Birthday Dinner

As promised here are the recipes from the dinner party last night. I always get nervous when making new recipes or when I cook for people other than myself. For the first time ever, everything went surprisingly well. I had all the ingredients, the timing was perfect, and the smells were incredible. I can't take all the credit for myself, I had helpers when it came to the preparation and the cleanup which makes the biggest difference in the world. 

Birthday Dinner Menu

- Tomato and avocado salad

-Rosemary skillet rolls

-Zucchini and red pepper baked penne

-Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake (a dinner party staple)

I saw the recipe for the rosemary rolls when I was watching The Pioneer Woman this past weekend. It was one of those moments when I saw the food on the TV screen and wanted it on a plate in front of me immediately. Fortunately the recipe was so easy and included a bag of frozen rolls, butter, rosemary, a little salt and 15 minutes.

Use Rhodes frozen dinner rolls (orange package). Place in a skillet, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with chopped rosemary and coarse sea salt. Cook according to package (about 12 minutes at 400 degrees).

Talk about perfectly toasted, buttery rolls. They were the most popular item at dinner, next to the avocado I put in the salad. These rolls are so easy and will amaze anyone you share them with, but I wouldn't blame you if you kept the whole skillet for yourself.

Here is the Pioneer Woman's recipe, she used frozen dough, but I just bought the rolls. Same great taste, just less wait time with my version. You must know how impatient I am when it comes to letting dough rise by this point.

Baked Pasta with Roasted Pepper and Zucchini

Right before it went into the oven.

This pasta dish was so easy and the first time for me to ever try a baked pasta, which is really just an excuse to incorporate melted cheese into a recipe. I loved the idea of zucchini and red peppers (two of my favorite veggies right now, along with sweet potatoes of course) in the sauce and I had no problem constantly checking the status of the sauce as it was simmering on the stovetop. 

The only thing I would change about this recipe next time is the amount of sauce I used in ratio with the noodles. Less sauce would have made the "baked" part of this recipe more prominent and I think that was the whole point.

For an after dinner treat and substitute birthday cake I made one of my top 10 favorite dessert recipes. I have only made this once before and honestly forgotten how incredible it was. I added extra vanilla to the chantilly cream and a little extra chocolate to the cakes just because it was a celebration and more flavor is never bad. Even after eating all that pasta and bread we found ourselves forcing this down just because it was so delicious. Who cares if we were all in sugar induced comas immediately after. 

Enjoy the three great recipes.