Dinner Party!

 I had so much fun today cooking and getting ready for a dinner party tonight! One of my friends who also lives a couple of streets over has a new roommate who just moved into town, so we had a little "welcome to the neighborhood" dinner for her. We thought there could be as many as 18 people coming, so we planned the food accordingly! I love cooking for a crowd! :) We ended up having 12 actually make it, and we had a wonderful time of good food and fellowship. We had some good 'ol comfort food on the menu tonight: oven fried chicken, squash casserole, creamed spinach, macaroni and cheese, and hash brown casserole, and chocolate torte (the last three other people made).

Squash Casserole:
3 lbs squash
5 Tbsp butter
1 onion chopped
1 c. cheese
2 eggs
1/4 c. mayo
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
crackers
Boil squash 8-10 minutes and drain:

 Melt butter and saute onions.

 Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 for 30-35 mins (top with crushed crackers first)

 Creamed Spinach:
3 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 c. whole milk
1/2 c. sour cream
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp onion minced
1/4 c. water
20 oz. frozen spinach
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

Defrost and drain spinach:

 Melt 3 Tbsp butter, stir in flour and salt until creamed.

 Slowly stir in milk and whisk until smooth and thick--remove from heat.

 In another pot, saute onions in butter (I add minced garlic to taste)

 Add spinach and cook

 Add white sauce, sour cream, and cheese

 Put Parmesan cheese on top and bake at 350 until bubbly...(I tripled the spinach recipe, so it made a little extra)

 Oven fried chicken: Skin and rinse the chicken, coat with flour (with salt and pepper).

 Spray non-stick spray on pan, place chicken, and put a small pat of butter on each piece

 Bake at 400 for about an hour. Yum!

 While everything was cooking, I decided we needed a little fall foliage on the table, so I just ran outside and cut a few branches off the trees in the front yard and threw together a little centerpiece. I LOVE fall, and loved seeing the beautiful colors on the tables...

 Here are a few friends at the table (several others were in the kitchen). I should have done better taking pictures during the night, but I was a little preoccupied being the hostess!

 Today was sweet Ella's birthday (which we didn't know until she got there). We couldn't find the birthday candles, so we improvised with 4 votives on a plate and sang happy birthday! This is the only shot I made it in (well, at least half of me! :)

Such a fun night! Food always tastes so much better in the company of others!! Thank God for good food, friends, and fall foliage! :)