Good Food, Great Friends

I have such a great group of friends in Charlotte.  Sometimes Greg and I talk about the possibility of moving to Houston since he is based there, but one of the main things keeping me in Charlotte are my friends.  They are awesome.  For the past 3 years or so, my "running group friends" (hardly any of us go anymore, but most of us met there)  have kept me happy and entertained, which means a lot to me with a husband that is away all the time.  We're always exchanging emails and texts, every other week or so, organizing our next dinner or brunch.  Saturday night we met up at Kelly's house, which is becoming sort of a regular thing since they like to entertain and it's sort of centrally located.

I arrived to Kelly prepping some strawberry pudding in the kitchen.

The dinner was my friend Gibson's idea and was potluck.  I contemplated bringing pasta salad, but then decided to step out of my comfort zone a little and do Bobby Flay's potato salad instead.  I actually don't think I have EVER made potato salad!  

It was good, but I actually used less of the chipotle sauce and cayenne than was recommended in the recipe. A few years ago I made a Bobby Flay chili and it was pretty much the hottest thing I've ever had, so I tend to tone it down when it comes to his spice recommendations now.  I think I should have made it a little bit hotter though, it was pretty tame.  

Other featured items were:

Brad and Kelly's goat cheese and pepper jelly crostini.

And their prosciutto and cantaloupe skewers.

Plus Josie's veggies and ranch, and a goat cheese log with crackers.

I missed pictures of a few more of the individual items, but Gibson brought bacon cheeseburger and brisket sliders, Josh brought Moroccan meatballs, Brad made a batch of pimento cheese, and Casey brought roasted veggies, all of which are on this plate.

I also did something I haven't done in a while.  I made my blueberry pie, which is famous among bloggers!

All but one slice, which I managed to save for Greg, were eaten.  I literally pulled it out of the oven 10 minutes before I left, so it was even still warm when we ate it.  I really need to make blueberry pie more often.  I forgot how delicious it is...

Anyway, it was another fun night with my good friends.  Good food, and great company.  

Sunday I hit the road for DC.  It was a long drive, but I made it here safely and have been enjoying catching up with some DC friends while I'm here for a brief couple days for work.

Catch you guys on the flip side :)