Food Blogger BBQ Potluck Roundup

I'm a little embarrassed to put up this post, because I've seen everybody else's blog posts on our little potluck and clearly I was too busy watching over my chicken, eating and chatting to take photos of everything, let alone good ones! So if you haven't already, take a peek (not peak) at Jen, Lauren, Julie and Pierre's take on the afternoon.

The potluck was a smaller, more private affair than the bake sale, but it was certainly no less fun. A forecast of rain and ominous, grey skies in the morning made us nervous as to whether or not the potluck would still go on. The forecast was downgraded to cloudy skies, so we nervously began trickling in to Edworthy Park - the rain held off just until the picnic was scheduled to end, and we even got glimpses of sun! Perfect.


All of the bloggers contributed to a gorgeous spread of food. Early birds got to share a watermelon which Pierre smashed open with the back of B.'s axe as he'd forgotten a knife. He also brought giant, cake-like cookies from Evelyn's Coffee Bar in Banff, and of course, a beautiful salad made from lettuce, dill and pansies picked fresh from his garden. The greens were dressed with a sweet vinaigrette made with blackcurrants he'd picked at Kayben Farms in Okotoks. (Yes, there are local blackcurrants - who knew?)


Jen brought some delicately crafted hors d'oeuvres, like this truffled mushroom bruschetta, dotted with caramelized onions, fresh basil and parmesan on multigrain bread from the new Wilde Grainz bakery in Inglewood. She also made some adorable skewers with yellow watermelon balls alternating with cubes of feta wrapped in strips of basil.

    
Julie graced us with two delicious salads - one was a quinoa salad made with black beans and some leftover fruit salsa from the fish tacos featured in Swerve today, and the other was a lovely, garlicky take on potato salad, with green beans and garlic scape pesto. Julie also brought a pan of fudgey, gluten-free brownies.

Speaking of dessert, there was lots to be had - aside from the brownies, Lauren brought over a pan of moist, gluten-free plum quinoa cake. It was hard to believe she'd only returned home from Fernie that morning!

    
Wendy brought over these bright, tangy lemon bars, made with a touch of hostility from an upstairs neighbour leaking onto her ceiling - poor girl! Her cousin Carina is a talented baker too, having baked these almond-studded bars with gooey, cheesecake centres.


Last but certainly not least, Chelsey brought these boozy cups of champagne-marinated fruit, topped with fluffy clouds of whipped cream. They're "not for kids", but I know a certain Celiac Teen had her share! I'm pretty sure this was the first (and hopefully the last) time I heard a mother tell her child that she was only allowed to eat the cream, and not the fruit!

Oh, and if you'd seen pictures of me in my completely mismatched orange top with black sweater holding skewers of chicken, I figured a BBQ couldn't be without, well, barbecuing, so I made the chicken part of this recipe, subbing in dried thyme and fresh dill for the oregano. Manly B. helped build a fire for me and I built a makeshift grill out of some extendable BBQ forks. I also made a tub of tzatziki using the grated cucumber method and the thick but healthy Liberté 0% Greek Yogurt. The tzatziki turned out nice and thick but a little too lemony! Needs a little more tweaking ;)