No part-B's for me!

One of my older brother's favorite, lame jokes goes like this. "Hey what goes before part-B? "I don't know". "Par-TA!!!" he replies. We are going to a dinner party tonight and he and my sister-in-law will be there. That's what got me thinking about his dumb joke. I know I'll hear it tonight. Anyway, the hostess said they were providing the steak and bread and we were to let her know what we would like to bring. I was of course the last one to get back to her and all that was needed was an appetizer. That was fine by me. Then I didn't have to make a decision as to what TYPE of food I was going to make before I had to decide what KIND of that type of food I was going to make. Decision making can be difficult for me. My husband however, may beg to differ.

I wanted to try something new, something different, something exciting! So I looked on Pinterest of course. I found a recipe for some cheddar cheese crackers that sounded interesting and like something my grandmother used to make that I LOVED. I made a double batch with hopes that they would be out of this world! I had some fresh rosemary in my crisper that had been sitting there for so long it had perfectly dried and crumbled easily. I decided that the rosemary addition would make my cheddar cheese crackers even more AB-FAB. The first batch was a little too done and reminded me of burnt cheese stuck to the foil when re-heating pizza in the oven. The next two batches turned out great but the last tray was a little under-cooked and reminded me of communion crackers but with a kick. Haley helped me pluck little holes in the center of each cracker before baking. So despite the fact that some of them had two holes, or no holes, or an off-center hole, I was overall pleased.

I also found a recipe for roasted asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, filled with garlic cream cheese. I initially thought these were going to make me yell "that's what I'm talkin' bout", but I now kind of wish I could drop them on my way there or I had something else better to make really quick. I lacked however, one important ingredient: thyme. I wasn't surprised when I couldn't find prosciutto at Walmart however I had seen it at Kroger before. Rick told me had gotten it from Kroger before and it tasted more like the package than prosciutto. I called Bella's Corner Market, which is a gourmet kitchen shop downtown. Would you believe it.... they had just run out!

We decided we didn't have a choice and Rick ran to Kroger for me. As he was picking up packages of prosciutto that tasted like package he saw a log of prosciutto in the case. It was even Boars Head! He asked the young girl for 40 thin slices. You can imagine how thin the 40 slices were when he brought home about 3 pounds of meat. A couple of them stacked up could be considered a ham steak for sure.

I wrapped up my first asparagus and tried it. The overall flavor wasn't bad, but I imagined the excessive chewing required to actually swallow my app would be uncomfortable for all, as we mingled before dinner began. The prosciutto's consistency reminded me of a sirloin at Ponderosa. I just knew someone was going to say, "hey, I didn't know that the new Beef Jerky Outlet in town carried prosciutto"! I threw some pretty tomatoes on the tray and prayed no one would come down with a serious case of bilateral TMJ. It definitely wasn't my best work.

Despite having brushed my teeth 2 times before leaving I could smell my breath wafting up in my face on the way to the party. I had to make sure everyone tried one and was contaminated with garlic breath before someone made me laugh if you know what I mean!

Let me tell you my friend, in my book, if you're not laughing like that at one point during the night you were at a part-B not a PAR-TA!