Holiday Get-Together

jillpickle:  We like to invite friends to our house for supper for the holidays but we wanted to choose a simple menu.  After all, Christmas with all its preparations can be exhausting!  We chose to serve Creamy Red Pepper Soup as a first course, followed by make-your-own paninis and winter fruit salad.  Then for dessert, we served Flourless Chocolate Cake topped with fresh whipped cream and raspberries.  Bill made the soup which was great as always, especially with the homemade croutons and a spoonful of mascarpone cheese added.  The fruit salad was a colorful concoction of kiwi, orange slices, Clementine sections, pineapple, pomegranate seeds and Asian pear slices.  The Asian pear was sliced and added about 30 minutes before serving so it didn’t turn brown.  For the paninis, we offered a variety of cheeses, meats (prosciutto, turkey and salami), homemade pesto, mayo and various tasty mustards from the Mustard Museum!  It was fun making our own sandwiches which quickly grilled on our panini maker.  Our dessert was a sweet ending being particularly chocolaty and rich but tasty with the cream and raspberries!