With Food Revolution Day right around the corner (Friday, May 16th), I thought it was time to share with you all the exciting details of my potluck which include this yummy Margherita Pasta recipe!

You’ll remember that in my last post we talked about themes and I unveiled my potluck theme was “Downton Abbey”, so in keeping with that I sent out these invites via email (I used picmonkey.com to make the invitations), and in the email I listed what people could bring to minimize confusion

Why yes, I am the countess of Waterville.  Didn’t you know? Hahaha

I also mentioned in my previous post that our potluck wouldn’t be Downton Abbey inspired foods since those didn’t really seem all that appetizing to me at least (Salmon mousse anyone?).  Instead, to usher along the theme we were going to watch Season 4 (we ended up watching the first half of it) while eating, and I found these Downton Abbey Bingo Cards to give us a game to play while watching.

Because they were designed for a previous season of the show, I had to doctor them up a bit since a few of the scenarios had no chance of happening (mini spoiler alert there). It turns out that even with my changes the game was dang hard! We sat there begging for someone to ride a horse or smoke a cigar for ages! I had picked up a couple small prizes for the game winners so it was fun to hand those out and in the end everyone that came got a prize 😀

But let’s talk food!

We had barbecue meatballs made in a slow cooker which were sooooo yummy!

Ceasar Salad (with homemade croutons and homemade dressing),

a cheese ball (not homemade, my friends at Sobeys whipped that up for me 😉 ) and crackers,

two pitchers of fruit infused water – one was strawberry, the other lemon lime,

and then of course we had my spin on margherita pasta!

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The pasta was really easy to make, and pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself!

Yield: 4

Margherita Pasta

Print

Ingredients

• 1 package/box of penne pasta (I used Jamie Oliver pasta - it seemed fitting for the occasion!)
• 2 bunches of fresh basil
• 2 Tbsp of ground almonds (I always use almonds instead of pine nuts - they are much more affordable)
• 3 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan
• 1-2 cloves of garlic - minced
• Approx 6 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I eyeballed it)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook pasta per package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking combine basil, garlic, nuts and parmesan in a mini food processor (or you can make it by hand like I did with a mortar and pestle)
3. Mix until you have a paste then slowly drizzle in your Extra Virgin Olive Oil until you get your desired consistency.
4. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, toss with the pesto and serve!

Notes

I topped my pasta with a bit more fresh parmesan (I love cheese!), and served chopped grape tomatoes and sliced mini bocconcini on the side as toppers.

I don’t know about everyone else, but Lady Mary, Matthew and Sybil certainly enjoyed it

I had discovered these Downton Abbey paper dolls online last year, so when I knew I was using that for my theme I had to print them out. The Dowager Countess, Thomas, and O’Brien were also in attendance – very fancy!

The day after our potluck was going to be Lisa’s birthday, so I decided I would whip up some individual chocolate mousse cakes for dessert! From scratch. I’m crazy.

What really makes me crazy is that even though I’ve never made mousse from scratch before (I’ve always used mix), I didn’t feel the need to follow a recipe and sort of just did what I thought seemed right. That’s never a good plan – and it’s also all the evidence anyone needs that I am truly my mother’s daughter. She likes to “go off on her own” when “following” recipes too. At any rate, the mousse turned out okay, except when I combined the melted dark chocolate with the whipped cream it started to harden before it fully combined so there were small flecks of solid chocolate throughout the mousse. I can think of a lot worse things that could have happened so I’m going to say it was a success.

I made an individual chocolate cake for each person, then cut each cake in half. I put a layer of mousse between the two layers before piping mousse all over the cake. It wasn’t the most beautiful dessert out there, but it certainly was tasty. It’s hard to go wrong when you start off with real whipped cream, chocolate, and cake!

After dessert, we were all stuffed! That right there is a sign of a good potluck, no?

While I’m not sure that the Dowager Countess would have approved had she been present in more than paper form (in fact I’m sure she wouldn’t have – it was much too low brow for her!), we all had a great night, ate great food and enjoyed each other’s company.

Potlucks are meant to be casual-stress free get-togethers where everyone pitches in to make less work for the host/hostess. In this day and age, I think there are too few get-togethers and too much conversing through text messages and social media.

Why not make an effort this Friday to connect with a few of your friends or family members, make a simple healthy dish to share and have a fun evening in? If you do, be sure to share your photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the hashtags #FRD2014 and #Potluck Challenge (and tag @Sobeys). Each time you post with those hashtags $1 will be donated to the Children’s Aid Foundation.

Not planning to have a potluck? You can still get involved and help raise money by posting a photo of your next homemade meal and use the #FRD2014 and #Potluck Challenge hashtags! It only takes a minute to make a big difference in the lives of those children!

Visit the Food Revolution Day website to learn how you can get involved – but don’t take my word for it take it from my kitchen boyfriend Jamie:

Disclosure: The author has received consideration from Sobeys or Sobeys’ media partners in exchange for this content.  Sobeys has not reviewed these claims and is not responsible for the content.