Here’s a fun wedding we made the food for recently. In a departure from traditional wedding fare, this bride decided to create a new twist on an old salad bar. Individual servings of make-your-own taco salads gave guests the opportunity to choose from a variety of colorful, healthy, flavorful toppings. Fluted taco salad shells made from baked tortillas held the salad fixings, and guests had their choice of fresh fruit, a few tasty desserts, and some refreshing beverages to go with their salad.
One of those fun kitchen gadgets you can’t wait to get out of the cupboard to try out, these fluted taco tins saved the day. Slap a taco in the tin, bake (yes bake – no messy deep frying) for 5 minutes and presto – job complete. We rounded up tins and baked a dozen at a time. Best of all, the shells were baked a day ahead – all 300 of them!
Here’s the completed stash waiting in the prep area just before the wedding started:
This bride chose a charming formal theme in navy blue chevron stripes with lots of baby’s breath and gold accents. Votive glasses lined with vintage-style lace provided extra light at the tables as the sun went down.
Adorable shabby chic lantern holders accented with burlap ribbons made a cute container for collecting gift cards.
And for the buffet? An assortment of taco salad ingredients including pulled pork, southwest-seasoned taco meat, fresh romaine lettuce, black beans, re-fried beans, olives, celery, peppers (both mild and spicy), salsa in multiple flavors, and don’t forget the cheese and sour cream.
We absolutely had to serve Lauralee’s guacamole, a family favorite. It’s filled with chunks of ripe avocado (about 20 avocados worth for this crowd and even then we ran out), tomato, lime juice, and garlic. For extra color, we served fruit chunks on bamboo skewers.
Tacos NEED salsa. In addition to fresh salsa (none of that jar stuff), we also served Mango salsa along with quarts and quarts of homemade Ranch Dressing.
A variety of fresh peppers, red, green, banana, provided show-stopping color.
This orange-pineapple slush was a refreshing way to round out the light meal.
And, of course, we had to serve our most-requested beverage – raspberry lemonade.
For dessert? The bride and groom cut their wedding cake early rather than saving that tradition for last – what a concept. Guests actually ate the cake instead of just looking at it! This exquisite cake with pink frosting roses, provided by a local wedding cake company was a buffet highlight, and single-serving slices of two delicious cake varieties were served all evening.
Here’s one of the wedding cake choices, a delicious made-from-scratch three-layer vanilla cake with lemon filling, cream, and buttercream frosting:
Custard-filled cream puffs drizzled with chocolate were also served and devoured – gotta have chocolate!
To enter the serving area, we led guests down the garden path – after signing the guest book, of course.
The weather was perfect, and flowering trees, red geraniums, and the last of the spring tulips made it a truly delightful garden wedding.
- 3 large avocados (soft, but not mushy)
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 tsp. pressed garlic clove
- 1 tsp. savachi sauce or red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. cumin (or to taste)
- 1 tsp. kosher salt (or to taste)
- 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
- Juice of one lime
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- Cut avocados in half, remove pit and skin; cube, and spoon avocado into a mixing bowl.
- Mash avocados to desired consistency using the back of a large spoon or fork; squeeze the juice from half of the lime into the avocado and stir to combine.
- Fold in remaining ingredients and the juice from the remaining lime half.
- Store, covered, in the refrigerator. Remove an hour before serving.
- Note: The lime allows the guacamole to retain its "avocado" color as it sits in the fridge. You can use lemon juice, but it affects the flavor more dramatically than lime. If you find the stored guacamole has darkened, stir it before serving.
