Well, my sister in law had her baby a little early (he was due the 28th, she
had him the 8th), so baby Owen is finally here! Then, this weekend the
rescue that we got our Schnauzer, Lucy, from asked us if we'd be interested
in a companion for her. So, now we have Oscar as a new addition to our
family as well.

Anywho, this next weekend we are having a small party to celebrate the new
additions and touch base with some friends we haven't had chance to spend
time with. There's going to be pumpkin painting/carving for the kids, and I
have some of the menu planned, but I was hoping for some help from the kind
folks here.

Appetizers: Various veggies, dip, pate, crackers, olives, and an assortment
of cheeses.

Soup: Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Dinner: Chicken Saltimbocca. Now, here's where you come in....what side
dishes would you make? I don't want anything too heavy, but I'd like it to
compliment the chicken. For anyone who doesn't know, the chicken dish has
sage, prosciutto, provolone, shallots...just to give you an idea of the
flavors.

Dessert is Deep Dark Chocolate cake, prepared in a bundt pan, and a smaller
round (ball) pan. The first half round is placed in the center of the cake,
and the other placed in front for a head. The whole thing is then drenched
in ganache and decorated to resemble a spider. For legs, use 2 pretzel rods
per, dipped in chocolate, connected with a marshmallow in the center at
different angles. For the non chocolate eaters (can you believe there are
such people! *gasp*) I am also serving an apple crisp, as well as a pumpkin
seed based snack mix. Of course, coffee and tea too.

So back to dinner...any ideas? :-)

Thanks in advance!
kimberly