On this past super hot memorial day, I went for a cookout at M’s mom’s house in Newtown Square. Wow, I hadn’t been there for such a long time. I have fond memories of playing in my “rock” band in high school and ruining their deck. Ah, teenage good times. Speaking of good times, we thoroughly enjoyed these mojitos, made with mint fresh from their garden.
P manned the grill and cooked up burgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs galore.
Somehow, it almost turned out to be a salad party. We had a multitude of bean, veggie, chicken, and potato salads. Also, one of the guests brought some deviled eggs, complete in deviled egg trays. Gadgets never fail to impress me. And this jar of pickles nearly killed us. P had stuck a bunch of scotch bonnets into this jar and did not warn anyone. So when you bit into this innocuous looking pickle, it lit your mouth on fire. I almost cried.
Dessert was just as fun. We had some strawberry shortcake with a homemade pound bundt cake that was super dense and amazing. There were brownies that I absolutely loved, even though they were out of a box. There were even two homemade ice creams. Plus, they have a kick ass back yard and deck and it was just lovely being out, even though it was beyond hot!

We somehow lucked out and snagged an outside table at Barbuzzo at the last minute. It was a perfect night for outdoor dining. Since it was the night before memorial day, it wasn’t all that crazy. I had actually eaten a big dinner already so I was just here to hang out and have a drink… and perhaps get some dessert.
My sanguinello! It was tasty, but not very strong. Usually, I feel it within a sip or two of any drink. With this, I did not feel it at all. Oh well, it was still enjoyable.
The chicken liver and foie gras mousse, with brandied cherry, pistachio salt, and radish sprouts. It’s served with some bread and a shredded beet salad. So good! M thought it was pretty darn good. Not as good as homemade stuff she’s had before from a french person, but still up there.
I recommended that M order the fideua, since I’d tried it before and loved it. Here it is with smoked chourico sausage, calamari, shrimp, mussels, greens, roasted shrimp noodles, and aioli. It’s still great. And it’s a lot bigger than I remember it being. It’s a pretty huge serving considering this is a small plates place.
So even if I wasn’t hungry, I wasn’t going to be at Barbuzzo and not get the salted caramel budino. Yeah, it’s still fantastically awesome. M hadn’t had it before and she was so surprised at how good it was! She wasn’t even hungry at this point but she helped me devour it. You can’t help but devour this dessert!

I love going over to M’s house for dinner because she feeds me so incredibly well. And it’s always gourmet! She also usually prepares a special cocktail to go along with the meal. This drink was called the amazonia, and is made with champagne, cachaca, mint, and others. It was delicious and super strong.
We started off with some black bean and banana empanadas. Yes, it sounds like a strange combination but it was really great. She just made these with store bought phyllo dough so they were also super easy to make.
The main entree was a brazilian seafood stew. This also seemed fairly simple to make. To speed up the process, she had actually prepared some of the ingredients in advance. She used shrimp along with fish and had them marinating in one bowl.
The tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions were also prepped in one bowl.The green peppers, onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper were in another. Then everything was cooked together and coconut milk was also added and fresh cilantro was sprinkled on top. This was so good! It was flavorful and fresh and there was no ingredient that didn’t work in the dish. I typically don’t even like coconut milk in my food either, but I still really loved this. This is definitely something any seafood lover would enjoy, and since I witnessed it all, it is super easy and quick to make.
She also made these ridiculous salted caramel truffles and I ate three of them. And because of how rich and luxurious they were, it was about two too many… but beyond amazing!