New House, Same Tradition

I'm on vacation! 

That probably means I shouldn't be blogging, but this is a non-work-related post. Plus, I jumped off some waterfalls this morning and am about to make Reese's stuffed Oreo balls, so I'll allow it. 

The Davis family & I squeezed in YEAR FIVE of Chopped between my return from Panama and last week's regional missionary conference. They had recently moved into a new house, but if anything, it was even better suited to three teams of two cooking at once and eating between rounds. 

The flowers were for church the next day but really made it look like we'd stepped up our game!

As with last year, I shopped for the basket ingredients. In the appetizer round, canned chicken, palermo peppers, and dhal powder loomed. Abigail, my teammate since the beginning, and I made an Indian-inspired chicken salad...stuffed inside a tomato half!

The entrée round challenged us to be creative with carnita ahumada, white asparagus, and ginger beer. 

Abigail immediately knew she wanted to do asparagus/carnita rollups. We added strips of zucchini and bound them together with turkey bacon.

There were A LOT of cooks in the kitchen at times.

And yet, somehow, we all managed to do what we needed to do. 

Abigail presented the rollups on a bed of [gluten free] parmesan pasta, blended up a watermelon spritzer on the side...

...and served a restaurant-quality dish that took the round!

I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the dessert round, but it came down to the wire as Abigail & I frantically dished up a cream-topped berry crumble featuring strawberries, gluten free Oreos, and drinkable prune yogurt. We lean into our Dominican sides when it comes to the time limits ;) Also, funny story: the original dessert basket contained frozen kiwi, gluten free Oreos, and drinkable prune yogurt, but it turns out dad Owen is allergic to kiwi! Who knew?!

Tragically, this might have been our last year, given that the oldest Davis will be starting college next year and either not around in early August or too cool to hang out with his family's nerdy friend. Whatever 2024 brings, I'm grateful for half a decade of this time-honored tradition and rest in the knowledge that the Davises' and my friendship will live to see years six, seven, eight, and beyond. 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!