Our dinner this month was hosted by Ali and she chose a fun alphabet theme. As a 4th grade school teacher Ali is always thinking about letters! She selected this fitting theme for our feast and we were all curious to see what was in store for us. Each person was assigned to bring a certain dish with a requirement that the dish had to start with either the first or last letter of the person's name.
We all oooohed and aaaaahed when we walked into Ali's home. WOW!! The tablesetting was GORGEOUS!! She went all out with her table decor and made it really fun.
We figured out that the big "M" stood for March. And the green was for St. Patty's Day.
She monogrammed each glass with our first initial and let us take home the glasses as party favors!
Now for our menu.....
Refreshing Drink: Lillian Lim's Party Punch
Michele was assigned the drink. She ended up trying out an old recipe that has sat in her recipe box for 15 years!!! This recipe turned out to be a huge hit. The drink was a yummy party punch made with ice cream and raspberry sherbet that can be served thick or thin. It's very refreshing and would be amazing during the summer on a hot day.
Ingredients:
6 oz. can frozen orange juice
6 oz. can frozen lemonade
2 1/2 gallons of raspberry sherbet
1 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream
9 cups of water
Add ice if desired
Michele's variation - She only used one 1/2 gallon of the raspberry sherbert ice cream and used more of the concentrate seeing how 6 oz. can aren't readily available these days.
9 oz. frozen orange juice (from a 12 oz. can)
9 oz. frozen lemonade (from a 12 oz. can)
1 1/2 gallon raspberry sherbet
1 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (only used about 3/4 of carton)
4 cups of water
Garnish with frozen raspberries if desired (this is something I added to make it look fancier)
Directions
Dump all the ingredients into a punch bowl about a half hour before you want to serve the drink. This will allow time for the ice cream to melt. Ice is optional.
Garnish with frozen raspberries if desired (this is something I added to make it look fancier)
Directions
Dump all the ingredients into a punch bowl about a half hour before you want to serve the drink. This will allow time for the ice cream to melt. Ice is optional.
Appetizer 1: Taos Pumpkin Bread
Paulette shared with us her delicous pumpkin bread that is a favorite in her recipe box. She even made homemade pumpkin butter to spread on the warm bread. YMMMMM...it was delicious!!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 Tbsp dry yeast
2 eggs
1 Tbsp salt
6 cups flour (I use 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat)
Directions for Pumpkin Bread:
Measure out water, and sprinkle all the yeast and a pinch of brown sugar over the water. Measure into a bowl the rest of the brown sugar, pumpkin, cornmeal, eggs, salt, and flour. Mix slightly. Pour the yeast mixture in and knead until soft ball forms. Set aside and let double in size. Form in to rolls or loaves. Let double in size again. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until done.
Directions for Spiced Whipped Butter:
Whip butter in electric mixer, add brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to taste.
Directions for Spiced Whipped Butter:
Whip butter in electric mixer, add brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to taste.
Appetizer 2: Mexican Five Layer Dip
Melissa is our newest club member. She made a Mexican dip for us to enjoy.
Ingredients:
1 can (15 to 16 ounces) refried beans
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese ( 4 ounces)
2 tablespoons salsa
2 medium green onions, chopped (2 Tbs)
1 ½ cups sour cream
Tortilla chips
Directions:
Mix refried beans and salsa. Spread a thin layer on 12- or 13 inch serving plate or pizza pan. Spread sour cream over beans, leaving about 1 inch border of beans around edge. Spread guacamole over sour cream, leaving border of sour cream showing. Sprinkle cheese over guacamole. Sprinkle onions over cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.
Appetizer 3 - Carnitas & Pineapple Pizza
Dressing
1. Cook the quinoa and let cool completed.
Dessert 2: Pineapple Bars
Appetizer 3 - Carnitas & Pineapple Pizza
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise, then sliced lengthwise into thin strips (about 1 ½ cups)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
8 ounces coarsely shredded cooked pork carnitas
3 tablespoons butter, softened
½ teaspoon chipotle powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 12 – 14-inch pizza crust, partially cooked
1 20 oz can pineapple chunks, drained
1 ½ cups (6 oz) shredded manchego or queso blanco cheese
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 F
2. Cook onion in oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until onion is just tender, stirring occasionally. Add carnitas and cook just to heat through.
3. Combine butter, chipotle powder and cumin in a small bowl. Brush butter mixture over pizza crust.
4. Top with carnitas mixture and pineapple chunks. Sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Garnish with chopped cilantro, if desired. Makes 8 servings.
6. Enjoy!
Side Dish 1: Mindie's Mandarin Quinoa Salad
Mindie scored high for presentation points this round. Look at that beautiful red cabbage used to set her salad in. This salad ingredient that looks like little pieces of rice was new to me. She used an ingredient called 'quinoa' which is a starch that is a popular substitute for rice. I thought it was coos coos when I first saw it, but was wrong. She mixed the quinoas with mandarin oranges for a healthy and exotic looking salad. Leave it to Mindie to come up with something fun and creative for us to try.
Salad
1 Cup Uncooked Quinoa
1/2 cup sweet peppers (I used red and yellow bell peppers)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup mandarin oranges
Dressing
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil - I reduced the oil by a few tablespoons and added some of the juice from the mandarin oranges
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Pinch of salt and pepper
1. Cook the quinoa and let cool completed.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.
3. Pour the dressing over the cooked quinoa and mix to combine.
4. Add the peppers, oniones, parsley, feta and mandarin oranges. Tossing to combine.
5. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Side Dish 2: Buttery Apples, Cabbage & Carrots
Christie made a healthy looking side dish that was a combination of baked carrots, apples, and cabbage. Loved the simplicity of the side dish, yet it was so colorful and fun.
Ingredients:
2 cups sliced ½” carrots
4 cups cubed 1” cabbage
2 cups unpeeled, cubed ½” tart red apples
¼ cup butter
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp dried thyme
Directions:
In a 2 qt saucepan, add carrots and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium and cook until carrots are crisply tender (about 8-12 minutes). Drain and reserve carrots. Rinse saucepan and add 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage and blanch for 2 minutes, drain. Stir in all ingredients except apples. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until butter is melted. Stir in apples. Cover, continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until apples are crisply tender (3 to 4 minutes).
Main Dish: Alison's Spinach Ravioli Lasagna
Our main dish was a spinach ravioli lasagna. Not quite sure of the proper name, but it was brought to us by Ali. Recipe to come.
Dessert 1: Mudslide Chocolate Frozen Pie
Marina spoiled us by making two desserts. We were served a mudslide chocolate pie and pineapple bars. Both were tasty!
Marina spoiled us by making two desserts. We were served a mudslide chocolate pie and pineapple bars. Both were tasty!
Ingredients:
1 prepared 9 inch chocolate crumb crust
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup sour cream
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
¼ cup baking cocoa
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips or grated chocolate bar for top
Directions:
Melt 1 cup morsels in a heavy saucepan slowly over lowest heat. When morsels begin to melt, remove from heat and stir. Return to heat as needed until melted and smooth; cool for 10 minutes.
Mix sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla extract; stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in melted chocolate until smooth. Spread into crust and refrigerate while making top layer.
Beat cream, powdered sugar and cocoa in small mixer until stiff peaks form. Spread over chocolate layer and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips or grated chocolate.
Dessert 2: Pineapple Bars
Bars:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup butter
1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup nuts chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir flour, sugar and baking soda. Add pineapple with juice, vanilla and eggs and mix well. Pour into a greased 11x17 inch jelly roll pan and bake for 25 minutes. While the bars bake, prepare the frosting by mixing all the frosting ingredients together. Spread over the hot cake and cut into bars when cool.
And here is the whole gang...spread out over two pictures.
