Entertain with a Gourmet Backyard Party

A Fun & Relaxing Gourmet Backyard Party!

The end of summer is near, school is starting soon, and it seems like a perfect excuse for a backyard party. The end of summer party is a relatively new tradition in our family.  Last summer, the end of summer party was in Costa Rica at a restaurant called Exotica near Playa Dominical. Exotica was a little hard to find and was located along a dirt road in the jungle. Regardless, the food was amazing and the decoration was simple but classy.  We would happily have spent the whole day there, just relaxing and enjoying the service, ambiance, and food.  We frequently talk about how that dinner was an experience unlike any we’ve ever had. Even though we aren’t on a dirt road and we are on the dry side of the island on Oahu, there is enough of the tropical vibe going to replicate the Exotica experience in our own backyard.

I picked the flowers from our garden and the cute silver vases came from VA while antiquing.

The chargers, plates, and tablecloth are from HomeGoods.  I love the imperfect circle of the plates.

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The napkins are from Williams Sonoma and the cute number rings (similar ) are from PotteryBarn.

We ended the night relaxing by a fire and reminiscing about our marvelous summer.

My husband is a spectacular cook and truly outdid himself with our meal.  He smoked a leg of lamb on the grill and it was awesome.  He also pulled Papayas from our tree and made his version of papaya ice-cream.

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OUR MENU

Appetizer- Cheese Tray

Main Course-

Simple Salad

Lamb

Potatoes and vegetables

Dessert- Papaya Ice-cream with Creme De Cassis

    French Press Coffee

 

Lamb Preparation

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Ingredients:

• 1 (5-7 pound) boneless leg of lamb, fat trimmed
• 5 garlic cloves
• Pink Himalayan Salt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• Olive oil
• Lime Juice
• Approximately 4 x bottles of beer
• Cherry wood chips (soaked in water)
• ½ cup Red Wine
• Himalayan Salt Plate

Instructions:

HERE

 

Joe’s Papaya Infused Ice-cream 

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Ingredients:

• 2 Papayas
• 1/2  48 oz. container of vanilla bean ice-cream

Instructions:

Cut the papayas in half and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Scoop out the fruit and place in blender.  Then add in Ice-cream and blend for a few minutes. We use our Vitamix Blender to blend all the ingredients.  Once blended, pour into a dish and place back in the freezer.  The ice cream should be soft but not runny when served.

Serve with a little Creme De Cassis over the top…YUM!!!

It is super easy to make and so good.

Backstory:

On Joe’s first trip to Brazil, some Brazilian businessmen treated him to Brazilian Barbecue. After stuffing themselves till they were ready to pop, the waiter came along and asked about dessert. Never a big dessert lover, Joe declined, but the Brazilians insisted.  They forced the Papaya ice cream on him, assuring him that it “aided in digestion.”  Since that day, nothing beats finishing a big meal of meat quite like papaya ice cream.   We’ve tried many different recipes, some simple, some complex.  Nothing is as good as cheating and adding a little papaya to already tasty vanilla ice cream.  We can’t say for certain that it “aids in digestion,” but it sure tastes good!  We also never expected to be picking our own papayas out of our backyard…

 

I hope you enjoyed our Gourmet Backyard Party, I plan to keep this a yearly tradition to end our summer fun.  Don’t forget to take time to relax and plan your little Exotica in your backyard.

 

 

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