A Christmas Gathering ~ December 2013

Its that time of year again...  the countdown to Christmas filled with visiting friends and family, shopping for those special gifts, baking Christmas cookies and other delights.  How wonderful that we all made time to celebrate the season together.  We shared the evening with our special guests and all ate, drank and was merry for the evening.  What a delicious and enjoyable gathering it was....

George, Jeanne, Denise and Barry

I must admit that I may have enjoyed the Christmas 'grog' too much ... and forgot about taking pictures!  It wasn't until our meal was almost over that I remembered my camera.  This is a bummer as the presentation displayed in this blog will not do justice to the fabulous meal that was served.

Betty and Bobby brought these savory herb crackers with Parmesan and thyme along with roasted shrimp.

Rita and Greg brought cocktail meatballs with a cranberry glaze on them and Greg's famous Oyster Stuffing.

Denise made this beautiful antipasto - almost too pretty to eat.  It was filled with veggies, provolone cheese, salami & prosciutto - yum!

I did not get a picture of Jeanne's awesome shrimp appetizer ~ Shrimp Mozambique.  This Portuguese shrimp dish had an amazing broth with a hint of spice and such pretty color.  Very tasty!

 Nina brought Lobster shooters!  Served in these cute tiny glasses.  Not only great tasting - but a fun way to eat "lobsta" bisque.  Where does she keep all these cute little glasses and mugs?

The main entree was made by Cindy - her home made manicotti, sauce and braciole!  Truly amazing melt in your mouth heaven!

Bobby, Betty, Angi and Greg

I brought a yummy English Christmas Punch - it reminded me of a warm sangria.  The 'grog' was festive and really warmed your insides - wink - wink.  Again, missed a photo op ~ the red wine with cranberries and orange slices looked so pretty in the white serving bowl.  Next time!

After dinner the ladies enjoyed a good 'ol Yankee Swap.  Love my "Twelve Days of Christmas" towel and brie baking dish!

Betty, Jen, Nina, Jeanne and Rita

Denise, Cindy and Angi

Jen made a bread pudding that she served with a warm cinnamon sauce.  It was so good and homey  - making it a perfect final touch to the evening.  Love the holly branches too!

Angi brought fudge mint brownies and her famous chocolate bark...  dark chocolate with salted caramel, milk chocolate with nuts and cranberries... white chocolate with dried fruit and nuts.

Another great evening with my Scituate Cooking Club family... love the addition of the "hubbies".  I believe a fun time was had by all... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

From the top... Larry, Peter, Greg, Tom, Barry, Michael, George, Bobby, Betty Ann, Denise, Rita, Jen, Jen, Nina, Cindy, Angi and Jeanne.

Spicing Things Up ~ November 2013

This was our 1 year anniversary!  I'm just so excited that the 'club' still has an interest and everyone wants to keep it going.  We were busy discussing ideas for our next year of 'cooking club'!

Our November meeting was at my house with an assigned spice to each member.  This was received as a fun challenge and all recipes were amazing!  Taking everyone out of their comfort zone and having such tasty results proves what a talented group we have.

Cloves

Angi made these cute and flavorful cupcakes highlighting cloves.  The candied orange peels which decorated the cupcakes were my favorite!  I'm thinking Angi needs to host a 'how to candy your fruit' party.  She mentioned that she didn't follow the recipe in having the peels soak overnight.  Instead she placed peels in pan cover with cold water, brought to a boil, drained and repeated two more times.  

Cloves are dried flower buds of an evergreen tree native to Indonesia.  Whole cloves can be used to stud ham or pork roast, or oranges (see below).  Ground cloves are used in desserts, cakes, pies, liquors.  Pairs will with cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, red wine and star-anise.

Tarragon

Betty made this simple yet elegant appetizer featuring tarragon in a dipping sauce for grilled shrimp.

Tarragon can be very strong and overpower your dish - use sparingly. Tarragon can be used to infuse in oils, vinegar and mix in butter.  Its the primary ingredient in Bernaise Sauce.

Cardamom

Cindy made "Exotic Flavored Chicken Thighs" with a "Tomato-Mint Salad" using only four ingredients for the chicken of which cardamom was highlighted.  The recipe is from "License to Grill" ~ Chris Schlesinger.

Cardamom is in the ginger family and is a sweet pungent spice.  Popular uses in curries, coffee, pastries.  The ancient Chinese would use as a breath sweetener, medieval German doctors mixed it with honey to treat bruises.

Turmeric

Denise's delicious stuffed mushrooms (this link is very close to what Denise use) had great flavor.  There is no sausage in the mix - just veggies and spices.  Healthy and yummy!

Turmeric is also in the ginger family.  It is a rhizome that is often boiled and dried and ground into a deep orange-yellow powder that is most commonly used in curries.

Marjoram

Jeanne made these fabulous meatballs with a cranberry relish.  Spicy Cranberry Glazed Meatballs... but the glaze was served as a dipping sauce and so good!

Marjoram is a sweet aromatic herb that is in the mint  family with an oregano-like flavor.  It can be used for flavoring meats, sausage, chicken, turkey, soups, stuffed peppers and even pizza.  

Ginger

I made Prosecco Ginger Cocktails that were so easy to make and yummy.  Doesn't ginger have a  medicinal purposes so we can say this is a 'healthy' cocktail?   Just ginger simple syrup, candied ginger and Prosecco.

For dessert we had Gingered Pear and Raspberry Pandowdy.  Candied ginger in the crust gave it that special touch.  Served with a dollop of whipped cream.

Ginger is one of the most widespread spices.  Its used in both sweet and savory cooking... in its raw form, dried or even crystallized.  Candied ginger tastes yummy and makes a wonderful snack. It can also help cure motion sickness and nausea.

Nutmeg

Jen brought her famous squash soup served with fried sage leaves and nutmeg.  The crispy sage leaves added a unique touch.

Nutmeg is the seed of the tree.  Usually you get the best flavor when you use the whole nutmeg seed and grind when needed. Its versatile and can be used in many sweet or savory dishes.

Star Anise 

Nina brought this FABULOUS cocktail highlighting bourbon and a hint of star-anise. How did I miss the photo op of these Apple Spiced Bourbon Toddies served in these cute little 2 oz china mugs.  These were so yummy and I'm looking forward to enjoying the left over tonight!

This wonderful star shaped dark brown pod Is actually the fruit of an evergreen tree that grows in China.    The whole star-anise can be used in teas, marinades, soup and as Nina proved - cocktails!

Cinnamon

Rita stepped out of her comfort zone and whipped up a batch of Butternut Squash Mac-n-cheese with Bacon and Cinnamon.  Rita improvised with bacon and cinnamon in lieu of the sausage.  The cheese sauce she made looked good enough to eat as fondue with large hunks of bread!

Cinnamon is one of the most versatile spices.  It is used for both sweet and savory foods.  It comes from the inner bark of the cinnamon tree and can be used in its dried tubular form or ground.  

Potpourri

To highlight 'non cooking' uses of spices everyone went home with homemade potpourri and clove studded oranges.  The potpourri was a mix of dried roses, dried orange slices, pine cones, acorns (that rustic touch), cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Smell of fall in a box.

I was so touched when presented with a gift bag from "my cooking club girls".  What a nice, generous, thoughtful gesture... yet not necessary.  Thank you ladies for your commitment to make this 'club' a success!

Rita, Angi and Denise

Cindy and Betty

Jeanne

The Scituate Cooking Club... Jen G, Rita, Denise, Jeanne, Betty, Nina, Angi, Cindy and Jen S.  all fashioning their new aprons.  A gift from me to them for all their fabulous and tasty creations over the past year!

The "Cooking Club Girls"

...sorry the picture is a little fuzzy.  I Had some technical difficulty which I attribute more to the cocktails than the camera!  The damn thing worked fine the next morning.

The Pioneer Woman ~ October 2013

Another fun Thursday night!

Pumpkin Sangria!  Love how the sugar dripped down the side of the glass... gave it that spooky Halloween feel.

Betty, Cindy and Angi enjoying their cocktail

Everything Pioneer Woman!  Rita hosted and served roasted beef tenderloin.  No steak knives needed here! It was delish!

Rita carving the beef tenderloin

The pizza potato skins were amazing!  My new go-to party food.

pizza potato skins

The Korean pear with blue cheese and walnuts were not  PW recipe... but I couldn't resist bringing these. The pears were from the farmer's market and it just tasted too good to leave home.  The phyllo mushroom bundles were almost too cute to eat... and just as tasty!

mushroom bundles and pear with blue cheese & walnuts

 Roasted root vegetable "candy"... I never cooked celery root it was really good.  Combined with carrots and parsnips - very easy and tasty dish.

Roasted root vegetable

Cindy's mashed potatoes were soooo good.  She dug them fresh from her garden.

Creamy mashed potatoes

For dessert we enjoyed the best chocolate sheet cake - ever!

Chocolate cake with Giffords Old Fashioned ice cream

We used Rita's Breville pie maker to make these cute apple pies.

Another fun night with my Scituate Cooking Club gals!

Jen, Rita, Betty, Jeanne, Cindy and Angi

Dream Pizza ~ September 2013

Get your pizza!  Freshly made in an outdoor pizza oven... can it get any better than that?  There was Jerry Vale playing in the background... wine and our very own outdoor pizza oven. Masterpieces were made with mushrooms, truffles, lobster, buffalo chicken, arugula and eggplant with all different cheeses.

We gathered in a little oasis behind Betty's home - the patio, pizza oven, music and garden make a wonderful setting for enjoying a glass of wine with some friends.

Betty stoking the fire

Everyone brought their own favorite toppings to create their "dream pizza".  We started out the evening with a platter of grilled eggplant with basil, pine nuts and goat cheese and a creamy avocado dip.  We then started with the "dream pizza" making.  Some with fresh dough (compliments of Betty) some with ready made artisan crusts....

Mushroom, truffle, fontina pizza

The smell of the wood burning fire and pizza....yum!

Buffalo Chicken

The lobster pizza with a corn bechamel sauce was the highlight!  However, there were many tasty creations - mushroom, truffles & fontina, the good 'ol margherita, buffalo chicken, grilled eggplant (okay - I cheated using the leftovers from our appetizers- but still yummy!).



There was a full salad pizza with arugula, figs, prosciutto and a drizzle of balsamic ~ a meal in itself. We also made some good old pepperoni ~ how can you resist???






Dessert was a huge scoop of warm bread pudding and an equally large scoop of brownie trifle.

Denise and Rita

Nina enjoying a bite!

Nina, Rita Denise and Jeanne

Angi & Jen

One of the great nights we were all together... Jeanne, Jen, Angi, Cindy, Denise, Rita, Nina, Betty and Jen.

Cooking Club!

Betty and her hubby Bobby...a romantic twirl on the dance floor

Farm to Table ~ August 2013

What an awesome night!  We met at Cindy's and raided her enormous veggie garden and then headed into her kitchen and created our meal for the evening.  Once again I was amazed how our group just clicked and the crowded kitchen of 8 cooks just had a flow to it that look liked it took years of practice.

While touring Cindy's fabulous garden we sipped Italian Sangria and Pink Grapefruit Cocktails.

Denise and Nina

Rita, Denise and Cindy

Betty and Cindy

Angi

There were so many veggies to choose from.....

In the kitchen there was stuffed squash blossoms, eggplant, zucchini boats, garden soup with Parmesan cheese and crostini, melon salad, roasted, beet salad, grilled striped bass, 

Squash blossoms

Baked eggplants with fresh mozzarella & fresh tomato sauce 

Squash soup with crostini

Cucumber, melon, gorgonzola and pecan salad

Roasted beet salad

Stuffed zucchini boats with ground sausage, basil, breadcrumbs, tomato and cheese

Bowl of steamed mussels

We completed our meal with a fabulous dessert of a traditional Greek vassilopita cake with blueberry compote.  Check out the "Recipes" page for the cake recipe.

Almost the full group together... we're missing Jeanne who was not able to make it.  Another fun night - thanks ladies!

Angi, Denise, Rita, Jen, Cindy, Jen, Betty and Nina