Lambapalooza

To some of you, the term "Lambapalooza" just sounds like a funny word. But to six of you out there...you know the true meaning!!

As most of you know, Katie and I were out shopping at Sur La Table several months ago and saw this package of Chop Frills (the little paper things you stick on the ends of rack of lamb). And we both mentioned how we'd always wanted to try making rack of lamb. And so...Lambapalooza was born.

We decided to do a Mediterranean-esque menu which included - rack of lamb (of course), roasted vegetable and orzo salad, sauteed lemon-garlic broccoli, hummus and kalamata olive appetizer and a deliciously rich chocolate hazelnut tart for dessert.

Katie came over to help prep, but not long after, there was a little altercation between Katie's finger and my knife. Yes, there was blood. So, for the rest of the prep, Katie was allowed to use a butter knife to cut through things like feta cheese, and she also supervised the reading of the recipes! Here she is taking care of her injury:

The girls came and we were delighted by a little treat (baby felt lambs) from Rachel! Is she the felt master or what? Appetizers were munched on while the dinner was finishing. We determined a few things...1) Rachel LOVES pita chips 2) Hummus is not my favorite thing and 3) none of us like kalamata olives...we're perfectly happy with the good old black olives in the can.
One of the highlights of the evening came when the lamb came out of the oven and Katie and I finally got to put the little frilly things on! And then...the big presentation moment, cheers, applause, etc.

I think the dinner turned out pretty well. I've never had lamb before, and it was actually pretty good. I was nervous that we'd done all that work and it would be gross, but it wasn't!

After dinner, somehow, my high school yearbooks became the center of the rest of the conversations. There were some dramatic readings of the very sentimental "have a rad summer" and "keep in touch" and "you're the sweetest girl" comments written by my now unknown classmates. But, as always, there are always laughs with this group of girls. We could be reading shampoo bottles and it would still be funny!

Thanks to all of you for coming. Next up in the year of the palooza...Amandapalooza this week, followed by Toyapalooza on April 19th and then on May 31st, we have Laurapalooza...the Top Chef edition of Laura's 35th Birthday!!