Family day at my Brother's House

It's Sunday morning and I am here with a smile on my face thinking about yesterday with my family at my brother's house. Besides getting to spend time with my family which was awesome in itself, We also got to partake in some really great food. To say we have good cooks in my family would be an enormous understatement. Our family get togethers never lack the quantity, the quality or the taste of magnificent food. Let me try and shorten this blog up by just getting to the explanation of just how incredibly good it was. We started out with spinach, artichoke and crab dip on toast crackers. The addition of the crab meat into the dip was an unexpected pleasure to the warm creamy delicious dip we all all used to. We also had stuffed jalapenos. Stuffed with fresh bell peppers of different colors, sliced mango to give it a little more sweetness and topped with cheese. Both of which my niece made. Of course, in the mean time we had beer and wine and conversation as we wait for the culinary goodness of the meal to come.

The salad was baby spinach, with shallots, goat cheese, praline pecans and topped with a 20 yr old balsalmic vinegar. You had the creaminess of the goat cheese the sweet tanginess of that awesome balsalmic with the sweet crunch of the pralines and the bite of the shallots all put together with perfect baby spinach. YUM! The veggies were unbelievable. Roasted root vegetables. Turnip, parsnips, potatoes, carrots with herbs, spices and olive oil. All tossed into a pan a roasted on the grill. They were absolutely delicious and if that wasn't enough, we had the most fantastic filet of beef rolled in multiple herbs and spices cooked on the grill to perfection. But wait there's more. My mom brought a mandarin orange cake that was to die for. And I must say, I usually do not waste calories on a desert that is not chocolate, but who could resist? It was so moist and yummy. The only way I could describe it, was the orange's answer to the carrot cake. Come on, what would you prefer in your desert, a fruit or a vegetable? I think you know the answer. So you would think that that would be enough, right? No, it wasn't! My brother (You know, the one that likes the Pub) he brought the ingredients to make a chocolate soufle. WHAT? Could it get any better? I didn't think so, but it did. So he and my niece made the most decadent chocolate souffle I have ever had. They cooked it perfectly. It was chocolate heaven. And when they brought it out of the oven, I was standing there with my hands reaching out for my piece of goodenessbut I had to wait, there was one more step. They opened the top and poured this warm orange creme anglaise sauce into it. To describe this rich chocolately warm desert to it's fullest? I would have to change this blog into, WARNING, this blog contains adult content.  So, I think you know just how good it was. It was especially nice to see my sister-in-law and her two grown girls working in the kitchen together to create such a beautiful meal.The day, from start to finish, was simply delicioso!