Action Packed…
There wasn’t a moment of down time this weekend but luckily I was busy in a good way. Yesterday I met up with Kim…she likened meeting to a blind date which is exactly how it was! But after a minute I felt like I’d known her forever. Kim is a such a great person and we have so much in common. She is also a very accomplished writer and was nice enough to share her wisdom with me. Talking to her was great but I realize now just how unprepared I am! Writing is a long, hard road and I really need to focus and get busy.
But as always, life gets in the way of all the things I need to do and instead of working on my book this weekend I ended up doing everything but. From visiting my cousin in the hospital to doing groceries, to getting ready for Maya’s Fancy Nancy extravaganza next weekend…things were crazy. And on top of all that, we hosted a couple of Ali’s co-workers and their families for lunch today.
Since time was at a minimum I went with my standby “company menu” which is code for foods that I am fairly confident are fit for consumption by people other than my immediate family. Lets just say that my cooking is a work in progress.
We had roast beef:
Salmon with onions and capers, the marinade recipe is here:
I took a little help from my friendly neighborhood Bristol Farms and bought this butter/cream laden quiche:
Roasted Potatoes:
Date Muffins, recipe is here:
Strawberry/Avocado/Spinach salad. Since I couldn’t eat most of what I made this salad was definitely the highlight for me:
I even set out tea, like the good Indian daughter that I am:
I thought my tablescape was pretty impressive until I saw how nicely Maya had set her own table for her friends, complete with paper plates, plastic cutlery, napkins, paper cups, and Valentine’s Day cards for decoration. Considering that the cups say “1st Birthday” on them, I just hope that Maya had the foresight to dust them off before her friends used them.
I’m not an advocate of paper plates but I have to admit that after such a busy weekend I was relieved to have 3 fewer plates, cups and forks to wash. Right now my mom is reading this and is thinking, “Ameena, how lazy can you get!”
Pretty lazy Mom, pretty lazy.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
i really love the bowl your roasted taters are in. so awesome you and kim met up, you guys have such great writing styles i can only imagine how your personalities meshed :). blind date is the perfect way to describe it, i’ve only had one blogger meetup and that’s how it felt!
Maya’s set-up is so cute! Sometimes paper dishes are the way to go 🙂
I keep hearing that meet-ups are like blind dates. That seems a little awkward to me! But maybe that’s because I’m an awkward person 😉
It surprises me sometimes how much kids pay attention to detail.
Your roasted potatoes bowl is beautiful.
P.S.
Thank you for the kind comments about my kiddies 🙂
Your food looks great!! These date muffins look very tasty, I have not read the recipe yet, but I will go do that now!
Ok, I love the table your tea is on!!! It is so beautiful 🙂
XXOO
nice spread! bristol farms is a good place to get some help from…
by the way, kim and i agree – we should all get together sometime!!!
amazing foodie pics and yes, convenience sometimes trumps all else, i.e. the paper plates 🙂
Sounds like a fun weekend! Lovely food…homemade or not 🙂
Roasted potatoes and date muffins. Yum!
I have a go-to menu, too. It makes life a lot easier when it comes to people whose tastes you don’t know. And it reduces the very real chance of failure to a much smaller number. That’s always a good thing. Glad you had a good weekend!
The food looks wonderful and you know what else? The presentation looks wonderful too – no longer am I gonna buy that you are “bad at presentation”!
Thank you for your comment yesterday – IT made my day!
Your hosting skills are wonderful! I love the spread you prepared, I’d happily come over for that lunch!
And I loved Maya’s set table. What an adorable little one you have. I loved your bit about the 1st birthday cups! Haha. You never fail to make me laugh.
that pic of roast beef makes me remember how long it’s been since i’ve had red meat. i want some now and it’s only 10am!
Sometimes being lazy is what it takes to keep us from killing ourselves and going crazy. Looks like you had a busy enough weekend to not be too concerned about some sticky-fingered kids drinking out of dusty cups. 😉
Your spread of food looks so wonderful!! I wish more people served tea to guests!! Such a sophisticated, comforting, and respectful gesture! I love it!! 🙂
I do not think the use of paper plates qualifies you as “lazy” – you did mad work in the kitch lady!
That spread looks awesome – I am especially digging those date muffins. Thanks for the recipe link.
And I’m glad you had a fun blogger meet-up! I’m still waiting to have my first one. Someday….hahaha
Hey hon!!! Im so glad to to have a bit of freer time now so I could check out your posts. What an awesome spread!! Wow! Can I come over?! ha! that salmon with capers looks especially delicious as I love anything with lots of capers. So good. What a fun bloggie meet up too! I hope you are having an amazing day!
Wow, what a busy weekend!!!And I think that your meals always look so yummy 🙂 And I have to say, your plates are GORGEOUS!
I love how Maya set the table. So sweet!!
I have to say, although paper plates arent something I use all the time, I WILL eat off napkins or paper towel on occasion just so I dont have to wash a dish. Also, if I can use my fingers, Im going to. I dont have a dishwasher so wherever I can save myself effort Im going to.
what a busy but fun weekend….i would be so nervous to met a fellow bloggy!
your food looks great and good idea to use paper plates-life is too short to be perfect 🙂
I want to eat that bowl of potatoes…YUMMY!
It was really so great to talk with you! Can’t wait to do it again 🙂
The salmon looks delicious…and the potatoes…and that salad! I love strawberries and avocados in salads. Glad your hosting duties went well.
If it’s any consolation, I had a super busy weekend too. I talked about writing with another friend on Sunday, but I did not do any actual writing… Such is life!
Oh my gosh everything looks amazing! I have got to try those date muffins 🙂
Yum to the food!
and, wait, your writing a book!! I have to know more girl 😉 – will write ya later !
The lunch looks wonderful. All of the food looks delicious and the presentation is beautiful as well; you should be proud 🙂
Maya is obviously following in your footsteps… too cute for words!
The salmon looks delicious Ameena and I love the presentation! I will try making it for dinner sometime this week.
Maya’s table made me smile 🙂 Very nice and PINK!
I hear you on paper plates and cups.. I am not an advocate but they come in handy 🙂
ameena, you rock! spread looked amazing and beautiful presentation….loved the tea cart;) can’t wait to hear about your blind date, how cool!
cannot wait for the extravagnza this weekend!
XOXOOXXOX
what a great weekend! good for you especially after all the nonsense you went through with your window treatment.
your food looked awesome, i bet your company enjoyed the food and your family.
The food you have set out looks amazing! I am not pro-paper plate either, but definitely appreciate using them when I visit my fam and there is a ton of us!
You have really good taste and had a good menu including the tea service. It’s kind of funny that we think we can never measure up to our parents’ expectations. Lazy you are definitely not.
Ahh – looks like you´ve had an amazing time with Kim!
Amazing dishes… You have such good taste 😉
Maya´s table looked adorable, as well! Haha 🙂
Have an amazing Tuesday, Ameena!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
Hooray for a fun bloggy date! I love when that happens.
Your spread looks so good! I’m all over that salmon and quiche. Mm-mm good!
Maya is such an adorable little hostess! I think your tabescape is gorgeous – and that salmon looks incredible!
I think you did great! Awesome variety of food, beautiful presentation. And bonus points for the tea!
Confession — I totally use paper plates, napkins, and plastic cutlery and glasses when we have people over. What can I say, I don’t want to wash a billion dishes, especially when I’ve already spent so much time cooking.
I hope when I’m a mom and wife I’m as awesome as you are at setting up spreads like this!
I made Salmon using your recipe Dear Ameena and it was fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your culinary skills are underrated. Lynn loved your food and she’s a Queen of Food. I rank you 7******* for your Cooking and fabulous presentation.
Thank you for the compliment Maha….glad that you liked it!
I know so little about cooking that it makes my day when someone compliments my random concoctions. 🙂