Party Foods!

This weekend we had some friends over to say goodbye to the summer with a good old fashioned Labor Day weekend pool party.  Most of our friends are now down with the Paleo thing, so I got to flex my kitchen muscles a little bit and try some new baked goods and dips.

I have to say it all turned out pretty yummy, so I’ll be adding these to my recommended recipes page shortly:

• Lemon, Coconut & Blueberry Muffins – I followed the recipe here as written, except for adding about 1 cup of fresh blueberries to the mix before baking… Yum!!
• Paleo Sour Cream & Onion Dip – This one is made with cashew cheese – I’m still working on how to get the really creamy texture, but the flavor was really great.
• Rosemary Crackers – I am addicted to these things.  They are light and crisp and nutty, and a perfect companion to the Roasted Beet Dip.
• Paleo Carrot Cake – So this very tasty, but quite different from regular carrot cake in texture and flavor.  You can really taste the orange peel in it, for starters, and mine came out a lot more like a torte, rather than a cake – very dense.   But all in all, I think it was pretty good.
• Paleo Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip – OMG, this stuff is crack.  Granted, there’s a ton of coconut sugar in it, so it’s very sweet, but wow is it yummy.  If you’re a pumpkin spice junky, this is a great fix.  Especially with…
• Paleo Apple Chips – this week there were honeycrisp apples featured and on sale in the grocery store, and honestly I think they make the best chips

And then there was the coup de grace, the Crusty Paleo Bread loaf.  Oh, where have you been for the last year of my life?  This yeasty bread came out perfectly golden and delicious – sliced well and held it’s shape to be slathered with butter, pate, pumpkin dip, or whatever I had lying around.   I know this recipe is going to be pulled out for every holiday from now on – it’s that good…

Of course, after gorging myself on all of this stuff, brisket, sausage, paleo cole slaw, sweet potatoes, and balsamic brussels sprouts, the scale is not my friend.  Ah well, it was another lovely diversion, but now it’s back to the daily routine.