Bridal Shower Menus

Italian Orzo Pasta Salad recipe is perfect for graduation open house, bridal ...

By Kathy Gibbons

My brother and his wife threw a party for their son, in honor of his graduation from Dexter High School, this past weekend. Being Italian, they had to have pasta. Being practical, they didn't want to be boiling pasta at the last minute for a hot pasta dish. It being summer, they didn't want to be baking lasagna and heating up the house.

He works for a food distributor and found a recipe for Italian Orzo Salad on the company website that had been one of the top winners in a recent recipe contest. They made a huge batch of that -- and had a tub of it left even after they had filled the serving bowl several times during the course of the open house. We were all delighted to take home leftovers.

I love this recipe. It's delicious. It has a nice mix of textures. It has the effect of pesto in it, but there isn't -- and that cuts down on the cost. You still need a few pine nuts, which have skyrocketed in price as any pesto aficionado knows, but not nearly as many as you need for pesto. It also uses some basil, but again, not as much as pesto would require. We agreed that the tarragon makes what would already be pretty excellent flavor even better.

If you're planning a party, picnic, shower or other large gathering, this cold pasta salad is definitely worth putting on the menu.

Italian Orzo Salad
1 (1-lb.) package orzo pasta
Salt
1/4 c. pine nuts
6 oz. feta cheese, roughly crumbled
1/2 c. Kalamata olives pitted, halved
4 oz. fresh baby spinach
1/4 c. chopped red onion
1 (13.75-oz.) can Quartered Artichokes hearts, roughly chopped
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. fresh chopped basil
1 t. fresh chopped tarragon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt, then add the orzo pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water.   

Toast the pine nuts by heating a small skillet on medium heat. Add the pine nuts and stir occasionally until they are lightly browned.

Take half of the spinach and purée it in a food processor or blender, adding one tablespoon of the olive oil. Roughly chop the other half of the spinach.

In a large bowl, mix the spinach purée with the cooked orzo until the pasta is well coated with the purée.

Shower Menu Planning 101 | Welcome to Live Pretty | A blog about ...

Menu Planning – take it one step at a time .

Menu planning can often be very daunting, leaving hosts and hostesses to rely on the grocery store cheese trays and the, often forlorn and sad veggie tray to feed their hungry guests.  I don’t know about you, but if I attend an event for someone special to me, I want special food and I want to share in the food they love — that is exactly what we focused on in our recent bridal shower .

So here are few steps you can take to make menu planning for your next event less difficult and, possibly, enjoyable.

Your Menu Must Match the Time of Day

Seems simple, but this step is often overlooked.  If your party is at 11 am, serve lunch; at 2 pm, serve afternoon tea or appetizers; at 5 pm or later, dinner or tapas is important. A range of drinks is mandatory – water, juice, soda, coffee and/or tea. But alcohol is always optional – except in the evening.  If anyone you are inviting for an event after 5 pm, or an evening Bridal Shower, enjoys a glass of wine or cocktail, make sure you have something to  serve them (unless, of course, you do not serve alcohol in your home at any time).

Serve what the Guest of Honor likes, but keep your other guests in mind to.

When outlining the menu, first serve items that your guest of honor, in this case the Bride, likes.  Our beautiful Bride, for example, loves a shrimp recipe that we prepare in our house.  So that was the first thing on the menu.  From there, we chose a menu of finger food that would accommodate both those looking for something light and those looking for something more heavy (the shower was at 2 pm). Make sure to also keep the guests in mind.  If your bride, for example, only loves pasta and wants tons of pasta, keep in mind that you may have some guest watching their weight who would be looking for a salad or something lighter (I realize the situation may be totally reversed for most brides, but go with me here).  In general, make sure to have a balanced menu – fresh food like fresh fruits and veggies or salads, combined with heavier items like cheeses, dips, meats and sandwiches.

Write Your Menu Down 2 Weeks in Advance

Yep, another simple tip, but if you write down what you are thinking of serving and have some time to look it over before you hit the store, you may find that you have a hole.

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