Mansfield Park- The Food

Karla requested a Mexican theme, being that we were meeting for the Mansfield Park Viewing party during her birthday weekend.

Here is the spread:

 Perfect pineapple and yummy papaya, balanced out by delicious chocolate chip cookies and cake. (and of course, the ever present diet coke)

 

Lots of chip choices, including tri colored bell peppers cut into dip sized pieces.

Three kinds of dips, including guacamole, fiesta ranch, and chicken enchilada.

Guacamole:
2 avocados, 1 T minced garlic, couple of shakes of salt, 2-3 T lemon juice, and fresh cilantro.  Blend until smooth.

Fiesta Ranch Dip:
1 tub light sour cream, 1/2 package dry ranch dressing mix, 1/2 package dry taco seasoning mix

Kayla's Yummy chicken enchilada hot dip- she will have to post the recipe, but it sounded pretty easy to make.

And we ended the meal with Betsy's chocolate cake (which was delish) and my favorite summer drink, iced Chai Lattes.  I love me a a good chai latte, but I am not a fan of paying $4 a pop for them.  Here is my cheepo version, which I think is just as good as Starbucks.

Iced Chai Lattes:
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.  Turn off heat.  Stir in 1/2 cup of sugar (more if you like them really sweet).  Add 3-4 tea bags (I like either Bigelow or Good Earth spiced chai).  Let brew until tea is dark.  Remove tea bags, and put chai concentrate in the fridge.  When it is cool, pour equal parts concentrate and skim milk over ice.  Makes 5-6 lattes. Enjoy!