This is NOT a cooking blog..

... and, yes...I do have one of those as well..but I never seem to post there much anymore...shame, that.... must rectify it.

However, some of you know I was looking forward to doing our annual progressive dinner party with neighbours this past weekend...and that we were dismembering cucumbers and slathering phyllo and rolling dough for little turnovers.  Well, if you didn't know...we were.

What fun we had.  What food there was!  And...our appetizers were delicious if I do say so myself ...and I do!

The cucumber roll ups with smoked salmon took a total of 3 full cucumbers.  What a lot of waste.  Has anybody ever used a mandolin and done cucumber slicing?  Did you use English cucumbers...how did it work?  It was an experiment all the way through really... 1/8" seemed too thick...but, less was too thin and they began to separate at the seeded part... then, the thicker ones are tricky to roll ...the toothpicks don't hold them together well...etc... but, they were tasty and fun and ...well, I may not bother again...hahhaha... what else can I try?  It's kind of like the dolls and bears....movin' on to the next pattern....

Next, I made phyllo purses...with sundried tomato and Feta and spinach filling.  Why is it one can never get quite the same results as are pictured ? And, I didn't dare leave them in the oven any longer as the tops were browning quickly...and tin foil on top would have reduced any more browning on the sides I am sure .....sigh...but, tasty? ....ever so!

I also made some tiny Tourtiere turnovers with a sour cream pastry.  I didn't make Tortiere this year for Christmas as the oven was so delayed I had given up on being able to do it and didn't bother with buying ingredients.... like veal and pork....

But... for this I thought, why not make some bite size 'appies' instead of one big pie to cut. Oh, man... my back between the shoulder blades was on fire by the time I finished with all the fiddling ...cutting little circles of dough, pinching them all closed and pressing each with fork tines, slashing teeeny slits on each one and then baking them off in batches .... I needed a massage...and a cold compress for my aching head....a big glug of wine and a long nap!

Of course, on the day...I still had to make a sweet and sour sauce for dipping as well...because that's what somebunny's Mommy used to make for them when he ate them at home.  Luckily I had already made some cranberry pear chutney last week ......  which is what I like with mine ...and I knew my one neighbour would be looking for that too...she loves it.

so, yep....it was a ton of work .... but, worth it.  It was fun and lots of good food at each house.... all 5 of them!  Ohhhh...we were stuffed by midnight!

ooops...forgot...we also made a pizza and sliced it in little squares.  Deconstructed Artichoke Chicken pizza with cherry tomatoes......  check it out....mmmm..... with home made pizza dough..... the best, of course.  Sorry.... I took a bite.  Couldn't help myself.   And, then...we totally forgot to take any more photos... and the table looked so pretty all set out too!  Darn it.

no cucumbers were killed in the process..

...but, a large portion of this one WAS totally injured and pretty much wrecked while I was experimenting with how to cut one if a person does not own a mandoline.  BIG note on kitchen table.  Must.Buy.Mandoline.

I used every size, shape and sharpness of knife, including bread knives...no go.... and, fingers were definitely at risk.   Now, I do know that mandolins are dangerous as well if a person isn't careful...I used to own a plastic version and did almost take off the end of a finger...plus, I've seen it often enough on the food channel...yikes!  Some of those people lose a lot of blood when they do silly things in their rush to get done.....

I did manage to get 4 not bad slices using my potato peeler ..but, would need a wider one to get better results...and even then, can only do about that many slices before my nails were being peeled right along with the cuke.

However, my (4 only) cute little tasty roll ups were a hit... Mr. BV scoffed them the minute he saw them, and declared them wonderful.  Now... to get me that mandoline before the dinner party on Saturday.  You would think I never do anything like entertain or have a 'part' in a party....    well, actually, you'd be right ... we never do.  So...yes...it is a big deal. To us.  And, I need to make plenty more than 4....

This is our second annual progressive party with our neighbours.  There will be 5 couples and therefore 5 courses.  I  hope it all goes the same as last year and that we all have just as much fun as we did last year as well... and...the fooooood!!  Ohh... wow! .. everybody really made exceptional effort with the food.....

Here are my cute little dilled cream cheese roll ups with tiny bits of black olive, sun dried tomato and ham... ...