my favourite Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday, S and C came over for dinner so I could help them celebrate their birthdays. Both of their birthdays are May 5th. It was such a fun evening of jokes, stories, debates and laughter. It was like S said in an email following "Quel merveilleux souper et quelle soirée ravissante."

I have to say, I always enjoy their company and I was pretty happy with how supper turned out too. I made up the lasagna on Monday night and froze it immediately. Last night, I made the cake and cut up all the veggies for the salad. I kept the veggies separate and assembled them all just before we sat down for supper so that the salad would be crisp and not soggy. Last night, I also made the salad dressing and combined the ingredients for one of the finest garlic breads I have ever made. I don't mean to brag, but I must. It was gooooood. :)

It was a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and then I tweaked it to make it even better. I put everything in the breadmaker the night before and used the timer so that we came home to a fresh baked loaf yesterday afternoon. It was the sweetest and most savoury of smells wafting all through the house and greeted us as we walked in. E made a big show of rubbing her belly and saying "yum yum, smells good!"

Here is the recipe for any and all who may be interested:

Garlic Bread

Ingredients
1 3/8 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3-4 teaspoons of Herbes de Provence
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Directions
Place ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer (liquids on bottom, dry ingredients on top with yeast added last in a small well in the flour).
Select Basic or White Bread cycle, and press Start.

Now I didn't actually measure the garlic nor the herbs. I just added lots. It doesn't hurt the bread at all and actually gives it a more rich flavour. So good. :)