Watermelon and heirloom Tomato Gazpacho

This was presented at the  chef series at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and it was one that I was NOT going to miss. I love watermelon, but watermelon in anything else is just too sweet for me. I was curious how the chef was going to make this taste. The only reason I'm posting is because it was delicious.

 It was a hot, steamy, humid Sunday as many of us gathered under the canopy in the chef area at the garden. This was made by Chef Fernando Angelina from Guildhall in Glencoe, Illinois. An individual who started as a dishwasher and worked his way up to being a Chef! Nice job!!

Every item is written in grams. I will include them along with what I visually saw.

Heirloom Tomato 450 g ( 2 medium tomatoes)

Strawberries  200 g  (I counted 10 medium strawberries)

Watermelon 700 g ( about 24 oz)

Cucumber 300 g ( 1 large, seeds removed)

Red onion, sliced  50 g ( 1/2 of medium > small)

Ginger , sliced 20 g ( small knob)

Fresno or Mild Red Finger Chili, chopped

White Balsamic Vinegar 60 g ( 1 1/2 Tablespoons)

Lime Juice 40 g ( 2 limes)

Honey 25 g ( 1 Tablespoon)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

Olive Oil 20 g ( 1 T)

Dry Bread 75 g- you can dry bread out by baking at 250. Gluten free bread will also work. ( 1-1/2 C)

Fresh Mint sprig

Salt and Pepper to taste

In two batches, put all ingredients in blender and puree. Use remaining pieces for garnish. Top with lemon oil.

Island Party

Over the weekend, my husband and I were invited to one of the most fun parties~ Of course, I'm easy. I love it when someone invites me over. All my friends have a fun flair for entertaining. I guess that's why they are friends! Now back to this recent party~ First of all, can you judge a person by their shoes?? Anyone who can wear these fun shoes, well, they just have to be fun people! Can you see the rattan heels? Glad I had my camera!










Our hostess greeted us with mai tais in a watermelon. Again, the presentation was darling. A big round watermelon, carved at the top, cleaned out. All around the outside, holes were made for straws that were inserted and also decorated with the little paper umbrellas with our names on them.




I have a picture of her attractively presented pot stickers.











On porcelain spoons she served us a tuna and avocado mixture. It was nice and cold, a nice contrast to the humid night air. We continued to enjoy asparagus that were served with a wasabi sauce, and miniature cups filled with....well that was a delicious secret. Because the next time they have a party and invite us- she'll know we'll cancel anything in our way to be invited again. Not really. But you get the drift.
There were other little nibbles everywhere for us while we entertained each other with throwing inflatable hoops into a parrot...... a picture is worth a thousand words.






Her table setting were so pretty. And as the evening sky turned dark, the pretty Italian lights everywhere just made us feel younger! She wrote each of our names in Hawaiin and we had to guess which was was ours. Fun!! Dinner was outside and started with a chilled cucumber dill soup with shrimp, served in pots de creme. Another good use for those things! Our entree, the plate was beautiful. A grilled pineapple slice ( loved the small size which our hostess said it was right out of the can. No wonder the size was perfect! ) and it was attractively topped with mashed sweet potato. Also on the plate was a tulip bowl with a mango salsa and the meat was grilled pork medallions. Tender and so moist! You didn't even have to use the accompanying citrus sauce. But why pass up anything at this beautiful party!?





Dessert was served indoors- good idea in case we got too rowdy for that 11pm curfew! At each place was a plate with a coffee cup, a chocolate cup and a cocktail glass filled with orange sorbet and red cherry sorbet. Our hostess then passed coconut truffles which she made- omg, along with some type of cracker but was actually a cookie and had chocolate bits on it!








But the games didn't stop outside! At the table our hostess gave us a Hawaiin expression and we had to guess it's interpretation. Our hostess also gave a door prize to the guest who won the most points throughout the night- just what any person would want!





Oh! Did I forget to mention the great music they had playing? Just great!!!
It was quite late when we left and all the men at this party had to be up very early. On top of that, we all had to make sure we got home safely and navigate away from the YOU KNOW WHOs! We all made it home safely. And very happy!