Today is Mah Jongg Wednesday for the OMs and it is my turn to host. I have a fun menu – Gazpacho, Steak Salad with Horseradish Dressing and Pickled Red Onions, and Triple Berry Pavlova for dessert – and we are going to celebrate K’s upcoming birthday. I know she loves gazpacho and so I made a huge batch of it yesterday (but forgot to take pictures while I was making it – and you should have seen my kitchen – chopped vegetables and the juice of the fresh tomatoes everywhere!). I like a chunky style gazpacho but you could use an immersion blender to make it really smooth if you prefer it that way.

This is a real make-ahead kind of meal – the kind that I love! And so, after destroying my kitchen while making the gazpacho, I started over again yesterday with a very clean kitchen and prepared the ingredients for the Pickled Red Onions.

Red wine vinegar, Kosher salt, and water brought to a boil.

1/2 of a small red onion, sliced very thin…

Onion slices added to the vinegar solution where they will stay until right before our lunch when I will drain off the liquid. I don’t even like onions but these are SO delish!

Then I made the Triple Raspberry Sauce for the Mixed Berry Pavlova dessert. First the raspberries, sugar, and water simmer away for a few minutes.

Now everything is poured into the Cuisinart:  seedless raspberry jam is a must.

And some Framboise…yum!

Then it is all pureed to a smooth texture in the Cuisinart.

And even though I used seedless raspberry jam, there are still lots of seeds left from the fresh raspberries so I like to strain the sauce to eliminate all seeds.

The final product – after chilling until ready to use – will be a fabulous raspberry sauce that I will pour over the berries and meringue dessert.

 Finally, I made the Horseradish Dressing: I gathered all the ingredients, plus salt and pepper, and whisked them all together.

This dressing is so good! Into the refrigerator to chill and I am finished for today!

Tomorrow I will post the rest of the preparations for the lunch and some of the winning hands from our Mah Jongg games. On Friday I will post the recipes for this yummy lunch.