Monday night my house was filled with 15 people all willing to belly up to the bar and cook under the guidance of the professional chef. For 3 hours everyone (even the men in the crowd) chopped, mixed and seasoned while enjoying not only each other's company but Skinny Girl Margaritas.

Never forget the liquid encouragement.

If you ever wanted to throw a cooking party but wonder if it would work I tell you now - just do it. Monday night chicken fajitas and pineapple salsa never tasted so good!

... was a bust.

It's been rainy and overcast here so the much anticipated Super Moon sighting on Saturday was blocked by cloudy, rainy skies.

What's not a bust is my yearly cooking party tonight! I'm looking forward to having 15 guests here to help cook chicken fajitas and pineapple salsa while washing down Skinny Girl Margaritas. Should be a great time!

We've rescheduled Meatless Monday in our house due to the festivities and will pick it right back up on Tuesday for those who are following along.

Stepping out of your comfort zone seems to be a hot topic! Since I mentioned my brave attempt at getting the hood together I received quite a few questions about the whole process right down to the recipes. So here we go ~

Matt's Miscellany asked How did you choose the menu?

Easy peasy ... I called my local Pampered Chef rep and she suggested a whole bunch. Given it's fall and apples are everywhere Fall Harvest became the theme. Theme in mind I selected apple cider and pinot grigio to match the apple crisp. The Oriental Veggie Pizza was the last pick and it worked well with the wine choice despite my initial thoughts.

Nicole asks Do you have any pictures??? You've gotta share them if you do.

No Nicole, no pictures. The thought crossed my mind but I knew the possibility of being caught in action could keep some personalities hidden which is so not what I wanted.

Lex the mom asks Are you real close to your neighbors & how did you go about planning this?

I've already answered the planning part so I concentrate on my neighbors. My hood is a fuse of 'been here over 15 years' and the 'newly subdivision' type. Being that I grew up on the exact same street, I knew the 'been here over 15 years' crowd but we find ourselves to damned busy we hardly visit. Within the newly subdivision crowd I've met them through our kids school functions and found a handful I'd really like to get to know better. I knew they'd get along great with the 'been here over 15 years' clan so I quickly had a nice sized invite list.

Ann asks Oriental Vegetable Pizza's huh?What is that exactly?
1 Refrigerated French Bread Loaf (roll out & bake)
1 -8oz cream cheese, softened mixed with 2 tsp SOY SAUCE & 1 /4 tsp ginger (spread like sauce on baked & cooled pizza crust)
The following are added raw to the crust & paste: 1 small red bell pepper (chopped length wise), 2 c FRESH BROCCOLI (chopped very small), 12 SNOW PEAS, FRESH (chopped length wise), 2 whole carrots, or 6 cheater/baby carrots (chopped small/fine), 1 c SWEET and SOUR SAUCE (drizzle over top of pizza)
Saucy asks What was it about pizza and apple crisp that got everyone down?
I don't think it was the food that got everyone tense more like the idea of them cooking instead of watching the demonstration. I'm sure they all thought they were coming to sit & relax but quickly realized they got way more than they expected!

Last night I stepped out of my comfort zone and invited the neighborhood (29 guests) into our home for a cooking party. The house was decked out in it's finest Fall Harvest decor, the apple cider was sweet and tangy, the pinot grigio was perfectly chilled and our chef extraordinaire exceeded my expectations.

I have to admit, when our chef announced everyone in attendance would be helping prepare oriental vegetable pizzas and apple berry crisp there were a few tense moments. Honestly it was as if someone sucked the air out of the room, but as each neighbor began to work on tasks the laughter and smiles began to ring out.

As I looked around the kitchen I couldn't help grinning from ear to ear. It was nice to see so many neighbors joking around, enjoying the company and being in the moment. It's just something we don't get to do enough of now a days.

It was a good night.