In the process

[newmama]

Well I found out why my mom hasn't gotten back to me! BUt she could have because the way she got back was through my sister (who still lives with her). My sister called me to check on Gram then passed her phone to mom.

Mom said their landline wasn't working, they had no internet and her cell phone was a piece of crap--only worked 25% time. She has bad credit so she uses Cricket. I suspect it isn't her phone but the cell phone provider!

Well she is going to make the scalloped potatoes (phew! I am worried I wouldn't cook the potatoes long enough or something sicne I have never made it before)

I am going to make a toasted quinoa pilaf, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, roasted red onions, hummus, orange-honey glazed carrots and maybe even some SMOKED ONION DIP!

I saw this recipe on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. The guy smoked the onions on the stove! I have hickory chips! He put the onions in a colander type pot and put that on top of the pan of hickory chips. He smoked them for about 45 minutes. Then he pureed the onions while still warm, and mixed them with mayo and sour cream, and added some spices. I think I will just look up recipes for onion dip to figure out the spices.

Oh and the smoked onion dip was actually served alongside bbq chicken quesadillas--roasted chicken tossed in homemade bbq sauce, throw some cheese on top and put inside a folded tortilla (you know, like how you make quesadillas).

I think I can make the dip the night before, and maybe even the quinoa pilaf. The carrots and the mashed potatoes I can cook on the stove, starting it at 2 (the party is at 3) and I will put the asparagus on a separate sheet and rack than the onions and put both in the oven.

Yay! I am getting excited about preparing the recipes. The secret to my motivation was keeping the TV on the foodnetwork all day while I was cleaning or on the internet.