Birds of a Feather

About a month ago, I got an email from Christina who writes the fantastic blog Dinner at Christina?s about having a Chicagoland blogger potluck sometime in September, and I of course jumped at the chance! I love meeting other bloggers, and I also love cooking for other people, so it was the kind of event that just appeals to me.

We agreed on the date, and set out arranging carpools and what we were bringing. I decided to bring a crockpot full of my Chicken Chili Blanco as well as buffalo chicken dip. I packed up the car with my hot crockpot and ingredients for the dip, and set out to pick up Michelle from Lucky Taste Buds. We then hit the road to Christina?s house where we met up with her and Biz from Biggest Diabetic Loser.

We of course immediately started setting up our dishes?and the spread was AMAZING!! I put together my dip, which does not photograph well:

Christina had made a pitcher of delicious sangria, as well as a pitcher of water with fresh lemon. I had plenty of both!

She also made some of the Pioneer Woman?s jalapeno poppers with bacon, and a croissant wrapped baked brie? again, i had plenty of both

There was a gorgeous veggie tray:

Michelle made a delicious Asian-inspired whole wheat pasta salad with a sesame-miso dressing, a recipe I?ll be stealing very soon!

Biz made a delicious pizza with homemade crust, red peppers, pepperoni, her amazing homemade sauce, and a mixture of goat cheese and mozzarella, and then a topping of fresh basil:

Then, Christina brought out the zucchini pie, a recipe that?s apparently so secret, she had to delete the email that included it!

I was so full at this point that I didn?t even have a bowl of my chili! In case you forgot what it looked like, here?s a recycled picture:

I feel terrible that I didn?t bring anything for the other women because I left with so many foodie goodies! Michelle had made us all goodie bags, Biz gave us each a jar of her tomato sauce, and Christina not only opened her house to us, but gave us a huge store of the homemade sausage she made with her dad. I can?t wait to try it all!

Thank you SO much for an amazingly fun day ladies! We?ll have to do something again soon!

Oh? I?m forgetting something, aren?t I? The winner of the HUGE cheese giveaway! I used random.org to determine a winner, using only the comments on the post. There were a whopping 191 entries to win the cheese tasting party!! I?m so thrilled that there was so much interest for my little contest, and a HUGE thank you to Alouette Cheese for the opportunity.

What, you want to know who won? Funny thing: the first number that came up was my own pingback to my post?and since I can?t win my own contest, the winner is:

KRISTIN FROM IOWA GIRL EATS!!! Ill send you an email to get your information and I?ll forward it to the company. Congratulations!!!

I?m off to enjoy some of Michelle ?s banana cashew bread with some Turtle Mountain coconut milk ice cream?

Have a great Monday!

Technorati Tags: appetizer, blogging, chili, friends, giveaway, potluck, spicy