I hosted my first dinner party since the start of our little blog and I didn’t poison anyone. I’ve always liked experimenting with cooking but it wasn’t until I cooked New Years Dinner for 20 friends, that I realized I really enjoy entertaining. It was that night that I also realized that if I could cook dinner for that many people, I could definitely stop eating out so much and start making myself dinner most nights- and so my cooking spree began. Here’s a little flashback from the lovely evening that started at all:

Pasta with feta, tomatoes, olive oil and garlic:
1 box of pasta of your choice – I love quinoa pasta, but last night I gave up my health conscious ways and used regular old white flour pasta. Spirals and shells work best to scoop up the ingredients.
6 plum tomatoes
small container of sun-dried tomatoes – i like to get this fresh from the deli counter or at local farmers market if available
4 cloves garlic
8 oz feta cheese
1 cup olive oil

chop tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes, mince garlic and combine in a bowl with olive oil. Let sit while you boil water for pasta (the longer you let this sit, the more the tomatoes will soak up the garlic flavor)
cook pasta, strain and pour tomato, olive oil, garlic mixture into pasta and mix together
crumble feta cheese and mix into pasta

Brussels sprouts with lemon, olive oil and shallots
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
1 small shallot
2 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 whole lemons
sprinkle of salt and pepper

Chop brussels sprouts into small spirals (cutting off and discarding ends) and mince shallots
heat olive oil in pan on medium to high heat and pour brussels sprouts and shallots into pan
Mix with olive oil in pan, squeeze lemons into brussels sprouts and sauté
Cover pan, stirring occasionally until soft and a little browned