Top Chef Party: Nuts for Nuts

My friends (including Milan and Domineau) host Top Chef parties every so often, and Emily and I were excited to be able to make it to this one.

Each Top Chef party has a theme ingredient, which you're supposed to have in the food you bring.
This time the ingredient was pretty general: nuts.

Since I'm not a great chef, and I'm crazy about pistachio pudding, I whipped up a quick batch of instant Jello pistachio pudding. No way I was going to win the competition, but at least I knew I'd like our dish.

The event doubled as a farewell to Melissa, who is heading back west in early August (like me).
Will be good to hopefully see you out there, too!

We got to eat a little of each dish while chatting with and catching up with friends.

I was very torn between 3 dishes for my favorite:

1. Hazelnut chocolate cake
2. Bacon, caramel, and cashew popcorn
3. Nut-covered sweet potatoes (or were they yams? I always get confused on that)

Beyond the food, spending time with friends is an awesome part of the Top Chef parties.

I especially like spending time with this little lady

Emily and I had to leave before they determined who the winner was, but maybe Milan can let us know in the comments. Pretty please, Milan...