freeze into harder ice cream.

Ok, food reviews!

I was provided the suggestion that instead of spaghetti in the soup, I could use baby shells, macaroni, or alphabets. That way we wouldn’t have to use both a spoon and a fork to have this soup! It would also go better together with all the other little bits of veggies.

The dip and deviled eggs were both a huge hit! I truly believe in letting them settle in the fridge to infuse stronger flavours. The right proportion of ingredients made them both a good and tasty consistency.

Seeing that I served pulled pork in the past, I didn’t want to do the exact same thing – pulled pork on a bun. With the appetizers and the need to save room for dessert, I wanted to keep the main dish light so I served the pork with just a side of green beans. This was definitely light enough as we were full to our noses by the end of the night! It was essentially the same barbecue pulled pork recipe, but this time I marinated it. Boy did that make a difference! I also used paprika and red onion, which gave an extra smoky and sweet flavour. I like this pulled pork a lot!

Someone was looking for more creamier ice cream (more of that ‘dreadful’ 35% cream!) and despite using California strawberries, we just don’t get sweet berries at this time of the year. You could taste some sourness in the strawberry chunks I incorporated, but not so much in the actual ice cream.

The food was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, it got finished for the most part, and based on that, it was probably delicious

I could not be happier.

Deviled eggs recipe was adapted from All Recipes
Roasted cauliflower and avocado dip recipe was adapted from Fuji Mama
Ice cream base recipe was adapted from Feels Like Home