We can't wait for spring FIESTA!

Last Saturday we had a big party at our place. Since we moved we've only had small gatherings and dinners, but never one where we invite all of our friends ("worlds colliding!"). No specific reason for the party; just taking advantage of the big space we call home.

Once we finally to do throw the party and send out the invite, all I could think about was the food. I was really excited to plan and cook. Lots of work, but what better time to try out recipes I've been meaning to try! After much planning, trips to the grocery store, and hours of prep, here was our final menu:

• Cheese and crackers: spread of smoked gouda, cheddar and cranberry-covered goat cheese.
• Meatballs: mini balls (store-bought) with BBQ sauce and homemade tzatziki sauces for dipping
• Shrimp ceviche: supersized with tomatoes, cucumbers and corn. We found out later, with leftovers, it tastes really good with a bit of ketchup (know we know for next time!)
• Tomato and cucumber salad: with red wine vinaigrette. We made this huge bowl... and then forgot to put it out when main dishes came out. Oy.
• Pork tenderloin: wrapped in bacon!!!
• Beef tenderloin: simply seasoned with garlic and pepper.
* On the meats: our original plan was to get a ham. We went to store and after searching I asked one of the butchers. He gave me a look and said "Um. Those are seasonal...". What!? Who ever said you can't just eat a ham on a weekend night?!. Aiya. We ended up getting a giant beef tenderloin and a small pork (in case we had people who are not big beef eaters).
• Asparagus tart: been wanting to make a puff-pastry tart for a long time. Always make pies or quiches, but never a puff pastry. Oh, we've been missing out!!! This one had fontina cheese (replacement for gruyere, which the recipe called for but is more expensive) and asparagus spears
• Mushroom tart: caramelized onions, mushrooms and spinach (less the goat cheese the recipe called for - didn't want both to have cheese, in case someone was not a fan)
• Fruit and fondue: easy for parties - fruit for the healthy guests; melted chocolate for indulgence.
• Pies de limon: this one I have been wanting to make for a while. My Apo's pie de limon! I found a piece of paper where I wrote down the recipe for my Apo's pie de limon and pie de manzana. Apo doesn't really do measurements, so it was hard to write it all up without her noticing. Hehehe. And they are written in Spanglish. I decided to make them with limes, instead of lemons, so it would be closer to limones. The taste was great! Sweet with just enough tartness. I also made mini tarts, instead of two big pies. But it wasn't without troubles. I baked the shells and started on the filling. After a while on medium heat, the filling was not thickening. I thought maybe I had to pour them like that and it would get thick when cooled... BBBAAAAD idea. I had poked holes in some of the tarts, because some of them were bubbling when cooking. Another BBAAAD idea. Combined, you get leaky, wet tarts. Oy. Some tarts could be salvaged and I had a ton of filling left, so I put it back in the pan and added more cornstarch to eventually get the gooey thickness. A bit too gooey, but not bad. The meringue was another disaster. My stiff peaks never came around, though I did manage to plop some meringue on top of the tarts.
• Sancocho: Almost forgot! I also made sancocho, or as T advertised it, soup for hangovers. We didn't have anyone needing it, and guests were stuffed with the rest of the food. So we had plenty of yummy leftovers for us!

The FIESTA theme came from the invitation template, not the food, but we included it in our decorations.